Planning your wedding reception is an enormous undertaking. Wedding experts estimate that the cost of a reception reaches up to 50 percent of an entire wedding budget, and that's just a small indicator of the amount of work that goes into all the researching, decision-making, scrambling and arranging necessary to create the perfect post-wedding celebration.

The ultimate goal is to plan the reception of your dreams. It should be an expression of your joy, an extension of your ceremony and a good time to be had by all.

You may envision an elegant ballroom filled with sparkling crystal chandeliers and champagne flutes, hundreds of white roses, a 10-tier cake, an orchestra and hundreds of formally dressed, waltzing guests. And there you are in the center of it all.

Of course, your vision is now yours to create, and unless you have a wedding coordinator to arrange all the details from start to finish, it's up to you to put all the elements together.

Here are some of the main elements to consider as you begin to create your reception:

*Make sure your venue is available on the date of your ceremony. This may take some legwork and some date-scrambling in the beginning, but it's vital to book before you make any other plans.

Get your reservation in writing with the date and time recorded, then confirm again before the wedding.

Make sure the place is big enough. Will there be plenty of room for your 250 guests, or will they have to climb over the chairs to get to the dance floor?

Make sure it's accessible. Can your elderly or handicapped guests get to the site? Can they get around within it?

Make sure it has adequate facilities. The kitchen should be large enough to accommodate many entrees at once; the bathrooms should be sufficient for your crowd.

While outdoor weddings are popular, they open up a whole new bag of concerns. What if it rains? Do you have a contingency plan? Will the grounds be muddy if it rains the day before? What about bathroom facilities?

*Most wedding guests will agree that the quality of the food can either make or break an entire reception. You want your guests to go home at the end of the night raving about your lime-flavored sea bass and chocolate ganache wedding cake, not complaining that the chicken was dry.

Arrange the reception menu carefully. Look over the caterer's offerings, remembering to include some nonmeat dishes for your vegetarian friends, some nonalcoholic drinks for nondrinkers.

Always get samples. Your caterer should provide you with a taste of her canapés, her pate, her salmon steaks. Your baker should always offer you a taste of his or her wedding cakes before you choose.

*Always interview and audition musicians and disc jockeys. As you audition, either get a tape from the band or make your own so you can compare and contrast as you make your final decision.

Make sure they have the repertoire you want. If you like easy-listening music, make sure the band you choose is good at those romantic ballads. Make sure the disc jockey has slow-dance music in his CD collection.

The best bands and disc jockeys ask you for a list of your preferences. They'll want to know what songs you want to hear during your reception, what ethnic numbers and line dances you want your crowd to do and, most importantly, what not to play. Ask for their complete catalog of available songs.

Get a solid contract that outlines all details of your agreement: the name and members of the band, the dates and exact times they'll play, the number of breaks they are allowed, their fees.

*Make your decor simple and elegant. Overkill is the quickest way to have your guests whispering about how your wedding is "tacky" and "overdone." The focal point in the room should be the bride and groom, not the spangled streamers and tulle puffs.