Seating Plans, Centrepieces and Wedding Favours

After the all important ‘I do’ moment the happy couple, and your guests will want to enjoy the celebration by means of a wonderful wedding reception…and lots of champagne. Wedding receptions come in all different shapes and sizes and do take a lot of planning to make perfect. Some couples decide to have a simple drink in a local bar, where as other newlyweds like to go all out and have a great big bash. When it comes to wedding receptions it’s not just the food and the entertainment that you have to organise, it is the minor details such as who is going to sit where? Does each table need a centre piece? And how do we decide on a favour?

Every wedding has a different style, colour theme, size and budget…therefore the wedding industry has an endless array of possibilities to make your wedding reception suit your very own style. Everything at a wedding reception tends to co-ordinate by means of colour and theme. You might get your reception colour scheme from the colours of flowers in your bouquet, your bridesmaid dresses, or it could simply be a colour that you have always loved. Your invitations will be the gateway to showing your guests the style of your wedding, so getting your theme and colours right from the very beginning is essential. Once your replies have all been received you can start working on your table plan which, as newly married brides and grooms might say, is a slightly harder task than it seems. Don’t worry though because there are plenty of resources to help you through this exercise, such as the Perfect Table Plan DVD which is currently on sale through the hitched.co.uk shop. Seating groups of friends who know each other and family members is a good idea, however if you do want to mix your guests up make sure you seat people at appropriate tables.

A centre piece is not essential, but a lot of brides like to have them on their wedding tables as pretty decoration. A table centre piece with flow with the theme of your wedding and is usually something like a tall or short flower arrangement, selection of candles or candleholders, or a fishbowl, with either a small bouquet or a goldfish inside. You can also complete the look of your reception tables by scattering coloured foil heart shaped chocolates, packets of seed sticks, mini trivia boxes or games, or maybe even photographs of the happy couple.

A wedding favour is traditionally given to guests either at their place setting or in a basket at the door when it is time for everyone to go home. Wedding favours are a small way of saying thank you to your guests for coming, and might also leave them with a little memory of your wedding. Besides a slice of wedding cake, favours can be anything from a small square box of sugared almonds, to a heart shaped bottle stopper.  There is an endless selection of wedding favours and ideas available online, or maybe you can think back to some weddings that you may have been to in the past to steal ideas.

Once you have organised the entertainment, catering, the speeches, and the photographer your wedding reception should start to fall nicely in to place.

Top tips from hitched.co.uk

• Choose a colour theme at the beginning of your wedding planning and stick to it.
• If you opt for a centre piece on each table don’t choose one so big that your guests can’t talk to each other across the table with out it getting in the way.
• Wedding favours aren’t essential at a wedding, but can be an inexpensive thank you gift given as a token to each of your guests.