You’ve arranged a beautiful light-filled venue and the catering — what more do you have to think about with regards to the reception?  Everybody just turns up, eats, drinks and enjoys themselves right?  Not quite — have you considered the following?

Scheduling the reception to start immediately after the ceremony

In this scenario, the guests head off to the reception straight from the ceremony.  On the other hand, the bride, groom and often the wedding party head in a different direction to have photographs taken.  Depending on the wedding party, this photo shoot can last at least an hour or two – that’s a lot of time for guests to be milling around a reception venue waiting for the most important people of the day to appear!

There are several solutions to this problem:

• Schedule the reception to start at least 2 hours (or however long you thing the photos will take) after the ceremony finishes.  Depending on the location, your guests can wander the gardens or grab a coffee before heading to the reception.  This also reduces the pressure on the bride, groom and wedding party during the photo shoot, as they are not constantly thinking about how quickly they can get to the reception.
• Arrange a “first sight” or “first look” moment (the moment where the bride and groom see each other for the first time) before the ceremony.   Although in this case that moment will not occur during the ceremony, their reaction will be genuine and you can choose a stunning backdrop for the occasion.  Having the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony also allows for the formal wedding portaits and wedding party photos to also be taken early, allowing the bridal party to accompany the guests to the reception.
• Arrange to take as many of the wedding party photos as possible before the ceremony.  Even if the bride and groom do not wish to see each other before the ceremony, there are plenty of group photos that can be taken that otherwise would take up valuable time between the ceremony and the reception:
  • bride and bridesmaids
  • bride and various combinations of her family
  • groom and groomsmen
  • groom and various combinations of his family

Scheduling the important parts of the reception for the beginning

Guests with young children or older guests may not be able to stay for the entire reception.  It is therefore better to schedule the speeches, cake cutting, first dance and bouquet toss earlier rather than later during the party.   Why not consider doing these things first up – right after you arrive.  Your entrance will already have attracted everyone’s attention and everyone will be there to enjoy these special moments.

An added advantage of arranging your reception in this manner is it may save you money on your wedding photography package!  Many photographers offer a slightly cheaper package to cover just the first hour of the reception (rather than the whole thing).

Arrange a specific location from which the speeches will be delivered

If there is no obvious place from which to make speeches (e.g. a podium or a bridal table), many people will automatically stand very close to a wall.   Before your wedding day, identify a specific location in the reception venue from where the speeches will be delivered.  Make sure it is located several steps away from any wall, and that the closest background (most likely a wall) does not have any distracting elements on it (e.g. a picture).  The other important thing is to communicate where the speeches should be held with your Master of Ceremonies (or whoever will be announcing the speeches) so that they know where to stand and direct people.   You will make your wedding photographer’s job much easier and your photos will almost always look better if you make these simple arrangements.