Wedding Planning Tips

We are getting married in May 2012 & we plan to have a reception back home for all of our friends and family.. We would like a Vegas themed reception. I was thinking about taking lots of pictures and using them as a slideshow to make it feel as if our guests were actually there .. Also , our colors are black/red/white. I’m trying to come up with ideas as to party favors, center pieces, and any other ideas that anyone has. I’ve never been to a wedding reception so any insight would be great. We were planning to get poker tables and black jack tabels for our guests to gamble a little bit and have some fun.

I’m having my ceremony and wedding reception in the same room, my situation is a little different then some of the ones I’ve read on here. My situation is this…we will have the ceremony and then once the ceremony is over I planned on leaving with the bridal party and parents to go get pictures done. Then come back to the venue for cocktail hr before dinner but our venue requires an hr to set up the reception area. That is why we decided this would be a good time to get our pictures done. I’m just not sure what to do with the guests that won’t be coming to get photos done. There is a restaurant in the venue, or is it even my responsiblity to worry about this??? Please help!!!

Showing a slide show of photos of the newly weds? Tacky or a good idea?

150-200 people…buffet-style meal and space for a live band!

Hi everyone,
I was planning on having a large seafood platter at our wedding reception but I’m not sure how to make it work. We’re having a cocktail-type reception with only finger food being served.
There will be roughly 50 guests but we are only setting up about 30 seats at tables and the rest will be those tall, small trestle tables (I think that’s what they’re called lol). Mostly because I know a few won’t be eating and will only be there for the alcohol (my fiance’s family are all alcoholics).
With it being that kind of reception there is no way to put individual dishes out for people to dip their hands in to clean up after they are done eating the seafood. I considered just having peeled prawns and oysters but really wanted to have crab there. I also considered just having little dishes for people to rinse their fingers in on the large dining tables, but then its possible more than one person will use the same dish.
Any advice or recommendations on what to do here? Anyone else been through this?

My fiance and I have been engaged for about 2 years now. We have considered every idea you could possibly think of when it comes to getting married. We’ve contemplated having a small wedding, big wedding, destination wedding, eloping. Me personally, I don’t necessarily like to be the center of attention, so I don’t think that a big wedding is for me. Whenever I think of having a small wedding, I realize how huge our families are, and I don’t want to offend anyone by not inviting them. The same for a destination wedding, not to mention the money we would have to spend. So, I’m thinking about just getting married at a courthouse in the little town where my fiance’s parents got married, and then having a reception right afterwards so we can still celebrate with our friends and family. Of course we wouldn’t expect any gifts, but do you think people would think it was rude of us to invite them to a reception without having a wedding they can attend? Also, would it be okay for us to still wear a wedding dress and tux?

I would possibly like some personalized party favors as well.

I know about chocolate kisses but wanted some more ideas that were a little unique. Its for about 100 guests

Hello!
I’m getting married in June. I totally fell in love with the idea of having my wedding reception in my Fiance’s parents back yard. I’m looking more into the details and was wondering what I need to do in order to make it happen. Ex: Noise Ordinance, city permission, neighbors??? Any info is greatly appreciated!

My hubby (a former dancer) and I have been taking ballroom dance class quite intensively for almost three years, and we have competed in dozens of ballroom dancing competitions and have actually won few of them.
Our question concerns when we attend wedding receptions that incorporate ballroom dancing. Sometimes I’m afraid that we’ll end up “outdancing” the couple, the members of the wedding party, and the other guests. We don’t want to draw attention away from the bride and groom, but at the same time we do want to celebrate with them.
For example last autumn, at my best friend’s wedding in Miami, My husband and I did a salsa number that include multiple hammerlocks, Sombrero Enganchado, and other sexy moves. We received hysterical cheers from the female guests every minute or two through the dance. my best friend didn’t mind the ’spectacle’ at all, in fact she thought it was a pleasant surprise and very entertaining. later I found that the mother of the bride and several other guests expressed their disapproval towards my dancing to my friend (I should have noticed how they frowned at me after the reception). Nevertheless I personally thought that it was a good clean fun.
Is there a rule of etiquette regarding dancing at wedding receptions?