Wedding Reception Sites, Halls and Function Facilities

The wedding reception site is the first time you formally receive your relatives and friends as a married couple. Properly planned, it becomes one of the most joyous parties you and your groom will ever host.   It can be as simple and demure as champagne and hors d'oeuvres, or encompass an elegant five-course dinner and dance.   Selecting the wedding reception site location really depends on how many guests you are inviting. Your wedding reception can be staged nearly anywhere: on a yacht, a beautiful hotel, a restaurant, a loft, a country club, etc. If you're being married in a season and locale noted for good, reliable weather, there may be a lovely garden or arboretum available. Also check out some of the restored historical mansions for some reception sites ideas, they make delightful fairy-tale backdrops for a wedding feast.   Whatever you decide, know that the services of a professional banquet facility or caterer can greatly enhance and expedite the planning of your wedding reception site. Once you've decided the setting you would prefer, the estimated number of guests and your financial resources, you're ready to begin interviewing for reception sites and banquet halls and caterers.

Reserve your wedding reception site facility well in advance and promptly pay any necessary deposit. Visit the reception site and design a suitable layout. Decide also whether you'll have a formal or semi-formal receiving line. Consider grouping furniture to stimulate conversation without obstructing traffic flow.   There should always be one table designated for the wedding party and one table for the parents. Seating arrangements at the bride's table are as follows: bridal couple in the center, maid of honor at the groom's left, best man at the bride's right. Seat the other attendants, alternating men and women, as space provides.

At a sit-down event, the order of service should be bride, groom, maid of honor, other attendants, parents and guests. Once all have been served, the best man presents the traditional toast to the bridal couple.

Cake-cutting comes after dinner. The bridal couple will cut the first slice and share it. Then the caterer's staff finishes serving while the newlyweds visit with guests. The last wedding reception ritual, before the bridal couple leave, is the bride's tossing of her bouquet and the groom's flinging of the garter.

Finally, you and your groom will leave the reception site for your honeymoon, no doubt followed by rice raining down upon you and your car or limousine, bringing with it wishes for fertility, prosperity and happiness.

                 Choosing the Wedding Reception Location

Many decisions in planning a wedding come down to common sense. For example if you have a guest list of five hundred people and a hall that fits two hundred, you have a problem. But it seems that emotions somehow take the better part of the wedding planning process, which then leads us to unfortunate decisions. It is not that couples do not think intelligently, it is just that there are so many things to do and so many people to please that sometimes inappropriate decisions prevail.

In this discussion, we are going to help you choose the reception location and also, provide some pointers on facilitating the venue decision making process.

1. Before you start to visit venues, decide up front what type of reception you require. Use the Ten Points below to help you make the final decision on the type of reception. Knowing what you want and what you need will ultimately make the process faster and easier.

2. Weed out all the venues that are inappropriate.

  If the hall is too small, do not add it to your list. Unless you plan to cut down the guest list, the hall will not be acceptable.

  If the hall is not elegant enough for your tastes or does not meet the atmosphere that you are trying to create, do not visit the hall.

  If you must visit the venue to determine that it is not acceptable, once you know that it will not work, remove it from your list immediately and move on.

3. Start and maintain a spreadsheet or use one of the online wedding planning software to keep track of your information.

  How many the hall seats

  Location of the hall and how easy it is to access from major routes

  Whether the hall provides catering or not

  Dates the hall is available

  Cost per person for food and the rental cost of the hall

  Rental costs of linens if applicable

In deciding which wedding venue is right for you, consider these Ten Points.

1. Number of People

This is probably the first point to be considered. Determine your guest list and once you safely know how many people to expect, you will be able to search for halls that meet the size requirement.

2. Season or Time of Year

If you live in an area that experiences both winter and summer, then a winter wedding reception will most likely take place indoors. If it is a summer wedding, however, you will need to choose between indoor and outdoor.

When choosing an outdoor garden reception, if your family members do not have a beautiful garden to offer as the location, many cities have parks and botanical gardens where the ceremony and reception can be held. Contact the appropriate City Hall or Parks and Recreation Department to inquire about outside venues.

3. Ethnic Clubs

Many cultures have their own clubs and associations in various communities. If your family has strong ties to its heritage and culture, you may choose to use the facilities provided by the club. Sometimes members will receive priority treatment so it may not be as difficult to book the venue for the preferred date.

4. Religious Beliefs

Religious beliefs will play a role in the selection of the venue. Traditional North American weddings are usually performed on Saturdays but for many religions, other days of the week are the norm. In addition to the acceptable day of the week, whether liquor and dancing are permitted will help to decide which location to choose.

5. Time of the Day

Nowadays, it is quite common to host luncheon receptions as opposed to the elaborate dinner time reception. The luncheon may be held at a quaint Teashop or even a small Yacht Club.

6. Amount in Budget

Sometimes, the choice of reception location comes down to numbers - how much you have available in your wedding day budget. If you find that the locations you are visiting are not financially feasible, then think about other options that may be less expensive such as:

  combining the wedding ceremony and the reception in one location

  having the meal catered by family instead of the hall or professional caterers

  cutting back on other expenses to help meet the hall costs

7. Combined Ceremony and Reception

Combining the wedding service and the reception in one location is becoming more popular as family and friends live all over the country. Keeping the two events in one location avoids the necessity of travelling between locations keeping it convenient for the guests.

8. Banquet Hall or Hall

Banquet halls usually refer to locations that provide the food and servers as well. If you have a favorite caterer in mind, you may rule out some of the banquet halls as not all of them allow outside catering. On the other hand, if you choose a hall with no catering, then you will need to add another function to your list - finding your meal.

9. Small Family Affair

Small affairs that include the witnesses and parents or maybe a few special family members can be held nicely with reservations at your favorite restaurant. Many restaurants have small rooms for birthday parties, anniversaries and get togethers.

10. Availability of Hall

Even after making your decision of where to host your wedding reception, the decision may be as mundane as which hall is available for a particular date. Halls are booked months and even years in advance so start looking ear.

Bridal Shower Reception Sites, Venues & Function Facilities

The bridal shower occurs from two months to two weeks before the wedding.
One rule is that immediate family members (mothers, sisters, mothers-in-law) should not give showers because it appears that the family is soliciting gifts.
No one should be invited to the shower who has not been invited to the wedding, or who does not know the couple.
One of the bride's responsibilities, as far as her shower goes, is to provide the hostess with a guest list and to make sure that she hasn't created a financial burden on someone by inviting them to more than one or two showers. She should also send a written note of thanks to her guests for any presents received, as well as to the hostess for their hospitality.
Shower themes can be fun and useful. Unique shower ideas are: A "round the clock" shower, where guests are assigned an hour of day on their invitations and bring the appropriate gifts (for example, at 7 a.m. a guest might bring a toaster); a home repair shower for the bride and groom; a lingerie shower; a recipe shower, where each guest receives a recipe card and fills in a favorite dish, a "wishing well" shower, where in addition to the gift, the guest brings a tiny present (a wooden spoon, a kitchen sponge, etc.). For a "wishing well shower" the hostess makes a cardboard replica of a well, and the gifts, wrapped and tied with ribbons, are tossed in. There are no cards attached, though sometimes the guests write a poem, and attach it to their gifts. The bride pulls out the gifts with the ribbons and reads the poems aloud.

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