The wedding reception rocks. It's quite possibly the best part of the entire wedding day (once the toasts are over). It's a time for you and your bride to relax and finally enjoy yourselves. Not to burst your bubble, but this party will also likely be the most expensive of your lives. Expect to spend approximately 50% of your wedding budget on this portion of wedding day. Aside from the exorbitant expense of a reception, be prepared to spend a lot of timing planning this affair. It will be time well-spent when you look around a room of well-fed, smiling, dancing fools. ( And hopefully, you're one of them.)

Where?

It is easiest on both your sanity and your wallet if you plan a reception at a hotel or private club. You won't have to worry about renting tables, chairs, cutlery and flatware or hiring caterers and servers. Hotels and private clubs are essentially a one-stop shop for reception planning. They often offer flat-rate packages that include everything, except for the cost of entertainment, flowers and room decorations, although many of these locations can also recommend entertainment and decoration companies they've worked with in the past.

You may wish to choose a reception site that has specific significance to you and your bride-to-be, or you may wish to go with something simple, such as a cocktail party or a barbecue at a friend's or family member's house. You're not "breaking tradition" by getting out of the hotel in favor of the backyard.

Some key questions are:

- Is this location within our budget?

- Does this place make us feel good when we walk in? Or is this hotel reminiscent of the Titanic complete with decorations from around that time...

- Will we all fit comfortably?

- Are we planning a dance? Does the facility have a dance floor or do we have to rent the floor? (Yes, really.)

- Is this location convenient to our guests in any weather condition - especially Grandma Jean?

 

article continues...
[Page 1 of 3]