Reception without dancing... what do you think?

[cseca]

OK,
We're only going to be doing a dinner only reception without any dancing.
Has any of you done so?
DF isn't very keen on the idea of dancing and also we only have 2-3 hours between ceremony to DP.

Sooo... my idea is only to have dinner and cake cutting.
BUT here are my concerns:
1. I am planning to have videographer, what in the world would they do if all we do is eat and do the cake cutting?
2. For you gals/guys who've done this, is it ok to have no speeches? Neither one of us (or my MOH) is big on giving speeches...
3. Also if your group is so small (ours will be 30 people or less) who do you have do the announcements? Like "Here's Mr. & Mrs. so and so" or "Dinner's served", etc. etc. Do we have to hire another MC or something?
4. Is it ethical to just have a bride & groom first dance?

Thank you!
This is oh so confusing...

 

[Ember]

Your wedding sounds a lot like mine! We only had 21 guests. Our wedding planner announced us, we walked into the room and had our first dance. Then we began the reception meal, had the cake cutting, and the bouquet toss. Then everyone mingled for a bit and went back to their hotels to get ready for the dessert party that night. I don't think anyone missed the dancing!

As for speeches, we didn't plan any and didn't really want them. But we had four! People just wanted to give them spur of the moment and it seemed wrong to stop them saying all those nice things about us!

Hope that helps!

 

[LKLush]

I don't seen any problem w/ a non dancing reception. My plans actually include the same - dinner w/out dancing, but include dancing later at a club (out of wedding attire, etc). I think it's a great idea, especially w/ the informality of the whole affair (at least on this end) and w/ the small guest count.

 

[cseca]

Thanks Ember & LKlush!
Yours sound so much like what I want to plan except for the returning back to the hotels part and the dancing at the club part.

Thank you!!

Now I just have to figure out if our planner could do the MC-ing a little bit

 

[lurkyloo]

My wedding will be a lot like Ember's! We're having no dancing, just 35 people, just first dances with me and DF and us and our parents.

However, our planner flatly refused to announce anything for us - I think she was so shocked that we didn't want a DJ that she's refusing to go along with such unorthodox tomfoolery!

We are going to have DF's brother announce things, and we're not going to be announced when we enter cuz we're riding to the reception with our guests - that would be silly!

 

[cseca]

However, our planner flatly refused to announce anything for us - I think she was so shocked that we didn't want a DJ that she's refusing to go along with such unorthodox tomfoolery!

unorthodoz tomfoolery....
Would she really expect that small party size to indulge in a full dancing session with DJ?

oh well... I guess we'll see what our planner would say when we get one...

 

[JandJ]

I think she was so shocked that we didn't want a DJ that she's refusing to go along with such unorthodox tomfoolery!

That gave me such a giggle this morning!!

One of my dearest friends had a non-Disney wedding, about 50 guests, and did not have dancing. It was a very nice reception. We took pictures, ate a delicious meal, had the cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc. I think her brother or other mail relative did all of the announcing (hard to remember, it was 7 years ago).

 

[BaBeeCee14]

I'm having sort of the same issues here as well. We are having somewhere between 40 -50 guests, but no one dances. Our cocktail hour is from 3:30 - 4:30 and the reception is from 4:30 til 8:30. DF and I plan to have a first dance (to a cd) but thats it. I'm just not sure what we are suppose to be doing for all that time.

I also don't know what to do about the whole announcing thing. I don't want everyone, including myself to be like whats going on? What are we doing next?

 

[caryndisneydiva]

we're not dancing, but there will be dancing at the reception. my df is terrified of dancing in front of others in a formal setting (he's a dj and his version of dancing inspires a rave more than a ballroom...), so i think i'll dance with my dad and leave it at that.

 

[cseca]

I'm having sort of the same issues here as well. We are having somewhere between 40 -50 guests, but no one dances. Our cocktail hour is from 3:30 - 4:30 and the reception is from 4:30 til 8:30. DF and I plan to have a first dance (to a cd) but thats it. I'm just not sure what we are suppose to be doing for all that time.

I also don't know what to do about the whole announcing thing. I don't want everyone, including myself to be like whats going on? What are we doing next?

We're having the same issues... that's why we're cutting our cocktail + reception time from 5~6 hrs to 2~3hrs, that'll give everyone enough time to eat a nice meal and then head out to the DP... hopefully nobody will miss the speeches, garter toss, dances, etc... sigh...

I'm not sure about the announcing thing. I don't think anybody in either our families would want to be a DJ for the day... So we'll have to talk to our planner and find out our options.
Maybe hire a DJ for the reception is our only option...

 

[BaBeeCee14]

We're having the same issues... that's why we're cutting our cocktail + reception time from 5~6 hrs to 2~3hrs, that'll give everyone enough time to eat a nice meal and then head out to the DP... hopefully nobody will miss the speeches, garter toss, dances, etc... sigh...

I'm not sure about the announcing thing. I don't think anybody in either our families would want to be a DJ for the day... So we'll have to talk to our planner and find out our options.
Maybe hire a DJ for the reception is our only option...

I was thinking to hire a DJ even though I really didn't want to. I know that no one is going to dance and it seems silly to me to basically pay someone $1500 to come in just to make a few announcements. As a couple of other brides here have mentioned, their WPs were willing to do it. If not, I may have to find an outgoing family member....

The other thing about the length of the reception is that I was unable to shorten it really. My ceremony is at 2:30 and the reception (at LSS) is immediately after, plus we are having a DP at 8:30. It wouldn't make sense really to have everyone leave for an hour and then have to come back to Epcot again.

Do you guys think a plated dinner vs a buffet would take up more time?

 

[figmentfan814]

We're not having regular dancing at our reception either. My matron of honor's husband is doing our announcing and we're using an Ipod for our first dances. The rest of the time we're having a pianist play background music to set the mood. We're having around 55 people and our crowd isn't big on dancing.

 

[lurkyloo]

Well, my No. 1 tip is to cut the reception short, but since that's out, what about hiring musicians to play ambient music and/or having a character appearance, a magician (really!), or a caricature artist to fill the time?

 

[BaBeeCee14]

Those are all great ideas! I would love to have Mickey and Minnie come! Unfortunately, its a bit out of my budget... I remember another bride on here had a caricaturist and she said everyone loved it. So that might be another option.. I think it'll all be ok and I'm sure the time will fly by. I think I'm just stressing because I don't want people to be bored.

 

[cp_princess]

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who was a bit stressed about hearing that we have a 5 hour time block for our reception. Our ceremony is also at 2:30 with a reception right after until 8:30 PM.

We are having about 45-50 guests as well and don't plan on having dancing. But while we'll have a wonderful view for everyone to look at - we're in the Napa Room at the CR - I don't want people feeling like all they have to do is look out windows and eat!

Some of the posts on here have been really great though for ideas! With a tight budget I wasn't sure how we'd use up the time either but hiring someone other then characters and a DJ as mentioned on here might be a wonderful solution!

Thanks again!


Less than a year till I marry my Prince Erik in our DFTW!

 

[Janell]

I was stressed about having to dance and a DJ. I tired to get my WP to annonce the buffet is open, scuba mickey is here, mickey and minnie and the cake, but she wont do it.

I was told WP don't make annocments, its the one thing that has really upset me with the wedding.

 

[lurkyloo]

I was stressed about having to dance and a DJ. I tired to get my WP to annonce the buffet is open, scuba mickey is here, mickey and minnie and the cake, but she wont do it.

I was told WP don't make annocments, its the one thing that has really upset me with the wedding.

Hmmm... I wonder if we have the same WP!

Could you have the Best Man make these announcements? Or someone else responsible who is not afraid of public speaking?

 

[Janell]

Hmmm... I wonder if we have the same WP!

Could you have the Best Man make these announcements? Or someone else responsible who is not afraid of public speaking?

We don't have any groomsman or bridemaids. I could have my parents do it, but I want them to enjoy their only childs wedding. Maybe thats silly. So I just bit the bullet and went with the DJ and we are taking dnacing classes so we don't look stupid out there. LOL

I was told that none of the WP make annocments, so I was told it wasn't just my WP, its all of them. Well from this tread I can tell thats not true and its upsetting, but what can you do? Not much.

I would have done things differently if I would have known our WP wouldn't make these small annocments. Live and learn.

 

[BaBeeCee14]

I guess its really up to the individual WP and whether or not they feel comfortable making the announcements. I don't know if my planner would be willing to do it or not, but I'm still going to ask her. If she says no, I will probably ask DF's cousin, who is also the best man to do it.

 

[DisBride2007]

WOW... This was truly an issue I did not give one moment's thought to when planning our DFTW. We did not have a DJ. Our reception was at the LS and we had about 30 guests. We chose not to be "announced" when we came into the reception, but a male CM announced things like the cake cutting, etc. I suppose one of our guests could have easily done it. I wonder if the reason why the WP won't do it is because they're not necessarily going to be there the whole time? Ours wasn't...

Oh, and in response to the OP, we didn't have dancing either, and it wasn't an issue at all.