Planning a wedding can be so fun! But let’s be honest, the reception is where the party is at. Bumping music, awesome food, cutting the cake (or cupcakes), and dancing the night away. Here are some of our best tips for making your wedding reception a little more COVID friendly:

Prepare Your Guests Before The Wedding

Before the big day, communicate with your guests about what to expect. One of the worst things you can do is leave your guests in the dark about what precautions you’re going to take or not take regarding coronavirus.

If you explain before they arrive on the wedding day, they can feel confident about coming to celebrate and also be prepared with anything they should bring. If you haven’t sent out invitations, you can include an insert about the reception and the safety guidelines, and also a blurb on your wedding website. 

Clean Hands are Happy Hands

The first and most obvious way you can keep yourself healthy and your guests safe is to provide ways for them to keep their hands clean and germs at bay. Hand sanitizer is one of the easiest ways to be safe during COVID.

While you should provide hand sanitizer at the entryway of the ceremony, you should also include plenty of bottles around your venue. Not only should you include bottles, but you should also include signs encouraging them to use it. 

Let’s look at what the CDC says about clean hands: 

“Encourage staff to cover the mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing and sneezing. Used tissues should be thrown in the trash and hands washed immediately with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Encourage attendees to wash hands often and cover coughs and sneezes.”

Consider a Smaller Crowd

Last week, we talked about having to go through the difficult conversation of uninviting guests, and as hard as that can be, it’s something you may want to consider when planning your reception. 

While you want all of your friends and family to be there with you to party, you need to keep health and safety in mind. While your planning your reception and going through the details, consider having that conversation with a few people and explaining your reasoning. 

Mask Up

This one might go without saying, but providing each guest with a mask is a simple way you can protect yourself and them. 

Over the past several months, we’ve seen this done several ways. At a recent wedding, the couple put prepackaged masks at each seat at the reception and at the ceremony. Sure, it might not be how you imagined decorating your reception, but it’s a simple way to protect those around you. 

You’re probably imagining those light blue surgical masks, but you can consider buying fashionable masks for yourself and your guests. 

Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that all of your vendors will be wearing masks. For us, masks are standard, but it never hurts to double-check before the big day. The reception is when a lot of your vendors will be around the most guests. 

Here is what the CDC says about masks for your guests: 

“Encourage attendees ahead of the event to bring and use masks at the event. Masks are meant to protect other people in case the wearer is unknowingly infected but does not have symptoms. Masks are not meant to be a substitute for personal protective equipment such as surgical masks, respirators, or other medical personal protective equipment. Masks are strongly encouraged in settings where individuals might raise their voice (e.g., shouting, chanting, singing).”

Party The Night Away. As Safely As Possible

Just because you have to take a few extra precautions doesn’t mean you can’t still have a fun party with those you love. It’s still your wedding reception and you should love every minute of it. 

If you aren’t comfortable with having the reception, you can follow the trend of postponing the big party. Go ahead and have your ceremony, do something small and sweet, and then wait several months and party it up!