Getting married is a wonderful experience focused on love and celebrating your relationship with your other half. However, planning a wedding can be a whole other story. It can be incredibly stressful because there are so many arrangements to make and you have to ensure that your guests are happy too.
How can you possibly satisfy everyone?
Guaranteeing that your guests and wedding party, as well as the star of the event—you—, have a great time is easier said than done but not impossible.
This article has a list of tips and hacks for your wedding reception that will help you ensure everyone remembers it fondly.
Let’s get right into it!
Tips for You
The first topic to discuss on our list of tips and hacks for your wedding reception is the main reason for the big day—you. It doesn’t matter how much trouble you go to, if you don’t enjoy your wedding day, there is no point.
Here are four tips that will help you have a fantastic time at your wedding without regrets about not making the most of the event:
1. Don’t Forget to Relax
The big day can be incredibly stressful and the term ‘cold feet’ is widely-known for a reason. It can be such an overwhelming feeling that you may think it’s best to just cancel everything and go home.
Don’t allow yourself to be a big ball of nerves on what should be one of the best days of your life. You should try to ensure that you can relax on your wedding day and just enjoy all the good things that have been planned.
A really good way to feel relaxed is to enjoy a spa treatment or two the day before the wedding. Indulge in a full body massage or skin rejuvenation treatment to get rid of all the pre-wedding jitters.
Just don’t drink too much because a hangover will be terrible for the day’s festivities.
2. Take Care of Your Body
One of the important tips and hacks for your wedding reception that you should keep in mind is taking care of yourself. If your body isn’t in a good state on your special day, it’s likely that your mind will suffer too, and that will lead to stress and unhappiness.
That’s why you should consider going for treatments focused on your body’s health, such as acupuncture services. These services improve blood flow and promote health, which is a good thing, of course. Some other benefits of acupuncture include better energy and digestion, as well as mental clarity.
Also, follow a healthy diet and get enough sleep so your body can feel fresh and rejuvenated on your special day. Avoid junk food as much as you can and don’t indulge in too much drinking. But make sure you do eat and don’t skip any meals in the days before the wedding.
3. Spend the Money on a Good Videographer
Your wedding reception is a big deal because it is here that most of your wedding memories are made. It’s also the part of the wedding that your guests will remember most. As such, you’ll want to capture as many moments on camera as you can so you can always revisit the day with good videos.
However, it’s not a good idea to hire just anybody to take videos at your wedding. Your aunt Becky, who once worked for a movie studio cleaning the props and watching the cameramen do their work, isn’t a good bet, unfortunately.
Instead, you should get professional wedding videographers who know what kind of footage to record and how to edit it. Yes, it will be costly, but it is an expense that will be worth every cent you spend.
4. Celebrate With Everyone
A list with tips and hacks for your wedding reception can’t be complete without reminding you that you need to remember to actually enjoy the day!
If you’re not out there celebrating with everyone who showed up to celebrate your marital union, what’s the point of having a wedding reception?
Go on the dance floor and dance your heart out with your best friends and family, even if you’re not a good dancer and will feel a bit embarrassed about your ‘awesome moves’ the next day.
Chat and laugh with your guests, and drag your new spouse all over the place to meet everyone. Be social and mingle! Take this opportunity to also thank everyone who came and drink as many drinks as you feel comfortable with.
Your big day should be enjoyed by you and your partner, so make sure you have fun and create the kind of memories you’ve always pictured weddings are all about!
Tips for Your Wedding Party
Your wedding party comprises the most important folks at your wedding, and they need to feel as special as they are to you. Chances are that your wedding party is just as stressed out as you are and also wants everything to happen smoothly.
The following tips and hacks for your wedding reception will help ensure they have a wonderful time as well:
5. Provide a Place to Stay
Your wedding guests (wedding party included) will have so much fun that driving home won’t be a good idea. At least, you want them to have so much fun, right? Then you should also think about accommodation for those who can’t drive home or live rather far away.
Since your wedding party is such an important part of the wedding, you should definitely get them a nice place to stay. Maybe give them special areas away from where others are staying.
Airbnb rentals are a great idea and can be booked ahead of time. You can book an entire house if you’re lucky enough to find one close to the wedding venue. If that’s not possible, you may be able to book accommodation at the venue itself, though that’s not always feasible.
Just make sure your wedding party has somewhere to crash when they run out of steam after they do the Conga for the 12th time (to the embarrassment of onlookers).
6. Provide Haircuts
Your wedding party will likely be in most of the wedding photos and videos, so if you want everything to look amazing, you should consider haircuts as one of the most important tips and hacks for your wedding reception.
This is especially important if you want a uniform look or for everyone in your wedding party to look a certain way. Expecting them to pay for their haircuts may be unfair as they’re likely spending a lot of money on their outfits and other arrangements.
You should plan ahead to what hairstyles you like and talk to your wedding party to make sure everyone agrees with your views and ideas.
Make barber shop appointments for the gentlemen and get the ladies in front of a trusted hair stylist before your big day.
7. Get Custom Necklaces for Your Bride’s Maids
Although the dresses you chose for your bridesmaids are probably the best and most gorgeous you could find, that’s not enough to make your wedding photos pop. What you need is something that will really make their outfits special, and we’re not talking about their smiles. That counts too, but custom jewelry is a brilliant idea that can complement their clothes.
Get custom pieces like necklaces or bracelets for your bridesmaids that match their outfits and the overall theme of your wedding. Not only will they look wonderful, but they’ll also feel special and will be keeping the jewelry as a memento of an unforgettable day.
8. Thank Them Properly
Being part of a wedding party is an important but often thankless job. Those chosen for the wedding party have to take care of tasks such as photo taking (those special behind-the-scenes and funny fail photos we all love so much), planning pre-wedding events like bachelor and bachelorette parties, and even the after party if there is one.
The wedding party will also help the bride and groom get ready and communicate with the wedding planner to make sure everything is going down smoothly.
As the wedding couple, it’s your job to thank these folks for their hard work. There are many ways you can properly thank them. From special gifts and goodie bags to spa trips, gift vouchers, and paid vacations, your wedding party will feel very appreciated if you go the extra mile when thanking them.
Tips for Your Guests
Your guests are attending your wedding to help you celebrate the beautiful relationship between you and your beloved. As the hosts of the event, it’s only natural that you want them to have the best possible time.
Here are some simple but effective tips and hacks for your wedding reception to help your guests enjoy their time and make your wedding an event to never forget:
9. Provide Babysitting Services
Weddings can get pretty eventful and rowdy and aren’t always the best place for young children. In most cases, the children will be very bored because they don’t understand the significance of the day.
As such, it is a good idea to arrange childcare services so that all your friends and family can attend your wedding without worrying about their children. If you can arrange a special area for the children, even better! Parents tend to fret when away from their kids, and if you can provide safe childcare services, they’ll be able to enjoy the wedding reception with you.
If that’s not possible, try to, at the very least, help organize babysitters for all the parents on your guest list.
10. Use a Golf Cart for People Who Have Trouble Getting Around
An often overlooked entry in most lists of tips and hacks for your wedding reception is arranging a way for disabled or elderly people to move around freely. If any of your guests have trouble getting around, you should consider looking for a golf cart for sale or hiring one for the day.
Your wedding reception should be a fun event for everyone, but if there are guests that can’t enjoy all the festivities because they’re not able to move around as much, you should try your best to accommodate them.
Golf carts are a brilliant idea and they can even be used by everyone else to make the day a little bit more fun!
11. Have a Slot Machine or a Couple of Poker Tables
Although your wedding reception will already be awesome simply because you’re hanging out with your family and friends, you should consider adding extra entertainment options to the day’s list of activities.
Even if your wedding doesn’t have even a remotely casino-related theme, having casino activities can ramp up the fun big time. It doesn’t have to be as serious as in real casinos either, just have fun with it.
Get silly slot machines or poker tables for the folks who don’t mind wasting a bit of money on some light-hearted gambling. Maybe add other options as well, such as Bingo, scratchcards, and Blackjack too, for more variety.
12. Surprise Entertainment
Most people know what to expect at a wedding reception. They know there will be funny and emotional toasts, lots of dancing, yummy food, and wedding cake. So do you want the mother of all tips and hacks for your wedding reception that will make it unforgettable?
Here it is: surprise entertainment. Book forms of entertainment that folks won’t expect to see at your wedding and you’ll make the day extra special and super memorable!
The kind of surprise entertainment you choose is up to you and your partner. It can be anything from live dancers and acrobats to a popular local band performing all the songs and even special fireworks.
Make Wonderful Wedding Memories!
Your wedding day is meant to be special and an occasion you will look back on with a smile. If you follow the tips and hacks for your wedding reception that we shared in this article, you can make sure that you, your guests, and your wedding party all enjoy the day and have the kind of memories they’ll always cherish!