Tips For the Layout of Your Wedding Reception

Photo by Jacob Dean

Here are some things you should know when planning the layout of your reception.


1) Never have your bars near the entrance. If your bars are set up near the entrance of your event, you end up with a bottleneck of guests trying to get a drink and the guests behind them can not even get into the room. We solve this problem by having servers at the doors as guests enter offering them a choice of drinks on trays and have them “butler” drinks throughout the room along with bar service. This way guests can get a drink from a server as he passes and not even have to stand in line. Also, don’t scrimp on bartenders. You need at least one for every 50 guests.

Photo by Jacob Dean

2) Pretty much the same idea goes for food, especially during your cocktail hour. Do not set your food stations by the entrance to your reception area. Again, if you do, you have guests lining up for food and blocking the entrance for other guests needing to enter or leave. Place food stations away from the entrance and spaced throughout the room. Having servers butler hot hors d’oeuvers is an elegant way to solve the bottleneck problem and a good way to save money. If your more expensive appetizers are butler passed your guests will consume less leaving you with a savings on your food bill.

3) Cake placement – This is my big pet peeve. Do not place your cake by the doors as your guests enter. Again, this causes a bottleneck as guests stop to look at the cake. There is also the danger of the cake being bumped in the rush of people coming in the doors. That many people passing by your cake, breathing on it and little kids putting their fingers on it, is just yuck. Place it toward the rear of the room where everyone can see it but won’t be crowded around it. I like it either near the sweetheart table so it shows in your pictures or at the back of the dance floor so it’s in the pictures of your first dance.