Typical Wedding Reception Program Advice and Tips

Probably the most memorable event of your life will be your wedding, so it stands to reason that the arrangements for it will be quite extensive and elaborate. This includes everything, right down to the arrangements for the wedding reception.

If you're getting ready to plan a reception, here's a look at how a standard one usually goes.

The typical reception begins soon after the wedding ceremony, maybe 15 minutes after the couple exits the auditorium. Once the guests arrive, they are received and seated.

If you have a seating plan, this plan is followed. If not, the guests find their own seats, with whomever they'd like to sit.

After this, make sure that the primary sponsors and parents are led to their seats at the presidential table.

Once most people are seated, ask that the entourage members, except the primary sponsors and parents, assemble around the receiving area. They must assemble at the same time.

The flower girls are the first called, then the ring bearers, then the secondary sponsors, next the groomsmen accompanying the bridesmaids, and finally, the best man, coming with the maid of honor.

After this, the couple makes their grand entrance, to the accompaniment of effects such as confetti, bubbles, fog, etc.

Once the couple is in, properly acknowledge the parents and the primary sponsors, allowing them to stand and wave. Then request the couple to go to the cake area for the cake cutting ceremony. This is followed by the formal champagne toast and, if you're having this, a release of doves.

Next comes a prayer of thanksgiving done by the maid of honor. After this comes the meal, in which the guests are called for pitures with the bride and groom. After this, they go to the buffet table to run things at the table.

Once everyone has food and once they'er all seated, the guest performer does his or her number. If there is an audio-visual presentation, it comes next.

After this, the best man does a grand toast, and then come words from well-wishers for the couple. You should only allow a few of these, lest things get too bogged down.

After this, the Father of the Bride dances along with the bride, and then the groom dances with his bride. Other dances, if done, can come after this.

Near the end of the event comes the bouquet-tossing ceremony, in which the bride tosses a bouquet of flowers to the single ladies; there is also a garter ceremony, in which the groom shoots the bride's garter to the single men.

There are lots of variations to this plan. Some wedding receptions don't have live performers, for instance, and some incorporate a dance in which the groom's mother dances with her son.

But by following this standard program as much as possible, veering only where you've made a couple of customizations, you can be sure that your reception will be close enough to traditional that nobody will complain, yet original enough that nobody will get bored.

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