Reception Run-of-Show

Building a wedding reception run-of-show

Every wedding photographer, DJ, and caterer asks for the same document at the 2-month mark — a written timeline of what happens when. Without one, the night drifts, speeches run long, food sits in the warmer, and the photographer misses the cake cutting because they were waiting for it 40 minutes earlier.

The classic Australian / US reception structure

A typical 5-hour reception follows this rhythm:

• Hour 1 — cocktail hour, canapés, candid photos. Couple often does formal portraits during this time.
• Hour 2 — guests seated, couple entrance, first dance, welcome speech, entrée served.
• Hour 3 — first speeches between courses, main course served.
• Hour 4 — final speeches, cake cutting, dessert, parent dances.
• Hour 5 — open dance floor, optional bouquet toss, formal exit.

Tips for accurate timing

• Speeches always run long. Allocate 5 minutes per speaker and triple it. Six speeches at "5 minutes each" turns into a 45-minute speech block.
• Plate-up takes 20–30 minutes for 150 guests. Build it into the timeline as its own quiet segment.
• Cake cutting is fast — under 10 minutes, but needs to be timed when guests are at tables, not on the dance floor.
• Bouquet toss happens late, ideally 30–45 minutes before send-off. Bring it earlier and the energy drops; later and guests have started to leave.
• Send-off needs 15 minutes of setup — sparklers lit, photographer in position, guests funnelled to the exit lane.

Who needs a copy?

• Wedding coordinator / day-of stylist (the most important copy — they run the night)
• Venue manager
• Photographer and videographer
• DJ or band leader
• Officiant (if they're also MC)
• Catering captain
• Wedding party (for context — they don't need every detail)

Build buffer between segments

Add a 5-minute buffer between every major segment. Things take longer than expected, and a 5-minute buffer is the difference between "we're a few minutes behind" and "we never recovered the timeline". Photographers and DJs build this into their own internal planning anyway — just be honest about it on the document.