Wedding Reception Ideas: Capturing The Best Parts of the Party

Wedding Resources

While a wedding reception generally closes out the end of your big day, this latter portion is no less important than the ceremony itself! It only makes sense to celebrate after saying “I do!” I’m sharing the reasons why the reception is my favorite part to capture and the many wedding reception ideas I’ve discovered along the way!

wedding reception ideas for guest seating

Wedding Reception Ideas: Where to Begin

When you don’t already have a wedding reception vision, the next best thing is having the venue determine the look of the evening. Selecting an all-inclusive site for both your ceremony and reception makes this process seamless. Otherwise, couples often opt for a separate wedding reception venue.

bride hugging bridesmaids after speeches

Some newlyweds will even hold the ceremony and reception as two separate events adding a unique style to each (like this couple did!). When doing an adventure elopement, a couple may simply spend their celebration in the same spot where they exchanged vows. The bottom line is that the number of options out there is enough to make it your own!

Top Tips & Tricks For Your Wedding Reception Timeline

I have encountered some common errors in capturing the number of wedding receptions I have over time. Fortunately, we can plan around these by pulling from wedding reception timeline examples and my own experience to guide your plans.

These are my top tips for making a reception that utilizes your wedding reception ideas and ends the day with all the excitement that it deserves.

What to AVOID

Long Speeches: the most common timeline killer is the reception speeches running too long. These should be thought of as toasts rather than full speeches and should be kept short. Your guests do not want to sit through an entire hour of speeches which instead can be done at the rehearsal dinner. If the toasts are going to be longer, be honest with your wedding vendors as this highly impacts the rest of your wedding schedule.

bridesmaid gives speech during reception

Long Songs: Don’t play the entire five-minute song for the parent dances. Playing the song for 30 seconds to a minute is all that you need.
Lasers: Ask your DJ or lighting person to avoid lasers while your photographer is present. We will not photograph with them on as it damages the camera’s sensor!

What TO DO

Setup/Cleanup: Make vendors responsible for setup, cleanup and making space for your getaway car. Don’t place this responsibility on a friend or family member.

Allow Time for Details: make time for your wedding and reception photographer to capture detailed photos of your empty reception space. You have put so much effort into your choices and design–they deserve to be captured. Make sure the guests set their bags and jackets in the cocktail hour space instead so these don’t interfere with your reception look.
Set aside items for a late night flatlay shot!

How I Capture Your Reception Photography

There are ways to approach the party so it’s best set up to capture your wedding reception photography. These are the tactics I use to ensure your photos look amazing!

wedding reception ideas for table in outdoor venue

guests searching wall with flowers for table number

I suggest that the one giving the toast stand beside the two of you so you can easily be captured reacting to what they share. This allows for photographing guest reactions better too.
Place items set to be photographed at the more photogenic sections of your reception space avoiding areas where loose equipment or catering supplies may be stored.

wedding reception ideas for guest seating chart

Most valuable is the wedding reception photography lighting which may include using a combination of natural light and flash. That’s why it helps for me to check out the space prior to the start of the evening to capture details and test the lighting.

Also important to note is that your wedding photography coverage may not include that I stay until the end of the evening. Unless there is a grand exit (sparklers for example) I will often stay for the first hour of dancing or until a little after a wedding reception dress change.

This is usually when dancing starts as lights go down and glow sticks come out which doesn’t require hours of coverage. We will just make sure that any activities happening during dancing take place at the start so we don’t miss photographing them.

Wedding Reception Ideas That I Know Work!

These are some of my favorite wedding reception ideas that I’ve seen my couples use for their post-ceremony celebrations!

Wedding Reception Dress Change: I highly recommend this especially in warmer months! You will get hotter while dancing and it is fun to have a shorter cocktail style dress to switch into. Often brides who have their hair down will also put it up for this second look.

bride making entrance into reception with dress change

After-Party: this is the party after the reception which can take place at your venue or a nearby bar or hotel (reserved beforehand). These two decided to have a late-night snack from McDonalds at their after-party!

couple enjoying McDonalds during after party

Wedding Guest Dance Shoes: provide flip flops or other disposable comfortable shoes for guests to slip into.
Glow Sticks to use while dancing. These always make for fun party vibes!
Dessert Table, or even a donut wall instead of just cake.