Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life. Whether you choose to have an intimate wedding with around 50 guests or less or a grand banquet, it is important to get every detail of the day planned out down to the very last napkin for a truly memorable day. If you don’t know where to start, here is a simple checklist to help you organise a successful wedding reception.
Table planning
Think about your guests and imagine them arriving at your wedding reception. You want to make sure that they will go to the right place and that they’ll know where to sit. So, although they may seem as small details, think about table accessories such as table numbers, table number holders and wedding place cards. These will help the reception run more smoothly and avoid any confusion.
Table decorations
It goes without saying that whether you have one table or several tables, you will want them to be decorated and give them that special celebratory fabulous look that every wedding should have. Table decorations are important as they will set the theme of the day and consolidate the style of the wedding. Think about the texture of the fabric as well as what your centre piece will be. A bohemian chic wedding may call for a cascading floral centre piece and colourful vintage candle holders.
Linen
Think about all the linen you will need for your tables such as tablecloths, table runners, placemats, napkin rings and coasters. If you are having an outdoor small wedding for example, you could add some rustic glory to your big day by placing an antique linen table runner on an. Wrap some linen or white material around the back of the chairs and add 2 or 3 roses in the bow at the back of the chair.
Dinnerware
This is normally provided as part of the catering service but if you are organising your own wedding, you may want to think about everything you’ll need for the meal. Sugar bowl, creamers, gravy boats and butter dish, cake platter, oil and vinegar, condiments trays, cheese trays and dip trays. Go through the menu and double check that you will have all the necessary serve ware, barware and kitchenware you will need for the day.
The wedding venue
There are a few things to consider when arranging the wedding reception. If you have elderly guests, you will need to think about disabled access and ensure that everyone can arrive at your reception easily and safely. Perhaps it might be worth checking fire evacuation procedures at the venue and if you require liability insurance when organising your wedding at a private home. Weddings are a time of celebration and people will want to drink. Enquire about alcohol and decide whether there will be a bar with a flat fee or perhaps let your guests buy their own drinks. At last but not least, remember your meal choices and double check if you have vegetarian guests or anyone with allergies on your guest list.
Wedding planning can be stressful and confusing. Start off by creating a mood board of your ideal wedding, collecting photos of items you like down to the last detail and then compile different lists as you go along.