Outline of a modern wedding reception

As the guests arrive from the Ceremony site, they will come in to the reception hall, get oriented to the room and start socializing. This is generally known as the Cocktail Hour or social hour. Some nice easy listening music played lightly in the background works well for this.

The Bride, Groom and the bridal party will begin to arrive after post-ceremonial photographs are taken. The DJ/MC (Master of Ceremonies) and Coordinator will organize a "Grand Entrance" aka "Bridal Party Announcement". There are many great songs that will accompany this event.

As everybody finds their seat and people start to think about eating, the Best Man will be the first to propose a Champaign Toast to the Bride and Groom. It is then traditional with many faiths that a Blessing be made before the meal.

Then the Dinner or lunch announcement is made. The Bride & Groom are the first to be served.

Toward the end of the meal the Bride and Groom, having been fed first, will begin a Table Visitation to thank their guests for sharing their wedding day with them. The Emcee could go into a variety of activities during this time, such as a Centerpiece Givaway, the longest married couple, the furthest travelled, etc.

As the post-meal activities end, it is generally the time to begin a block of dancing. Traditionally, the Bride and Groom will have a chosen personal favorite song for their First Dance. This is usually followed by various appropriate family dances, such as the Father/Daughter Dance and the Mother/Son Dance. This may be followed by inviting the Bridal Party out on the dance floor to get things moving a little more. The dance floor then gets opened up for everyone to join in the fun.

After about a half hour or so of dance floor excitement, the Cake Cutting is announced. Everyone is invited to the wedding cake to witness the bride and groom cutting and sharing the first taste of their cake, afterwhich, the cake will be served up for the guests by the vendors.

This can be a good time to start off a Money Dance or an Honor Dance. This activity is a chance for each guest to be able to have a one on one dance with the bride and groom – usually to the beat of soft love songs and ballads. If it’s a Money Dance, the guests may offer monetary gifts to the couple.

As the DJ sees the Honor Dance line finish off, more popular dance songs are put on to get the crowd going again on the dance floor. Then within this new block of dancing, the guests should be quite warmed up to doing the Bouquet Toss and Garter Removal. These traditions are to signify that whichever unmarried lady catches the bouquet will be the next to get married as well as the bachelor who catches the garter.

From there, dancing may commence until it is time for a Send Off of the newlyweds or a Last Dance for the event.

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Article: as featured in Wed Magazine

Outline of a Modern Wedding Reception