Wedding Etiquette 101 – Reception Traditions

Once you have greeted your guests and each and everyone in attendance has made their way to their seats you can begin to bring in a few of the more traditional aspects of a wedding reception.

One thing that is popular among a lot of couples is to have an official announcement made to introduce them and their wedding party to the guests in attendance. Generally someone is appointed the task of being emcee. The DJ or bandleader is an obvious choice to fill this role. This can be a great way for you to make a formal entrance to the reception. Perhaps the best order to choose is to announce the bride’s parents first, then the groom’s parents and then the bridal party to follow. You as the newlyweds can arrive last to make one big grand entrance, with a drum roll as an optional addition.

One tradition that still occurs in almost every single wedding today is a toast to the newlyweds. This serves to congratulate them on their marriage wish them good luck for the future. It is traditional for the best man to kick start the toasting. His toast is made directly to the bride and groom. Following this the groom will often say a few words to thank everyone for attending. Then the duty falls to the father of the bride who not only directs his toast to the couple, but also to the guests in attendance. After that the floor is opened up for anyone who want to offer a toast.

After the main course of dinner has been served it is traditional for the bride and groom to have a first dance together. After this a father and daughter dance between the bride and her dad and a mother and son dance between the groom and his mother are also tradition. Of course if you feel that dancing together in front of a large audience of onlookers will make you nervous and just is not for you then it is perfectly fine to skip the formal dances. Remember it is your wedding and you should enjoy it, not fret over it.

Once the guests have been given a decent opportunity to dance away, a popular tradition is for the bride and groom to take part in the bouquet and garter toss. The bouquet toss is where the bride turns her back to a crowd of single women who all battle it out to be the first to catch the bunch of flowers she is about to throw over her head. Similarly, the groom’s role is to remove the brides garter and throw it into a group of single guys. The thinking behind it is that the woman who catches the bouquet will be the next to get married as will the guy who catches the garter. The latter is less common nowadays but the bouquet toss still forms some part of most modern-day receptions.