First comes love, then comes the wedding ceremony, then comes a glamorous reception at an exquisite venue for 500 or so of your family and friends. This is the dream of many couples. After the ceremony, it’s time for entertainment-Time for food, drink, dancing, games and much more! It’s your day to enjoy and make sure your guests have a great time as well.
What is Wedding Reception
The wedding reception is a party held after the completion of the marriage ceremony. It is usually held to show warmth and hospitality for those who have attended the wedding. For the first time as a married couple, they receive family and friends. Entertaining guests after a wedding ceremony is traditional in most societies, and can last anywhere from half an hour to many hours.
Many of today’s popular wedding reception traditions can be traced to ancient Nigerian customs. The aso-ebi, a uniform cloth worn by family and friends symbolizes unity, togetherness and provides an opportunity for wedding guests to flaunt their fashion tastes. The wedding reception is also a great place to display the colours and theme of the wedding. Decorators and event planners can transform the reception space to a dream setting for your special day.
The responsibility of planning a flawlessly successful wedding reception can be daunting — from favors, food and drinks to entertainment, you have myriad details to consider. Just do your homework, make informed decisions, and strive to keep the mood festive.
General Context & The Nigerian Factor
Wedding receptions and every activity that goes together with it is getting too costly. In Nigeria, wedding reception is becoming an extravagant thing and a way to show off affluence, power and circle of friends and acquaintances. In the west, a wedding reception of about 400 guests is considered a great one while in Nigeria such a number at a wedding reception is considered small. The standard number of guests for a wedding in Nigeria is about 2000. This makes wedding in Nigeria really a very costly endeavor. Again, the new trend of Aso- ebi and giving gifts to all the guests who attend wedding reception adds much more cost to the wedding expenditure.
One thing you must bear in mind is that it is what you and your partner wants that matters. You don’t have to do something because people are doing it. However big or small you want to plan your wedding reception; you must always walk with your budget, endeavor to stick to it and do not forget to keep your eye on your long time goal to remain happy as a family.
It is right to have an idea of what to expect from a wedding hall when you are planning for your wedding reception. This definitely differs from couple to couple but recommendations and even testimonials are very essential when you are planning for a wedding reception. You need to take into account the reputation of the reception venue. In addition to excellent references, it ought to have very clean facilities and be affordable.
Wedding Reception Essentials
Irrespective of whether you are planning a big or small wedding, an indoor or outdoor wedding and so on, you need a good planning. The task of planning an impeccably successful wedding reception can be overwhelming — from special treatment, food, and drink to entertainment, setting for seats, and catering for children, you have innumerable things to put into consideration. Endeavor to do your homework well, make knowledgeable decisions, and make every effort to keep the mood festive but ensure you stay within the limit of your budget.
The basics of a wedding Reception
Before you start planning about the fun things such as decorations, music, caterer and food, you ought to be aware of a few wedding reception basics. Organize a timeline, decide on what style of wedding reception you fancy most, refer back to your wedding budget and secure a suitable venue for reception. Playing background music during meals and refreshments can be an added touch. Don’t overdo the reception decoration thing. The event alone should already be filled with food, dancing, and the excitement of the newly married.
Things to bear in mind when choosing a wedding reception
You should not take for granted the task of choosing a venue for your reception. You may wish to write done some essential questions to ask at any given center when shopping for a venue. Bring a camera to take photographs of each venue in your list is also necessary to help you make a final decision.
Model Questions to ask:
1) What the pricing packages are and what they embrace.
2) If the center has catering services on site or if you are required to provide yourself with such services.
3) If the cake can be made by the reception center or if you have to get a caterer to bake one for you.
4) The number of hours that are included in the venue rental
6) The number of waiters or bar attendants that will be provided based on the number of guests you are anticipating. And so on. Also check that the staffs at the reception venue are receptive and are people you feel comfortable to work with.
