How Much Time Is Enough For Outdoor Reception?

[Meesh37]

Hi all,

My finance and I will be getting married April 2015 at the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach Resort.  I've always envisioned a laid-back yet elegant beach wedding, so I'm super excited!  We'll have a beach ceremony at 4:30pm, followed immediately by cocktail hour for guests while we take photos (we decided to book with Saab Weddings--which I'm really excited about), dinner from 7:00pm until 8:30pm at the resort's open-air restaurant, and then the dancing/reception and maybe bonfire outdoors again on the beach from 8:30pm until 10pm (unfortunately outdoor festivities must end by 10pm at this resort)  My question: is 1.5 hrs enough time for the dancing portion?  I'm especially concerned because we'll be spending quite a bit extra to have a dance floor, DJ, bar, seating and decorations outdoors for under 2 hours.  Has anyone had any experience with a "beach party" dance reception?  We plan on doing traditional 1st dance, father-daughter and mother-son dances, but more than anything we want people to have a great time under the stars.  I've been thinking about trying to make dinner just one hour, from 7pm until 8pm, so we could at least squeeze 2 hours out of the night.  Unfortunately we can't make dinner time any earlier.  My life would be much easier if I just decided to have our dance party at the resort's disco, but I really wanted a beach party and don't want to give up on that idea (yet).  Any ideas/feedback would be much appreciated!  

[TinkerSofi]

Us, our families and friends love to dance so that was a priority for us. I think it really depends on what you want. I love the idea of a beach party and maybe it is worth it to be there as long as you can and then move the party to the disco? I think an hour for dinner will feel really rushed though so I wouldn't suggest going that way. I know some groups don't really care for dancing that much so I think 1.5 hours would be more than enough. It comes down to whatever you want to do and what makes the two of you happy .

 

 

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[spjwedding]

I think it's really baout what your priorities are. I love the idea of mocing to disco for an after party!