Bride’s Guide: Hosting Your Own Reception

Having your wedding festivities at home has a ton of advantages, including saving cold, hard cash. You also increase the convenience and comfort factors for you and your guests if you plan wisely. With that in mind, here are four tips for hosting your own reception.

You want all of your guests to have as enjoyable a time as they would at a public venue. If your favorite aunt uses a wheelchair, please make arrangements for her to get into your home if you live on a hill and use plastic runners over the carpet to make freedom of movement possible.  

Maintain a pleasant indoor temperature by being energy smart. You might have known running your oven heats your home in summer, but did you know that unplugging your washer and dryer can make your air conditioner work less on muggy days? Every little bit of energy savings counts when you have guests opening doors to come in from outdoors and vice-versa.

It’s sensible to fix up your spare room for those who overindulge, even if you haven’t invited out-of-town guests. Some states allow civil claims against social hosts who serve others too much alcohol if that individual later causes an accident. Even if yours doesn’t, who wants the guilt?

Public venues run weddings like clockwork. When you DIY, you are responsible for deciding when cocktail hour starts, when to serve dinner and when it’s time to dance.

Plan a schedule of events for the various traditions you don’t want to miss, like cutting the cake and the daddy-daughter dance. It also helps to put a timeline in your invitation to discourage guests from staying all night when you’re ready to celebrate your new union more intimately.

Even if you are a regular Martha Stewart in the kitchen, ask yourself if you want the added stress of going DIY with your reception menu. If you and your spouse have a favorite local restaurant, it probably won’t cost much more to have them cater it than it would for you to buy all the ingredients yourself.

Likewise, you might not need a DJ if you have a killer sound system in your backyard. However, you’ll want music if not. Parents of young children will adore it if you hire a sitter to keep their eyes on the little ones while they relax.

If budget reasons have you hosting at home, make your local dollar store your best friend. You will find tons of fake florals and other craft supplies to help you design gorgeous decorations. Please don’t skip on the glamour when you DIY — you can put together many centerpieces and other arrangements for little.

Having your wedding at home saves cash and offers convenience. Heed these tips when hosting your own reception.