The announcement of Mr and Mrs Traeger into the room, napkins turned into head pieces, a million photos of photo booth bombing, a tussle for the bouquet and garter, a bridal dance with a twist, a drunken father of the groom speech with snitzchel pack on repeat, tinking of cups, kisses, groping on the dance floor, Nut Bush City Limit and a tower of hands and hugs upon leaving... All in one crazy, fun, full of love and laughter night amongst bunting, candles, Hessian and all things rustic!
Yup, that pretty much sums up our reception; it certainly was a night that many won't forget for awhile. ..Oh and did I mention that we forgot to tell guests that the photo booth memories would be uploaded instantly onto Facebook? I'm sure the photos made a few people laugh as they watched the festivities of the night pan out!
Ohhhh what a night!
So just how did the night unfold?
6pm - ish....
Well we arrived late to our very own party as we were caught up in the moment of capturing photos with our wedding party.
Upon arrival our MC introduced everyone one by one into the venue.
Ohhhh our MC; what a trooper! You know you're in for a good night when the MC tells the guests off for being lazy buggers for not standing and cheering after a speech. After he proceeded to demand that every one stood up, cheered, clapped and hoo harred the atmosphere was set for the rest of the night.
6:30pm ish...the speeches were split up between the devouring of the yummy meals!
We kicked off with the father of the bride and groom speeches followed by entrée, the best man and bridesmaids speeches, the cutting of the cake and then my husband's beautiful speech.
My father in law proceeded to tell the story of our first date; a shared snitzchel pack from the local deli. After many digressions and drunken swaying he saved the day with a "well ummmm us blokes aren't very good at this but I um arrr really actually love Michael". It was super cute.
The photo booth proved to be a great hit; with lovely coupley photos at the start of the night to people bending each other over and sneaking in some sexually suggestive shots by the end! The photos printed off straight away and everyone's table setting name placement doubled as a thank you keep sake for one special photo to slip inside to be taken open and placed on the fridge.
8:30ish....
All was going fantastic until the MC said it was time for the bridal Waltz... Michael and I looked at each other and thought shit, the bridal dance... we'd totally forgotten to organize something!!! After rushing up to our band and giving them an idea of what we wanted, they whipped up a little something and we busted out this...
Needless to say it was probably my best memory of the whole night!!!
9ish...
Then came the garter toss. My husband pretended to be a raging Spaniard who slid across the floor and came up under my dress with my garter in his mouth!
The girls had abit more of a tussle for my bouquet with some serious contenders up front ready for a fight to the end!
9:30ish...
As the formalities wound down the dance floor fired up. I remember looking around and smiling because everyone looked like they were having a great time.
12:30ish...
Before we knew it, it was 1230 and time to go. After a quick change of knickers into my sexy lingerie and a reapply of my lippy, a guard of honour was formed and we kissed and hugged goodbye to our beloved guests.
Excited yet exhausted yet buzzing yet happy we drove off to spend our first night as husband and wife.
My Advice For Those Planning Their Receoption
Photo booths are great fun and provide you with many photos and memories of your guests super relaxed and having fun!
Plate drops worked well and saved oodles of money!
Don't underestimate how much alcohol your guests can consume; by 11 o clock our guests had drunken our $3000 bar tab and $1500 worth of wine! We ended up putting another $1000 on the bar (that was for 160 people!)
Live music is well and truly worth every cent. Yes it's cheaper to play an ipod but it doesn't create the same atmosphere as a band. Our band played a real mix of music from jazz to rock to old school new school and everything in between. Some of my best moments from the night are getting up and rocking out with our band, pretending to play the keyboard and seeing them going off!
Hire your photographer and videographer for the reception too. The night truly went so fast that it has been awesome being able to watch our dvd to re listen to the speeches and to be able to watch the day and night unfold. The celebrating is just as special as the ceremony and seeing the love, hugs, dancing and mingling between your families and different groups of friends is super special. There's so much that we missed because it's impossible to take everything in but our photos and videos have helped to fill in the blanks. A wedding is one day but photos and videos are forever.
Don't go too overboard with decorations. Think back to what you loved about a wedding. Do you remember the centre pieces? People may notice on the night when they first sit down but what makes the night is the couple, food, music and atmosphere. Spend more on these and less on the decorations and every one will leave with full bellies, sore feet, big smiles and a buzzing heart!
Don't forget a table and food for your band, photographer and videographer.
Pick a good MC who knows you well and will create an atmosphere and flow to the night that reflects your relationship.
Break up speeches between meals and then people won't get bored.
Enjoy the night! Don't stress over the little things just sit back and take it in all. You won't be able to spend time with everyone so just make sure you're enjoying yourself.
What did we do different?
We decided to sit on the bridal table all by ourselves. It gave us the opportunity to sit back, relax and take the night in. It meant that our bridal party could sit with their partners and enjoy the loved up occasion with them. It truly was one of the best decisions that we made. We got to steal little kisses and look around the room with so much love in our hearts seeing everyone mingling. It felt like going out to dinner on a cute little date but when you look around the room you know everyone. People approached us for a chat and photo opportunity instead of us having to race around like headless chooks to spend a fleeting moment with everyone. I'm so glad we broke tradition because I'm so grateful for that time with my husband.
What did you do differently at your reception?
How did your night unfold?
Look after yourself and those around you,
Kirsty xxx
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