Your wedding day is
the best day of your life in so many ways. One of the things
that makes it bigger than any other day is that all your friends
and family are gathered together to share it with you. This
makes the reception such an important part of the whole day.
The wedding reception is a chance for everyone to get together,
mix and mingle and most of all share a joyous time of celebration,
music, singing and dancing.
Here are a couple of tips to help make the
reception that little bit better when you ask me to help with
the festivities.
Room layout
It is crucial to get the room laid out the
best way possible to enhance everyone’s enjoyment. This
involves making sure everyone feels a part of the occasion,
and that when it comes to party time, the stage is set to
make everyone feel like becoming involved.
I suggest that it is always good to have
me positioned close to the dance floor, and if I am to MC
as well, then having the room set up with the dance floor
near the bridal table and me off to one side is a good suggestion.
Arrange the tables around the dance floor.
Volume
I make every effort to make the music and speaking volume
ideal for each circumstance. My goal is to get the speakers
focused on the dance floor, so that the music is nice and
strong for dancers, yet people can still talk to each other
around the room, even later in the night when the crowd is
really kicking up their heels.
One very important point is to make sure
that the younger people will be closer to where the speakers
are going to be, and the more mature guests a little farther
away. Older people tend to have much more sensitive ears,
so if they are too close to the speakers, they will have a
hard time, while people up the back will be asking for me
to turn the volume up. When younger people are nearer to me,
and more mature members of the audience farther away, the
volume levels become ideal for everyone to have a very enjoyable
night.
Speeches
Speeches can be done at the beginning of
the night, after entrée, after mains or after dessert.
It depends on the preference of the speechmakers, and how
nervous they might feel. As a rule, I suggest that the speeches
are not done too early because the audience is not ‘warmed
up” to receive them as well as they might later in the
evening, but you don’t want to do them too late so that
the speechmakers and the audience may be a little too “happy”
to really appreciate the speeches.
I generally suggest that you plan to have
the speeches after main meal, then follow the speeches with
the cake cutting and bridal dance, and while everyone is dancing,
the desserts can be served. Then if people want to sit down
for dessert they can, and I will pull back the music a little
for them to enjoy dessert, or they can keep dancing and have
their dessert at their leisure. It depends of course on the
dessert and on the usual way some reception centres operate,
but from experience this way seems to work the best.
Another option is to simply get all the meals
out of the way, then do the speeches, cut the cake, bridal
dance and party the night away.
If the audience is well warmed up by the
end of entrée, that can be a very good time to do the
speeches, but you may find that it is also a good time to
do ‘table shots’ with the photographer, or simply
use the time between entrée and mains to mingle with
the guests and allow them to mingle as well.
I consult with every couple before the wedding
so everything is worked out exactly to plan. I hope these
tips are of help as you put all your plans together, and I
look forward to putting the finishing touches on the finer
details when we have our meeting.
Cheers,
Stefan
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