One of the most often under-estimated times when it comes to a wedding time line is the time that it takes for the receiving line after a wedding. Today I hope to help the brides understand a bit more about the tradition and how long it REALLY takes for a bride and groom to greet their guests after the wedding. Why in the world is this on a photography blog?? When brides underestimate the time that it will take to greet guests after a wedding, the first thing that goes is the time for photography after the ceremony because the time the bridal party needs to be at the reception is usually non-negotiable. Instead of having two hours after the wedding, I have ended up with as little as 15 minutes to do all family formal shots, bridal party and bride & groom shots!! So this VERY MUCH will affect me and in the end, the bride and groom whom may not end up with as many pictures of themselves as they had originally hoped for. I am quick when it comes to formals but there is only so much I can do when I have only about 5 minutes with a bride and groom for portraits – and yes, this has happened!
To Receive or Not to Receive??
This is entirely up to you. Up until about 5 years ago, I would have always said that you *must* do some sort of formal greeting of your guests after the ceremony no matter what. However, now that isn’t so much the case. I’ve had quite a few weddings that have bucked tradition and greeted their guests at the reception during a cocktail hour or during the reception. Personally that style is right up my alley as it gives me a) more photo time after the wedding and b) better photo ops when you greet your guests. This style is especially great for Intimate Weddings (75 guests or under) and/or Destination Weddings where typically the all around format for the wedding is more casual. Decide what works best for you and go for it. Often people say that guests will be upset, but as a wedding guest myself – I dread waiting in that long line after a ceremony to get a quick two seconds with the part of the bridal party I know and a lot of uncomfortable moments with the ones in the party I don’t know.
I Want a Line… What Are the Options?
If you know you want a line, there are many options that you can choose to take with a receiving line. First, the typical line is formed at the end of the main aisle and includes the bridal party, parents of the bride and groom and the bride and groom. A line forms of guests (either released by row by ushers or on their own) and everyone says their congratulations as they exit the ceremony. The second type that is starting to become more traditional is a smaller version of the above with just the parents of the bride and groom and the bride and groom. The final option is having just the bride and groom release each row themselves and greet each guest as they are released.
How Long Should I Estimate?
All three of the above lines take around the same times, with the bride and groom releasing on their own taking a BIT shorter time. From my personal experience, for every 150 guests expect 45 minutes for them to exit or around 3 guests/minute. It is always better to overestimate than underestimate when it comes to the receiving line. So if your ceremony starts at 4:30PM, is over at 5:00PM, guests start exiting at 5:05PM and you have 200 guests expect to be doing a ‘grand exit’ from the ceremony location around 6:00 -6:15PM. Photos would begin around 6:30PM – taking 15 minutes for the bride and groom to return from their exit, the guests to leave, everyone in the formal shots to make their way to the ceremony location and Aunt Betty to finally stop talking the ear off the Mother of Bride!
Did This Help???
Did this help demystify the timing of the receiving line for your wedding day for you? Please let me know as I love to hear feedback!!! I’m not ever sure that my Corey Talks posts are valuable to anyone so hearing that they are would make me smile!!!
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This was definately an eye opener! Now I’ll really have to think about it because I have limited time at the church for pics and 45min would eat up basically all of it! Thanks Corey!
It was very helpful actually !!! Thanks so much. I need to make not about that to Heidi. Corey for me I won’t have a line lol.
Glad I helped!!! That happens a lot – brides don’t realize how long they take and then poof we’re out of church time 🙂