Reception Top 10: #5 Our Guests

#5 - Our Guests

After about 15 minutes of fresh air and each other at our Private Dinner, we headed out to the wedding reception madness. Walking around visiting with all of our guests was a wonderful part of the night. As with all weddings, it was a priority to try and speak to everyone there, and for our wedding it was even more important because everyone had traveled so far for the big event.

I came to the conclusion that we have some of the most fun family and friends around. I’m sure everyone can say that about their 150 closest family and friends, and that’s what makes a wedding so special… you finally get to see that. It sure was refreshing and such a blessing to have them all in one room at the same time – all together. I remember thinking over and over that we may never see this again. We may never again have the opportunity to have 150 of the people who we love most and who love us most all together in the same room. I encourage all brides and grooms to think about this on their wedding day. When you think about it, it truly is one of the most special times in a person’s life.

Reception Top 10: #4 The Drinks

#4 - The Drinks

One of my friends told me the bartender at our wedding was one of the most talented bar tenders she had ever seen (of course, I never saw him or even had to go to the bar because our attendants made sure we had full glasses of whatever we wanted all night). She said that he remembered what her and all our friends were drinking after telling him once. She even went up to order for three people at one point in the night, and like a fountain of wonderfulness, he poured all three different drinks from the same spout! I was so amazed and pleased to hear this (as a matter of fact, it made my day after getting back to work from the honeymoon)! We also had a full open bar with s slew of signature drinks included from hurricanes to daiquiris, to this fabulous mango margarita that I’ve heard about from several of my friends that I never even got to try (probably my only regret all night :)!
(Image credit: Southern Oaks Plantation Facebook Page)

Reception Top 10: #3 The Food

#3 - The Food

After booking Southern Oaks, I heard from a handful of NOLA locals that they had some of the best food around. The locals weren’t lying! We and our guests were served over 75 entrees, h’orderves and deserts, and every morsel was as tasty as Cajun cuisine could possibly get! From pasta to shrimp to crab cakes to red beans and rice and jambalaya, they had it all! And the best part was the way they served it. I remember wondering how they were going to serve 75 different types of food, but of course, they had it down to an art. They had about 10+ servers walking around with beautiful trays full of “samples” of each food. They went around from person to person, table to table. Most of my friends said after the wedding, “I got SOOO FULL at your wedding, those people just kept coming with more and more food, and it was always something different, so I had to try it!” And to complete the night, they sent me and my groom home with another huge tray full of food (just in case we didn’t get enough at our private dinner). Needless to say, when we got back to our hotel room after the wedding and after wedding festivities, we devoured it! Here are just a few of many:

Reception Top 10: #2 The VIP Room

The separate bar in the VIP - Wedding Party room!

#2 - The VIP Room

Southern Oaks had a VIP room set at the front of the ballroom for wedding party and family only. It may sound odd, but it was actually quite the perk. Immediately following the ceremony, us, the wedding party, and family had the room all to ourselves, and they even roped it off (with a doorman) so we wouldn’t be disturbed! We had a few drinks, made a few toasts, and started in early on the h’orderves. It was the perfect beginning to the fantastic night.

Me enjoying the spread at our "private dinner"

After our first dance and parent dances, the staff had the VIP room set up with our own private dinner for alone time. At first, we were hesitant to do this because we had only a few hours to visit with everyone, eat all the fantastic food, and dance. Well, Southern Oaks explained to us that many brides and grooms never get the time to eat, drink, and enjoy the seconds of being newly married. I had seen this more than enough times, so we agreed to do the private dinner for 10-15 minutes. They took us into the room alone, roping it off and even had a doorman guard the entrance just in case someone tried to slip in. The idea turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the night! We enjoyed being alone for a breather and it was a definite plus that they laid out a spread of the top entrees and h’orderves for us and we had our own private bar.

Tres loved the private dinner too!

Reception Top 10: #1 The Staff

#1 - The Staff/Our Attendants

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we had a staff of about 20+ people taking care of our every needs all night. Tres had his own personal attendant, I had my own, and each set of parents had their own. They followed us around with bottles of champagne topping our drinks off, they made sure we knew what came next (cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc.), and knowing that brides and grooms are the stars of the night and have to make their rounds and talk to every person in the room, if they felt we had been “backed into a corner” by a guest for too long, they would come up and politely excuse us – it was amazing because we didn’t have to worry about a thing all night!!! During the cake cutting, Tres and I had no clue what the heck we were doing, and there was an attendant right beside us to guide us through the entire process! The treatment was extraordinary!

Wedding Day: Reception Top 10

One of my closest friends and bridesmaids, Sara, titled our wedding album on her Facebook Page, “A Southern Kind of PARTY.” I don’t think she could have better described it. A PARTY was exactly what it was! FUN is my favorite adjective to live by. Seriously, if you’re not having fun in life, then what the heck are you doing?! I believe my groom feels the same way about things, as we always have the absolute best time together. With that being said, when Tres and I got engaged and began discussing wedding plans, we had one priority in mind: for our family and friends to have A BLAST at our wedding. I have to say… MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

As I walked around talking to everyone and looked around the ballroom for three hours, I never saw one person without a smile or laugh on their face, and most were up moving around, socializing, eating, or dancing. It probably doesn’t hurt that our wedding venue was second to none. When we booked Southern Oaks and they told us how great they were, I believed it, but I also didn’t believe they would give us and our guests “Million Dollar Wedding” treatment. No joke… Let me explain by separating what could be one long reception post into several different posts. Continue reading for my reception Top 10 List!

Personal Blogger, Professional Blogger

It has been awhile since I have posted, I am clearly still slacking on wedding posts, but I have to mention the launch of our new blog at Varsity Brands, Inc. : America Needs Cheerleaders! You can find the blog here: americaneedscheerleaders.com.

You may or may not have cheerleading exprience or even care about cheerleading at all, but it may be fun for you to read how cheerleaders make a difference in the world!

My blog day is Monday "Cheers for Charity," and my most recent post is today! Check it out here: americaneedscheerleaders.com/cheers-for-charity/happy-new-year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!