Making Your Wedding Personal – The Reception, Part 3

Continuing on our theme of personalizing your wedding, we will now discuss The Reception. This is always the most difficult decision to make, because everything that happens that day, except for maybe the ceremony, will take place at this venue. But, as I’ve said many times before, most brides want a wedding that is them; that is shows their own personality. I will give you suggestions how to make your reception unique and obviously you.

First and foremost for any wedding planner/consultant is to know the likes and dislikes of the couple. How can someone personalize a wedding reception without knowing this? So, if you are having a consultant, spend some time going over what you love and enjoy in life. If you are doing the wedding yourself, then make a list, starring the items that both of you agree upon. Then look at the list and decide if you want a theme wedding and discuss creative ways to put the two of you in your day.

In order to make your reception personalized you must be a bit adventurous and experimental. If you are a down home traditional couple, then do what you’d like and follow tradition all the way. It’s your day; do what you want. But again, if ‘unique’ is your middle name, read on.

One couple I consulted with, loved wine and they lived in California so ideas started to flood me. I suggested a wine tasting themed reception. They had a bit of a hard time wrapping their minds around this, because it immediately translated into too much money to them. But, I showed them that it didn’t have to, because there would areas that we could cut that would even out the cost of the wedding. So we were off.

What the reception ended up being was an extended cocktail hour with wine stations in each corner of the room. The food line, which was open for 2 hours, consisted of the most popular hors d’oeuvres. In one corner of the room was Chardonnay, in one of the other corners was Merlot, and the other two had another white wine and another red. The wine stations were open for the 4 hours, as well as they had a cash bar in case some wanted to purchase mixed drinks. In the center of the tables were unlimited mixed grapes and assorted cheeses as well as bread baskets holding different breads from around the world.

The reception was the hit of the year. People could not stop talking about it because it was so unique and reminded them of the couple. And best of all, it actually cost them less than if they had a typical reception dinner.

Free your mind. What really do you like? Allow your favorite life hobbies, interests or whatever to make a theme for your wedding reception. Then it will be unique because it won’t be like anyone else, just the two of you.