Shake Things Up With These Surprise Wedding Reception Ideas

Shake Things Up With These Surprise Wedding Reception Ideas

Engagements and wedding ceremonies are among life’s most exciting milestones. But why stick to a traditional celebration when you can shake things up by leaving your wedding reception as a mystery? This way, your guests won’t know what to expect and will be in for some unforgettable surprises. 

So how do you pull this off flawlessly? Keep scrolling to learn how to plan a surprise wedding reception. 

How to Plan a Surprise Wedding Reception

Upon their arrival at the reception venue, the surprised look on your guests’ faces will be worth all the trouble and secrecy you went through! For a successful wedding reception reveal, follow the steps below:

1. Set a Budget Before Doing Anything Else

Budgeting is an important part of a surprise wedding reception. This is to ensure that you will not overspend your finances and use your money wisely. Some considerations to keep in mind when setting a budget include the venue costs, decor, food, drinks, entertainment (if any), and a little extra in case of emergencies. Make sure to track your spending as you plan!

2. Look for a Wedding Reception Venue

Once the budget is set, it’s time to put your surprise plans into action. The next thing you need to do is look for a wedding reception venue. In Toronto, there are a lot of places to choose from—but The Loft on King stands out because of its unique mix of modern, vintage, and minimalistic charms. It’s a brick-clad, factory warehouse-style building that will serve as the perfect backdrop to present-day fairytales unfolding. 

3. Setting a Story Behind Your Surprise

Now it’s time to create a back story for your surprise, which will serve as the foundation for the event’s future elements. With that said, here are some helpful prompts that will guide the direction of your reception:

Why Are You Having a Surprise Wedding Reception in the First Place?

The first thing you need to do is to answer this question. Your response to this will serve as a good starting point and as the core of your plans.

Think About How You Will Break the Surprise to Your Guests.

To execute a successful surprise wedding reception, you need to have a “stirring element” first. This is found in the manner in which you will reveal the secret to your guests. Some examples include:

• Not specifying the venue on the invitation only to announce it at the end of the ceremony;
• Create a buzz by getting your guests to solve a series of clues that lead them to your reception venue; or
• Planning a bar crawl or scavenger hunt of nearby places that lead your guests to the actual reception venue. 

You can get creative with the surprise reveal but make sure to think about the well-being of your guests as well. Allowing them to participate in your wedding celebrations is great, but remember that your secret should be easy and not something that will eat into the time you have together. 

Plan and Draft a Cover Story.

To conceal your surprise, you need to have a good cover story that your guests will buy. This is where you put your creativity to use as you fabricate a believable narrative to redirect your guests’ attention. The details about it shouldn’t be too vague or too obvious; otherwise, your cover will be blown. Above all, make sure that the story is persuasive enough to make them follow your plans!

4. Hire the Crew You Need to Make Your Reception Magical

The next thing on your to-do list is to hire a crew you can rely on to make your surprise wedding reception successful, which includes catering, servers, bartenders, and potentially valet. Choosing professional and friendly staff to work with will help you turn your vision into a reality. 

5. Assign a Couple of People From the Guest List as Secret Bearers

Problems are prone to arise, especially if your wedding reception is supposed to be a secret. There is a possibility that your guests won’t stay long since they believe that there will be no party after the ceremony. To prevent that from happening, you should have secret bearers that will help you.

Secret bearers are people from your guest list who know about your surprise wedding reception. Their task is to ensure that everything goes according to plan and also to keep the shock factor at 100% full effect. Additionally, your secret bearers are there to help your guests figure out the clues you have prepared, in case you choose to include an adventurous element to the surprise. 

6. Have a Complete Dry Run of Your Surprise Plan

Just before D-Day, make sure to have a dry run of your surprise. All the involved people should be there so that everyone can practice their roles. From there, you can see last-minute plot holes that might ruin your plans. In turn, creating plans B and C will be a good idea in case the original blueprint didn’t go as planned.

7. Let Go and Have Fun!

Once everything is ready, it’s time to relax and push through with your plans! Let everyone perform their roles and make your guests fall into your carefully prepared surprise wedding reception scheme.

Let The Loft on King Help You Achieve Your Surprise Plans!

Looking for the perfect partner to ensure that your plans will go your way? The Loft on King is here to help! 

From the ceremony to the reception, The Loft’s unique venue in the heart of downtown Toronto paired with top-tier services will bring your surprise wedding reception ideas to life. Contact us now to start planning your real-life fairytale!