Discover the expert in you.
Invite guests to do more than just dance at your reception. Get them mingling with no inhibitions with reception games designed to break the ice. There's a variety of creative activities that keep the focus on mingling to ensure your reception is memorable for guests. Choose an activity that suits your style and let the fun begin.
A quinceañera is a Latin American coming-of-age celebration that is akin to a sweet 16 bash. Commemorating a girl's transition into womanhood at 15, the occasion starts with a solemn church ceremony and then moves on to a party with family and friends where several rituals are performed to symbolize the fact that a girl is becoming a young woman.
Fire up the grill and get the brats ready. For many people, nothing says summer more than plump brats cooked to perfection on a backyard grill. After you cook the brats carefully over a controlled flame, keep them warm until you are ready to serve them. One of the tastiest ways to keep brats warm is to submerge them in a simmering beer mixture (called a "batter") after you remove them from the grill. The beer batter not only keeps them warm, it also flavors them deliciously.
Emily Post decrees that the wedding march is one of the most important details of the wedding. The wedding party, including ushers, bridesmaids and the bride herself, can use the music to perfectly time their walk down the aisle. By walking in time with the music, the members of the wedding will look elegantly unified as they walk past the guests.
Unlike a wedding reception that follows immediately after the ceremony, a wedding after-party takes place at a different time. It can be planned for the following day after the wedding ceremony to several weeks later. Wedding after-parties are common when the bride and groom has eloped, were married at a distant location or had a small, intimate ceremony for close friends and family, but wish to share their joy with people who could not attend the wedding. The party can be a formal dinner, brunch or cocktail party, or be a casual party with a theme.
Kids can be a large part of weddings. Of course, comments run the whole spectrum, from "The kids were the most adorable..." to "Oh my goodness, what were we thinking involving the kids?" Some couples also wind up saying, "I wish we would have involved the kids." Keep all of these sentiments in mind when deciding whether to allow kids to play a role in your wedding. Once you've decided to involve the kids, you must decide what they do. There are plenty of jobs kids can handle before, during, and after a wedding ceremony.
Destination weddings are popular for couples these days; they are generally less expensive and are cozier, more intimate affairs. However, that very reason can also create a dilemma if many guests can't make the trip to the far-flung location of your dream wedding. This is where the post-wedding party comes in. Host a hometown party--including all your cherished friends--so that everyone can feel like they were a part of your special day.
According to LifeTips.com, the average wedding reception lasts four hours. If the wedding reception begins in the early evening, guests may want to continue celebrating after the allotted time. Options for after the reception can be as varied as the guest list, but depending on the area of the country, there are many suitable opportunities to continue the celebration. With the additional assistance of the local Chamber of Commerce or hotel concierge, activities after the wedding reception should be easy to locate.
Nuts and mints are thoughtful foods to serve at a wedding reception with or without a full dinner. Nuts are rich in protein and salty in flavor; mints are sweet and tart to contrast the salty food. These foods are also least awkward to snack on when talking to others or while holding a drink.