Receiving Line Alternatives // Part 2

WHAT ARE SOME RECEIVING LINE ALTERNATIVES?

Okay! So, let’s dive back into receiving lines!
If you missed last week’s post, it lays the foundation for what I’m going to talk about today – so it would be helpful to go back and refresh! Here is the link to Part 1!

So, you’ve decided that doing a traditional receiving line is not going to work [maybe you have to vacate the church by a certain time, maybe you only have your photographer for limited hours, maybe you’re planning a winter wedding and standing outside in the cold/snow is simply not possible], but you still want to do something! What are your options? Here are a few variations that I’ve seen!

Dismiss each row.
A simple variation on the traditional receiving line is for the bride & groom to actually dismiss each row of guests from the church. The bride & groom are pronounced husband & wife and they recess back down the aisle, followed by the bridal party. Then, before anyone else recesses out, the bride & groom come back into the church and starting at the front with their parents & grandparents, greet and release all of their guests row by row.
This seems to work especially well if there is no room to have a receiving line outside of the ceremony venue, if weather conditions won’t allow you to line up outside [like cold or rain], or if you simply cannot decide on who should stand in a traditional receiving line with you.

Cocktail hour.
If you have some flexibility in planning the timeline for your wedding day, you can work it out to be with your guests during cocktail hour! It’s a fabulous and relaxing time to greet your guests and have a little extra time to chat and catch up! It can be challenging to make sure that you don’t spend too much time with any one group of guests and miss out on talking to everyone though!
This seems to work especially well if you have a lot of guests coming in from out-of-town who you want to spend some dedicated time catching up with! It always works best paired with a first look and all of the formal portraits taken prior to the ceremony!

Visiting each table immediately after dinner.
Since the bride & groom are always served dinner first, they are always finished eating before everyone else, sometimes before the last tables are even served the final course! This allows a bubble of time where the bride & groom can visit each table and greet their guests. It’s a great variation because it allows a little more time to visit than a traditional receiving line, but seems easier to bring conversations to a close as you move on to the next table than visiting during cocktail hour. It’s helpful to give your DJ the heads up that you plan to make your rounds around the tables, that way they know to be on the lookout for you to reach the last tables so they can orchestrate the next events of your reception!
This seems to work especially well in any circumstance! In fact, it’s a great “add-on”, even if you do a traditional receiving line!

There are lots of options – but the main thing is to make sure you take some time to greet & thank your guests!
Be sure to discuss your options and decision ahead of time – not only with your fiance, but with your parents and bridal party. The last thing you want, is to have your family fumbling around after the ceremony, assuming that you’re doing a traditional receiving line, when maybe you had other plans. Discussing exactly what you have planned and who is involved will make sure that everything runs smoothly!