Choosing Your Reception Site
April 26th, 2006 Posted in Wedding Planning and Ideas
Your reception is a time where you should be able to relax a little, enjoy some fine foods, and celebrate your new marriage with those you love. During your wedding planning, find a reception site that will allow you to do just that.
Receptions, like wedding ceremonies, can be help almost anywhere. You can be as creative as you like for your wedding day party.
Hotels and colleges offer ballrooms and party rooms and your church probably has a fellowship hall you can use. Many resorts offer indoor and outdoor gathering areas and your loval park may even have an area for a fun outdoor celebration.
Wherever you choose to celebrate your reception is up to you. As you investigate various places, here are questions you want to be sure to ask the reception site manager.
- How much will it cost to use this site? What’s the payment plan? Is there a reception package? What’s included, and how much does it cost?
- How long will you have the site? Is there an overtime fee if you stay longer? Must you rent the site for a minimum amount of time?
- Are tables, chairs, plates, and glasses available, or will you have to provide (rent) them yourself or get them through your caterer? This can send your costs sky-high.
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- Is there an in-house caterer (or a list of "preferred" caterers), or must you provide your own? Can you choose to use an outside caterer instead?
- Must you leave everything as is, or can you move things around and decorate to suit your purposes? Are there decoration guidelines?
- Is there a dress code — coat and tie after 6 p.m., for example?
- Does the site have restrictions on what kind of music you can play, or a time at which music must be turned off?
- Will someone who works at the location supervise your wedding? This should be the person you plan with, not someone you won’t meet until the wedding.
You will also want to check on parking at the site of your reception and restroom facilities (both of these are often forgotten but important to your guests). Find out also if the site has liability insurance.
If you are deciding on a reception site you want to get in writing the schedule for the weekend. Find out when you can get in for decorating and when the place has to be cleared out and cleaned up by. These logistics will be important to your florist, caterer, and anyone else helping with decorating your reception site.