Nothing is as grandiose, as extravagant, and as worthwhile to a bride as her own wedding. This marks a very special and noteworthy day between her and her groom, who, after the wedding ceremony, will then be her husband for the rest of her life. I said extravagant and grandiose, because of the exquisite designs and embroidery of the bride’s wedding gown, and her entourage’s dresses. Also, the aisle is well decorated with expensive flowers, red carpet, and sometimes, a smoke machine to put drama into the entrance of the bride.

Wedding traditions and customs vary according to differences in religion, culture, ethnic group, social class, and country. Some of the practices of most wedding ceremonies include the exchange of vows by the wedded couple, and presentation of such symbolic gifts as rings, coins, candles, cord, veil, and flowers. But most importantly, most wedding ceremonies conclude through a public declaration of the newlyweds.

What follows a wedding ceremony is a wedding reception. This is where the newlyweds-along with their friends, visitors, and family-gather for music, food, prayers, testimonies, dance, games, and sometimes, Scripture and/or poetry reading. It is common for most receptions to start with the newlyweds opening a cage where there is a pair of white male and female doves. This act and the doves symbolize harmony and peace in marriage. Tossing the bridal bouquet and garter is also another tradition. The bride tosses her bouquet to all the single ladies in the reception. Whoever catches the bridal bouquet will be paired with a single guy, who catches the bridal garter that is tossed by the groom.

My cousin, who is currently residing and working in Canada, has just attended his girlfriend’s best friend’s wedding. Since he did not know most of the wedding guests, he resorted to secretly yet regularly checking on his Facebook and Twitter accounts using his Blackberry. My cousin told me that he has nothing against weddings. He was just completely bored, because the only person he could talk to at that moment was his girlfriend, who happened to be the bride’s maid of honour. So, to cut the chase, I’m going to share with you what happened at the wedding reception that my cousin attended.

There was a guy who hosted the reception, which made it really systematic and organized. The reception started with the entrance of the newlyweds. It was then followed by a series of talks that only the people who were dear to the newlyweds could relate to. Soon came the slicing of the wedding cake, and drinking of the wine. After which, dinner was served. After dinner, the newlyweds had their first dance, and more dancing came after it. Still, these events did not boost my cousin’s energy and participation. What happened after the above-mentioned events, however, completely woke him up: the tossing of the bridal bouquet and garter.

It was so hilarious to see the faces of frustrated bride’s maids when they raced after a tossed NAPKIN. They thought that the bride was going to toss her bouquet, but she did not-not YET. It was the instruction of the reception host, so, he was the one to blame for those bride’s maids’ humiliating moment.

The second twist in that wedding reception was when the groom was completely handcuffed from behind, and blindfolded while BITING the bridal garter off his wife’s leg! Can you imagine what a torture that must have been!

These are just two of the possible twists that you can do to make your wedding reception much more fun and worthwhile. So, if you don’t want your guests to resort to Twittering, you better make your reception as appealing as possible.

Author Bio: Danielle Brooks is a freelance writer who loves to entertain. One of her favorite Oneida flatware sets is Oneida Michelangelo, and she likes to use Noritake Stoneware for dinnerware.

Category: Marriage
Keywords: Wedding Reception,wedding,wedding ceremony