Author Archives: wedding@admin

Alternative wedding entertainment

Posted on by

Some wedding guests like to get down and boogie all night long, while others prefer to prop up the bar. Get your guests mingling and having fun with these top ideas for entertaining guests who don’t like dancing.

Fantastic fete ideas

Are you having an English country garden themed wedding? If the weather is nice then how about an outdoor fairground with old-fashioned stalls like a coconut shy, hoopla and swings?

Play ball!

How about a massive volleyball contest with a big soft ball. You could have the bride’s party on one side, the groom’s on the other. Be warned – this could get a little competitive!

Drum roll please

A drum tutorial. Everyone is able to beat the drums in some sort of unison, even if they don’t have any rhythm. This would be especially fun for any children attending your big day.

Line dancing fun

Although some guests are not keen on dancing, it may just be that they lack confidence in their skills on the dance floor or feel that their moves are a little out-dated. In that case, why not get everybody line dancing? It’s not enormously energetic (so good for the oldies), it’s great fun, you don’t need a partner and everybody will feel they are doing it as a group.

Picture perfect

How about a caricature artist? You know, the type of artist you see working on pavement stalls near city tourist attractions. People enjoy watching a caricature coming together; the person being drawn will wonder what it’s eventually going to look like and at the end of the evening they have something to take home with them. Maybe you could offer caricatures instead of wedding favours?

Crazy karaoke!

Although your guests may not like dancing, they may be karaoke fiends! You could set up a separate room with karaoke and watch the fun unfold. Sometimes even the most shy and retiring individual really comes to life behind a karaoke mike!

Spin the wheel

Set up a casino with a roulette wheel and a blackjack table. You can hire casino equipment and it’s a good idea to have somebody in charge of proceedings. Your male guests will enjoy channelling their inner James Bond fantasies and the women can pretend they are Bond girls!

Quiet chit-chat

Don’t forget that many of the guests at your wedding will probably just want to talk. Some people may have not seen each other for ages, particularly if they have flown in from abroad. So to keep them happy you’ll just need to provide a quiet area away from the music (like a chill-out room) where they can gossip to their heart’s content.

Magic moments

Magicians are great for multitasking at weddings. They can mingle with guests at the wedding reception and then entertain the non-dancers when everybody else has hit the floor.

Forget dancing

If you know that the majority of your guests aren’t interested in dancing and you’re not that keen yourself, then why don’t you rethink the time of your wedding? Instead of doing the standard afternoon/evening ceremony reception thing, you could get married in the morning and have a lunch instead. Then dancing won’t even come into the equation.

Anyone for croquet?

If you’re getting married in a country house wedding venue, then check if there is a croquet lawn. A croquet tournament is the perfect way of keeping all ages happy – it’s not particularly energetic but a match will absorb both the participants and spectators.

Snap happy!

Wedding photo booths will appeal to all ages and have the added attraction that they are a good source of wedding photos for you. Grandparents can be snapped with grandchildren, everybody can dress up in silly hats, moustaches and glasses… a photobooth is almost certainly going to be a winner.

 

Keep your guests entertained

Posted on by

While planning a wedding you should take some special consideration when thinking about the wedding entertainment. We’ve got some great ideas to help you keep your wedding guests entertained…

Want your big day to go out with a bang? A grand finale fireworks display is a surefire way to give your day the star treatment. Cuddle up under a midnight sky to a chorus of guests’ ‘oohs!’ and ‘aaahs!’’

For sultry sounds and an electric atmosphere, nothing beats a live band on the day. Treat your guests to a themed musical bonanza, with Rhythm ‘n’ Blues and old-school Jazz guaranteed to give guests the dancing fever. To pack a real punch, go for an eight-piece band!

Give guests sparklers to write out their names and take pictures, or even better, have guests synchronise the bride and groom’s married name and take a picture for your thank you cards!

There’s something deliciously naughty-but-nice about fairground games when you’re dressed up to the nines! Team with a circus theme wedding and some cotton candy and sit back and watch the smiles spread!

A beautiful twist on the classic firework display, round off the day by lighting up the night’s sky with lanterns to mark a newlywed couple’s lives together. With such a romantic gesture, full of serenity and grace, guests might just steal a midnight kiss under a blanket of stars themselves!

Keep an ace up your sleeve and magic up some after dinner wedding entertainment with a professional magician to keep guests guessing. And if he comes dressed as the Artful Dodger, even better!

While the bridal party is busy with the wedding photographs, strategically placed giant Connect 4 and Jenga games are bound to provide plenty of entertainment while guests wait for the wedding breakfast.

There’s a myth going around that bouncy castles are strictly for the under 12s. Tell that to grown-up guests after a few glasses of the bubbly stuff! An absolute winner with old and young alike, take advantage of a marquee setting and a typical English lawn and invest in one of these little beauties. Perfect for diverting little ones during the speeches. Absolutely essential, though, remember to keep some disposable cameras close by!

Every black-tie Bond-themed wedding deserves a Roulette table to keep guests occupied. For casino cool, invest in a Martini bar and a cocktail waiter (preferably one who looks like Daniel Craig!)

 

Indoors or outdoors weddings?

Posted on by

With summer here – the preview was obviously the weather last week – many start to ponder whether they should have their wedding indoors or outside at their wedding venue. Of course, if you decide to go with the latter option, you might also decide to theme your big day and with that in mind, we’ve put together a few acts that are perfect for a festival themed wedding.

A capella

A capella is classic with songs ranging from classics through to modern hits. Giving off a summer vibe, you’ll will find all your wedding guests fall in love to the dulcet tones of an A Capella group long after the sun sets.

Face Painting

A superb choice if you have children attending your wedding, this is also a fun idea if you have adults who enjoy letting their hair down every once in awhile! From butterflies to tigers and many other designs, our incredible face painters will be able to paint your face in a matter of minutes. Calling to mind summer days in long grass, we love this idea and it’ll certainly liven up your wedding photos!

Circus wedding entertainment.

If you decide to hire some circus entertainment for your festival wedding then it’s probably best to go with a strolling act because it’s a lot more likely that the majority of your guests will be able to see their show. A circus act like Acro-Jugglers are great fun and will certainly enhance the enjoyment of the day, whilst also providing some spectacular moments for Instagram and Facebook. Other circus options include unicyclists and balloon artists (to name just a few).

Photobooth

If you can give us one good reason why you wouldn’t want to have a photobooth at your wedding then we’d like to hear it! They are easily one of the most popular forms of wedding entertainment that are booked for weddings and the best bit is that they can often be customised to suit you! There are so many different types that there is bound to be a booth that best represents the personality of the bride and groom from Tuk Tuk to Camper Van and many more besides!

 

Hiring a silhouette artist

Posted on by

When it comes to booking wedding entertainment, you might not be a hundred percent sure of what you want. Deliberating between hiring a band or a DJ is something that many brides and grooms go through ahead of their big day – you may even want a Ceilidh – but other forms of entertainment are also available! Magicians tend to be very popular as do photo booths, but we thought we’d use the blog today to talk about the wonderful idea of hiring a silhouette artist for a wedding.

Silhouette art is one that has been around for well over 200 years. Since the late 18th century, silhouette artists have been able to create almost instantaneous art by cutting a profile of their subject from card and mounting the image on a contrasting colour. The creation was often referred to as ‘paper cuts’ as well as simply ‘silhouette imagery’. Famous artists of the past who made their living from this impressive artistic ability include author of The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen.

Since becoming a highly popular form of art, silhouettes were also used in shadow theatre and also on film with Lotte Reiniger pioneering the use of shadow and silhouettes in numerous silent films that utilised a variety of iconic graphical images of the age. With the advent of photography, the silhouette artist became more of a curiosity but one that always goes down incredibly at numerous events and weddings throughout the year. Guests are often absolutely stunned at the skills and ability of a silhouette artist, with most performers able to complete their cutting within two minutes or less. It really is a piece of entertainment that needs to be seen!

When hired for a wedding, silhouette artists will stroll through your friends and family and offer to create a cutting for them. Generally speaking, they can manage up to twelve in an hour, though naturally numbers fluctuate depending on how difficult the subject is! Gifting your wedding guests with a free memento of your big day is something that will stay with them long into the future. The simple and unique beauty of a silhouette ensures that many can even display the creation on their wall. Such is the popularity of this idea, some artists have even created whole exhibitions devoted to famous characters and what their profiles may look like.

Hiring a silhouette artist for your wedding day may not be an obvious choice but we certainly feel it’s one of the more unique choices out there. Perfect for the drinks reception or as the bride and groom are having their photos taken, it’s a genuinely interesting addition to the best day of your life. Oh and it goes without saying that the bride and groom will receive their very own cutting if requested!

All-round wedding entertainment

Posted on by

As summer rolls in, many of the weddings for June, July and August are already arranged. With this in mind, we tend to turn our minds to Autumn around this time of year and have noticed a few trends when it comes to wedding entertainment requests!

The first thing to note is that many brides and grooms appear to be requesting a lot more strolling entertainment than in previous years. In truth, this has been rising year on year for at least the past four years, with numerous bookings for acoustic music acts that can roam from place to place – both inside and out – as well as a few more ‘interesting’ acts that many might not immediately think about when planning a wedding.

When it comes to booking roaming music acts, there are a number of possible options. It’s a wonderfully interactive slice of entertainment for any occasion and the sheer joy that the music generates makes it tremendously popular at weddings throughout the year…

Ultimately any wedding entertainment decisions are the choice of the couple and any stats that we assess are purely for interest value only. Let’s be honest, we’d all like a wedding that plays to our own individual tastes so don’t focus too heavily on the trends we’ve laid out above. Although we love strolling entertainment, there are many more possibilities available when it comes to celebrating your wedding day so let your imagination run wild and dare to be different…

 

So what if it rains on your wedding…

Posted on by

You’ve got your entire wedding day planned. The wedding ceremony will be out in the gardens of a stately home, followed by a drinks reception on the lawn. All being well, dinner and dancing will take place in a marquee and everything will be perfect. Unfortunately, the British weather is often unpredictable and as such, it might be an idea to have a ‘wet weather wedding plan’ in place. Here are a few tips!

Book an Acoustic Band

You might be thinking your wedding reception will be fine in a marquee but let’s assume the worst and assume a thunderstorm has rolled in. Neither a DJ or a plugged in band will be able to perform in such circumstances, certainly if there’s a power cut as well so why not ensure that your wedding goes without a hitch by booking wedding entertainment that can definitely play an acoustic set. Acoustic bands will never be problematic if your wedding venue has a sound limiter.

Book a Strolling Act

Following on from booking an acoustic band for your wedding, hiring a strolling act is a no brainer. Completely self-contained, strolling acts can move back inside at a moment’s notice and will be able to perform an identical routine no matter where they are. Magicians, silhouette artists, caricaturists and more are not only a dream to have when bad weather rolls in at a wedding – lightening the mood considerably – but can also make sure that some of the less able guests will be entertained at the back of the room. A truly bright idea!

Liaise with your Venue

Wedding venues are sure to have needed backup plans in the past so it makes sense to ask about their ideas for the future. Darkening clouds, power cuts, what if the marquee is whipped away by a tornado..? Okay, it all seems very unlikely, but venues will almost always have a Plan B so it pays to ask in advance so that nobody is left confused and anxious if storm clouds roll in.

Buy a Number of Umbrellas

Yes, it is rather obvious to have an umbrella in case of wet weather but what we mean by this is that wedding photographs will look a lot better with the same coloured umbrellas for all than a number of mismatched ones over the top of your guests. They don’t have to be particularly expensive, they just have to look good. Feel free to contact your wedding photographer in advance to see what they think might go well with your other wedding plans (venue, bridesmaid dresses, etc.)

You’re getting married to the best person ever! Who cares what’s going on with the weather?

 

Your wedding march song

Posted on by

When it comes to planning your wedding ceremony, you can choose to walk down the aisle to any music you like. Some people choose a pop track, others choose a classical version of a pop track and most dispense with pop tracks entirely and go for a tradition piece of wedding music to accompany them on the most exciting walk of their life.

That intro wasn’t quite true; religious songs at secular ceremonies might not be allowed depending on your wedding venue so do check in advance. That being said, the three most traditional pieces of music that brides choose for their wedding ceremony aren’t deemed to be religious so go ahead and pick them if you’ve been wanting them for years! Below we’ll run through Pachelbel’s Canon, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and Wagner’s Here Comes the Bride.

Pachelbel’s Canon

A wedding favourite, Pachelbel’s Canon wasn’t always as popular as it is today. It was lost for centuries until it was republished in 1919 and only became a tradition wedding staple in the 1970s when the Palliard Chamber Orchestra recorded themselves playing the piece, which was then used in a number of adverts and film scores. A canon is a piece of music repeated a number of times by different ‘voices’ and in Pachelbel’s case, his Canon is the same eight bars repeated twenty-eight times. Apparently it’s awful to play if you’re on the cello, as this comedian recalls.

 Mendelssohn’s Wedding March

Another popular tune to be played a wedding ceremony, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March is a composition that every string quartet will know. Often used as the ‘recessional’ to close the service, the fanfare that begins the Wedding March effectively introduces the married couple to the guests. Composed as part of his most famous work, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it was initially used between acts IV and V during a wedding feast. It has been used at weddings since at least 1848, though only became hugely popular from 1858, when Queen Victoria’s daughter, Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, got married to Prince Frederick William of Prussia.

Wagner’s Here Comes the Bride

Richard Wagner’s Here Comes the Bride was composed as part of his opera, Lohengrin, in 1850. Officially known as the Bridal Chorus, Wagner’s piece if most often used to announce the entrance of the bride and has become a seminal – if controversial – part of traditional wedding ceremonies. Why controversial? Well for a time, the tune was associated with paganism thanks to the content of the opera, leading to the Roman Catholic church regarding it with some suspicion. Thankfully, the popularity of the piece is almost certain to outweigh any misgivings about the song’s origins these days and it’s instantly recognisable notes mean that it is one of the only orchestral pieces that can be played on a variety of different instruments.

 

Why do brides wear white?

Posted on by

If you’re getting ready for planning a wedding, and if you’re reading this blog then one can assume so, you’ve probably already picked out a gorgeous white dress for the big day and if you haven’t, we are 99.9% certain that you’ll be in one by the time the wedding date arrives. But why do brides wear white on their wedding day?

The idea of brides wearing white on their wedding day isn’t actually one that’s lasted for centuries and can in fact be pinpointed to one specific point in time. Before we get to that though, we should probably highlight that brides used to wear red on their wedding day – presumably because of romantic connotations – and white was only really worn by ‘unconventional’ brides. The idea that hipster brides existed in the 1800s is one that certainly delights us, whilst the notion that they were deemed so because of wearing white on their wedding day is downright hilarious.

The idea that wearing white was a bad choice had persisted for years though; when Mary Queen of Scots got married in 1559, she wore a white gown. This was widely condemned as inappropriate by the press at the time and the calls only got louder when her French husband died a year later. The reason? Officially he died from an ear condition, thought by many these days to have come from meningitis, but Mary was held to account back then as having cursed the poor man due to her choice of wearing a white wedding dress. In 16th century France, white was officially a colour of mourning.

“But every bride wears white,” we hear you say, “When did a white wedding dress become the norm?” We are glad you asked! Brides wear white not because it suggests innocence as many seem to think, but actually because Queen Victoria happened to like the colour. Yes, rather than pick a red dress, Victoria opted instead for a white gown with an orange blossom wreath, ignoring the protests from members of her court. The wedding dress turned out to be a huge hit with both the public and the newspapers and soon women all across the land were choosing to get married in a white dress.

That’s not the end of the story however, because one can add in another little fact for why brides may opt for white when picking their dress. Just a few years after Queen Victoria married Prince Albert, a popular women’s magazine by the name of Godey’s Lady’s Book stated that white was the most fitting hue for a woman due to be married, with the material used of little consequence. In this article, it was stated that white was an ‘emblem of purity’ and ‘the unsullied heart she now yields to the chosen one’, but this line of thinking was completely unheard of until Queen Victoria chose the colour for her wedding day.

“What become of red?” Good question! Red became less and less popular immediately after the royal wedding and was in fact quickly demoted to being thought of as an awful choice. So bad in fact, that the Farmer’s Almanac (a must read by all of those who worked the land back in the mid-1800s) published a poem on wedding dress colours:

  • Married in White, you have chosen right
  • Married in Grey, you will go far away
  • Married in Black, you will wish yourself back,
  • Married in Red, you will wish yourself dead,
  • Married in Green, ashamed to be seen,
  • Married in Blue, you will always be true,
  • Married in Pearl, you will live in a whirl,
  • Married in Yellow, ashamed of your fellow,
  • Married in Brown, you will live in the town,
  • Married in Pink, your spirit will sink.

Not exactly Keats but there you have it. Why do brides wear white on their wedding day? Because a white wedding dress was the choice that Queen Victoria made for herself!

 

The First Dance

Posted on by

There are a number of traditional moments on a wedding day. There’s walking down the aisle, the speeches, kissing the bride and many, many more. It’s fair to say that there is a lot to remember and that is never more true than with the first dance. Since all eyes are on you, here are our top tips to ensure your wedding dance goes without a hitch.

 Pick something that’s danceable

 It goes without saying that you should be sure to pick a song that is special to the two of you. Not only that but you also need to ensure that the lyrics are okay. Most important however, is making sure the song you pick is danceable. You might love heavy metal, but it doesn’t make for a good first dance wedding song. Here are the most popular ones and most come under three minutes and have a melodic tune. Take note and you should be fine!

 Tell the wedding band

 If you have a live band rather than a DJ, it’s fair to assume the wedding band will be the ones playing your song on the day. You might not get a chance to rehearse with them, so do make sure that the song they’re learning is the version that you’re hoping to hear on the day. Many songs have numerous covers and it’d be terrible if they’ve learned the wrong one!

 Take some dance lessons

 You might not be the one to rush to the dance floor in a nightclub and you may not own a pair of dancing shoes, but at least attend a couple of sessions to get the basics. You might not become Michael Flatley overnight but you we think you’ll definitely pick up enough knowledge to not only scrape through the first round of Strictly, but also wow your guests!

 Practice, practice, practice…

When doing the dishes, run through your steps. When out for a walk, practice your steps. When on the way to work, ponder through the movements in your mind. There’s nothing better than practicing your dance to ensure that it will be perfect on the day and if you’re lucky, the venue might even allow you both in to see how much space you’ll have!

 …And practice on the day

 It’s all very well practicing from the comfort of your own home but we all know about nerves! Considering you might be performing your first dance in front of well over fifty people (and that would be on the small side), you might wish to run through it with your partner on the actual day. Can’t think of time when you’ll be alone? A wedding photographer is sure to allow you a couple of minutes to practice whilst waiting for the perfect shot.

 Wear the right shoes

 There’s no point practicing the dance in your slippers if you’re not going to be wearing them on the day. Unless you’re planning a sleepover themed wedding, we suspect you’ll be wearing some nice high heels or a smooth pair of black brogues. The thing about both these forms of footwear is they don’t tend to have a lot of grip… So make sure you’ve worn them during some of your rehearsals; nobody wants to fall over during their first dance!

Back straight and keep smiling!

Although you want to make sure your shoes aren’t slippery and that you’ve worn them before the music begins, remember that nobody will be watching your feet.  All the focus will be on your upper body so if all else fails, keep your back straight and smile!

 

Which season will you wed in?

Posted on by

It’s that age old question – when should I get married? You’ve been engaged for a year or two and you now need to decide on a date for your wedding day. Would it make more sense to get married in the winter months when everybody can enjoy some gorgeous frost-laden photos or in the summer, when a marquee on the lawn is a distinct possibility? We can’t promise to help you pick the day of the week on which to get married – week day or weekend? – but we can suggest a few reasons to pick each season.

Spring

Why would you pick any other season? Spring is synonymous with new life and new beginnings so it’s a perfectly apt time of year to get married. With daffodils just beginning to flower and lambs running about in fields, it’s a superb time to have a wedding and your photos are sure to be absolutely gorgeous!

Summer

The most popular time of year to get married! Summer is when those who are planning a wedding envisage hot days, the possibility of sipping drinks outside and wedding entertainment that goes on long into the evening. Because we all live and work in the UK, suffice it to say that the weather is not guaranteed though and even if it is, you don’t want it to be too hot. Venues tend to be more expensive during the summer so bear that in mind, whilst your guests may well have a pre-booked holiday so can’t attend. Even so, there’s a reason the summer season is the most popular and who are we to disagree?

 Autumn

With trees changing colour with the temperature, Autumn is the time of year that will provide the finest wedding photographs you can imagine! With a rustic hue to the leaves, the combination of reds, browns and oranges is hard to beat. This is a season where you are more likely to enjoy the wedding indoors and the entertainment is more traditional than most.

Winter

Ah, the coldest of the seasons, where the dark nights arrive early and everybody huddles together as one for warmth. A winter wedding is a true highlight of everybody’s year, primarily because it is a chance for celebration during what many find to be a lonely few months (well, except for Christmas!)

When it comes to the wedding entertainment, most al fresco ideas are unfortunately out of the question, but venues do tend to be cheaper at this time of year and you can still book wedding entertainment of all sorts to wow your guests. A harp or string quartet fit beautifully with the time of year.