Dressing up your wedding reception tables in style is one of the cornerstones of a successful reception. Guests will be look at all your reception decorations, of course, but they will be spending most of their time at the reception sitting at their tables. It’s important to have proper table decorations so that your reception can be a hit. A few things go into a successful reception table. Let’s take a look at the components.
The foundation of good reception table design is the tablecloth. You’re going to have to put more thought into the tablecloths than you would think. Your first impulse might be to pick any old size that will technically fit the tables, but slow down! If you are having a more casual wedding, a reception in which you’re only serving finger foods, or one in the early afternoon, you’ll want to find a tablecloth which will cover your table and then drop down about 12-24 inches. Full drop down (to the floor or nearly so) tablecloths are generally reserved to more formal weddings and receptions, especially those in the evening and which serve a full meal to wedding guests. As for what the tablecloths are made of, these follow along the same lines, with polyester being used mainly for the less formal weddings and something like satin being used for more formal weddings and receptions.
The next part of your table design is optional, but definitely appreciated by guests. The first is a table runner. Table runners add an additional color and texture to your table design and are especially great for dressing up long tables. If you’re working with square or round tables, I recommend a table overlay for your tables. Again, these additional table toppers provide a burst of color to your designs and can be great for making your guests feel special.
With the proper table designs for your reception, your guests will be raving about your wedding for years to come. One last thing to remember is that even after you’ve picked a winning tablecloth design, possibly complemented by a table runner or overlay, you’ll next have to figure out the table centerpieces to bring the whole reception design together.
I recently visited a friend’s wedding where the decoration of the reception table left me speechless. From the table cloth to the table runner to the centerpieces everything was so coordinated that all the guests were quite impressed. The bride is an interior decorator and that showed in the way she has designed her own wedding.
My sister is getting married next month and I am looking for ideas to decorate the reception table. This article is quite resourceful. We will be having a formal wedding and the guidelines mentioned here will help us to choose the table cloth and runners.