Social Hall, Wedding Reception, Wedding Venue
Your wedding ceremony and reception are the biggest days in your life for you and your beloved. You are full of excitement but be aware of one thing. This day is going to be extremely stressful until the event begins. But it doesn’t have to be horrific.
For this article we will focus on the wedding reception.
Some Tips from Insider Experts
Here are some tips from wedding planners and other insiders who make a living planning and hosting wedding receptions.
- 1. Choosing the Right Venue
- The built-in amenities can make or break an event like a wedding reception. Look for an event that offers its own catering, has outstanding décor and event coordinators to help you along the way.
- 2. Hire an Event Coordinator for the Day of the Event.
- An event coordinator who is there for the day of your reception will be a real lifesaver. You can have a friend do this for you, but a friend doesn’t necessarily know all of the things that are important to check on. A pro will also know how to quickly turn around a potential disaster into an unnoticeable hiccup.
- 3. Have a Realistic Timeline
- When you’re planning your events within the event, be sure to add plenty of buffer time. You know Uncle Leo and how he tends go on and on with his toasts! It is best to have extra time planned after every planned activity. It can take 15 minutes to get everyone’s attention sometimes, too!
- 4. Focus on What Truly Matters
- Everyone is going to throw at you so many fun ideas that you’ll want to include them all. But unless this is an old fashioned 3-day Polish wedding, you have to consider the time involved. So, you must choose which activities are truly the most important and stick with those.
Use an On-Site Event Coordinator
At Villa Ragusa we have an on-site event coordinator that is happy to help you with many tasks. She can steer you clear of common problems and ensure your wedding reception is fun, memorable and problem-free.
Event Planning, Wedding Reception, Wedding Venue
For most couples there isn’t any reason to overspend on their wedding. You really can get more for less. Then you’ll be able to spend the most on what matters the most, like your Honeymoon!
Here are Some Ways to Cut the Fat from Your Wedding
- Off-Peak Wedding Reception Date
- Venues and vendors often offer discounts for weekday or off-season weddings. And you can sometimes add an afternoon or brunch wedding to reduce the cost even further.
- DIY Invitations & Décor
- You can make your own invitations and save $100s or even $1000s, depending on how elaborate the invitations are. So, save the environment and go digital. You can design your gorgeous wedding invitations using an online tool and print them or send them digitally. A company like Evite can also track your RSVPs and keep your wedding on track.
- Rent or Buy a Pre-Owned Wedding Dress
- Aside from your rings, the wedding dress is a huge expenditure. And a wedding dress is something you’ll wear only once and then you’ll keep it in storage for the rest of your life. Sure, possibly your future daughter might want to use it, but if you’re not buying a well-crafted top of the line dress, it is not likely to hold up.
There are budget options like borrowing from a wedding dress collection your church curates for brides of all ages. You will give the organization a donation. This will save you $1000s!
Or you can buy a used dress from a former bride who is selling hers – then donate it back to her after the wedding. Now it is “something borrowed”!
Villa Ragusa is Here to Help
Our Event Coordinators are here to help you with a beautiful location for your wedding and reception. We have rooms that can fit less than 200 or up to 800 guests. If you’re having a tight budget wedding, we give generous discounts on typically slow times on our calendar. Be sure to ask us about when to book your event.
Event Planning, Wedding Reception, Wedding Venue
Hiring a wedding planner sounds like an unnecessary expense, but actually, they might save your sanity as well as your relationship.
Weddings! Yikes!
Wedding ceremonies and receptions are chaotic to plan. They are expensive. You will feel like this is the most important decision in your life so you must get every single thing perfect. But you don’t have to get everything absolutely perfect.
So, here is how you get it done right.
Hire a Wedding Planner
Planning a wedding is something that is not as fun as you thought it was. Actually, it is a bit of a nightmare. Every person you know, and some you have never met before in your life, will tell you exactly what you need to do. To make matters worse, if you don’t do it the way they want you to do it they’ll be hurt. If you hurt a stranger’s feelings, that’s sad. But when it is Grandma. Oh, boy.
The way around the nightmare is to hire a wedding planner. This is a person who knows wedding ceremonies and receptions like nobody else. Your planner will tell you about things you never heard of before. This is a person who has a list and asks you many questions. Then sketches it all out, gets your approval, makes adjustments, lines up vendors and boom! Your wedding is done. Haha, not quite.
Tragedy Strikes
Your planner will probably warn you that always, always, always something will go horribly wrong! Your 6″ shoe heel will break off just before going down the aisle. Your caterer made the wrong menu. It rained and your back up place is locked – you and 500 guests can’t get in! There is always some tragedy that happens. But when you hire a wedding planner they jump right in, wave a magic wand over every single incident and save the day.
You won’t even know all that your wedding planner is doing for you because they take care of things and tell you later – after your big day.
It is the wedding planner’s duty to save the day – over and over – shielding you from all of it. And they keep Aunty Alice and your soon-to-be mother-in-law muted. That is worth every penny you paid right there.
Banquet Hall, Unique Party Ideas, Wedding Reception
You have a lot to get through when planning your wedding, so here is a helpful list for your shopping needs.
Where to Purchase Guest Mementos
These days most people go to Amazon to buy as cheaply as possible. But if knockoff Chinese imports are not the theme you want to go with, here are some other ideas that will add a touch of class and uniqueness to your wedding reception.
1. Etsy.
Yes, Etsy is still out and it is packed with home crafters and sellers who have the most unique ideas for your wedding. They are typically handcrafted with love, although you can find sellers that are importers, as well. But most couples love the unique craftsmanship of the Etsy artisans.
2. Moo.
Sure, you could go traditional on your wedding reception invitations, but why where you can do the world is your oyster thing, right? Moo is a printer that lets you be you. While Moo definitely isn’t a cheap option, they are far less expensive than traditional wedding invitation printers and they are a much higher quality. Plus you get to be totally unique.
3. Graphic Designer.
Unless you’re a professional graphic designer, never try to design your banners, social posts , labels or invitations yourself. This is your wedding and you want it to be magical. This graphic designer does absolutely amazing work and he is extremely affordable.
4. Baskits.
Guests gifts don’t have to be boring. They can be amazing. Baskits is one company that does luxury corporate gifts. If you’re looking to give your wedding party or guests something they’ll really enjoy then shop luxury corporate gifts. You’ll have your names printed right on the item or gift basket.
When you’re planning your wedding, you want to have everything perfect. So, when you aim for quality you’ll ensure you’ll have a wedding reception to remember where everything was perfect and beautiful.
Wedding Reception
Choosing the right photographer for your wedding is vital. These are the images that are going to last forever. Everything else will fade over time, your memory of the wedding details, the things that went sideways, that cake that slid off its pillars, but the images! Those images are forever. So, here’s what the experts say on how to choose wisely.
Choose Wisely
You need to hire a pro. Do not use a friend who has a nice camera. Wedding photos take a talented photographer with years of experience. It you scrimp on photography in the budget, you will certainly regret it.
Photography Styles
It’s best if you educate yourself before you shop, so you know what to look for in the photographers’ samples. Then it’ll be easier to get the perfect person who shoots images the way you like them done. So, spend an hour or two researching wedding photography styles.
You Need to Like the Person
If you really like your photographer as a person, it will make all the difference in your wedding photos! What you are thinking and feeling at the time the camera clicks is going to be captured. Thinking the person behind the camera is an annoying creep isn’t what you want captured on film!
See All the Wedding Photos from One Wedding
Don’t make the mistake of limiting the sample to only their best work from a lot of weddings. Have them also show you the full set of images from one wedding. You want to browse them all.
The reason is, you can get a real feel for how that photographers works, what they work to capture in the crowd and the quality of typical shots. Also, you’ll immediately find out if they are using someone else’s best work as samples!
Schedule Them Early!
Start shopping for a photographer a year from your wedding date. A talented photographer that has great rates is going to be booked up. So, get one locked in first.
Banquet Hall, Wedding Reception, Wedding Venue
It’s your special day, so you want to make sure you get it right! Our staff at Villa Ragusa understands that. We are so excited for your wedding reception, too!
Beautiful Setting – Amazing Architecture
Villa Ragusa has its own old world style that takes to back to a time where beauty in architecture mattered most. The lobby is built with a focus on limestone, marble and mahogany and features a long, curved staircase.
Was it your dream to ascend a winding grand staircase to meet your wedding guests? We built our lobby just for you.
Villa Ragusa’s location was originally a bank. We kept those classic European stylings of natural stone and beautiful dark wood accents in our remodel, because we know our guests want more than just a location for an event. They want to have THE location for their event!
If your event is your wedding reception, you have found the right place. A spectacular space!
Our lobby is on the first floor. Our resizable event spaces are upstairs on the second floor. We chose to have spaces upstairs so you can enjoy the beautiful, elevated view of Campbell during your event.
The balconies are available in every event space. There is an entire wall lined with ceiling to floor windows and gently flowing sheer drapes that move with the breeze, when access doors are open to the outside. This is the absolutely perfect setting for a wedding reception.
The small balcony tables allow guests to take a break after dancing to catch their breath out in the fresh air while socializing with a friend or two. Once rested they can get right back to the celebration by stepping back into the room.
Superior Service
You’ll find you’re in excellent hands from the time you make your first call to inquire about a space to after the wedding reception. You are our priority. We’ll help you with planning your space and make sure you have everything you need to have a joyous, handsfree celebration.
Contact us today to discover what we have to offer.
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