Many clients are unsure about the ideal timings for their day. Let’s work through typical timings for a dry hire wedding.

Most dry hire venues will allow receptions to run until midnight with handful of late licenses or extensions around (1am / 2am) and a few that close at 11pm. With this in mind we’ll run these timings based on a midnight finish but be aware that they can be shifted an hour or so either way according to your finish time.

When working out your wedding budget it’s important to note that receptions are very much a 3D affair. Many couples get fixated on the number of guests as the primary driver of costs, but the length of your party will also have an influence. Remember that staff and security are paid hourly and your drinks budget can be worked out at an hourly rate too.

Please be aware that we are not pushing these timings as the only ones that work - we understand that every wedding is unique. The idea here is to get you thinking about the flow of the event, the budget and the realistic time requirements for ceremonies, meals and dancing.

Ceremony timing

A legal ceremony takes approximately 30 minutes - even less without readings. Church, Jewish and Humanist ceremonies tend to be a little longer and of course Indian ceremonies longer still. Allowing around 30 minutes for now and on the basis that most guests will arrive around 15 - 30 minutes early we can start by putting a peg in the sand at 3pm for an onsite ceremony (guests arriving from 2.30pm).

With a ceremony off site you’ll need to consider photographs around the ceremony venue and transport to the reception venue. At some ceremony venues (particularly Peckham’s Asylum Chapel) you may even consider hosting your drinks reception there, guests may then move straight to the meal on arrival at the reception venue.

An arrival time at your ceremony of around 2.30pm also means your guests have time for lunch. Whilst this seems obvious to point out, early ceremonies often lead to guests skipping a meal and starting the day on empty stomachs. Hangry guests are not happy guests and you’ll have a busier, more fun dance floor later on if we can prevent people getting hammered before or during dinner!

This takes us to 3.30pm

Drinks Reception

Of course your wedding may follow a different format - but in most cases the first thing everyone wants after the ceremony is a glass of fizz to congratulate the happy couple. This is also the time when you may want a confetti shot of course and without a doubt this is the best time for your photographer to capture portraits, group shots and informal pics. Basically, before everyone gets far too drunk and whilst hair is in place and makeup is perfect! Generally we find the optimum time for this is 90 minutes - you may need longer if you have a lot of formal photographs.

We’re now on 5.00pm

Call to dinner

With the best will in the world, getting 100+ excited guests to take their seats after a couple of glasses of bubbles can take a little while.

Let’s aim to get everyone seated by 5.15pm for your grand entrance.

Dinner, speeches, cake cutting

Obviously we’ll need to be flexible here over menus, service style and of course the number of speeches you are planning. However, it would not be unreasonable to expect a couple of hours for dining and with say three speeches we’d be looking at least an extra 30 minutes. (No matter how many times we hear that speeches will be maximum 5 minutes each, it is very rarely the case!).

If you’re having a cake you may want to consider doing the ceremonial cut before dinner, especially if you want to serve it immediately after. It will take the kitchen team a little while to portion it up.

It’s now 7.45pm

Let’s get dancing!

So, allowing for a little flex, we’re all set for your first dance at around 8pm.

This allows 4 hours for dancing. If you’re having a live band you’ll most likely have a choice between 2 x 1 hour sets or 3 x 40 minutes, either way the standard is 2 hours of live music. This leaves 2 hours for playlist or DJing before the big sing-along finale at midnight.

Manage expectations

Sometimes clients are left with little choice on their ceremony time if certain slots are not available. Our advice in this situation is always to manage your guests’ expectations as much as you can. Let them know what time to expect their meal and give them the opportunity for a late or hearty breakfast. You’ll be saving a lot falling over!

More Planning Advice

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