How should you leave your reception?

Farewelling the bride and groom at the end of the reception is the culmination of the celebration.  At Australian weddings the traditional way to leave the reception is straight after a farewell circle.  This is where the guests form a circle and the bride and groom farewell each person individually.  This is a nice touch, but can take a long time if you have a large number of guests – time you could otherwise spend on the dance floor!  An alternative is to have your Master of Ceremonies organise your guests to make an archway which the bride and groom then walk through.  This is quicker than the farewell circle, but not by a lot as it can take some time for your guests to be organised into the archway.  The quickest way to depart is to have everyone say three cheers immediately after a last dance.  This maximises dancing time, but can be a bit abrupt.  In this case the bride and groom should have the opportunity to farewell the people closest to them separately after they have left the other guests.  So there are lots of options!