Elopement Reception Ideas

May 15

Ideas and advice for elopement and micro wedding receptions and celebrations

Yay! You’re married and it’s time to party! Let’s break down some ideas for your reception celebration.

Quality Time

Your guests will want to spend time with you and celebrate with you. The varied gatherings of the weddings I shoot have quickly become my favorite for the joy and embraces that surround you. It’s important that you have time together with your guests and that your wedding gallery includes more candid, emotional moments than structured group portraits.

Here’s what a post-ceremony celebration and quality time with your guests could look like:

DRINKS & APPS

Cocktail hour was originally a time for guests to mingle and have a drink while the couple and their family finished posed portraits. Now, it’s become a wedding favorite for easy, informal time with your guests before a more formal sit down meal. And since most of cocktail hour is spent standing and moving, this is a great time for your guests to show off their outfits. The lovely thing about having a time for drinks and apps after the ceremony is that it works beautifully whether you have 20 guests or 200.

Want to make this feel more personal to the two of you and your loved ones? Include games, activities (trivia? group pickleback shots?), and a time for rituals (writing letters to you with their best marriage advice, for example).

STRAIGHT INTO LUNCH OR DINNER

If you’re having a half day wedding (especially in the morning), it may feel best to head into a sit down meal after your ceremony and mingle along the dinner tables. Will you be having your sit down dinner at the venue? At a local establishment? With a few tables at the AirBnB?

AFTERPARTY GET DOWN

Does it make sense to hire a DJ and a dancefloor for your wedding of 30 people? Not really. But if you love to dance and get loose with all your favorite people, heading to a bar for after-dinner dancing can be a great way to make your evening feel like a party without all the fuss of a wedding reception.

Reception location ideas & logistics

Book a reservation at a local restaurant or brewery

Does the restaurant require you to book a private event space?
Does the restaurant require you to book a separate catering package?

Rent a micro wedding venue for the rest of the night

Do they have in house catering?
Will you need to source dinner from a local restaurant or caterer?
Can you bring in your own alcohol or does the venue require you to book a drink package through them?

Head back to the AirBnB or lodging for a dinner made by a private chef, or catering from a local restaurant.

What is the event policy at the AirBnB? Do they have a guest count cap?
How much time does the private chef need to cook for your guest count? Do they have a guest count cap?
If catering from a local restaurant, when does the food need to be picked up? Who will pick it up? Where will you store it until dinnertime?

other things to think about

Regardless of how you’re structuring your micro wedding evening, this stage of planning is a good time to think about how you’d like your reception to go. Not everything in a traditional wedding reception will be important to the two of you, so pick and choose!

Will you be having any toasts? Who will be giving them?
Will there be a cake cutting or dessert presentation?
Will there be any parent dances or a first dance between the two of you?
Will you have any other dancing (this could be anything from a dance floor to that afterparty idea to casual shimmying in the main space)?
Are there any other special events or meaningful rituals you’d like to include (and/or get photos of)?

Reception Lighting

The lighting for receptions plays a big role in how your evening looks and feels. There are tons of options, from hanging lights to lanterns to candles. Lighting impacts the mood of the environment as well as photos. Warm light such as candles, string lights, and hanging lights allow for a softer, cozier mood and beautiful photos. Restaurants usually have this nailed, but it’s something to think about if you’re having your reception somewhere else!

Speeches

My best tip for speeches is to limit the time per speech to 3-5 minutes per speaker. I highly, highly recommend getting video of each speech (either from a professional videographer - hello! - or an iPhone) so you can have it to listen to for later.