You have had a long and emotional day and now you are ready to PARTY!  You want to celebrate your relationship and love with all your friends and family in a way that is amazing and true to who you are as a couple.  I talked with Keenan Daniels, The MillionDollaMan and incredibly popular event MC in Chattanooga, about his best advice for couples planning their wedding reception.  Take advantage of his advice below and check out his social media and website!  All the best wedding reception ideas are listed below!

Tip#1 Have chemistry with your DJ

You want to make sure you have chemistry with your DJ.  They need to understand you as a couple and understand what kind of party you want to throw.  Your definition of fun should be the DJ’s definition of fun.

Tip #2 Customize it

Be firm about being yourself as a couple, this is YOUR wedding day.  Allow yourself to customize it according to what you want.  Take the advice of others in your friends and family groups but don’t let them determine every decision you make.  Set healthy boundaries with your family and set clear expectations about what you want.

Tip # 3 Be picky about your bridal/wedding party

Most brides don’t realize how crucial your wedding party choices are to the flow and atmosphere of this big day.  Everything from showing up on time to keeping the energy high at the reception fall on the responsibility of your bridal party.  Choose them wisely!  Pick people who love you, support your relationship, are willing to financially invest in you and want you to have the best day ever! They should be fun!  According to Keenan, the best receptions are made when the groomsmen let loose on the dance floor!  These people should put the PARTY in wedding party!

Tip #4 Your DJ probably knows what he is doing, trust them

Trust the vendor you hire.  Get references, ask friends and family for recommendations, invest in quality and then trust them to do what you have hired them to do.    There is a method to the madness when you hire a wedding professional.  Bonus tip: Don’t ask your DJ for requests at the reception and don’t encourage your guests to do so either.  Professional DJ’s have a calculated workflow to wind up and wind down the crowd and they work really hard to make sure everything they do represents their brand and you as a couple.  Interruptions keep them from doing what you hired them to do in the best way they can.

Tip #5  Take AT LEAST one year to plan your wedding

A lot of bride’s underestimate how long it takes to plan a grand wedding and it’s not just about getting the best vendors.  Weddings are very expensive and giving yourself plenty of time to save for your ideal event will take loads of stress off of you and whoever, if anyone, is helping you pay for everything.  Plus it gives you more time to come up with the best wedding reception ideas!

Tip #6 Get an experienced & professional wedding planner

Friends and family do not count as planners, unless they happened to be professionals.  Friends will provide you a friendly level of service and if things go wrong it could cost you a friendship.  It just isn’t worth it.  You need someone who is not emotionally involved with you to handle all the problems and decisions.  According to Keenan, the coordinator is the coach and the DJ is the quarterback of the reception.  We need the coach to call the plays for the quarterback to execute.  If the quarterback has to run the whole team his performance will suffer and so will the game.

Bonus tip!

Elopements are a great choice for a lot of modern couples!  I LOVE THEM! Plus it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on celebrating with your family and friends.  My husband and I eloped in Asheville, NC and through a giant party about a month later.  It was definitely the best choice for us!

Hi! I’m Sarah Larae! Nice to Meet you!

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