Top 7 Best Parts About Planning A Wedding Reception

Sharing the top 7 best parts about planning our wedding reception, one year after our wedding ceremony.

We had our backyard summer wedding in August of 2022, with our immediate family attending as guests. It was a beautiful weekend filled with laughs, love, and lasting memories.

Without wanting to miss out on creating memories with extended family and friends, we decided to plan our reception for one-year after our wedding ceremony. This was mainly due to our honeymoon plans. 🤗 What better way to celebrate our one-year of marriage than coming back to our home state to celebrate with friends and family?!

Here is a list of the top 7 best parts about planning a wedding reception.

Spending More Time with Family

After traveling for the past eight months, with several occasions of going back to Wisconsin, both Kraig and I are beyond excited to see both our families. Having the ability to have both a wedding and a separate reception has allowed us to spend more time with family through the planning process and the actual events. 🤍

Finding the Venue

Finding the perfect venue was TOUGH. We originally chose and signed a contract with a different wedding venue, before realizing we didn’t want a huge reception (costs add up insanely quick!). So we ended up canceling the first venue, before signing a contract with our final option.

We are having our reception at Centraal Grand Café & Tappery, located in Milwaukee. We decided on this venue as their menu features an eclectic array of European inspired, made-from-scratch dishes. Not to mention, their long list of unique beverages from cocktails to ciders. The reception will include both an indoor and outdoor space, showcasing the famous Cream City brick. The best part about this venue is the fact that all our food will be made on-site, there is no need for a DJ, a bartender will be serving our chosen beverages, and the space is perfect size for the amount of guests we invited. That’s a win-win situation if you ask me.

Photography

I am a HUGE fan of photography. Which is why I’m so excited to have a full day of taking photos with McKenna Marie Photography for our reception! This will allow us to get detail shots, getting ready photos, wedding party and family photos, and more portraits of us as a couple. And the best part – all the nerves of our wedding day will be in the past, which will allow us to relax, celebrate, and enjoy the day with our loved ones with a more carefree energy. The inspiration for our reception photos are classy, timeless, and urban styled. I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

Creating Core Memories with Kraig

From having our wedding in our backyard, to taking our engagement photos in our favorite National Park, to now planning for our 2023 reception, Kraig and I have created amazing memories that have made our first year of marriage one we will always look back on. What better way to create more memories with Kraig than celebrating our first year of marriage surrounded by loved ones?

Designing Timeless Home Decor Pieces

Designing timeless pieces to decorate our home is definitely a hobby of mine. There is something so special about having a home filled with decor that sparks cherished memories!

We are using our engagement/wedding day photo album as our guest signing book. I will also be creating another reception day photo album showcasing our day with friends and family in attendance. These two photo albums will not only be stunning keepsakes, but also our favorite coffee table books for years to come.

Spending Time with My Closest Friends

Life gets busy. So to be able to spend a full weekend with my childhood friends is going to be nothing short of amazing.

Less Pressure

Having our wedding and reception spaced one year apart has taken both the stress and pressure off our big day(s). I wouldn’t change a thing about how we went about planning our wedding, honeymoon, or reception! It allowed us to share our wedding day with immediate family, while celebrating our one-year of marriage with all our loved ones. It has been such a fun process planning for our reception, from finding another dress, to picking and choosing the venue, menus, drinks, and decor. We couldn’t be any happier with the plans that we have made! Let the countdown begin!! 😊

God is so good 🤍