End Your Reception at 11

Many couples struggle with trying to figure out when to end the party on their wedding day. Our best advice is to end your reception at 11 (or even 1). There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, the two of you, your parents, and the wedding party are going to have an insanely long day. With hair and makeup starting at 9:00, by the time 11:00 rolls around you’re already at a 14 hour day. It’s your wedding day – you should build in a little time at the end of night for the two of you. Passing out on the bed at 1am due to exhausting doesn’t count.

Second, your guests are usually only good for about eight hours. If your ceremony is at 2:00, end the dance at 10:00. If your ceremony is at 3:00, end at 11:00.

Third, by the time 10:00 or 11:00 rolls around, your guests will be…shall we say…feeling no pain. The families will have left and the only people still at the reception will be your 10 friends (and one creepy uncle) who would drink and party until the sun comes up regardless.

Finally, ending early gives your guests time to head to the afterparty and continue drinking on their dime, not yours. You get to save a few hundred by not going until midnight.

Trust me – we’ll still pack all of the usual hits in during the dance. In fact, ending the dance earlier means the time we do have together is absolutely jam-packed with hits. Your guests will love it!

So go ahead – buck the trend and shrug off bad advice. End your reception at 11!