You will find that most of your time will be taken up thinking about your wedding reception. Although the ceremony is obviously the most important part of your day, the reception takes up the longest and most sociable part of your day (and night!).

Your reception can be simple and elegant, extravagant, exciting or intimate and calm. It really depends on what you want from it. The reception is likely to reflect a lot of your personality as a couple and this is what your guests will buy into and enjoy. The main thing is that your guests are well entertained and have a great time with you.

The Setting

The first thing you want to think about is where you want to be for your wedding reception. If you would like grand elegance then you might want to have a look at some of the National Trust properties that interest you. A good number have large banqueting halls, equipped with the most magnificent art, fittings and decorations. Some may even provide staff and scene settings in keeping of the period of the venue. There are plenty of privately owned stately homes and gardens that cater for weddings.

If you are looking for something a little different then you could look into hiring a yacht, getting exclusive use of your favourite restaurant, bar or even nightclub.

If you have a particular interest eg. Art, music or theatre then you can look into getting exclusive use of a favourite gallery, theatre or venue. You would be surprised at how many would be interested and accommodating.

The Entertainment

This might be dictated by your wedding venue a little. For example, if you choose a theatre venue, then you could have a small interesting performance followed by live music. In a stately home you might want a string quartet or traditional music for the meal and then a 5 or 6 piece band for some late night dancing.

But what can you offer apart from music? How about a wandering magician? One or two can be available to demonstrate and wow your guests with impressive table magic – don’t worry no clowning or balloon creatures!!

Give your guests something to take home by asking a caricaturist to draw guests on each table at their request. It’s a great conversation starter!

If you have any gardens available then you could look at hiring a croquet set, jenga set or chess set for your guests to play with – you will be surprised at how keen your guests will be to get involved, and again its great for getting people talking!

Kind regards,

Kim Rix

Your London Wedding Planner

Freeing up YOUR time and delivering the personal service

Everyone loves weddings, and I promise everybody will love yours, but if there is ever a complaint it is always about having to ‘wait around’. There is inevitably always going to be a little time when your guests will be waiting for a short time. You can of course be smart about it and recognize where these lulls may be and arrange a little activity or distraction to keep them occupied.

The largest lull is always between the ceremony and wedding breakfast when the photographs are usually taken. If you are having the reception at a different venue from the ceremony then a little of the time will be taken up by traveling, and the rest with a lovely champagne or drinks reception when they arrive. It will also take a little time to get settled in to the new venue and to find their way around.

If you are having the reception in the same venue as the ceremony then a little more activity may be needed to occupy your guests for this short waiting period.

If you’re in a unique or unusual venue then the simplest thing to do would be to offer a short guided tour of the building and its grounds. Most buildings of this nature will happily provide this service – some guides may even dress in the period of the day and give a much livelier performance than a talk.

If there are substantial grounds or garden areas that you can use then it might be a refreshing idea to provide some lawn games alongside an outside drinks reception. A lovely English favourite would be sipping Pimms, nibbling some fresh strawberries and playing a little croquet. You can also hire giant outdoor chess sets, jenga or other games to try.

You could always ask your photographer for a number of whole wedding shots or family groupings outside of the traditional formats. This makes everyone feel special and included – although this may not be easy in large weddings!

Why not look into creating a little treasure hunt, fun quiz or getting to know you game? Remember the one where you get a famous person’s name and stick it to your forehead then have to ask questions to find out who you are? Silly, yes. But a fabulous ice-breaker, very simple and super easy to manage!

Whatever you decide to do, don’t be afraid to try something a little different. You will actually have much less time than you think!!

Kind regards,

Kim Rix

Your London Wedding Planner

I want to help you take care of the detail. It’s the little things that we do in life which seem to get the most attention and it’s much the same during a wedding. It’s always the little touches you add that make the day extra special – and people always comment on afterwards.

The ‘detail’ itself doesn’t have to be small. I’m thinking more about a detail as in a personal touch or thought which you add to the day and completes the picture. I like to work with a couple’s personality and find out what things are important to them to suggest some extra little details to make their day special.

The ‘Green’ Couple

The first thing I would suggest to this couple is that biodegradable confetti is a must! It is completely soluble in water and contains no chemicals or pollutants that could harm the environment. Venues love it as well because it’s a quick and easy clean up with a little water. It comes in all colours – so you can match with your theme – and are also available with real petals, lavender buds and other dried flowers to give a beautiful fragrance when thrown.

You can have the confetti ready wrapped in colourful or textured recycled paper for your guests to pick up.

The ‘Child Friendly’ Couple

For those people who would love to have children at their wedding I would always recommend a special children’s corner in your venue. It’s a place just for them where they have little fun packs with activities like drawing, puzzles and craft to keep them occupied. A little disposable camera will also give them plenty of fun and the parents will love their first photographs!

The ‘Thankful’ Couple

I work with a lot of couples who don’t get to see that many of the people they invite to their wedding too often. This may be because they are very busy but mostly because our friends and family are split over the globe. A beautiful touch to tell your guests how pleased you are that they could come is a simple note on their dinner place. A little postcard size or smaller which recalls a personal moment of you together and how pleased you are that they are with you to share this moment too. If you have a big wedding then make sure you have plenty of time!!

The ‘Fun and Games’ Couple

Your guests are not going to have a chance to get bored, but if you want to bring in that extra feeling of fun and relaxation then why not introduce a few games. If you have a nice outdoor area then you can rent some great garden games like giant Jenga and Connect 4. Inside you can conduct a little table quiz! Each table acts as a team and whoever gets the most questions right (you can theme it around the happy couple) can win a prize! It could be a little novelty gift or something the whole table can enjoy together.

Its great to inject some of your personality! Be bold and creative and make your day special.

Kind regards,

Kim Rix

Your London Wedding Planner