Wedding Reception

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Christina Park is a social media manager with experience covering weddings. She has held staff positions at and Martha Stewart Weddings.

Aside from the ceremony, the second most important part of the wedding is the reception. For one special night, all of your friends, family, and loved ones will sit together in your honor to eat, revisit cherished memories, and create new ones. For those hosting a large wedding, there's no easier way to make your celebration feel warm and intimate than with long, banquet-style reception tables. What are some other benefits of long tables? We're glad you asked...

Wedding Receptions & Ceremonies

Not only are they beautiful and romantic, but they're perfect for facilitating conversation among your guests—especially for people who are meeting for the first time or haven't seen each other in a long time. They're also easily customizable, serving as blank canvases with a myriad of style possibilities to suit you and your partner's tastes. The centerpiece options are endless with banquet tables.

Whether you're hosting backyard nuptials or a classic ballroom ceremony, a long reception table can make your guests feel right at home. Rustic wooden tables are perfect for family-style seating, where guests can pass along various dishes and choose their own portions and plates. Add a dash of whimsy with lush greenery garlands or floral centerpieces for a garden party vibe. If you're hosting a more elegant bash, drape your tables with neutral colors like ivory or slate for a clean, airy look and pair with gilded accents. For lighting, consider using hanging café lights to brighten up the night's toasts or opt for romantic candelabras to create a truly magical setting.

With any of these long reception table ideas, your guests will feel like a special part of your big day. Click through our slideshow to see how you can design your own.

Wedding Reception Venues In Central Park

Who says one runner is all you need? Double up on both greenery and a soft and organic linen like this one and then put as many candles as you can possibly fit and run 'em all the way down the table.

At this beautiful wedding, all guests sat down at one long table that was beautifully decorated with florals and natural items to fit an autumnal tone.

At this Old Hollywood-inspired wedding, two long banquet tables created an aisle from the reception space's doors to the dance floor, making a perfect pathway for the couple's grand entrance.

Nail Down Your Grand Entrance And Start Your Reception Off Right

Who needs linens to cover your long tables when they're so beautiful on their own? Skip the tablecloths if you've got wooden beauties like these.

A beautiful serpentine-style banquet table took the design of this elegant outdoor affair to the next level. Chandeliers hanging from the trees helped further elevate the aesthetic.

We love this long, rustic reception table decorated with colorful flower arrangements, mismatched candles, and eclectic dinnerware. An industrial, urban space—like a renovated factory or warehouse or a brewery—would be the perfect place to pull off this look.

Best Wedding Reception Dresses For Brides In 2021 + 2022

Go all out with your long tables and really make them pop with a bright and cheery linen color like this bright coral. The floral garland echoes the linens and brings everything together. Just make sure you go more neutral with the rest of your décor so it doesn't get too overwhelming.

A patterned tablecloth is a fun way to bring color and design to your wedding reception. We love how this pale blue tone provides a fun contrast to the pink, orange, and yellow florals.

The florals in your reception space don't have to stay on the table. We love how greenery and blooms surround the space of this intimate banquet table at a reception in Italy.

How To Transform Your Wedding Reception Space

Beautiful chairs can absolutely make your banquet table stand out in a unique way. These comfortable woven designs lend a lovely natural element to this dinner party wedding.

Nothing dresses up a reception like (what appears to be) a hanging garden. This thick and winding greenery installation feels wild and whimsical and is a perfect way to bring the outdoors inside.

Who needs flowers when you've got potatoes and grasses and dozens of candles in every color of the rainbow? This couple constructed these custom tables themselves for an artsy-cool reception.

Old Wedding Venues

One way to make a long table design more intriguing is by creating a bit of variation throughout. We love how the florals along this tablescape feature a wide variety of arrangements and vessels, and only some of the candles are placed in hurricanes.

A subtle palette of light blue, wood, brick, and whites make for an effortlessly chic setup. Add in some romantic curtains and lots of candlelight to really set the tone.

If your reception has round tables and one central banquet table for the wedding party, make it stand out of the pack. At this stunning affair, the central table has a tablecloth in a different hue and huge centerpieces defining the space.

Ribble Valley Wedding Venue

With a long table, you have plenty of space to play with your design. The centerpieces at this ombré-inspired reception created a gradient of color with the florals.

With a room as grand as this, you barely need decorations—but we'll take all black and white tablescapes and centerpieces any day of the week.After you’ve said your wedding vows and exchanged your “I dos” it’s time to get the party started. Your wedding reception will probably be bigger and better than any anniversary event, birthday bash or New Year's Eve party that you ever throw, so you don’t want to risk getting it wrong. From picking the ideal wedding venueto making sure the whole thing goes off without a hitch, there’s a lot that goes into planning the perfect wedding reception.

While you’re free to host your wedding reception at the same locale as your ceremony, many couples opt for a change of scenery. Regardless of which route you go, you’ll want to make sure your wedding venue meets all the requirements for an awesome reception. Not only should it be beautiful, but it should also be practical. Make sure you find a spot with climate control, plenty of parking for your guests, decent restrooms and the capacity to fit all of your friends and family. If you’re hosting an outdoor wedding reception, you’ll also want to make sure that there are tents or an indoor space where your guests can continue to party if the weather starts acting up.

Secrets To Having A Fun Wedding Reception

Treating your guests to a wedding menuwith some top-notch eats is essential. If you don’t plan on serving your meal at the beginning of your wedding reception, have trays of finger foods and hors d’oeuvres circulating so that they can fill their stomachs with light snacks before diving into the main courses later on. After all, you don’t want your friends and family sneaking away to the closest drive-thru mid-reception to aid their hanger with a burger and fries, do you?

No, you don’t have to deliver a Kardashian calibre party complete with celeb appearances, grand ice sculptures and Cirque du Soleil performers, but you should have some sweet wedding entertainment lined up to keep the party going strong. At the bare minimum, you’ll need a DJ or a band to keep the crowd in full celebratory mode until the event wraps. Got a few extra bucks left in yourwedding budget? Consider adding a photobooth (you can now do GIF ones!), karaoke stage, caricature artist or lawn games to boost the fun factor even more.

You’ve spent months prepping for this event and you don’t want it to fall short because you slacked on wedding decor. Make sure you give your venue some personality with wedding reception flowers and decorations in your wedding colours and set the ambiance with twinkling lights or dimmed chandeliers. One thing to keep in mind when sprucing up your space is that you should never sacrifice practicality for prettiness. Don’t overcrowd the space, but make sure you have enough seating for your friends and family.

The Complete Wedding After Party Planning Guide You Need

Make sure your wedding venue is stocked with the essentials. I’m talking about bottle openers, dinnerware, glassware and audio equipment. These are the things that’ll keep the event running like a well-oiled machine.

Don’t forget about those wedding favours! While the event may be about celebrating you and your new spouse, you should also give your guests props for coming out. You may also want to sneak in a little wedding thank-you speech at some point during the reception to really make the message hit home.

You’ll want to hold onto your wedding reception memories, so make

Wedding Reception Planning Tips