10 secrets to the perfect wedding reception
Your wedding venue
Choosing the right wedding venue is likely to be one of the most time consuming parts of your wedding planning. Your budget will of course be a major factor in narrowing your options but you also need to consider whether the venue is the right size for your number of guest. If it’s too big then it will not make for a great atmosphere, while if it’s too small, there may be difficulties accommodating all your guests, a band and everyone on the dance floor later. Whether your venue has accommodation and parking available for guests can also make things easier for all concerned
Wedding decorations
Your reception venue may not be the most fancy, but it’s amazing how easily a room can be transformed by putting up your own decorations. If budget is a major factor then enlist family and friends and put on your creative hats! You can make decorations yourself and, if anything, at least your wedding will be unique – and we hope beautiful too! Flowers are a straightforward but often costly way of decorating your venue. A cost-effective way to decorate is to use foliage or balloons. But remember if you use them as centrepieces that you keep them high enough so that the guests can see each other.
Perfect the wedding seating plan
Deciding on the seating plan for your wedding reception can be daunting and at times stressful. You want your guests to be happy and comfortable so getting your seating plan right is a must. Your seating plan needs to allow a good mixture of guests but also to ensure that feuding family members are kept apart and that no one is upset by being left off the top table. If it proves all too much trying to decide, then just have a buffet instead and that way you probably won’t even have to vacate the room to prepare it for the evenings' festivities.
The wedding food
The food is something that will be on everyone’s minds and will be greatly anticipated, after all, weddings are hungry work! What you choose will be dictated by a number of factors, including the venue, guest numbers and the preferences of important family members. Even the season will be important as not many will want to tuck into a barbeque on a cold, winter’s day. A buffet rather than a sit down option may work best if you are limited for space.
The wedding drinks
A wedding can often be measured, rightly or wrongly, against how drunk your guests become. If possible, try and put out a few complimentary bottles of wine for enjoyment with the meal, and don’t forget you’ll need champagne or other fizzy wines for the toasts. If your budget stretches to having a free bar for all guests then you are very fortunate. For the rest of you, the price your guests are being asked to pay for their own drinks can often be a factor and may affect their enjoyment of your reception.
Wedding speeches
The speeches are one of the keenly awaited parts of the day. Everyone feels the nerves before the speeches, and not just the people delivering them, but hopefully by the time the speeches come round, everyone has had a few drinks and relaxed a little. One good idea is for all those giving a wedding speech to get together and compare speeches, so that nothing is duplicated – including all the best gags. Some humour is generally always welcome, but make sure it is suitable for all the generations present. Add an extra special touch by breaking with tradition and having speeches, not just from the father of the bride, groom and best man, but also from the bridesmaids and mother of the bride.
Wedding music
Your choice of entertainment can have a big impact on the success of your wedding reception. Some opt to have low key music, such as a string quartet for earlier in the day and then progress onto a full band or a DJ for the evening to liven the atmosphere. Yes, it is your wedding, but music that is suited to all ears is essential – not everyone is a diehard rock fan. Find a band or DJ with experience of performing at weddings so that their repertoire is vast. You can always design your own playlist or select must-have tracks to be played or performed.
Wedding favours
Wedding favours, those little thank yous or keepsakes, are your acknowledgement of each friend and relative who is there to share your special day. Give them something special, but that doesn’t have to mean expensive. To add to the overall effect of your reception, the wedding favour could tie in with your wedding theme or the colour scheme. You could go with the traditional wedding favours, like sugared almonds or other edible treats, but there’s no reason you can’t go for something else and buy all your guests a drinkable favour or even a lottery ticket.
Timing on your wedding day
Try and keep your day on track time wise. If you are running late then this can create all manner of problems for everyone, but especially your caterers who will have to do their best to prevent your meal being ruined. Most wedding receptions last between five and seven hours so you want to make sure you enjoy every minute of it and you don’t want your reception to end up being rushed. Your photographer will be a key factor in ensuring that everything stays on track, so make sure you have a skilled snapper who can get guests together and capture the right moments with minimum fuss.
That special wedding touch
Wedding receptions are made all the more memorable by that extra special something. Maybe you could make an entrance by arriving in a hot air balloon or helicopter, or even on horse and cart. Or later in the day you could arrange a firework display at your venue or even release sky lanterns for a moment that everyone can share. In fact, the more you can involve your guests in all parts of your reception, the better. Place disposable cameras on all the tables so that everyone can get snap happy and be involved, or even arrange fun games and quizzes. Read more on getwed.com...
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