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Reception Extras?

Brittbritt717Brittbritt717 member
5 Love Its First Comment
in Wedding Reception Forum
What were your reception extras? Thinking back to weddings that I've been to and searching Pinterest - I've only really seen/noticed custom napkins but what else is considered extra?
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Re: Reception Extras?

  • flantasticflantastic member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its

    Brittbritt717 said:

    What were your reception extras? Thinking back to weddings that I've been to and searching Pinterest - I've only really seen/noticed custom napkins but what else is considered extra?


    This here - notice what you wrote. Like PP said, people will remember if they had a great time because the food, drink, and music was good. They won't notice other stuff.

    Did custom napkins make the wedding for you?
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  • OurWildKingdomOurWildKingdom member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its

    SP29 said:

    Agree with the above. If you want to add extras, add more passed apps, an additional meal option, more drink options (or keep the same and go higher quality), or dessert options.

    One "extra" that I do remember is the late night buffet at a friend's wedding. It was insane. Totally overkill, I was so full I couldn't try everything, but it was DELICIOUS! Artisan pizza, smore table, cake pops, ice cream sandwiches, and slices of various cakes.


    Sounds like my kind of extra!
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  • ei34ei34 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Ditto PP.  The best extras are food and drink.

    H and I ended up with a bit of wiggle room at the end, so we added lobster tails to the seafood boat at cocktail hour and table side zeppole to the Viennese Hour  B)

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  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its

    eileenrob said:

    Ditto PP.  The best extras are food and drink.

    H and I ended up with a bit of wiggle room at the end, so we added lobster tails to the seafood boat at cocktail hour and table side zeppole to the Viennese Hour  B)



    Table side?  Must explain!  I'm about as German as the day is long, but I get giddy just thinking about St. Joseph's Day!

    DD added frozen margarita's to her open bar.  She also added a sweets table for late night treats.  She had a photobooth.  All were well received.
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  • ei34ei34 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its

    MobKaz said:



    eileenrob said:


    Ditto PP.  The best extras are food and drink.

    H and I ended up with a bit of wiggle room at the end, so we added lobster tails to the seafood boat at cocktail hour and table side zeppole to the Viennese Hour  B)





    Table side?  Must explain!  I'm about as German as the day is long, but I get giddy just thinking about St. Joseph's Day!

    DD added frozen margarita's to her open bar.  She also added a sweets table for late night treats.  She had a photobooth.  All were well received.


    Okay, your daughter's frozen margaritas sound amazing!

    The zeppole I'm talking about were the kind you'd find at a carnival or street fair- fried balls of dough tossed in powdered sugar.  I love St. Joseph's Day pastries too and I know they're also called zeppole (zeppola singular but who stops at one?!) but we unfortunately didn't have the cream- or ricotta-filled variety that you'd have on March 19th.  Servers went to each table with a large bowl of zeppole and served them with tongs to the guests that were interested.
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  • thisismynickname2thisismynickname2 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    We actually went super-minimal on our decor. Because we ended up under the catering minimum spend after RSVPs came in, our "extras" were a dessert bar and late night deep dish pizza. We also had top shelf bar and as an "extra," kept the bar open during dinner (some places shut down the bar during dinner and just do wine service). However, top shelf bar itself was always the intention, not an extra; we also budgeted for the best steak and seafood options available. We told our guests to come hungry!!

    Had we had more money I would have wanted live music for the ceremony, or maybe even reception as well, but we had a DJ do it all instead. Live music isn't the norm in my circle though so having it is also an "extra" in my book. 
    ________________________________


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  • MairePoppyMairePoppy mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    One extra that I remember from a friends wedding was an acoustic trio that played during outdoor seaside cocktail hour. That couple also kept both inside and outside bar open throughout their reception.
                       
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  • STARMOON44STARMOON44 member
    First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    My favorite extra was the venue where the cocktail hour room was maybe a 4 minute walk from the reception room, and they handed everyone a champagne cocktail for the walk. 
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  • ahoyweddingahoywedding member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    More food or better drinks! Anything that enhances the guest experience would be a plus. Think of weddings you've been to...what stuck out, what did you appreciate? Late night snacks are popular, maybe a signature cocktail if your venue allows liquor. More dessert, or extra apps for cocktail hour. 
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  • Ro041Ro041 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    I'm late to the party, but hereyago:

    Our "extras":

    - Photo booth (with electronic access so guests can upload pics to social media easily)
    - Caricature artist (for the guests to use throughout the reception.  By far our biggest "WOW" from guests)
    - Late night build-your-own-donut bar


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  • thisismynickname2thisismynickname2 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Ro041 said:
    I'm late to the party, but hereyago:

    Our "extras":

    - Photo booth (with electronic access so guests can upload pics to social media easily)
    - Caricature artist (for the guests to use throughout the reception.  By far our biggest "WOW" from guests)
    - Late night build-your-own-donut bar

    @Ro041
    Re: late night donut bar.... TELL ME MORE! 
    ________________________________


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  • Ro041Ro041 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    @thisismynickname - it's a station with an attendant and it has warm doughnuts, chocolate & caramel sauce, powdered sugar, cinnamon & sugar, whipped cream.  <3<3  I am not really a cake person so I think it sounds amazing after dinner!!

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  • Australian_girl_in_ParisAustralian_girl_in_Paris member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    I do think that creating a space that is cohesively decorated is important - but whether you had high end monogrammed chair covers or not no one will remember.

    We are having an
    -automated photo booth that easily emails the photos to you
    -I ordered extra flowers to have as a background for the photo booth
    -extra cocktail appetisers 
    -'animated' cocktail appetisers, a pad thai bar and Foi gras station
    -top shelf bar
    -late night sliders and ice cream bar
    -shuttle for out-of-town guest from the hotel to the reception
    -Fresh flower centrepieces (I didn't realise this was an extra but someone has put it as one- flowers are much cheaper here and we're having mostly leaves and branches so it's not that expensive to have lots of them)

    Based on conversations I've had here-I think that other than food the only thing people remember is photo-booth and shuttle. 

    The extra flowers at the photo booth are something I like because it makes the photo booth photos a bit more interesting and recognisable than at any other event.

    I do also like welcome signs I think they're nice and they direct guest arriving that there in the right place.

    For our ceremony, we're also having the florist construct and decorate our Houppa so that's extra - we could have had just something more simple - or the traditional four people to hold the cloth over us. But I always think their arm must get tired so I like the constructed Houppa better. So I'm thinking that a ceremony backdrop is an extra that I like and think you will remember because it will be in all your photos.

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