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Wedding receptions generally happen immediately after wedding ceremonies and are basically parties that are held for the bride and groom's wedding guests. The wedding guests traditionally attend the wedding reception to help the newly married couple celebrate their union, and to toast their future health and happiness as they move forward through life together. The wedding reception is a very individual event, and differs greatly from marriage to marriage. The main thing to consider when planning a wedding reception is what sort of event would be best for both the married couple and their respective friends and family.

The wedding reception is essentially just like the planning of a really big party. When you are considering the sort of reception that you would like to have on your wedding day then your first thoughts should be around something that you would like to do, and something that you would like to invite your friends and family to. Planning a wedding reception in this way will help to ensure that you, your new spouse, and your friends and family will have the best possible time. So if you hate party planning then it may be a good idea to employ an outside party to arrange your wedding reception for you. There are many different areas and aspects to consider, and it is a very time consuming business to pull a really great wedding reception together.

Wedding Reception Venue
The wedding reception venue is perhaps the most important element to consider. The wedding reception venue will help you both to set the desired mood and tone of the entire event. Of course it will depend upon the time of day in which you get married, but evening receptions are commonly more popular than afternoon wedding receptions. The venue can cost as much or as little as you would like. You could hire a ballroom, a restaurant, a bar, a barn, or even hold your wedding reception in your own home.

Wedding Reception Theme
The wedding reception theme is generally in keeping with the overall theme of your actual wedding. For example, if you are having a spring themed wedding this is usually carried through to your wedding reception. This can be achieved relatively easily, for example using the same colors as your wedding color palette in the decorations, tables, chairs, flowers, balloons, streamers and wedding favors, amongst many others.

Wedding Reception Music
Wedding receptions very often encompass music, whether it's background music during a meal, or a specific dance or disco party. The same rules apply to the music at your wedding reception as to a party that you would plan to throw for your friends and family. It is best to consider the sort of music that you like, and that they like. Upbeat, positive, and "happy" music in general is the way forwards for any successful wedding reception.

Wedding Reception Guests
Wedding reception guest lists can be as long or as short as you wish them to be. Obviously it goes without saying that the people you invite to witness your marriage should be invited as a matter of etiquette. But over and above that the wedding reception is a great way of inviting other people who may not be as relatively close to you to join in with the marital celebrations.

 

Wedding Reception Ideas

A little girl grows up dreaming of her wedding day with a perfect picture in her mind on how it is supposed to be. Then we grow up, get engaged and become shocked at how expensive everything is. Things become crazy and we get stressed out wanting everything to be perfect but wondering how to pay for it all. A wedding should not put you in debt. Debt is not a good way to start a new life with the person you love.
The reception can be the most expensive part of your wedding; the location rental, the food, the alcohol and other beverages, the DJ or band, the flowers, the place settings, etc., etc. There are ways to cut costs. First of all it is your reception; do not worry about pleasing your guests. They are supposed to be there to share in your special day, not to critique the food and the decorations. I’ve been to many, many weddings and receptions and I can’t remember ever thinking that anything they did was tasteless or tacky. I don’t recall caring whether or not they had extravagant decorations or simple centerpieces. That was not why I was there.

One of the easiest ways to cut the expense of your reception is to cut all the extras. Unless you can get a great package deal that includes all the bells and whistles, you don’t need them. You can choose to have your reception earlier in the day so you don’t have to provide guests with dinner. You can have hour devours and finger foods along with your wedding cake. You can skip the alcohol or just have the champagne toast and shots for the dollar dance. Giving shots for the dollar dance works to your advantage because if guests want the alcohol they have to pay to dance with you to get it. Another option is by having a cash bar, let guests pay for their own alcohol while you provide just tea, coffee, punch or soft drinks. If Uncle Fred or Aunt Jackie wants to get toasted, they can do it on their own dime.

If you really want to have a dinner reception check your area for culinary arts schools or cooking schools, sometimes they will cater an event for just the cost of food. You could even have pot luck. Have close friends and family each cook a special dish for your reception. You are bound to have great food without the cost of a caterer. Skip the fancy linen tablecloths, china, and silverware settings. I about had heart failure when I found out how much rental for those items would be. Plus I would have had to wash everything before returning it, except the tablecloths. Paper plates and plastic silverware are fine. No one will be insulted because you didn’t have fancy table settings. If you think someone will be insulted maybe you should consider not sending them an invite. You can coordinate the plates, napkins, and silverware with your wedding colors and it will look very pretty. You can also use plastic or paper tablecloths. Everything will be disposable and you won’t have to worry about returning rentals when you should be enjoying your honeymoon.

If you want decent entertainment, check out local colleges for bands or DJ’s. With modern technology and computers many college students have excellent music skills. Music can be downloaded from the internet and saved on an MP3 player or burned onto a CD. You can get a techno savvy person to play music at your reception. Just give them a play list of certain songs you want played at certain times and make sure they have plenty of your type of music on hand. Give them a list a head of time so they can download any specific songs you may want.

Be creative when planning your wedding and reception and find ways to cut costs. Remember it is your wedding and if anyone has any problems with what you are planning ask them if they would like to pay for it to be done their way. If not remind them it is your wedding and your money you are spending.