Are you planning your first wedding? Are you looking for guidance through the process? Then you’ve come to the right place. Our wedding experts have created articles that will help answer the most pressing and common concerns couples have at this stage of planning. Don’t worry about researching everywhere for the information you need. We’ve made it easy for you.

If you’re struggling to put together a fun and fabulous wedding reception for all of your guests, we’ve got great entertainment and decoration ideas. You’ll also find information on writing and presenting the dreaded wedding reception speech (a good resource for the best man and maid of honor if they are feeling a less nervous about this part).

You’ll also find articles about planning that seating chart for your reception. Even if you’re not at that stage of planning yet, you can probably imagine how difficult it will be to make everyone happy with their seating assignments.

Of course, the reception is only part of the wedding. You definitely don’t want to forget those delightful wedding favors your guests can keep forever as keepsakes, right? Well, we have plenty of articles to help you choose the right favors for your celebration, even if you’re on a tight budget.

Additionally, many of our articles here tackle important etiquette issues. For instance, you’ll find answers about whether or not to include the lighting of a unity candle in your ceremony or whether or not you need a wedding planner. Other articles will help you choose a caterer, pick a theme for your wedding, or purchase the perfect accessories for your beautiful dress.

Remember if you have questions about wedding planning, then we have the answers.

General Wedding Reception Ideas

What is Your Wedding Style? | When you’re planning your fabulous wedding, you want to make it a reflection of your personality. Sure, the groom’s tastes and input is a little important – he should help set the budget and create the guest list, of course. But the wedding day is really about the bride and that’s why the wedding should be a reflection of your style ...

Wedding Guest Books | While you already know who has promised to attend your wedding, that doesn't mean you'll know who all actually did arrive. Plus, you probably want something a little nicer than a box of response cards to remember who shared your special day. That's why a guest book is such an important idea. Like most parts of your wedding, you'll find plenty of choices for ...

Wedding Reception Planning Tips and Advice | Let me start off with a shocking statistic that you probably didn't know: nearly 40% of your entire wedding budget is going to be spent on your reception. That's something you'll want to keep in mind as you are setting the budget for your entire wedding and deciding what you can afford. Now let's talk about how you're going to spend ...

Wedding Reception Decoration Ideas | Wedding receptions are basically just very large, very expensive parties for your friends and family members. Like any party, the decorations do matter. When you first step into your reception location, you may realize it's not a very festive spot, but it's up to you to turn things around and make the place beautiful ...

Wedding Reception Entertainment Ideas | Wedding receptions are like giant parties for all of the most important people in your life. Besides the food and the alcohol, you also need some excellent entertainment to keep your guests from sitting in their chairs and getting bored. You definitely don't want your guests checking their watches after ...

Guide to Wedding Reception Speeches | When you're planning your wedding party, you will obviously be including a best man, maid of honor, plus a few groomsmen and bridesmaids but what about a flower girl and/or ring bearer? The question of whether to place someone in these roles for your wedding is going to be an important one for you to answer if you have young children in ...

Reception Accessories for a Memorable Wedding Reception | Although your ceremony is important, the real treat of any wedding is the reception. After all, it's the largest and most expensive party most of us will ever throw for our friends and family members. And, of course, you want everything to be special starting with the cake. Choosing Your Wedding Cake ...

Sample of Wedding Reception Format | Although booking the vendors and making choices about cakes, menus, and entertainers are critical parts of your reception planning, you can't overlook another vital element: the schedule of events. Even if you're normally a spontaneous person who hates even hearing the word “schedule,” you still need to put one together for ...

Creating Seating Charts for Weddings | Putting together a seating chart is one of the most important – and difficult – parts of planning both your ceremony and your reception. That's why it's a good idea to follow some of the tips below so your seating decisions will be a little easier. Ceremony Seating : Ceremony seating can be pretty straightforward. Traditionally, one side ...

Avoid Wedding Reception Disasters | When you've spent so much time and money planning your wedding reception, the last thing you want to see happen is a disaster that ruins everything – or, at least, seems like it does. The good news is that most common disasters can be averted with a little bit of planning. MIA Entertainment : A reception without entertainment is like ...

Sample of Wedding Ceremony Order | While most of your time and energy will probably be devoted to planning your reception, you can't leave out another important part of your plans: deciding on the order of your ceremony. You'll need to speak with your officiant about his or her suggestions for the order (generally they have more experience on these matters), but ...

Putting Together a Wedding Day Emergency Kit | No matter how much you plan. No matter how much you try to cover all your bases. No matter how well you prepare. There’s a good chance that something may go wrong on your wedding day. The good news is that small problem doesn’t have to explode into a wedding-ruining disaster if you have a done a little preparation for just such a possibility ...

Dealing with Wedding Stress | While a wedding is an incredible and wonderful day, those weeks and months leading up to that phenomenal experience can be full of stress and tension. Sure, stress can be healthy when it makes you give it your all but when it just keeps reminding you about everything you have to accomplish and how little time you have left then it can be disastrous for your health ..

Wedding Favor

Affordable Wedding Favor Ideas | Traditionally, wedding guests are given gifts either at the end of the ceremony or at the reception. Originally, these gifts – known as bonbonnieres – were five sugared almonds wrapped in tulle and tied with a decorative ribbon. The almonds represented good luck and other good wishes for the guest. Today, the tradition continues but ...

Wedding Favors by Theme | You've taken the time to choose the perfect theme for your wedding and you've probably taken great care to make sure most of your wedding elements match that theme, so don't stop when it comes to choosing wedding favors for your guests. With a little creativity, you can find ideal wedding favors that match your theme and that will make a great impression ...

The Ideas and Content of Your Wedding Favor Tag | While not mandatory, some couples opt for giving a small token of their appreciation to all of the guests. These wedding favors, sometimes referred to an bomboniere, are passed out either at the end of the ceremony or during the reception. And, of course, if you choose to distribute wedding favors you'll need to print up some wedding ...

Create Long-Lasting Memories with Personalized Favors | Although you may remember your wedding day forever as if it just happened yesterday, your guests may not be so lucky. Remember they've probably been to dozens of weddings. So if you want to keep your wedding fresh in their memories then consider providing personalized wedding favors to all of your guests ...

Choosing Beach Wedding Favors for Your Guests | So you’ve decided on a beach theme for your wedding. Maybe you’ve decided to tie the knot on the beach beside a beautiful watery view or while standing on a fantastic boat. Maybe you’re miles away from the nearest beach but you’ve decided to decorate your wedding and reception site with palm trees, sand boxes, murals of sunsets ...

Wedding Favor Mistakes to Avoid | Wedding favors are not a required part of your planning, but they are definitely a nice touch. Most couples give something to their guests, even if it’s just a small item because it shows that you appreciate their presence at your event. However, even though the wedding favors aren’t mandatory, if you do decide to pass them out to your guests, make sure ...

Choosing Wedding Party Gifts for Children | As you probably already know, tradition says you should thank each member of your wedding party with an appropriate gift. Many couples choose to make things easy for themselves by buying the same gift for everyone, such as a monogrammed wine glass (the couple's monogram not each wedding party member's). While it's never ...

Wedding Theme

Cruise Wedding Theme | Taking a cruise is a wonderful way to relax but having a cruise wedding theme is an even better way to celebrate your special day. Whether you can actually take a ride on the open water or whether you're having a landlocked boat-themed party, you'll find a cruise wedding theme to be a great choice ...

Hawaii Wedding Theme | An island paradise might be your dream location for your wedding, but if you can't make that a reality or if you don't want to leave your guests behind on the mainland, then why not create a wedding with a Hawaiian theme? From traditional attire to traditional food, you can have a Hawaiian wedding without straying ...

Las Vegas Wedding Theme | Having a Las Vegas wedding is definitely something you'll never forget but not everyone wants to drag their entire wedding party and guest list to Nevada to experience one. The good news is that doesn't mean you can't bring a little bit of the casino action and neon lights to your own wedding without ...

Jewish Wedding Theme | Choosing to have a Jewish wedding is a big decision. The wedding no longer becomes simply a celebration of your commitment to one another but also a celebration of your religion and of your beliefs. To create a beautiful Jewish wedding, here are some tips to consider ...

Indian Wedding Theme | Many couples love Western weddings, but they want to do something unique, especially if they come from non-Western cultures. Indian weddings are growing in popularity in the United States, and more couples are embracing elements from this culture as ways to add something special to their own weddings ...

Irish Wedding Theme | Whether you are Irish or just a fan of Irish culture, having an Irish wedding theme is definitely a unique way to celebrate customs that have been around for hundreds of years. Plus, the Irish are known for having a great time at parties so it definitely makes sense to incorporate some of that fun into your ...

Chinese Wedding Theme | Today, more interest is given to Asian cultures than ever before and more couples are looking for ways to infuse their Western ceremonies with Eastern elements. That's why many consider having a Chinese theme for their wedding. Traditions : One of the most important parts of a Chinese wedding is ...

Catholic Church Wedding Theme | As a celebration of both their faith and their love, many couples choose to have a very traditional Catholic Church wedding. Although there are a number of rules you'll be expected to follow in order to have this type of wedding, couples who feel strongly about their religion find the effort ...

Miscellaneous

Creative Ideas to Make Your Wedding Unique & Beautiful | Although weddings are fairly traditional events, that doesn't mean you can't throw in some creativity in order to make your event truly special not just for you but for everyone attending. Below are a few ideas that might help you start brainstorming your own one-of-a-kind ideas ...

Who Pays for the Wedding? | One of the big questions on most couple's minds when they're starting to plan a wedding is who pays for what. After all, a wedding is an expensive event to put together and the costs can be daunting. Today, there are no hard and fast rules about who pays for the wedding. Often families divide up the costs based on what ...

Do You Need a Wedding Planner? | A few decades ago, most weddings were planned by the bride and her family with a little input from the groom and his family. Wedding planning was something private to be handled just by the people who cared most about the event. Today, more and more couples are turning to wedding planners for assistance in putting together ...

Wedding Dances; The Etiquette and Ideas | Although your reception needs to have plenty of time for people to mingle, talk, and do their own thing, you'll also need to set aside time in your schedule for some very important wedding dances. Some of these dances are traditional and are almost always included in the wedding festivities; others are optional and ...

Wedding Candle: The Unity Candle Tradition | Weddings are full of symbolism, but nowhere is this more obvious than with the lighting of the unity candle. However, you may be surprised at how this romantic tradition became part of so many modern weddings. While the tradition's exact origins are not known, experts believe it developed in the ...

Tossing the Bouquet Tradition | One fun part of many wedding receptions is the bouquet toss. The bride gathers all of the single women around her, then she turns her back towards them and throws the bouquet into the anxious crowd. Why might they be anxious? Well, the tradition says the woman who catches the bouquet will be the next to get married and ...

Garter Tossing Do’s and Don’ts | Wedding receptions are often built around a specific schedule of activities, including the first dance and the cutting of the cake. Some of those activities are a little bit more risque than others. The garter toss would definitely be one of them. Tossing the garter is a very old wedding tradition that ...

Choosing Wedding Cake Toppers | Traditionally, wedding cake toppers were just little bride and groom figurines that didn't have much personality. Some of them were made of cheap plastic which just didn't look very good on the tops of gorgeously decorated wedding cakes. The good news is that you can now buy wedding cake toppers in hundreds of styles, particularly ...

Choosing a Wedding Cake to Match Your Wedding Theme | When you've gone to all of the trouble of choosing a theme, creating matching invitations, decorating the reception hall and ceremony location for consistency, and everything else you've done to make your wedding theme stand out, you don't want to have an ordinary wedding cake. Instead, you want to select a cake ...

Making a Memorable Wedding Toast | Wedding toasts are a fairly common part of receptions. Generally, a guest or member of the wedding party stands, asks for the other guests' attention, says a few words, and asks everyone to drink their champagne in honor of what was just spoken. Toasts are different than wedding speeches in that they are usually much shorter. While ...

A Do-It-Yourself Wedding | With the costs of weddings exceeding the price of a new automobile or the down payment for a home, many couples are finding it harder and harder to stretch their budgets enough to have that dream wedding. Vendors can be expensive as most couples quickly discover. That's why some couples have chosen to have a do-it-yourself wedding ...

Choosing a Catering Company for Your Dream Wedding | Choosing a caterer for your wedding reception is one of the most important decisions you'll be making. The food bill is actually one of the largest reception expenses and can vary greatly from caterer to caterer so does the quality of the food. That's why you'll need to be selective when you're choosing ...

Tips for Cutting the Wedding Cake | Cutting the wedding cake is one of the most anticipated parts of your reception. Sure it may not be the biggest moment for the two of you – that was probably when you said “I do” - your guests will want to see this special moment. Plus, it's definitely one of the events you'll want photographed for posterity ...

Bridal Advice

Bridal Beauty Advice for the Perfect Wedding Day | One of the most important parts of your wedding is your attire. Because you're going to be the center of attention, you want to look stunning and that begins, of course, with your wedding dress. You probably have a particular wedding dress style in mind already, but remember that the dress ...

Bridal Accessories for the Perfect Wedding Ceremony | While your wedding dress is probably the most important part of your planning for the big event, you'll also need a few other touches to make the entire event seem amazing. Some of these are, of course, optional but do add something special to any wedding ceremony ...