How Wedding Day Timings Work at Ashbury Lounge

You're at the top table. The speeches have run over, the dessert plates are still out, and somewhere at the back of your mind a clock is ticking.

A clear running order takes that clock away. When you know how the day fits together, you get to enjoy it instead of watching it.

I'm Chantal, and Hash and I answer the enquiries at Ashbury Lounge, on Bath Road in central Bournemouth. Here's how a wedding day runs here: how long it lasts, where the ceremony fits, when the music finishes, and the few things worth asking at your viewing.

Most UK wedding receptions run four to five hours, from the wedding breakfast through to the last dance.

For a straightforward day, four hours covers it comfortably. Ceremony elsewhere, wedding breakfast, speeches, first dance, evening reception… done.

Where it gets tight is a long sit-down meal stacked with speeches. Five hours buys you breathing room without changing anything else about the shape of the day.

Think of that fifth hour like a spare tyre. You might never need it, but you'll be glad it's there.

And you're not fitting around anybody else's timings either. Because Ashbury only ever runs one event at a time, nobody else's party is sharing the room or the bar with yours.

Most UK ceremonies are booked for somewhere between noon and 2pm, with the reception following straight on.

Neither end of that is wrong. Noon isn't too early, and 2pm isn't too late.

The right time for you comes down to two things:

• how many guests you're inviting
• how long your own ceremony runs

That's exactly what I'll talk through with you at a viewing, so you're not guessing at it now.

The shape is a familiar one:

• guests arrive
• drinks reception
• wedding breakfast
• speeches
• first dance
• evening reception

What's different here is the dance floor. It's fixed and permanent, right in the centre of the room with the seating built around it. It isn't laid down for your day and packed away after.

Picture it. The last speech gets its laugh, and your guests go straight from their seats to the floor.

No standing around with drinks while a dance floor gets built. The room is ready to move from dinner into dancing whenever you want it to.

If you're bringing your own independent or humanist celebrant, ask at your viewing how that part of the day can work here.

One thing to know before you build your running order around it. An independent or humanist celebrant can't currently perform a legally binding marriage in England & Wales.

Under the law as it stands, the legal part is handled separately. Usually that's a short registrar appointment, booked well ahead of the day, at the register office or another licensed venue, not here.

You give your notice of marriage locally, and BCP Council asks for:

• seven days' residency in the area to give that notice
• the notice booked somewhere between 29 days and 12 months ahead

None of that changes how your day at Ashbury looks or feels. If this route is yours, check BCP Council's own requirements in good time.

If you're planning an evening do, this is the one to know.

Music and entertainment finish by 11pm.

The bar is licensed until midnight. It's the music that has the earlier finish, not last orders.

So 11pm is the last song, not the last drink.

I'll confirm your exact clearing and departure times at your viewing, based on your running order and your guest numbers. Raise it then rather than assuming either way.

Yes. Access the day before, for a rehearsal or to drop off decorations, can be arranged. It needs booking in advance, not assuming.

For the decorating itself, you've got three routes:

• bring your own decorations and set the room up yourselves
• have our in-house person handle the detail work
• hand the whole thing over as a full styling package

Fireworks aren't allowed in the garden. It isn't large enough to hold them safely.

Confetti and sparklers haven't been confirmed either way. Ask me at your viewing rather than assuming your favourite send-off is covered.

For some couples, a coordinator or toastmaster earns their fee by keeping the speeches and transitions running to time. For others, with a straightforward running order like the one above, it isn't essential.

Either way, enquiries here are answered by me or Hash personally. You can talk the running order through with the people who run the venue.

If you're working out what the day costs too, how wedding venue pricing works at Ashbury explains the food-and-drink basis and the deposit schedule.

You can also see the full range of weddings and events, everything else the venue hosts, and more about the venue itself.

But the best next step is a viewing. Come and see the room, stand on that dance floor, and I'll confirm your timings against your own guest list.