Answers to your questions about toasting, timing, and traditional reception rites and rituals.
By: Diane Forden, Editor-in-ChiefQ: When is it appropriate to cut the cake at the reception? Our Grand March is scheduled for 9 p.m. Should we have the cake cutting before then?
A: Definitely cut the cake before the Grand March. You'll want to give your guests (and yourselves!) enough time to enjoy the wedding cake before you make your exit. About thirty minutes before the Grand March should work well.
For those readers not familiar with it, the Grand March is a popular ritual at many wedding receptions. It includes the couple, their attendants and all of the guests. Arm in arm, the wedding couple lead their guests around the room in a festive march. The bride and groom then form an arch with their arms up and, in pairs, the guests pass underneath and line up forming a continuous arch. When all the guests have proceeded under this long arch the last pair pass all the way back through again to kiss the bride and groom followed by the rest of the guests until just the happy couple is left. The Grand March provides everyone at the wedding an opportunity to not only have some fun but also to wish the bride and groom well before they have their last dance and leave the reception.
