Wednesday Wedding Details: The Reception

Where to even begin? We had our reception at my home in Bedford, NH. My mom was my wedding planner. It was fantastic. 

It went generally how a wedding reception goes so I”m going to focus on my favorite details. 

The sign in table and cards: Instead of the traditional guestbook, we picked something that forced people to be a little more creative, and acted as a decoration for the reception. As guests walked onto the lawn they stopped at a table where they filled in the blanks to questions like:

Love lasts forever if....

You know its love when...

Love is like...

Once they had filled in their answers, and signed their names, they tied their cards to a wrought iron trellis - so by the end of the evening we had a hanging collection of advice and good wishes. 

The punch fountain: I told my mom all I wanted at my reception was a punch fountain, filled with red punch, and thin stemmed glasses for the guests to drink from. She rolled her eyes at me and said ‘we’ll see.’ I love the feeling of sophistication of holding a thin stemmed glass (yes, you can laugh at me) and sipping out of it all evening. Dream one: check :) 

Bertucci’s rolls: Well the food in general I guess I should talk about, given that it was spectacular. My mom worked closely with our caterer, Amy Starr, to come up with a tuscan menu fit for royalty. They all have fancy italian names that I can’t remember at the moment but I promise, they were as delicious as they look. And my favorite surprise? Two days before the event my mom told me that Amy had convinced my favorite restaurant, Bertuccis, to sell her the dough of their uncooked rolls (to die for) so she could bake them fresh right before the reception. Between that and the steak, I was in heaven all night. 

Groomsmen getting food :) 

strawberries for the chocolate fountain

The Head Table:

Instead of standing in a wedding line for the majority of the reception, Ben and I opted for a head table after 30 minutes of receiving guests. It was set just for two and a little removed from the rest of the action. It allowed us some air to breathe, some time to talk, and proved the perfect place to welcome late coming guests while being able to enjoy the delicious food. This detail was definitely one of my favorites and if you’re ever planning a wedding, sitting and eating while welcoming guests sure beats standing in line for hours :) 

The favors:

We deliberated for awhile on the perfect gift of thanks for those who took time to come and celebrate with us. I wanted it to fit in with our tuscan feel but be something that people wouldn’t just leave in their cars or throw away once they got home. My mom (of course all brilliant ideas can be credited to her) came up with vials of olive oil. We used hand stained tags stamped with a personalized italian thank you with our names on it to label each vial that we filled with golden olive oil before corking. I love the way they turned out and I love that people will be able to use them and think of our wedding. 

The Cake: 

Yumm - my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I’ve been to too many receptions where the much anticipated dessert is a let down. When they look so pretty how can they ever taste as good as imagined? I was determined that this cake not disappoint. The breakdown: each slice of cake had four layers in it - alternating between chocolate and white almond pound. The filling was fudge and the frosting buttercream with fondant detail and flowers. It was classic - I didn’t want color or real flowers, or even a cake topper. Just elegant cream covering decadent chocolate. Final Verdict: success :) 

Daddy-daughter Dance: “I loved her first”

First Dance: “I thought I loved you then”

Those are just some of my favorite details - but the evening was wonderful ....

flowers at the head table

the food tents before the food or guests arrived

gold, red, and bronze 

Daddy-Daughter Dance 

It turned into a dance party...

Ben re-wrote and then performed my favorite son "A Drop in the Ocean." It was incredible - and I loved it. 

The golf cart that picked up guests turned into our getaway to the car hidden down the street :) 


Most people want to rush out of their receptions - but we ended up not leaving till well after planned because we were loving the company of a few hundred friends and family while dancing the night away. Thanks to all of you who came - it was a just wonderful :) 


coming next week: The Wedding Party (bridesmaids and groomsmen)