Five
Tips To Help You Select The Best Reception Location
By
Tim and Tammy Smith
Owners of By Request DJ & Karaoke Company
http://www.byrequest.dj
byrequest@byrequest.dj
Being disc jockeys, we get the opportunity to evaluate many
reception facilities while having little or no bias to “sell”
one location over another. Most Brides and Grooms know where
they will be holding the ceremony before they decide where
to have the reception, so we have compiled five observations
that can help you when selecting your venue.
Distance - If people have to drive a long way to get from
the ceremony to the reception, some will get distracted or
decide to do something else. Try to keep the reception within
a 15 to 30 minute drive of your ceremony. If it is not possible
to get a reception hall close to your ceremony, make a caravan.
Have the Bride and Groom lead the parade, and people will
follow you to your reception.
Time – Time is just like the distance issue. If your
reception is several hours after the ceremony, people will
get busy doing other things and not show up for the reception.
Try to start the reception within an hour or two of the ceremony.
If you don’t want to start your wedding dance at 4 o’clock
in the afternoon, have a Meet and Greet mixer before your
reception. Serve some punch and get people to mingle. This
will be one of the few times that both families will be together.
Encourage family members to share stories about your childhoods.
Size - People like their personal space, and they have most
likely spent an hour packed into a church for your ceremony.
If you let them spread out, they will enjoy themselves more.
Make sure your reception hall has plenty of room for your
guests. The people renting the location might tell you it
holds 200 people, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will
hold 200 people comfortably! Make sure to visit the venue
before booking.
Climate Control - Having a summer wedding? Is your reception
hall air conditioned? If people sweat while just sitting,
they won't dance. On the flip side, if they are cold they
won't dance either (who wants to dance in a parka?). Also
make sure you know who has control of the thermostat so the
temperature can be adjusted if needed. Chances are your reception
will be warm and stuffy while all the guest are there, but
as they trickle out during the night the room will begin to
cool down.
Smoking - This is a hot button issue, but if your reception
hall is non-smoking, you can fully expect smoker's to leave
your reception for 15-30 minutes every hour. If enough of
them leave the reception area, you may find a large percentage
of your guests just hanging out in the smoking area. This
can be a big problem if you have many smokers in your wedding
party. You don’t have to allow smoking, but it is something
you should consider, especially if anyone has any health problems
like asthma or allergies that could be triggered by smoke.
If you decide not to allow smoking in the reception area,
how close is the nearest place for a smoker to go? Is it close
enough that you will be able to get needed wedding party members
during events like the bouquet toss or garter auction?
Facility coordinators will no doubt bring up several other
factors for you to consider when you interview them for your
booking, but these are often missed items, especially if they
don’t favor the potential venue. If you keep the overall
picture in mind and work with your wedding planner or event
coordinator on the decorating ideas, you will no doubt have
an enjoyable and memorable wedding reception.
Tim
and Tammy Smith own By Request DJ & Karaoke Company (http://www.byrequest.dj),
located in Fargo, North Dakota. They have been providing entertainment
for wedding receptions since 1994 and belong to several professional
disc jockey organizations.
