11 Jul How to stop your wedding from being boring
How to stop your wedding from being boring
Weddings are boring: Here’s how to fix them!
If you’re like most people, you think of weddings as being pretty boring. After all, it’s just a bunch of people standing around in uncomfortable clothing, listening to someone drone on about love and commitment. Yawn! However, there are ways to fix this. Let’s look at some of the most tedious aspects of weddings and how to make them more interesting!
Bride to be and scared of having a boring wedding? Read on…
The Ceremony
The bride makes her grand entrance. There are oooh’s, ahh’s and wow’s! But what follows can be notoriously long and dull.
Despite all their good intentions, traditional vicars can often make the ceremony seem like a history lesson. Boring!
How to fix it:
Consider hiring a celebrant (that’s what I did!)
Hiring a celebrant can bring warmth, interest and a bespoke ceremony that your guests will appreciate as much as you. A good celebrant will take the time to get to know you and your partner, and craft a unique ceremony that tells your love story.
They’ll also work with you to choose readings, music and other elements that will make your ceremony personal and meaningful. And, most importantly, a good celebrant will keep your entire ceremony moving along at a pace that won’t leave your guests bored or restless. So if you’re looking for a way to make your wedding ceremony more enjoyable for everyone involved, consider hiring a celebrant. With their help, you can create a personal and memorable ceremony.
The Drinks Reception
A drinks reception/cocktail hour is often the first chance to put your guests at ease and set the tone for the rest of the day. A drinks reception is often 90 -120 minutes long so this is a fair chunk of time for your guests to wait until they sit down to a full dinner.
You’ll need to consider that most guests are now starving at this point so canapes are most welcome as too are delicious drinks – but that only gets you so far. Planning your drinks receptions with entertainment and activities to pass the time goes a long way to keep your guests on their toes and enjoying your day. Keep them guessing with fun activities like lawn games or a photo booth, or even hire a magician or caricaturist to provide some fun and surprise and prevent your guests from awkwardly attempting small talk! Don’t forget, formal wedding pictures have a tendency to drag on and not all of your guests will be involved.
Whatever you do, make sure your drinks reception is It’s a treasure trove of delights so your guests will be talking about it long after the big day is over. Talk to your wedding planner about this critical part of your wedding reception.
The Welcome line
For anyone who has ever been to a large wedding, the welcome line can be a tedious experience. In the olden days, guests would line up in order of importance, so if you found yourself at the back of the line, you knew two things: you were less important than a house cat, and you were going to be there for a while! Thankfully, modern weddings have done away with this archaic tradition, but that doesn’t mean the welcome line is any less of a challenge. Having to shake hands with hundreds of people, while maintaining a smile and polite conversation, can be exhausting.
When you’re wedding planning, it’s easy to get caught up in making sure every detail is perfect. But sometimes, less is more – especially when it comes to the welcome line. Instead of greeting every single guest as they arrive, why not edit the numbers down to your immediate family and VIPs? That way, you can spend more time enjoying the party and less time chatting with your great-aunt Gertrude. And your guests will appreciate being able to move straight from the reception line to the wedding breakfast.
Or better still, go ahead and make a bold decision – ditch the welcome line and make your wedding a little less tedious for everyone involved.
The Speeches
The speeches at a wedding can be a bit of a snooze-fest, can’t they? You sit there, nursing your drink, trying to look interested as the Best Man regales you with stories of the Groom’s misspent youth. Meanwhile, the Groom himself is up on the stage, looking uncomfortable in his suit and trying not to squirm under the weight of everyone’s expectant gaze. And then there are the speeches from the father of the Bride and the Mother of the Groom, which are often long-winded and full of inside jokes that only people who have known each other for decades can appreciate.
But it doesn’t have to be this way! There are ways to make wedding speeches fun, interesting, and even entertaining. Here are a few tips:
– Keep it short and sweet: The best speeches are usually under five minutes. Any longer than that, and you risk losing your audience’s attention.
– Focus on stories: Instead of listing off a bunch of facts about the Bride and Groom, focus on telling stories that reveal something about their personality or relationship.
– Speak to your wedding venue to ensure that there is a decent PA system available. This will ensure that your guests can relish every word of the speeches, even if they’re sitting at the back of the room. It’s also worth investing in a master of ceremonies who can knit together each speech so there’s no dead air time.
The Wedding Breakfast
The wedding breakfast is often around 2.5 hours long and shouldn’t be overlooked as a potential dull moment at your wedding.
Often, there can be delays in the kitchen whilst the food is being served. This can leave guests feeling hungry and frustrated, especially if they’ve been drinking!
Another issue with the wedding breakfast is that it can be quite formal, with people sitting in assigned seats and not getting up to move around much. This can make it difficult for guests to mingle and get to know each other.
Consider background musicians to provide a little ambience and atmosphere or of course, there’s the popular surprise singing waiters who can really pep up a room of carb-filled wedding guests!
Quizzes are often a great way for your guests to bond with their table and help break the ice. You could even have a few fun prizes up for grabs to add an element of competition.
The Cake Cutting
At most weddings, the cake cutting has the potential to be another “so-what” moment. The wedding organiser half-heartedly announces that the bride and groom will now cut the cake, and everyone slowly drifts over. Meanwhile, the photographer is trying to get everyone into place for a perfect shot. But it’s all for nought as the kids flock around the cake, spoiling the shot. And then, when the knife finally sinks into the cake, there’s a lacklustre cheer from the guests. If you’re not careful, your cake cutting can turn into just another forgettable moment at your wedding.
All too often, the wedding organizer at the venue lacks the necessary skills to be able to handle large crowds and doesn’t have the experience to ensure these moments run to perfection. What you need is a good master of ceremonies who can help round up your guests, place them correctly so your photographer can do their thing and then ensure what follows the cake cutting happens promptly – for example, the first dance. With a good MC on your side, you can rest assured that your cake cutting will be a success!
The First Dance
Weddings are a time to come together and celebrate the joy of two people in love. And what better way to do that than by having an awkward, uncomfortable first dance?! Just imagine, you and your new spouse standing there, unsure of what to do with your hands, while all your guests look on in pity for four and a half minutes! It’s the perfect way to start off your marriage! But seriously, if you’re not comfortable dancing for an extended period of time, make sure your DJ knows when to cut in and rescues you from an unfortunate fate, instructing your guests to join you on the dancefloor around the one-minute mark! Otherwise, you’ll be stuck out there for the entire song, desperately searching for an exit strategy.
The lull
If you’ve ever been to a wedding, you know that there’s always that awkward lull between the wedding breakfast and the evening reception. Guests mill about like extras from The Walking Dead, you’ve used up all your go-to small talk topics, and the carbs are kicking in. HEAVY!
This transition into your evening reception is a key moment to a successful wedding so it’s vitally important you put a little care and attention into this part of the day. Bear in mind that your evening guests will be turning up soon and if it looks like a battle scene from Star Wars in the foyer, they’re not going to want to hang around!
Now, I’m not one to blow my own trumpet but my Close-Up Corner is without a doubt a great way to fill this gap and provide your wedding with the x-factor that you’re after!
Think close-up magic mixed with a photo booth leaving you with OMG moments that your guests will be talking about for months to come!
Obviously, any great wedding entertainment will help provide your day with key moments that elevate certain parts of your big day and prevent boredom from spreading like wildfire!
But there’s more to it than that. With the right entertainment, you can actually create brand-new moments and experiences for your guests that they’ll remember forever!
The evening reception
The evening reception is often tricky to get right at a wedding. You’ve got a mix of day guests who are oiled up nicely, mixed with evening guests who are turning up cold.
Often, the norm is to grab a drink, and find a seat at a round table whilst the DJ shows off the power of his Bose S1!
Then what? Wait for the cold salad buffet announcement? Smile and nod politely when you meet the gaze of another wedding guest – unable to strike conversation because a) the music is too loud b) you don’t know what to say c) you couldn’t give a toss!
Banquet spaces are often a breeding ground for awkwardness and boredom!
So how do you get this right? Giving your guests an excuse to get them involved with your wedding is the key. Too often, it’s all too easy for guests to take a backseat and hide in the corner. Keeping your guests occupied will prevent the “wedding guest yawns”!
- Get them up on the dance floor, dancing with a live band who really knows how to captivate and hold your guest’s attention. There’s nothing worse than a half-empty dance floor so perhaps asking some of your wedding party to be “key players” in rallying around other guests to join in the fun.
- Set up various “attractions” such as a photo booth, Close-Up Corner (providing opportunities for the best wedding photos), a Casino or life-sized board games that allows your guests to become active participants on your wedding day instead of being bored onlookers! These activities will help keep the party atmosphere alive leaving you to enjoy your own wedding!
How to stop your wedding from being boring
Conclusion
The key to a successful and memorable wedding is to ensure that your guests are entertained throughout the entire day. From the moment they arrive to the time they leave, there should be something for them to do or see. Keeping wedding guests entertained is often an overlooked aspect of wedding planning, but it’s one that can make or break your wedding reception.
Ensuring your wedding isn’t boring is no mean feat considering just how long a wedding can be but leaving your guests to fend for themselves is often a very bad idea! Keeping guests entertained doesn’t have to be an expensive undertaking – there are plenty of ways to keep guests entertained on a budget.
If you’re still stuck for ideas, then why not check out my post on wedding entertainment ideas
Whether you’re looking for a more relaxed atmosphere or want to go all out and give your guests wedding tales to tell long after the wedding cake has disappeared, I wish you the very best in planning your wedding
About Close-Up Chris
Chris is a professional wedding magician who specialises in creating shared experiences of amazement and laughter. He’s the perfect entertainer for preventing boring weddings. Chris has a unique ability to bring people together and create lasting memories. His stunning close-up magic will amaze your guests and leave them laughing hysterically. With Chris, you’re guaranteed an unforgettable wedding that your guests will talk about for years to come. So if you’re looking for a truly unique way to entertain your guests, book Close-Up Chris today!
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