Dream Wedding Receptions

Archive for August, 2012

Choosing red as the main color for your wedding will seem like an extreme choice, but it will look bold or eccentric as well as challenging. As with many colors chosen for decorating a wedding, one can go overboard with too much red and since this is a strong color, one can have sight issues if they get their eyes exposed to this color for too long. If you travel in many Asian countries, you'll see that the color red is used at a large scale, especially because it is though tit protects against evil spirits, and possibly bringing good luck as well.

If you want to have a red wedding, you have indeed plenty of ideas to incorporate from many places around the globe. The centerpieces can be red flowers, red candles a combination or red flowers and red candles, or anything else that is red and could look good on the tables. While red table clothes are very tempting, you better use some white or champagne colored ones, with red accents, as the impact will be bigger.

Red Wedding Receptions Ideas (Photo by: E'Lisa Campbell)

One can order a red wedding cake, or any color wedding cake with red decorations and they can be edible or not – either way, let your guests know they ca eat or not the decorations on the cake. One doesn't have to have a wedding cake to share with the guests, but some cupcakes or pieces of pies with red fruits filling.

As the bride, you can have either a red dress- did we mention that in Asia a red wedding dress is the norm at the wedding? – or a dress with red accents and elements. The elements and accents can be the hem of the dress, the embroidery, embellishments, the belt and so on. Even the flower bouquet the bride is carrying can be made of red flowers so you can obviously see how much red one can see at a red wedding reception.

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The best wedding receptions are those carefully planned in such a way that there is nothing that could go wrong, and even if there could be something to go wrong, there is a person to take care of it, so that it will go unnoticed. But not everyone can afford to have a wedding planner or somebody careful enough to be able to handle everything and that is when the situation can get out of control.

A wedding reception can be ruined by more factors: weather (if it is an outdoor wedding reception), by the people who drink too much and become violent, or by the food or the drinks that aren't enough. Sometimes the guests come with other people who weren't invited, and you can very well include children, or even babies. If kids start running around because they get bored and they start playing, they can knock things over, including the cake. Babies can start crying because they need to sleep and the music and the other guests are just too noisy for them, not to mention that not everyone is a kid lover.

Worst Wedding Receptions (Photo by: hickory hardscrabble)

Another really bad wedding reception you can have is with pets – and we mean when the guests come with their uninvited dogs. The venue might not even approve of the dogs being there, so the owner of the venue might kick everyone out before it even starts. Can it go worse than this? Probably not.

Now, your guests could also tell some horror stories about your wedding reception, or about others hey attended, and that is never a nice thing to do. If you don't want your wedding day to turn into a horror story, you must try and make sure you and your spouse are perfect hosts, with everything under control, even if ‘behind the camera’ there is a huge army of people working together for you.

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If you want to have an Irish wedding theme, then you definitely need some ideas to start with. You must know that the Irish culture is strongly connected to the shamrock, to the color green, and the Claddagh symbol, and by now you already have a few elements which you can play with.

The color green can easily be incorporated into your wedding, as the main decorating color, but you can combine it with white for a clean and fresh look, though a champagne color and green may look a bit vintage and out of place. Before making the final decision, you better mix and match a lot of colors with green until you find the right one – several shades of green can also do the trick for you, so give it a try.

Irish Wedding Reception Ideas (Photo by: Tracy Hunter)

The shamrocks can be used in a number of ways at a wedding. You an order over-sized shamrocks and decorate the tables with them, if they're not in the season. If you can find potted shamrocks and using them would be even more cute. You can order your wedding cake in the shape of one, and the icing can be a combination of more green flavors and the minty on may be the most popular or the most unexpected. 

A skilled pastry maker could make some cookies in the shape of the Claddagh symbol, or you can have it printed on the wedding reception favors, they could be the favors as pendants and the list goes on and on and on. Of course, these aren't all the symbols reminding on of the Irish culture, but you don't have to use all of them in a single wedding party as everything may become overdone and that can easily fall out of taste. This wedding theme is perfect if one of you is Irish, if you simply like the green color, or if you think this theme is really unique.

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Many weddings incorporate the custom of giving little gifts to those who came at the wedding reception, especially in the Western world, but some countries in Asia also have this custom. Traditionally, the wedding favors were pieces of sugar, as when it was first introduced, it was very expensive. In time, special sugar boxes were created, to match the gift.

Nowadays, the wedding reception favors can be candy, a piece of the groom's cake pr small objects, such as shot glasses, bottle openers, candles or anything you might think fit. One is not forced to give any wedding party favor, but the guests will appreciate it, and it doesn't have to be something expensive either – one will appreciate more something either exotic, or something useful. If you can combine something exotic with something useful, you might just have hit a jackpot – or your guest might think they hit the jackpot.

Give Aways At Wedding Reception (Photo by: Janet)

In China, the groom and the bride if they want to give some wedding reception gifts to their guests, they have really easy: red envelopes filled with money. As weird as this may sound, it is actually a better thing to do, as he receiver can then buy themselves something they really like or need. Still by tradition, the guests will give a larger amount of money as a wedding gift to the lucky couple, and it still has to be placed in a red envelope.

If your region doesn't have this tradition, for any reason at ll, don't worry too much, as the guests like to take things as souvenirs. Don't worry about the size of the items or their value, as usually these things are small and they might not even get to be missed. Some people might break a little branch of a flower, potted plant, or take a spoon or even useless things such as a napkin.

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It doesn't really matter where the wedding reception takes place, or what race the people are getting married, are, as all the nations across the globe have wedding traditions. There are a few populations which still have a pure traditional wedding, but those that do are quite fascinating.

For instance, in Ukraine, weddings are mostly traditional, but they do have the modern elements, as well. One particular wedding tradition comes right at the end of the wedding and it involves mainly the bride. At the end of the wedding, the bride is transformed into a wife. The transformation is done by a good friend of the bride's mother who has a stable and happy marriage. This woman's luck will transfer onto the new bride, turning into a wife. The process is of replacing the bride's veil with a scarf, tied in a specific way.

Wedding Reception Traditions (Photo by: Cyril Bèle)

In China, when the groom has to pick the bride from her parent's home he is greeted by her family and they try to stop him from getting her, as he has to prove them he really loves her, by answering some questions about her. She will only get out to see her groom when her family is satisfied with his replies. The bride will be accompanied by a good friend either of hers, either of her mother's, and she might even have a successful marriage. This lady has to keep a red umbrella over the bride's head to protect her from the evil spirits.

The Grand entrance is being held everywhere, and it marks the beginning of the wedding reception itself, and many cultures serve cake or some sweets at the wedding – but they're almost always served towards the end of the wedding. In the West, people know that after the cake or the desserts is being served, there are still about 45 minutes of dancing left. As a curiosity, it is the bride's cake that gets cut.

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We all know what 4th of July means for the Americans: it's their national day. Planning a wedding on this day is not easy, but one can be sure they will have a lot of fun. Because of the occasion, people planning on getting married on this day should think about using colors that will match the celebration – red, white and blue – and there are many things which can be planned in these colors.

One can order the cake in the colors of the flag, or made to look like the American flag. Of course the blue and the red colors can be obtained with food coloring, but it is best to used red fruits – cherries, strawberries or raspberries – and blue ones – blueberries. Flowers can also be used, but they need to be thrown away, as they're not edible.

Fourth Of July Wedding Reception (Photo by: Greg Sheridan)

The red ab blue flowers are better used as table decorations, mixed with white ones. These flowers will have a countryside feel about them, depending on how you combine them and on what flowers you're choosing. You can use traditional table decorations which are usually used for the official celebrations or meeting.

On 4th of July many Americans like to prepare a barbecue, so you could use this opportunity to try out various barbecue recipes, however this means you'll need lots of meat prepared and readily waiting to be cooked. Usually the parties organized for the 4th of July end with a firework display – but make sure you can fire them up in your area as well and make sure you find a pretty safe area to light them up. If this is not possible, you can always watch the fireworks prepared by your city or town – even if this means you'll have to walk a little bit to watch them.

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When planning your wedding's reception one must keep in mind many things, and choosing the reception hall is not easy. The first thing one has to keep in mind is the number of guests you'll be having, as there's just so many people a hall can hold for a wedding, taking into consideration the dance floor and the possibility of seating. 

Martha Stewart suggest that the hall where the wedding reception will be held has to have about 10 square feet per person, at least, or if you want people to be really comfortable, consider up to 15 squared feet per person. This size is considered for a venue which can hold round tables at which from 6 to 10 people can sit. The dance floor should be spacious enough to have between 4 and 6 square feet per person as well.

How Big Should Reception Hall Be For Your Wedding (Photo by: Casper Moller)

Now, if you were to use your maths skills, you could multiply these figures by the number of people invited to attend, and you should find out just how big the wedding's reception venue should be. If in your area there is no indoor venue to hold as many guests you plan on having, then you have only 2 options:

- either reduce the number of guests – this option may cause some changes in the feelings of the people left out, so watch out.

- either consider an outdoor wedding reception. This will offer the possibility of expanding either the dancing floor, either the space between the tables can get bigger – in any case, this means you get to keep all of your guests coming.

However, one should check out all the venues and halls which can host parties as the person unning it will let you know whether they can host all of your guests or not, and they may even come up with some solutions, in case the space is tight.

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Martha Stewart must be the most known name when it comes to organizing a wedding – and she even has her own site where she posted a lot of useful information about planning a wedding. Taking a look at it, it is impossible not to get impressed and inspired, so let's take a quick look at some really interesting ideas for a wedding, even if you don't get married – you might change your mind by the end of the day.

Martha says that decorating for the wedding's reception starts with choosing the venue where it will be hold. For this, one has to visit more of them and to observe the lightning, the decor of the venue as is and imagine how will it look with more decors added just for the wedding. One has to also keep in mind the number of guests an the space offered for the dance floor.

Martha Stewart Wedding Reception Ideas (Photo by: Jose and Roxanne)

You probably have to choose the theme before the venue, so choosing it will be easier – but do have a few other options, in case the one you want can't be done. In case you didn't know, the light is very important while decorating – usually the warn light is preferred by most of the population, so make sure you ditch the tiring cold light bulbs, even if just for the evening.

The centerpieces placed on the tables should be more unconventional if you want a memorable wedding reception. However, whatever you choose should be really tall – over 20 inches tall – or quite low – under 12 inches. This will allow people from across the tables to communicate easier. Martha recommends to have a wedding planner, or someone in charge of little things, even in charge of solving little problems. Don't b afraid of exploring her website as well as other sites for more pieces of advice and ideas.

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Attending a wedding reception, you will notice that the water served is not from the sink, but bottled. In case you're preparing a wedding of your own, you too must think of a bottled water brand to buy. While the supermarkets may have lots and lots of bottled water to sell for a wedding reception, you should try and first decide a few things:

- what type of water do you want – still or sparkling, but it is best to have both types. Be sure to know that some brands of water may not have both types – sparkling and still, and it is best to buy both types from the same brand.

- do you want each guest to have their own bottle of water, or do you want a bigger bottle from which the guests will pour themselves some water when thy want to drink

Bottled Water For Wedding Reception (Photo by: Roger H. Goun)

- maybe you prefer the caterers to serve your guests with water, the way they do it in restaurants, but make sure your caterers have the training to be waiters to in this case.

In case you want something more original, you can use bottled water with personalized labels. The labels can be ordered separately, or one can order the whole bottle of water with such a label. For instance, beau-coup.com sells 2 sizes of bottles in cases of 24 bottles, for $41 for the smaller bottles (12 oz) or for $47 for the bigger bottles (16.9 oz). The labels costs $10 for a sheet of 10 labels, but you have to know just how long the labels are to make sure they will fir the bottles you plan on buying.

This is not the only site selling something like this, while some sites are specialized in selling the labels to the gay couples. Of course, the prices differ from site to site, while some sites will have more options than others, so don't be scared to check out more of them until you find the perfect solution.

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Today's weddings are very organized, and cards are being used at the tables to help seat the guests. I probably would have been better to just let everyone sit wherever they want, instead of arranging them according to some secret plan. However, if you want to have everything under (severe) control, not only do you get to place your guests at the tables, but you also get to offer them a specific seat around the table. In order to make things easier, these cards can be used, and they can have printed on them, the number of the table, or the name of the guest.

In order to make things go smoother, these cards should be placed on some card holders. The card holders should be chosen according to the wedding's theme, or they can be very simple.  Not only these card holders can be used to help he guests take their seat at the table faster, they can also double as wedding favors – after all, what will you do with so many of them after the wedding reception?

Card Holders For Wedding Reception (Photo by: Dorothy Thompson)

So, if you have a beach themed wedding, it is really easy to find some card holders hinting to the beach. In addition, you can try and make your own, by buying some plain card holders and decorating them wit seashells, or starfish and so on. For a fall wedding, using small plastic pumpkins to decorate these card holders seems like the best idea.

These card holders are not even very expensive, in fact they're dirt cheap as they cost about $1 for a piece. The style can be almost any you could think of: Baroque, picture frame, clip and so on and so forth. They can be black, silver or even full of color depending on the material they're made of.

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