Receiving line - to do or not to do???

Were doin one but its us, our parents & my brother - not the whole wedding party. Weve 165 guests & realistically its the only way of ensuring we get to say Hi to everyone. Were doing ours as they enter the reception room for dinner.

Our vog is going to video it so It'll be great to look back on as well 'OMg do you remember that hideous hat?' lol

We're not having one but that is purely due to the fact that we only have 45 guests and 15 of those are children. I'm confident I will get to speak to each guests more than once throughout the day/evening.

We had one, but TBH, we also went round the tables during the meal too so we got to speak to everyone that way. I liked it, but looking back I don't really think it was necessary - everyone was getting hungry and hot so we should have just got on with it!

I am not having one as I think of them as overly formal and this is not the wedding we are having. I would much rather mingle with the guests over canapes. I don't think they are bad, I just don't want one.

We're having one, again because of the size of the wedding it's the only way to guarantee being able to say hello to everyone.

It will probably just be the two of us and the six parents though, and fairly rapidly processed too with little more than "good to see you" or "glad you could make it" to everyone.

No doubt there'll be a number of people we spend more time speaking to but given that one minute per person would take up two hours, we'll just have to play it by ear.

We're not having one, it's not us, we both know 98% of our guests and plan on mingling with our guests. We'll have around 85-90 for the day and 120ish for the evening.

A friend of ours who married recently did a receiving line, it was so long, it took over half an hour and I personally didn't think that it added anything to the day as bride and groom mingled during the reception drinks and walked around the tables during gaps in the meal.

We didnt have one, during the day in between each course we went round each table for photos and a chat.

I wish we had of had some form of one before the evening kicked in though as spent a lot of the evening being pulled from one guest to another, when really all I wanted to do was dance with my hubby and bridesmaids.

We aren't having one. We have 140 guests and I can just imagine how long it will take. We plan to go around the tables and meet and greet at the canapes. It would just feel too staged for me and I prefer natural conversation.

We had one...I really wanted one for some reason, I'm not sure now why I was quite so fussed! Anyway, that was the only part of the day I found a bit stressful! Because we were a bit short on time - well according to the venue, I kept getting 'looks' off the wedding co-ordinator, who at one point actually said (in a nice way) 'Can you wind it up soon?' Leaving me feeling pressure to tell my Mum to hurry the hell up and not actually make conversation with people!

It didn't spoil anything, but looking back, as we talked to everyone during drinks after the church, and inbetween and after the meal, there was no need and we didn't gain anything from it as there is no time to chat - it just felt a bit hurried / awkward and not how I pictured it would be at all! It is quite a formal tradition though, and although I loved and wanted lots of tradition, I'm not a formal kind of girl really so perhaps that's why it wasn't for me!

Thanks everyone, you've confirmed my thoughts, i think we'll stick with our original plan and not have one

hopefully we'll get around everyone and i hope i get to spend some of the evening dancing, not just talking to people!

Yeah, stick to your original plan. Changing plan often leads you to somewhere. We also don't have one.

I'm not having one, We did think about it but then we changed our minds, i'd much prefer to go to a couple of tables between courses to thanks people for coming

We had one but the wedding co ordinator didn't help at all, she'd let some people into the room already then disapeared! Me and H just started as people were already going in then Best man showed up and said 'aren't I meant to be doing this too?' so joined on, ours was a bit of a mess so as long as you plan it before it should be fine.