The receiving line: the traditional method of greeting each guest as they prepare to sit down and enjoy the wedding breakfast. But is it the most efficient way to make sure you’ve greeted each and every guest or simply a waste of time? Let’s see what our expert debaters make of it…
In the Red Corner, arguing against the formal receiving line, well she never did quite understand the British love of queuing after all, it’s Dom “The Tog Bride”
In the Blue Corner, arguing for the receiving line, although come to think of it he is only really happy to stand in line if he gets fish & chips at the end of it… it’s Matt “The Gormless Groom”
Receiving Line Vs Just Take a Seat
FIGHT!!!
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Dom: Receiving lines can be hugely time consuming and often you don’t even get to say more than a quick hello to each person anyway as even if you only spend a minute with each guest, if you have 60 guests that’s already an hour of your day taken up and means the people at the back will have been waiting longer than most rides at Alton Towers!
Matt: But even if the conversation is nothing more than a hello you can be sure you have at least spoken to every one of your guests whereas otherwise you might well miss people completely.
Dom: Really the only sensible time to have a receiving line is before the meal when everyone is hungry and just wants to sit down and eat rather than have to wait to be formally introduced. Plus by that point you’ve probably already spoken to a lot of your guests, is there any need to re-introduce yourself more formally?
Matt: Receiving lines give your parents a chance to be introduced to all of your friends, many of whom they may never have met and also helps introduce the bride and groom to some of their guest’s partners who they may not previously have met or even friends of the bride that the groom doesn’t know and vice versa.
Dom: Whilst the receiving line often starts with nice chats with all the guests, by the end it can easily become a case of trying to push people through as fast as possible which isn’t particularly enjoyable for the people further back or for the members of the receiving line themselves who by that point are generally pretty tired of hugs and handshakes and looking forward to sitting down!
Matt: The day goes by so fast and it’s nice to make sure you’ve at least taken some time to speak to each of your guests and if it doesn’t happen at the receiving line you can end up spending your whole evening being pulled aside to say hello to different people without getting the chance to relax and cut loose.
Dom: Whilst the guests may appreciate the sentiment of wanting to make sure you’ve spoken to each of them, after already potentially had to stand around waiting for group photos and having probably not eaten yet they’d probably appreciate being able to sit down and eat more!
Matt: The receiving line is a long-held wedding tradition and, when you have 50 guests or more, is considered good etiquette and the polite thing to do.
Dom: It’s very difficult to judge how long a receiving line is going to take and that can cause big problems for the caterers trying to judge when to have the food ready. It also adds extra nerves for the speakers who may be wanting to get their speech over and done with.
Matt: If you’re looking for a classic traditional, elegant wedding then a formal receiving formal line is very in keeping and helps set the tone for the evening
So those are our thoughts but where do you stand? Leave a comment or place your vote below!
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