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DIY receptions: How to make your wedding a more personal experience
Unless you are an event planner, your wedding may be the most complex project, and the biggest party you will ever plan. Your wedding, if prepared correctly will be the best party of your life. It will also be the most memorable day for you and your significant other. Your guests, however, will have attended and will continue to participate in weddings throughout the year. You want your wedding to be the one they remember even when they are old. An excellent way to make that day memorable is to create a personalized experience for each guest. They may not feel the joy you will be feeling because you are marrying the love of your life, but they may share the excitement and be happy for you because they felt great attending the wedding. You may be freaking out right now, but no, it will not cost you excessively to plan that wedding. There are simple ways to make your wedding memorable.
Keep your guests informed
One of the easiest way to ensure that your guests are entertained is by sharing your program with them. While they may love you to bits, they will be bored if they feel like they are just following the crowd with no knowledge of what is happening. This is the digital era, take advantage of it. Share your program with your guests on social media and have a printed copy of the program at the gate for anyone who did not see it on their social media pages. Include logistical information. No one likes being lost. Ensure that you have also included a dress code if any. The last thing you want is to make one of your guests feel out of place. You may also want to create a website dedicated to the day. This site may contain information about what will happen at what time and where. You may also want to include directions, shuttle bus services, parking restrictions and accurate information about the property the party will be hosted at such as rocky terrain.
Make your guests feel welcome
If you want to guests to feel that your party is the best they have ever attended, it is great to ensure that they feel welcome. Nothing says “welcome and thanks for coming” like welcome bags. Sure, it may be a lot of work assembling them, but they are worth it. If you will be doing some of these things yourself, a welcome bag includes a bottle of water, snacks and local specialties like wine or chocolate. You may also want to include a map or brochures for great places to visit in the locality. You should also include a personal letter from the couple expressing just how happy they are that the guests have left their busy schedules to attend the wedding. If your guests are few, then you might know what they like and don’t like so you may make their welcome bags more personal for them.
Make them comfortable
Everyone is usually very tense when they are visiting new locations. You want your guests to feel as comfortable as possible. Depending on where you are hosting the wedding, you may choose to have a welcome bar with non-alcoholic beverages. If you are hosting your wedding outside, you may want to have a bug repellant station. Bugs can be an issue that will keep your guests from enjoying the day. If you are hosting a beach wedding, have flip flops for your guests in case they did not carry their own.
Wedding reception
Wedding reception venues are not usually kids-friendly. However, you want the parents to have just as much fun as the singles in the wedding. An excellent way to help parents is by making sure their children are having a good time too. Kids love to explore and have fun. They may not have a concentration span as long as that of adults. So make sure there are fun things for children to do throughout your wedding and fun places for them to hang out and have fun during the reception party. You may employ people who will act as baby sitters for that day. You may even make it a sleepover party with cartoon and pizza!
