I am a little confused about the receiving line after the ceremony. Who, exactly, is in it and how long approximately does it take? Thanks :)
From what I've seen, it's really supposed to include the bride, groom, bride's parents and groom's parents - that's what I am doing...I have seen some have the entire bridal party in it as well, but they stood on the other side, so people didn't feel obligated to actually 'say' anything to them. The length of time it takes depends really on how many people attend your ceremony - you figure if each person congratulates you and your FH on the receiving line, then all the parents, well that could take quite a while! Good luck! :)
It is up to you as well to include a grandparent if you want to. My finance and I are thinking about not even doing one at all. The length of time all depends on how many people you have. Sometimes they are so ackward because people who don't know your parents are kissing them and saying Congrats.
We will be the only one on our receiving line, our wedding is in bklyn and our reception will be in LI, so we do not want to keep it too long, we also have an appt. at the Westbury Manor to take some pix. We plan on being a part of our cocktail hour. All our guest from the wedding are invited to the reception so we will have more than enough time to say hello I hope to everyone.
It really is up to you
Im having the ceremony and reception at the same place and my hall siggested we didn't do it, but since we are only having a civil ceremony, it won't take to long and I'm hoping to get a 20 min one in...bride, groom, 3 parents...then people go straight to the cocktail, but I may cut this
Thanks ladies for your suggestions. Do you think that it would be ok if Ryan and I are the only people on the receiving line? I don't want people to think that we are being rude. There are 3 sets of parents (his parents are divorced and remarried) and I really want to attend most of the cocktail party. However, I also want enough time to take pictures. Thanks again!
I would consider asking the Moms how they feel. Dads don't usually care about this kind of stuff, but Moms might. I mentioned that we were not going to do one since we did not want to lose sunlight for after ceremony photos and my stepmom frowned a bit. I would probably ask them too.
