Jason and I have been discussing what and where to have our wedding reception, and we are kindof at a standstill. I think it is time for a poll:
If you are married and had a reception: what did you do? what went well? what would you have done different? Please describe.
If you are not married, but have attended a reception: what was it like? what went well? what would be the ideal experience as a guest?
Please help us!
7 comments:
Paul and I had a pretty typical reception. We rented a hall at a place that no longer exists =( But we had good food, salad, chicken and veggies. We had a DJ, dancing, cake cutting,boquet/garter toss. The one thing that happened that I didnt want was an open bar. I asked not to have it and it was there and already serving when I showed up. oy. Neither Paul or I like the spot light to much so we did things like half way through our first dance had the wedding party join us. We had a combined father/daughter, mother/son dance and half way through had any body that was there with a mom or dad come out to the dance floor. I thought that was fun. One way we cut costs was Pauls aunt did the center decorations for the tables as her gift to us, we also only ordered two things of flowers for the wedding itself. Paul and I had tables up front reserved for family but other than that we let people choose where they wanted to sit. Thats all I can think of right now.
I liked our reception. It was simple, but good for mingling, and we tried to make it go by quickly for our guests.
We rented a hall, decorated it oursleves, and brought our own food, but then got professional servers to replenish food and bring out sparking cider for the toast and serve cake. I think it went pretty smoothly. We got meats, cheeses, fruits, and crackers from Sam's club, which saved money. It was enough to let people snack on without having to pay for a huge meal.
We also burned our own music CDs to avoid spending money on a DJ who would play music we didn't like anyway - we had a friend monitoring the music and had Ric's stepdad making announcements. It actually went pretty well.
We tried to keep things moving quickly: guests entered and snacked, we made our entrance, cut the cake, mingled, toasted, threw the bouquet and garter, and made our grand exit. I've always hated staying around for hours on end at receptions, so we tried to do things as fast as we could; we were able to do that by creating a timed schedule in advance and had everyone working the reception familiar with it.
I recommend keeping the toasts quick as well. Usually just the best man and possibly the MOH are good enough. After a couple of toasts, the audience gets bored.
Jeri, I like the idea of keeping it short. How long was the reception total?
I actually liked our reception. It was fun and not too long.
I didn't want Todd to see me before the ceremony so I was insistent that we not do our photos together before the wedding. He did his with his groomsmen and family and I did mine with my bridesmaids and family all before the weeding. After the wedding, we did couple shots, entire bridal party shots, and group family shots, but most everything was already done.
Meanwhile, we instructed our DJ to invite people to start eating as soon as they arrived--they didn't need to wait for us (we served lunch). That gave the guests something to do and the DJ played music if people wanted to dance. Our pictures took only about half an hour so people weren't waiting long.
We danced, we ate, we did cake, and we were done. We nixed a receiving line outside the church and just went around to tables at the reception itself--that way people weren't standing around, bored. The only downside is that you miss people who don't come to the reception so if you know of anyone ahead of time who can't come, make sure you greet them before you leave the church, if you decide to go this route.
I also know a great DJ in the LA area, if you need one. He did 3 hours for $300 (total) and also gave me CDs of all the songs he played.
Either way, good luck! Have fun!
Our reception was two hours or less. All I know is that the ceremony was at 1:30 and we were leaving the reception at 4:30.
As for timing photography, I didn't mind seeing Ric before the wedding. Actually, our photographer suggested that we have a moment to ourselves, to focus on just us two, before the hectic day began. So once we were both at the church and dressed, we met up in the chapel for a moment alone (made for great pictures). Then we did family pictures before the ceremony because from experience most receptions seem to drag forever when the wedding party takes pictures during the beginning of the reception. So then we had the ceremony, went straight to the reception, and exited (photographer driving after us) and went to a local park to get some good portrait-like photos. By the time we were done there and got back, most of the stuff was cleaned and guests were gone, and we were able to chang and load our bags and head straight out from there to our hotel.
I loved the timing. Everything worked perfectly.
no, i am talking about the reception itself. the amount of planning is going to be more than i want no matter what we decide to do.
and, Roland, need I remind you to play nice? please don't accuse your fellow commenters of lying.
We had a bigger rehearsal dinner than usual (a BBQ in the park) and invited all the out-of-town guests to it, to make sure that we got to see them all BEFORE the craziness of the wedding day. It was kind of a pre-reception, and it worked really well.
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