Though the wedding ceremony is usually more important to the bride and groom, your guests often see the reception as the most important. This is their chance to mingle with you, congratulate you and celebrate your joy with you! It is usually the happiest and busiest time of the wedding! This happy time comes with a price, though, and that price is the hassle and stress that comes with planning a wedding reception.

      The reception is the most expensive part of any wedding. A lot of work goes into planning a wedding reception, and it is also the part of a wedding celebration in which the most problems can occur. This is because of all the details that go into a wedding reception. Each detail of a wedding reception is incredibly important, and needs to be attended to with care. Every bride wants a hassle free wedding reception, and this is usually difficult to pull off, but is far from being impossible.

      Following the advice of getting organized and employing your small team of free labor talked about in previous articles, the reception is one of the areas of your wedding where you may need two or three people on your team. In fact, most brides would like to head this team personally, just to keep tabs on it, in order to make sure it goes well. To delegate labor, you can assign one person to two of each of the details of the reception. These assignments can be: catering and beverages, music and photography, program and entertainment, and decorations and seating arrangements.

      If you choose not to be directly involved, you will have your trusted crew in charge of several aspects of the reception, but remember that you do have to check on them often to make sure things are going well, and that you are getting what you want. Each aspect that is being handled can make or break the wedding, so it is your job to stay on top of things and make sure your helpers aren't too stressed out with work either. Remember to be the boss in a polite and friendly way. These people are helping you for free, so you can't turn into bridezilla on them!

      After the divisions and assignments have been planned and mapped out, you can begin processing the check lists and time line that corresponds with planning the reception. You should consider starting your reception plans right after you've finalized the marriage license, guest list, and venues. You can begin planning the reception before you start designing invitations and signing up for a gift registry. Some brides start planning their wedding receptions in the second quarter of their time line, and you should start around this time too. Don't worry about it being too early. Trust that when it comes to the reception, it's never too early to begin!

      Remember that you will have to try and test all of the aspects of your reception before you give the final okay. Planning a wedding reception will take time, and many times things can be delayed along the way. This means that the earlier you start, the better. At least everything will be ironed out on the days leading up to the big day, and you will be able to relax more than less. If things aren't ironed out or if something goes wrong, then you have the comfort of knowing that you have time to troubleshoot it.

      Most brides take a deep breath of excitement and nervousness when they know it's time to plan the reception. It's perfectly normal if you feel extremely nervous and anxious too. Try taking a deep breath and relax your muscles. If you follow the articles on this site, planning a wedding reception can actually be a cinch!

Next Article: Planning a Wedding Reception - Setting the Seats