The Reception

After creating an authentic and true ceremony, why would you want to go and pretend to be the Duke and Duchess of Whatsis at a ball? Unless, of course, you are the Duke and Duchess of Whasis – and if so, please forgive my gaffe.

We’re all for celebration, but if you make it authentic and make it completely about what is real and warm and honest in your lives – now, that’s a New American Wedding Reception that no one else would have staged in exactly the same way. And almost worth celebrating in itself!

We uncovered trends – like comfort food and cupcakes, country bands and bandanas, sunflowers and outdoor parties. But we want to hear your stories. What have you observed? What do you wish you’d see, or eat or listen to—but haven’t? What’s the next trend? We think the idea of “entertaining” is really central to a great reception. Think through what will make your guests feel comfortable, delighted, amused – entertained – by a brand that is yours alone. Do you agree?

And most of all - how have couples you know (or, perhaps – you) reflected very unique style in the way a celebration was planned and executed?

Comments

[Gillian Goldrich]

We certainly did it different! For Jack and I we were both getting married for the second time. We made all the arrangements ourselves. We planned a very small ceremony and reception. We decided to keep our wedding small and only invite our childen (we have 5 between the two of us). We also decided to keep the wedding a secret until the last minute so we did all the planning together keeping mum about the whole thing. We told the children we were taking them out for a "millenium dinner" (we got married in 2000)and that they could each invite one friend. We waited until the night before to tell them we were getting married the next day. There was no time for the girls to buy dresses, stress out or go and get their hair done! It was impromtu as we planned. We had 13 people at our wedding - we had a great time!

[Krista]

We had three things that were absolutely necessary in planning our reception. The first of which was a unique location- both of us wanted more than the exhausted hotel ballrooms, golf club houses, and garden tents. Secondly, because I was a serious vegetarian (and him a serious supporter), we decided to have an entirely vegetarian menu, though we decided not to boast this fact on the menu. We excluded tofu and other stereotypical ingredients, focusing instead on entrees that, we hoped, would show our guests how much they could enjoy a meal without meat without even realizing it. Lastly, my fiance and I were (and I) both very enthusiastic about children. We love their laughter, their anger, their curiosity, and felt that the dynamic of children at the reception would erase the usual stuffiness of weddings. After all, I recall asserting to family and friends, a wedding is one of the biggest celebrations of family and life that there is and we couldn't imagine excluding some of the most delightful parts of the family. Including children took more consideration in planning, as we had to imagine activities that they could also enjoy. In the end, though, the atmosphere of children and adults was a wonderful splendor.