Your wedding ceremony is over and you are now married. It was a complete success and now you can relax and enjoy the company of your guests at the reception.
To achieve an unforgettable wedding reception, it is essential to start planning months in advance. And make sure you choose the right venue, the right caterers and the right mix of people on your guest list.

You may find that you will need to book your reception venue at least six to twelve months before your wedding date to ensure your chosen venue is available.

If you are planning a civil garden ceremony, consider a reception venue that has an area available for your ceremony. Then after your ceremony, your guests can quickly relax and start to mingle while being served drinks by the venue staff. Nearby, the bridal party can also relax, and sip champagne while having your photos taken.

If you prefer a church ceremony or a civil ceremony in another location, try to choose a reception venue nearby so that you and your guests don?t have to travel too far between them.

The style of your reception will usually reflect the style of your wedding ceremony. If formal, a fully catered event, with a sit-down, three-course dinner is the most popular choice. If less formal, you could plan a buffet or cocktail style meal.

To help you choose a venue, shortlist a few and compare their facilities, and the menus and packages they offer.

Many venues can also handle all the small things such as flowers and decorations, leaving you time to arrange other aspects of your wedding.

Ask yourselves these questions - is the dining area spacious enough? Do you like their linen and table arrangements and will there be floral arrangements on the tables? Is the dance floor big enough? Will you have to provide your own sound system? Is an MC available? Is alcohol included?

If your choice is for a fully catered event at a reception venue you will be able to relax and enjoy yourself, knowing an expert is taking care of everything.

Once you book your venue, confirm it in writing so both you and the venue know exactly what has been booked. About a month before the big day let the venue know your seating plan. Then in the last week confirm the seating plan and any other last minute details.

You can also, with help, decide to hold the reception yourself at home, in a garden setting under a marquee or a hired hall. If you choose this option you will have to take responsibility for the entire event. To ensure the night runs smoothly only employ catering, hire and decoration businesses with plenty of wedding experience. Or, employ a wedding consultant to organise all the fine details.

Where ever you decide to hold your reception make sure you have the basics covered.

You need a place to greet your guests with a drink, a space to dance, somewhere for guests to leave presents and their coats. And don?t forget table decorations, place cards and special bags for guests to take home a piece of wedding cake. You need alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for guests and of course the tasting champagne.

Whatever you decide, with a well organised reception you and your new husband will be able to settle in, knowing that everything is covered, leaving you to celebrate, with your guests, your first evening of married life.

Reception etiquette
There are a few rules of protocol to observe once your reception is in progress.

Reception centre staff, or your hired staff will show your guests to the table seating you have arranged. If your wedding is a more informal one, you may like to allow guests to choose where they want to sit.

Guests should be enjoying the canap's, cocktails or pre-dinner drinks by the time the bridal couple arrives. Parents of the bride and groom usually sit near the bridal couple.

Choose your MC carefully. You need a person who is a competent speaker and a good organiser who can call the reception to order and introduce the next event in the proceedings. The MC should not dominate the reception and it is good to ensure an MC has had at least some experience or training in public speaking.

For a formal affair, toasts usually begin with a toast to the bride and groom, proposed by a friend. The groom responds and toasts the bridesmaids. This toast is responded to by the best man. The parents of the bride toast follows and the bride's father responds. The last toast is to the parents of the groom.

The more informal the wedding, the less rigorous is the protocol. At many informal weddings, the toast to the bride and groom may be all that is needed.

The speeches are followed by reading the telegrams (or these days emails) from people unable to attend the wedding and the wedding cake should be cut after the speeches and toasts are all finished.

Cake is served later over coffee and remember to wrap pieces for people who can't be there.

After the formalities, it's time for the bridal waltz, the first dance of the evening.

The bridal couple is traditionally first on the dance floor and is joined soon after by the couple's parents and then by the guests.

And the last, often most long awaited act of the evening is the tossing of the bridal bouquet.

Then it's off to the bridal suite and then to the honeymoon.

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