How to Have a Unique Reception: Wedding Celebrations that March to their Own Beat

By Christina Friedrichsen

By having a small wedding, you and your fiancé can explore your own sense of style and come up with a unique reception that your guests will remember. 

Here are some questions to help you create a unique reception:

• Do you enjoy any hobbies? How can you incorporate them into your reception? Perhaps you and your sweetie love the water: What about a nautical theme, or a wedding aboard a yacht. Maybe you are history buffs. Why not have your wedding at a favorite historical site, and bring historical elements into your wedding reception?

• Do you have a unique cultural background? Why not incorporate some of the culture’s unique traditions into the ceremony and reception? Everything from the attire to the menu could reflect your heritage.

• Do you have a fondness for a particular season or holiday? If you love the winter, have a winter-wonderland theme reception. If the fall is more your thing, bring a harvest theme into your celebration.

• Do you enjoy the arts? You could bring artistic elements into your décor by getting married at an art gallery. The wedding reception could even include a guided tour of the gallery.

• Do you love the outdoors? Holding an outdoor wedding reception at of your favorite outdoor haunts could be a soul-satisfying experience.

• Do you love to travel? You could bring your love of travel into your wedding by having a destination wedding. If you’d rather stay put for your nuptials, name tables after places you’ve visited, and offer foods from some of your favorite destinations.

• Do you have a favorite restaurant? Why not have a unique reception there?

• Do you love to garden? Have the reception in a garden or bring fresh, garden flowers into the décor. Give guests seeds, bulbs, or potted plants as unique reception favors.