As a Chicago wedding photographer I know that pretty much every couple is looking to bring their wedding reception experience to the next level. You want your reception to be a memorable celebration, one that you AND your guests reminisce about for months and even years after the fact! While making this goal a reality may sound difficult at first, there are actually a TON of different ways for you to make this happen, which you probably guessed from the title! So without dancing around the topic any longer, let’s look at 10 of my favorite ways for couples to elevate the reception experience of their Chicago wedding day!

1. Book a Party Bus

Before the reception even begins, you and your wedding party need to actually get there, and what better way to travel around Chicago than together in a party bus?! This is something that SO many of my couples have incorporated into their wedding, and it is a blast every single time. It’s such a fun experience to be driven around the windy city with your closest friends at your side as you kick off your wedding celebration in style! It’s a great way to hype up both you and your wedding party for the festivities to come, and it also keeps travel arrangements incredibly simple, especially if you’re stopping for portrait photos on the way to your reception venue!

2. Have an Outfit Change

This is something I see more and more couples incorporate into their wedding day, and I am SO here for it! Having an outfit change as a part of your reception is a great option for a few reasons. The first is that it creates an epic moment when you first re-enter your reception! Everyone’s jaws will be on the floor the moment you walk into the room with a full new outfit on, hyping you up to no end and in turn making them all the more excited as well. It also creates an awesome moment for your photographer to document, and finally it is a great way to stay comfortable throughout the night’s festivities!

You can go all out for this, or you can keep things simple and swap your shoes to something like custom Converse for your reception to get a similar effect. Either way it’s a surefire way to elevate the experience of your Chicago wedding reception!

3. Go ALL Out for Your First Dance

For most this option requires a bit more time and dedication, but trust me the results are definitely worth it! The first dance is already such an integral part to most weddings, and it’s a point where everyone is focused on the couple themselves over all else. Why not go the extra mile then and make the dance itself a true show stopper? Practice specific dance moves you can bust out, lay out an entire dance routine for your song, or if you REALLY want to go all out take some dance lessons together! An added benefit to this is that the time you spend practicing will become some of your favorite memories from your wedding day prep!

4. Unique Entertainment

The entertainment can be a make or break aspect of your Chicago wedding reception, luckily most couples take extra care when it comes to choosing the DJ or band that will be providing their entertainment! Something most couples may not consider though is supplementing that choice with another different form of entertainment. Maybe it’s a group of Irish Dancers coming out to perform for the guests like with Emma and Jake’s wedding, or maybe you have a surprise saxophonist come out to perform on the dance floor itself. There’s a ton of room for creativity here, so as long as your venue and your DJ or band are cool with it then the sky’s the limit!

5. Include Options for Non-Dancers

Not everyone likes to be out on the dancefloor all night long, especially when it comes to loved ones that also have their kids in attendance. This is where having alternative options for the non-dancing guests of your Chicago wedding reception come into play! Whether you have yard games set up for your outdoor reception, drawing spaces set up for the kiddos to enjoy, or something else entirely, having options for the non-dancers of your wedding is a great way to make sure that EVERYONE has a good time!

6. Optimize Your Timeline for the Experience

As you probably know now that you’re planning your own wedding, there is a LOT that goes into creating the timeline for your day! So much so that I actually wrote an entire article about creating the perfect timeline for your Chicago wedding, but how does this affect your reception? A huge factor in the feel and flow of your reception is the layout of your timeline itself! Deciding on the ideal amount of time between your introduction and when the dance floor opens drastically changes how your reception feels. You don’t want the dance floor to open too early where people are either still eating or don’t feel ready to dance, but you also don’t want it to open too late where it may be hard to get everyone hyped up and ready to party again!

7. Dance Floor Lighting

This one may not seem all that important at first glance, but trust me the lighting of your Chicago wedding reception can have a dramatic effect on it! Different lighting gives your reception a totally different feel and atmosphere to it. Earlier in the evening you can have some brighter lighting for everyone to enjoy, then later on (once the grandparents go to bed!), you can dim the lights and change up the music to give the evening a totally different feel. There are also other unique lighting options you can include to enhance the experience of your reception like having a sparkler exit, having a spotlight for your first dance, or handing out LED foam sticks to your guests!

8. Have a Late Night Snack

Everyone LOVES a late night snack! Seriously, I’ve never been to a wedding with a late night snack where the guests weren’t ALL about it! Your Chicago wedding venue may offer this as part of their catering, or you may have to hire an additional vendor to cater the snacks to your reception. Whatever the situation, it’s always a great idea as it keeps you and your guests fueled and ready to have the best night ever!

9. An Open Bar

This is an incredibly simple way to ensure that you and your guests have an all out blast at your reception! Of course there are a couple of caveats to doing this. First you need to make sure that your venue is able to provide an open bar service, and then you also need to consider whether or not it falls within your wedding budget. The other thing to consider are your guests themselves, as there are just some people out there that don’t know how to quite pace themselves when an open bar is involved! If these three criteria are met though, having an open bar is a surefire way to bring your wedding reception to the next level!

10. Ask Your Guests to Participate!

Last but certainly not least is to get some guest participation in the evening’s festivities! We talked about having options for non-dancers to entertain themselves with, but there is much more to the redemption than just the dance. Having unique ways for your guests to participate in the reception and interact with you can be a great way to elevate the experience of your Chicago wedding. You can have them take part in a confetti toss during the last song, have a photo booth with different props for them to use throughout the night, use something like After the Tone for them to record messages to you, or really anything else you can dream up! There are so many fun ways to have your guests participate in your reception outside of the dance!

What Should You Include in Your Chicago Wedding Reception?

So with all these options on the table, which should you include into your Chicago wedding reception? That ultimately comes down to you, your vision for your wedding day, and the budget you’ve set for the day itself! This also is not an all inclusive list, as there are MANY other ways for you to enhance the experience of your wedding reception in addition to those above. Talk with your partner about what you two want your wedding reception to look and feel like. What experiences do you want to have and share with those celebrating around you? This will help guide you through finding the right options to include into your wedding reception! Be sure to check out my blog for more Chicago wedding planning tips, and head over to my contact page to book me as your Chicago wedding photographer!