Tips For Your Big Celebration- Your Wedding Reception

You’ve made it through getting ready, your ceremony, photos, your cocktail hour and now it is time for the big party…your wedding reception!  Let’s break down some of our top wedding reception tips to handle all of the practical elements of your big celebration!

wedding reception tips

Photographer: Josh Dhookie

It can take time to get your guests from one location to the next.  When moving from cocktail hour to reception, depending on the number of guests, this can take between 15-30 minutes so make sure you factor in that timing when planning your timeline.  You should also ask key people, such as parents and grandparents, to take their seats first so others follow.  Everyone will be having a great time chatting with others so sometimes they need a little bit of herding to keep the night flowing!

wedding reception tips

Photographer: Janique Tessier

If the bar will be open for dinner, only open it after the welcome announcements are done.  Although most will be excited to get the party started you want to make sure they hear any important information first and are paying attention to those announcements instead of being swept up in the fun immediately.

Photographer: Josh Dhookie

Next up is dinner…mmm food!  Determine your dinner length based on the type of service you choose.  For example, a buffet or 6 course meal will take longer than your typical 3 courses sit down or family style meals.  You can’t go wrong no matter what type of dinner service you choose, but time should always be factored in.

wedding reception tips

Photographer: Moore Photography

We recommend you have a maximum of 5 speeches, anything more than that and your guests can get antsy.  The key speeches that are best to have are one for each set of parents, the maid of honour, the best man, and you- the bride and groom.  The length is also important to keep in mind with each speech being a maximum of 4-6 minutes, it can be easy to get carried away and start rambling otherwise and we want your guests to stay engaged.

wedding reception tips

Photographer: COJO Photo

One of our final wedding reception tips is to flow right into dances immediately after your thank you speech so as not to lose the crowd.  You get to keep their attention on you for all of the important dances and then they get to join you on the dance floor for a long night of fun.

wedding reception tips

Photographer: Sugar & Soul Photography

These are just a few key points, however there are so many more elements that go into the wedding reception timeline.  Ideally, your wedding planner (hopefully us!) will be able to help you with all of that.  If you’ve chosen not to hire a wedding planner, we do offer hourly consults and would be happy to help you create the perfect celebration timeline!

Photographer: Brittany Mahood