End Your Reception at 11:00

I’ve said this many (many, many) times before – end your reception at 11:00 and save yourself a few bucks!

With a typical wedding reception schedule, dinner is at 6:00 and the dance starts at 8:00. Your guests will generally have three hours of dancing in them. By 11:00, most of your guests will be ready to head home and those that are not will probably be…shall we say…feeling no pain. You can wrap things up at 11 and either head back to your room or invite your guests to a nearby bar (on their dime, of course).

I see it almost every weekend – by the time 11:00 rolls around, the dance is pretty much over as most of the guests have left. The only folks left on the floor are those who would dance to the theme song from the TV show Barney. It makes no sense to pay your DJ to entertain them, especially when they’ll get just as much enjoyment out of the jukebox at the local bar.

I’ve even done weddings that have ended at 10:00 (when dinner started at 5:00) and it works well, especially if you have plans to head to the local watering hole.

Don’t feel pressured or obligated to provide entertainment until midnight. As they say in the business, the best event is one that leaves the guests wanting more when it ends! That’s much better than ending with five drunk people falling on their hineys because they slipped on the beers they spilled all over the floor…