In a time when so much time, money and effort is devoted to the aesthetics at a wedding, the importance of having a great atmosphere is often lost. According to numerous wedding publications (see below), atmosphere and the enjoyment of your guests is one of the key indicators of whether your wedding will be remembered as boring or ‘THE STANDARD’ others want to try and emulate. This blog will show you how to ensure your wedding is remembered for all the right reasons!
My name is James, I am a professional wedding magician. I perform at 30+ weddings per year and have done for over a decade but forget that! This blog is about achieving an amazing atmosphere at your wedding regardless how you achieve it.
Having an amazing atmosphere at your wedding is the difference between guests enjoying or not!
The secret to achieving a great atmosphere at weddings lies in the planning! Now I am aware that the statement sounds somewhat obvious, but it does not mean lots of additional planning and cost for you, you can achieve quite a bit on a small budget, using the new tools this blog will give you! This blog will show you simply and easily how to plan for having a great atmosphere and even has a downloadable ‘Enjoyment Assessment’ (more on this later) so you can be sure that your guests enjoy every part of YOUR wedding day.
Before continuing further, it may be worth thinking about the best weddings you have ever been to and the worst and analysing what the difference was. I guarantee that nothing at aesthetic made the day either bad or good. It wasn’t that the dress the bride wore or the table decoration at the wedding breakfast, the weddings flowers or cake. Boring weddings are almost always because of poor planning, the time you were kept waiting around during the day with nothing happening and the lack of atmosphere as a result.
What the stats say.....
The stats about the importance of great entertainment at weddings are certainly compelling. Wedding entertainment usually accounts for about 5% of a total wedding spend and while some would definitely use this to say you need to spend more, remember its not just about money. Hiring someone who is not very good for a lot of money will not improve your wedding but doing the simple things well will. If you would like some great ideas of free or very cost effective ideas, please take a look at another of my blogs by clicking here
Now I understand if you have some hesitation about the 'stats' thing and that people often believe they are made up but the stats below do really come from Bride Magazine, from a real survey, of about 750 couples.
According to a survey done by Bride magazine, a massive According to a survey done by Bride magazine, a massive 73% of Brides regret not giving enough attention to the entertainment on their wedding day!
When asked what they remembered most about a wedding, 81% of guests stated they remembered the entertainment most
Am I telling you this to get you to hire me as your wedding magician? Definitely not! I understand that you may believe there is some bias involved but not every wedding needs a magician and I would even go as far as saying that for some weddings, magicians are probably not a great fit.
The ENJOYMENT ASSESSMENT
I created and developed this tool to get you thinking about the things that other wedding tools do not cover, at least not in enough depth, it’s your guests! I know that you will know where you (the couple) will be at all times but what will be going on for your guests during this time? This does not mean you merely know they will be at the venue while you are having your beautiful images, it includes things like, is the room the right size, will there be background music, food, entertainment and so on…
So how do I use the assessment?
Firstly, click the link below to receive your FREE electronic version of the assessment.
The assessment seems self-explanatory and to a certain extent it is, but there are some key things for you to think about which need further explaining.
Room Size
This column does not merely mean can the room contain the people, to be honest it can sometimes mean the opposite. A good example of this is a recent small wedding (40 guests) I attended. After the ceremony, we guests were ushered into a large room for drinks (one) that would possibly hold 200 people for the time known as the photo period (when the couple are having their images taken).The couple had not planned anything for the guests, there was no background music, no entertainment and because the room was far too big, the initial amazing atmosphere they had generated quickly disappeared.
This was completely avoidable, the hotel used in this example had a small bar area that would have been perfectly suited to the guests and even had background music already playing. I am sure that if the couple had considered this, they could have opted for the bar, saved themselves money and even chosen the music themselves. This is a simple example but it makes a massive difference to YOUR day.
Suitability
So, at this point of the blog you will hopefully get that you need to plan for your guests as well. Many weddings will have guests of different ages, these guests like and indeed want different things, it is important this is considered. This covers everything, from the choice of background music, to the wedding evening reception music, the entertainment, choice of rooms (covered above) and more!
I honestly think that if you asked, most venues would let you make a playlist to play in the background and you could even as your guests for requests in advance. Regarding entertainment, in my experience it’s a good idea to have some forms of entertainment that people can opt out of. Sound bizarre? Well consider music. Whether you like the music or hate it, unless you remove yourself from the room, you have no choice but to listen to it. When I perform magic, people have a choice of whether they would like to experience some magic (only a handful of people in over ten years have said no), they are asked first. I also perform different things for different people, giving them even more choice. This makes a massive difference to their experience.
Cost
As stated above, this blog is not a sales pitch. You can achieve a very good atmosphere on a budget. Although I have written a fairly comprehensive blog on wedding entertainment ideas that you can see by clicking here, some ideas include simple bar or garden games like jenga etc. Things that do not add to the cost considerably but do add to the atmosphere.
AND SO.......
I believe that the key things to take away from this blog are:_
1. Think about what your guests are doing at each point during the day.
I realise that its your wedding day and it is about you. Of course you need to plan your every move in fine detail, just do not leave the planning for your guests as late as most people tend to or it will have an impact on the atmosphere during the day.
2. Remember the little things
At least consider room size, if the room is suitable, how long your guests are waiting and if they may be hungry. I promise you they will thank you for it!
3. Its really not all about cost
Honestly, you can achieve a lot on a limited budget. Just consider things like, background music, how you can break up the natural lull period during your day and what will make your special day memorable to your guests.
If you have any questions relating to this blog or weddings and events in general, please do feel free to contact me and I will gladly help you.
Comments