The Wedding Receiving Line

The Wedding Receiving Line

The receiving line is to allow the hosts and other members of your bridal party to officially welcome and be introduced to all your guests. Although some couples, and sometimes their parents, are not keen on the idea of a receiving line, a receiving line is the only way to guarantee that everyone is personally welcomed by the bridal party.

The alternative of planning to welcome all your guests individually throughout your reception often does not happen in practice leaving some guests feeling left out.

Therefore, unless you have not many guests, a receiving line is the answer.

After your wedding ceremony, your guests will make their way to your reception venue, where it usual to provide pre-reception drinks upon arrival.

When all your guests are refreshed, they will pass along your receiving line as they make their way to their tables in the dining room.

 

Regardless of who is paying for your wedding, the traditional receiving line takes the following form of female alternating with a male:

Version 1

1 The Bride’s Mother

2 The Grooms Father

3The Grooms Mother

4 The Bride’s Father

5 The Bride

6 The Groom

7 The Chief Bridesmaid

8 The Best man

The advantage of this receiving line is that the first two people are from both families so that your guests are quickly recognized and easily introduced. For example, the bride’s mother can introduce each guest from the bride’s family to the groom’s father and vice versa.

Version 2

1The Brides Mother

2 The Bride’s Father

3 The Grooms Mother

4 The Grooms Father

5 The Bride

6 The Groom

7 The Chief Bridesmaid

8 The Best man

This receiving line appears more traditional with the hosts greeting the guests first.

Version 3

1 The Bride’s Mother

2 The Bride’s father

3 The Bride

4 The Groom

5 The Grooms Mother

6 The Grooms Father

A popular variation on the above receiving line (where the bride’s parents as hosts are first in the line).

This can be modified to include the chief bridesmaid and best man at the end of the line

If you have lots of guests, the time taken for all your guests to pass along the receiving line can be quite time consuming. Therefore, you may want to consider having a much smaller receiving line. The following below is an example.

Version 4

1 The Bride’s Mother

2 The Grooms Mother

3 The Bride

4 The Groom

Some parental relationships are difficult; you may just have the Bride & Groom form the receiving line, especially if you are hosting, and paying for, your own wedding.

N.B. There is no right or wrong way of organizing a receiving line.

Also, once I am on board it is my duty to make sure that your ‘Special Day’ is a worry free as possible. So, whatever you decide, I will make sure that everything runs as smooth as silk

Regards

always there.
always there.

 Roger D.G. Knight

01935 388296

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