New Year's Eve Wedding

If you want to create a great memory of your wedding, having in on New Year's Eve is a great way to that. While it might seem fun to have a midnight ceremony, in actuality it is probably more practical to have the ceremony earlier (like in the evening) and have your reception be the New Year's Eve party. That way all your friends and relatives have a great party to go to, and it's even better because everyone at the party knows plenty of other guests.

After the ceremony, change into "party" clothes. A New Year's Eve wedding reception should be a festively formal affair. The bride can wear a cocktail gown (preferably a glittery one), and the groom can change into a suit, rather than a tux. A gray suit is classy and unique. Good colors for a reception on New Year's Eve are silver and white or silver and black. Gold can substitute for silver. These are colors that go well with nearly any décor, but also say "party" and "New Year's."

One of the great things about a New Year wedding is that you won't need to get a dinner. Instead, have a nice buffet of finger foods and appetizers. Veggie, fruit, cracker, meat, and cheese trays are perfect for this occasion. You can also include finger foods such as buffalo wings, won tons, and shrimp (if you're really going upscale). People can eat these foods easily standing up. A full bar with non-alcoholic options are a nice touch. Make sure you have champagne on hand for the midnight toast, and provide sparkling non-alcoholic grape juice for the non-drinkers in the crowd. Little plastic wine glasses are good alternatives to real champagne glasses, which can get expensive.

Table decorations can be a variety of things. Candles on the table (pillar or votive) sprinkled about by glitter can be attractive. You can even do a candlelight midnight toast by dimming the lights close to midnight and having the candles lit. Glow in the dark stars can be scattered about the room and on tablecloths. Or you could place baskets of noise makers and hats in the center of the table, doubling as wedding favors and gear for the midnight toast. If you prefer flowers (after all, it is a wedding), white roses or tulips are good choices. Place them in black vases tied with silver or gold ribbon, for added effect.

And, of course, make sure you have Old Lang Syne on hand for midnight. If you want, you can have a TV (a large one, or a projector) on hand so that guests can watch the ball drop. In any case, make sure that you have proper music so that the newlyweds can go out on the floor after the toast and have the first dance of the New Year together.