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Ask your DJ to play a series of songs to salute the various generations attending the reception,
starting with the oldest. Your DJ might announce this special dance and ask your grandparents, or
great-grandparents, to start it. Choose a song that they would remember from their younger days,
or the one that was played for their first dance. Follow with the next generation, and so on.
Ask your caterer to put out two or three punch bowls, filled with a non-alcoholic drink and lots of
ice, at easily accessible points around the room, for guests to quench their thirst once the dancing
heats up.
Now that the country music trend has swept North America, consider having step dancing at your
reception. For guests not familiar with the steps, have a dance instructor, or even a talented
aficionado of the dance, show everyone how to step lively and "walk down the aisle."
To wish all your bridesmaids well, follow the tradition of American colonial brides, who threw
specially-made miniature bouquets to each bridesmaid, rather than arbitrarily tossing to one lucky
catcher.
Miniature evergreens (either fake or real) make inexpensive yet dramatic reception table
decorations for a winter wedding. String each with its own set of fairy lights, powered with a
battery pack hidden under the branches.
Another inexpensive idea for a winter wedding is to paint pomegranates, pine cones, and plastic
bells with gold spray paint. Arrange them in the center of each table, or wire them to styrofoam
cones for elegant versions of Christmas trees.
For an early spring or winter wedding, spray bare branches (curly willow is particularly shapely)
with silver spray paint. For each table arrangement, decorate a grouping of branches with a white
toy dove, white ribbon bows, and a few white orange blossoms or snowflakes made from craft
tissue paper.
For a Valentine's Day wedding, hot-glue sweetheart candies and cinnamon hearts to clean juice
cans for flower vases that will have everyone talking.
For a summer wedding, try brightly painted metal buckets filled with white sand in which white
candles, shells, and daisies are nestled, or an ice bucket filled with ice, two bottles of flavored
spring water, and bright pinwheels.
For a fall wedding, fill hollowed-out pumpkins with sprays of tiger lilies.
For added visual drama at your reception tables, secure a colorful bouquet of helium-filled
balloons to the centerpiece. Make sure there are as many balloons as chairs for each table. Insert a
trinket into one of the balloons in each bouquet. At the end of the evening, your guests can give
you a loud send-off by breaking the balloons. Whoever finds the trinket gets to take home the
centerpiece.
Take advantage of an early spring wedding by filling tall urns with long branches covered in buds
- an effect that's very modern and simple yet very dramatic for both ceremony and reception. A
few toy birds, available at most craft stores, added to the branches lend another charming touch of
spring.
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