The difference between a good reception and a great one is rarely money — it is momentum. Here is the timeline shape we have refined over hundreds of weddings.
Drinks: 60 to 90 minutes, no more
Long enough for photographs and hellos, short enough that hunger stays friendly. Canapés circulating from minute fifteen keep everything golden.
Speeches between courses, not before
Splitting speeches between starter and main — or main and dessert — keeps them short, the room attentive and the food hot. Nobody enjoys a 40-minute block while their supper cools.
First dance, then cake, then band
Cut the cake straight after the first dance while every eye is on you, then let the band launch at full energy. And plan your seating chart so the dance floor fills from the nearest tables first.
End with light
A sparkler send-off — like our send-off kit — gathers everyone for one final photograph and closes the night on a high no one planned to leave early from.