There are lots of things that your wedding should be, but enjoyable is the most important one. A big party should involve plenty of drinking, eating and dancing, not to mention post-wedding gossip about who did what and with whom. After all, you want to remember the reception for years to come, and you shouldn’t recall it for all the wrong reasons.

Sadly, some couples get caught up in the minor details and forget that a wedding is about fun. If you do this, you’re bound to regret a few features of your big day when you take stock. Why did you invest so much time and money into seat covers? Like, who cares how their chair looks?! The answer is nobody, and if there is a handful of guests who take those things seriously, they probably shouldn’t have been invited in the first place!

The best celebrations flow and don’t require any maintenance. They are personal and include fun things that everybody enjoys. They’re the times you never forget, regardless of how old you are. With that in mind, it’s essential to plan the most fun and exciting wedding reception ever.

Here are the elements you shouldn’t underestimate when you’re organizing your big day.

Set The Tone

Invitations are more than practical pieces of paper that highlight when the reception will take place and the location. You might not think this now, yet the invites are also integral concerning the tone of your wedding. Run-of-the-mill invitations are fine, especially if you’re on a budget as they are affordable. However, they aren’t original – your guests have seen them a million times before, which is why they have no wow factor.

Unique wedding invitations are different since they are crafted with creativity and innovation in mind. Whether you decide to personalize them or make a witty joke, the recipients will instantly love the invites and take note of the day. That’s right – they’ll look forward to the wedding for the next couple of months.

Although you assume everyone will do this, it isn’t always the case. Some guests only feel the mood and vibe when they arrive and see the bride. By taking the time to create special invitations, you will show your guests that the atmosphere is already popping, and the wedding has started yet!

An excellent tip is to look at the new apps that are on the market, as they let you upload photos, videos, and games.

Arrange Guests With Fun In Mind

A typical seating plan involves putting people who know each other in the same vicinity. While it’s easy to see why this is a thing, it’s also played out. Even worse, it encourages guests to interact in a bubble, only speaking and joking with the people they know. You need everyone to branch out and introduce themselves to as many people as possible, which is why the seating plan is essential to the reception.

Of course, there are some traditions that you won’t want to break, such as placing the parents at the top table along with the best man and chief bridesmaid. Other than that, pretty much everybody else is fair game. So, with that in mind, you should think about the different personalities and how they’ll complement one another throughout the day.

Guests aren’t going to sit next to each other all day, as once the reception is over, a wedding becomes a free-for-all. Still, they have to eat and listen to the speeches together, which is quite a long time. Therefore, your quirky friends who are comfortable in social situations could be perfect companions.

Alternatively, you might want to seat your outgoing guests next to reserved characters to bring them out of their shells.

Keep The Toasts Short

Speaking of the toasts, they shouldn’t go on all night long. Yes, the father of the bride is going to want to take the opportunity to fawn over his little girl, and you can’t blame him. It’s a big day for the parents as well as the couple. However, it’s about one person, not even you and your lovely partner.

The best weddings understand that the reception shouldn’t drag because guests can’t sit and listen to soppy speeches all day long. Everybody has one thing on their minds – drinking and hitting the dance floor! As such, it’s vital to keep the speeches under ten minutes so that your guests aren’t sitting around waiting for a break.

How do you do this without hurting anyone’s feelings? Well, it’s not straightforward because you’re not going to cut your dad off in the middle of an anecdote. You’ll have to trust him to stick to his allotted time slot, and if he goes over a little, don’t sweat it. The main thing is to try and limit the number of speakers.

Usually, there are three speeches – father of the bride, the groom, and the best man – and that’s enough. If your friends and family members want to get on the mic, tell them they can make a speech after dinner or before the musical act starts.

Rethink The Drink Situation

A little liquid courage is what helps weddings go through the gears as the day grows long. When guests are well-oiled, they lose their inhibitions and don’t care about dancing and how they look to other people. All they care about is having a good time, which is how a wedding should be in a perfect world.

The good news is that you can provide people with all the bravery they need by rethinking the drink situation. Instead of paying for a free beverage for the wedding party, for instance, you could invest in a cocktail bar. Cocktails are cool, and they are interactive and engaging to the point where groups of people will line up to create their own concoction.

Aside from the drinks, you can rethink the dinner menu, too. The traditional method of serving food to individual tables is nice, yet it’s not very fun. Placing bowls on the tables and letting people help themselves, however, adds a new element to your reception. Plus, it’s a savvy way to get guests to mingle.

There’s nothing wrong with a buffet if that’s your thing. It hits all the right notes, and it’s cost-effective, so you can’t complain about its effectiveness!

Hire An Experienced Band

The band has a considerable role to play. Without great music, you’re going to struggle to create an environment that’s fun and exciting. So, it’s better to opt for musicians with experience of playing weddings as they understand what people like. After all, there will be different demographics, and not everybody is going to enjoy one genre of music.

You might have to pay more for a quality band, but it’s worth the investment. As a rule, the music is something you should splash out on because of its importance. If you’re on a tight budget, it might be worth ring-fencing money for the band as you would the food and venue. That way, you’ll spread out the expenses of the less important stuff across the board without taking away from the entertainment.

As usual, you should try before you buy. In this case, it means watching them perform live before hiring them to take control of the music on your big day. You can tell a lot about a band by how they sound and act live. Relying on the internet is a good base, yet the recording might gloss over elements that you find non-negotiable.

You can request a setlist and have your say, but you shouldn’t try and dictate what they play. The performers in the band are professionals and understand how to structure the songs to ensure guests remain glued to the dancefloor.

Section Off A Lounge Area

When you think about fun, the last thing you imagine is people sitting down in comfy chairs taking a break from the festivities. However, if you are honest, you’ll realize that you can’t enjoy yourself to the fullest all day long. At some point, the guests will need to recharge so that they can end the night strong.

Thankfully, weddings have natural ebbs and flows, such as when the dinner finishes and people go back to their rooms to chill and change before the night reception. Still, that might not be enough, especially if some of your guests are older and need to take the weight off their feet regularly. 

Having a lounge area where the vibe is relaxed and laid back provides people with the opportunity to take a break. Also, you’ll find that it’s an excellent place for guests to socialize as different members of the wedding party will congregate there throughout the night.

A fantastic tip is to have it outside so that the smokers and non-smokers have a place to gather. All you need is an overhead cover in case it rains and heaters for when the temperature drops.

Conclusion

A fun wedding is about setting the perfect tone and getting people to socialize naturally, and you can do that with original invites, quality music, and interactive elements from food to drinks.