The other day I was talking with my sister, who is planning her wedding, about possible reception food. I Google "LDS wedding receptions" and found several interesting results. I completely agree that the "line" isn't fun for the guests or the bride and groom. When my husband and I got married I didn't want to have the "line" that is at a traditional Utah LDS reception. I agreed to it for two reasons. First, because someone told me about a reception in Utah where they didn't have a line. It confused everyone so much that people started lining up by the bride and groom instead of enjoying the reception. Second, we had a large list of family and friends. That is what happens since we both have good sized families (especially when you include extended family) and our families lived in the same ward for seven years.
I have never attended a non-Utah LDS style reception. So all I know is what I've been told about them.
UPdate
14 years ago
7 comments:
I think that not having a line is fine but the bride and groom have to make sure to make contact with all the guest, and not to mingle with close relatives and friends, this way works best if your both a little more outgoing and can talk to people easily. Also I feel that this works better if your having more food at your wedding then the usual "nut cups" and stuff. Good Luck on deciding, and just remind her it is her day so do what SHE wants...no regrets
I agree with Nicki. Several of my nieces and nephews have gotten married recently and have opted to "not" have the line. They are all out going though and spent the evening or afternoon mingling with all of the guests. Also, the food is a big thing. The guests need something to do so having sitting areas, tables, etc. and a lot of food gives them a chance to cozy up, hunker down, feed their faces, and spend the evening relaxed and chatting. The parents need to mingle as well.
The line is awkward because usually it is filled with a ton of people you don't know. Either you know the bride and her parents..or the groom and his and all of these siblings, brides maids, grooms, etc. Frankly, people come to see the parents and the bride and groom and what a pain to have to wade through a ton of strangers to get to the few individuals you really wanted to talk to and then endure a bunch more of strangers before you can finally get to the end of the line and your hand back and then what.....have some mints and some nuts.
What a dreadfull evening really and as a bridesmaid who has sat through way too many weddings in those lines having to introduce myself over and over and over again to people who politely say, "that's nice, nice to meet you...." UGH! :D
I did have one niece who was very shy and so she and her husband stood in one place with the parents on either side and that was "the line". It was an informal line.
I have only attended one non-lds wedding. It was a large party, everyone who was invited to the reception came for the whole time, there was a dance and a dinner. It was really, really nice but very different from the tradional lds receptions.
Good luck to your sister.
Oh, wait. Meredith had an open house for her reception. She might have some good ideas for you.
Brent and I were the line, no one else......and it was perfect.
Since Chris was a non-member at the time of our wedding, we had a regular wedding reception. Outside of Utah, it is a dinner (either a formal dinner or buffet) with dancing (either a band or a dj), toasts and the like. We had a father of the bride dance, where I picked a special dance for my dad and I to dance to, Chris did the same with his aunt (his mom died the year before we got married). Then we had a wedding party dance where the bridesmaids danced with the groomsman they walked down the aisle with. The last specialty dance was the dollar dance. This is where the guests pay a dollar to dance for a certain amount of time with the bride or groom. The best man and maid/matron of honor will gather the cash and conduct the dance.
It is a nice idea to get some cash before opening gifts and cards.
There are other options, depending on how much they want to do, the garter and the bouquet throwing and other things. The wedding party usually does not do the receiving line, that is usually at the church (we chose to greet our guests as they were leaving row by row instead of having the ushers attend to the dismissal), but they do have a head table that is decorated a bit nicer than the guest tables that the whole party will sit at so guests can come up and give their well wishes, say hello, share a story or whatever. We made sure we mingled to at least say hello to everybody, as did the rest of the wedding party.
Of course you have the cake cutting and smearing after the dinner and special dances. Guests are invited for the whole evening, and can stay as long as they want. The receptions out here in Michigan/Ohio area last anywhere from 4-all night. It's usually the ones that have open bars that are all-nighters, which we did not do. Our wedding was at 3:00 in one town, we did our after pictures (the ones with the whole wedding party, just us since it's bad luck to see each other before the wedding, and our families) and arrived in the reception town by 5:30. Our reception ended around 10, which is an average length.
For food choices, if it's a formal dinner, guests would need to select from either chicken, beef, fish or whatever choice the bride and groom have chosen to cater. If it's a buffet, hot foods, no matter the weather, usually go over better than cold soups and sandwiches. We had somebody cater, so she provided hot shaved turkey and ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, salad, rolls, etc. Whatever you want usually!
Anyway, I know this is a very long post, but thought I'd give you a few ideas of what other areas do for wedding receptions!
Now you'll really kill me for posting! We did have chocolates and mints and nuts in little swan containers on the guest tables, but no green jello with carrots! :) I just thought of what my brother did when he got married. They had an outside reception, with a BBQ for the food. Tons of hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni and potato salad, all the works of a good BBQ along with some good desserts. They also put disposable cameras on the tables for guests to take snapshots, which turned out great since their photographer wasn't at the reception. When was she getting married?
Post a Comment