WEDDING NOTES™ - Unexpected Reception Touches

While the ceremony is the heart of the wedding and the reason to gather, the reception is the time to celebrate.  Whether the wedding is small and intimate at a local restaurant or a large multi hour event for 300 guests with white glove service, what makes a wedding memorable are the decorative touches and event activities that are planned and executed with style and panache that your guests will remember.  

Here are some recent ideas from wedding planners that may spark your creativity.

• ·         Centerpieces at guest tables can be gorgeous bowls of seasonal fruits and vegetables instead of flowers.  For example:  Summer weddings can enjoy bowls of seasonal greens which include small melons, pears, apples, grapes, green bananas, and avocados.  Fall weddings can call on red apples, tomatoes, pomegranates, grapes, peppers and pears.  If yellow and orange are your color scheme, bowls of grapefruits, lemons, pears, yellow tomatoes, squash and gourds.  Encourage guests to eat the centerpieces or take the fruits home with them.  Provide custom printed favor bags with your wedding date. 

• ·         If you have planned a cocktail hour to precede your dinner, consider renting a popcorn cart.  It makes perfect nibbling while sipping cocktails and waiting for the wedding party to appear.  Order striped containers with or without your wedding date imprinted and add matching napkins.  Rather than just salt seasoning, consider offering a variety of popcorn toppings like cheeses, sugars, spices, or sea salt flavored butter.

• ·         If you are a candy fan, consider centerpieces that contain "flowers" of lollypops, suckers, small candies on a stick, frosted cakes on a stick.  Individually wrapped chocolate truffles or chocolate molds made especially for you add a note of elegance to the festivities.

• ·         If you are planning a wedding dance to follow dinner, it might be worth it to investigate having a dance-floor decal created for your event.  Standard decals are available from most rental agencies and can add a very special note of celebration.

• ·         If you want a wedding by the sea but can't leave Chicago in January (your wedding date) consider creating a south sea atmosphere with a backdrop of ocean waves, or palm trees around a lagoon.  Backdrops can be paper or fabric or a video presentation that flashes against a blank wall.

 For other ideas to make your reception special, stop in and chat with one of our experienced planners.