There can be a lot to think about when organising a wedding reception. Here are the main things to consider:

Venue

There may be many reception venue options, either near your ceremony venue if it is going to be in a different place, or in your favourite part of the country, and it is well worth visiting a few venues to help you decide what type of venue you would like, country hotel, local pub, marquee, local hotel etc. If you are having your wedding ceremony at a different location to your wedding reception then think about how far you and your guests will have to travel from one to the other – if it is a long way you may want to consider providing a coach or minibus for your guests.

Wedding breakfast

This is the official name for the meal you have after your wedding ceremony. You may decide you don’t want a formal meal, and if your ceremony is later on in the day you may want to move straight into an evening reception with a finger buffet.

If you do decide to have a wedding breakfast there are different options e.g. sit down meal, fork buffet, finger buffet, and any of these can be seated with a formal seating plan or let people sit where they like. Each option can vary in price with the full sit down meal usually being the most expensive.

What do we eat?

The best advice is to have what you like best, but always be mindful of your guests – are there specific religious requirements, do you have vegetarians / vegans to cater for. It can be useful to ask for special dietary requirements when you send out your invitations.

How much drink to provide?

Depending on your venue, you may be able to provide your own drink. If you are allowed then you should check for any corkage charges – this is a charge per bottle for the privilege of bringing your own. If you can bring your own it could be worth a trip across the channel to stock up on alcohol, as this could save you a small fortune

If you can’t bring your own drink, cost may determine how much you provide to your guests. You may want to give them a drink when they arrive at a drinks reception first, then provide wine with the meal. Usually allow ½ bottle per person, but one glass may be enough as long as there is a bar area for your guests to purchase more drinks from. The toasts are commonly accompanied by champagne or sparkling wine, but people can just toast with whatever drink they have in their hand.

Drinks reception

As your guests arrive at the reception venue (or move from one area of the venue to another if it is all in the same location), you may like to serve drinks and maybe canapés. This is a good opportunity for your guests to meet, as you may be having further photographs taken. It can also be nice to mingle with your guests so you get a chance to speak to them all.

Depending on the time of year, there are different drinks you may like to choose e.g. Pimms in the summer, Champagne or Bucks Fizz all year round, or mulled wine at a winter wedding

Receiving line

Many couples hold a receiving line, welcoming people from a drinks reception into the venue for the wedding breakfast. The order of the line is entirely up to you, but one common example is: Bride’s father; bride’s mother; groom; bride; groom’s father; groom’s mother; best man; chief bridesmaid

Table plan

Once your guests have all RSVP’d and you know exactly who is coming, there comes the difficult task of trying to work out who sits next to who and at what table. A good tip is to seat people with small children with high chairs at the edges of the room, away from walkways, and likewise if any of your guests have wheelchairs. Also, whilst some people insist on mixing people up at tables, people who know each other generally like to sit together however much you want everyone to mix!

Table decorations

There are many options for table decorations besides flowers, for example confetti, hearts or rose petals, and you can also leave out party poppers and bubbles to blow. Don’t forget to put out your personalised cards for your Wedding of the Year online album to make sure all your guests know about it!

A good tip for flowers for your tables is to keep them either at table level or on high-up displays. If they are somewhere in the middle guests either side of the tables won’t be able to see each other and, even worse, they may get in the way of the top table – they won’t be able to see the bride & groom or see the speeches, and that would be a disaster!

Table numbers/names

It is a good idea to name your tables rather than numbering them – it may be disappointing for guests sitting on table 10 of 10 as they may feel like they were last on your invite list! If you name your tables, not only does it add the personal touch (you could name them after something you are interested in, or places that are special to you both), but it gets people talking, and not upset about what table number they are sitting at!

Music

There are parts of the day where music can really add to the mood. Your budget will dictate how extravagant you are, but some of the options are: Drinks reception and during the meal – string quartet, harpist, pianist, jazz band, CD player
Music for the evening reception – disco, ceilidh, barn dance, live band

Evening reception

You may also like to provide an evening buffet. Even though you may have already provided a four course wedding breakfast you will be amazed at how quickly the evening buffet table can be cleared!

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Choosing the right photographer is a difficult job – get it right and you’ll have photos you can cherish for the rest of your life; get it wrong and you may end up with an album that never gets looked at. Here are a few tips:

1) Try to meet with a few different photographers - wedding shows local to your wedding venue are useful here as quite often a number of local photographers will have stands so you can meet a few all on the same day.

2) Choose one on recommendation if possible, but also make sure you meet with him/her and see other work they have done.

3) When you meet with a photographer make sure you see examples of their work - full wedding albums rather than just a mixture of their best shots from lots of different weddings.

4) Before you book your photographer, make sure you know exactly what you’re getting for your money. Will the photographer come to where the bride is getting ready before the wedding? How long will he/she stay – just to the start of the wedding breakfast or until the first dance, or longer? How many photos will you get to choose? How much are the extra photos for guests to purchase? How long after the wedding will you be able to order reprints?

5) Book as early as you can to avoid disappointment - the best photographers are usually the ones that get booked up a long way in advance

6) Make a list of all the main photos you want to have taken on the day and discuss it with your photographer - they will have a feel for how long the list will take to complete and you won’t want your guests to hang around too long waiting for the photos to be completed. If you are having your ceremony at a different place to your reception, it may be an idea to have the main photos taken outside your ceremony venue and then have the rest taken at your reception venue. That way you can make sure your guests all have a drink and can mingle, rather than having to watch too many photos being taken of people they may not even know! Most photographers will also take photos of guests mingling and detail shots, place cards of bride and groom, tray of canapés, for example, so make sure you check whether your photographer will do these types of shots too. They will really help capture your special day.

7) Give your best man, chief bridesmaid, usher or other trustworthy attendant the list of photos that you want taken, in case the photographer leaves their copy at home, or so they can help out – they may know the people needed for the photo whereas the photographer won’t know who’s who.

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