After the wedding ceremony comes the reception. We all know what the usual parts of a reception are, but not everyone knows the standard order of the events. To help you plan the perfect wedding, take a look at this guide to the order of events at a wedding reception.

Generally, after the marriage ceremony, the newlyweds will duck off for photographs while the guests mingle at the cocktail hour. The next time that the bride and groom are seen again will be when they make their grand entrance to the wedding reception. This is often done with great fanfare. In some cases, the bride may even choose to change out of the bridal gown and wedding jewelry which she wore for the ceremony into a party dress and more bold wedding jewelry for the reception.

Banquet Halls

This changeover ensures that when the newlyweds make their entrance, they will really make an impression! The bandleader announces the bride and groom by saying something like, "For the first time ever, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Michael Jones!" and the guests respond with cheers and applause as the joyous newlyweds enter the room. Often, the couple will choose a meaningful and upbeat song to play during their entrance.

Following the arrival of the bride and groom at the reception, there will be a Champagne toast (if your wedding is on a tight budget, this may be the only time Champagne is served at the reception). Custom says that the first toast is always given by the best man. The maid of honor is next, if she chooses to speak. Then the fathers of the bride and groom follow, along with any other family or friends who wish to propose a toast.

The speeches conclude when the groom or bride (or both) give a brief toast along the lines of how happy they are and how grateful they are to all of their guests for joining them on their special day. It should be noted that the persons being honored in a toast should only raise their glass, not drink from it. This old piece of etiquette can be helpful when there is speech after speech and the bride does not wish to have too much to drink on an empty stomach (the wedding guests of course, have already been chowing down at the cocktail hour, so they don't have this problem).

Speaking of empty stomachs, after the toasts, it is time for dinner to be served. Once dinner reaches its conclusion, the bride and groom will have the ceremonial cake cutting, and then the cake will be served. This is followed by the bride and groom's first dance. A recent trend has been to move the first dance to the moment when the newlyweds make their grand entrance; in that case, the floor would just open to general dancing at this point. If the bride and groom have their first dance after the cake cutting, it is followed by spotlight dances with their parents and the wedding party.

Towards the end of the wedding reception, the bandleader will announce that the bride is going to toss her bouquet. After that, the couple will either resume dancing, or prepare to make their grand exit. In some regions, it is customary for the newlyweds to change into going away outfits before they make their formal exit, surrounded by cheers and congratulations as they dash off into their waiting limo to head off on their honeymoon.