Three of my bridesmaids were girls I grew up with. We’ve been best friends since second grade, so natuarally they were all going to be in my wedding party, and my sister was my maid of honor. They all looked so lovely in their bridesmaids dresses and they were just as excited as I was about my wedding. My maid of honor helped me plan my wedding ceremony and reception. She really was a big help with checking out all the supplies I needed for the reception. We talked for a long time about all the different themes there are and which ones I liked the most. I had narrowed it down to two motifs. One was a beautiful garden ceremony with all the gorgeous flowers all around or a beach wedding with sand and surf. Since we lived by the ocean and it’s one of mine and my fiance’s favorite places to be, I decided on a beach wedding. Since time and place were all taken care of, we started getting those beach themed wedding invitations out right away. It didn’t take long to get responses from everyone, so now planning can begin, since I now know exactly who is coming.
I arranged for the caterers and chose all the meal options for the reception. There were steaks, chicken kiev and lots and lots of seafoods and salads. Then we went on to choosing the perfect wedding cake. My fiance and I must have tried 50 cake samples before we decided one, they were all so good. Then I went to cake toppers and looked through all the styles they had. I finally settled on a cake topper that was perfect for a beach wedding. I had everything from decorations to wedding favors for my guests. The only thing left for me to get now, were the bridesmaid gifts. I was a little worried though, about the cost. My wedding budget was running a little thin. Luckily I found some pretty terrific cheap bridesmaid gifts that looked like I spent a fortune. They were really exquisite and I just knew they would all love them. My fiance found a lot of wonderful little thank you gifts for his groomsmen too, and we bought something special for the flower girl and ring boy.
In fact, I lucked out on a few things for my reception. There were a lot of items that were available at wholesale prices, which is good, because every little bit of money saved is a big help when you are just starting out. We didn’t want to start our new life together deep in debt.
Our wedding reception table looked fabulous with all the crystal champagne glasses and the beautiful silver serving set. All my reception tables had an ocean side décor to them, and I found the perfect little beach themed wedding favors for all of our guests with favor boxes to match. We gave them adorable little picture frames with tiny shells all around the border. They really were quite beautiful.
I’m so glad we decided on a beach party reception and I’m glad that it was so easy to find everything we needed, from beach wedding decorations to bridesmaids gifts. Everyone had a great time at our reception. There was lots of dancing, toasting and tons of delicious foods to enjoy. On the invitations I made sure to mention that everyone should bring swim suits and many of our guests did. They really had a great time in and out of the water. A couple of friends said it was the best wedding reception they’d ever attended.