Category Archives: Wedding Entertainment

Hiring a silhouette artist

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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

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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…

 

Make your wedding personal to you

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1. Play Party Games

How about the menus being puzzles, so each person got one piece of the puzzle at their place setting, then everyone had to put the pieces together to get the full menu description. Crossword puzzles are fun for the back of a program or if you have guests going on a long bus ride to get to the reception venue.

2. Walk Down Memory Lane

Make the guest feel like integral parts of the day by incorporating them into the wedding design — in a gallery of meaningful photos. Why not hang pictures of the bride and groom with friends and family along the walk from the ceremony to the reception. It’s a fun cocktail party conversation starter.” As guests take a leisurely stroll and find pictures of themselves with you, they can reminisce and socialize.

3. Break the Ice Creatively

When you enter your reception for the first time as husband and wife, don’t just take a conventional arm-in-arm stroll. “Run. Skip. Dance. Swoop in on a rope swing! Brainstorm with your groom about the most creative, appropriate way to make a big impression. This is a great way to break the ice and set up for a fun vibe for the rest of the event.

4. Be Entertaining

Guests always love the energy of a live band but tend to want to hear the original artist sing their favourite tunes. As a compromise, a bride may hire a dance band but also play DJ music during the breaks, or she’ll arrange to have live music during some parts of the event and recorded music during others.

5. Love Poems.

Love poems from a book makes a wonderful, lasting guest favour that’s much more meaningful that a bag of sugared almonds! If you buy in bulk, you might get a discount — contact your bookseller directly. And don’t forget to add a personalized bookmark thanking your friends and family for sharing your big day with you.”

Background music for your event

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When it comes to ensuring the mood of your Wedding there is nothing like carefully cultivating each and every part of it. From the flowers to the canapés, it’s important to have everything the way that you want it when planning your dream wedding. With this in mind, we thought we’d delve into the different sorts of background music for your wedding venue.

Guitar

Booking a guitarist for your wedding venue is that you can choose the style that you’d like them to play. From gypsy jazz to classical right through to contemporary acoustic, there is a whole host of options to go for with this hugely versatile music option.

Harp

Undoubtedly the most beautiful of all the instruments, a harpist for your wedding adds a touch of elegance to proceedings. Whether playing in order to welcome people to your wedding venue or as background music with wedding food a harp is a stunning accompaniment to any special occasion and is sure to impress guests!

Violins

Performing either acoustic or electric violin can naturally change the atmosphere of your wedding. Violinists are able to perform a host of superb pieces from classical right through to modern pop! The violin is known for its versatility, allowing a background performer to not just play in a corner of the room but whilst strolling throughout your special day.

 

5 Songs to walk down the aisle

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You may have spent a long time discussing your first dance song with your partner, but don’t neglect other important pieces of music you’ll need on your day! For your wedding ceremony songs, you’ll need to make at least two choices – namely, your processional and recessional songs.

A processional song is the music that you and your wedding party will walk down the aisle to – you can have one song for everyone, or choose a separate song for your grand entrance. At the end of the ceremony, you and your new husband leave the venue to your recessional music, which tends to be more upbeat than the processional.

1. Bridal Chorus, Wagner

Often known as Here Comes The Bride, this piece of classical music is the traditional choice for the procession of the bride, and is often played on an organ. We’ve chosen a slightly more modern arrangement by Vicente Avella on classical piano – that way you can keep the element of tradition without the drama!

2. Canon in D, Pachelbel

Another very popular choice with brides. This gorgeous piece of music sounds beautiful played by a traditional quartet, but we also love this version by Per-Olov Kindgren on classical guitar.

3. A Thousand Years, The Piano Guys (originally Christina Perri)

Sometimes couples can’t decide between a classic instrumental or a more modern love song with vocals for their processional music. Why not get the best of both worlds with an instrumental cover of one of your favourite songs? We seriously love this piano and cello cover of Christina Perri – check out The Piano Guys for more classical covers.

4. Glasgow Love Theme, from Love Actually

Walking down the aisle to a song from your favourite film soundtrack is another way to incorporate instrumental music with a personal touch into your ceremony. There are loads of options to choose from – Love Actually is a great place to start, and will have you welling up before you know it.

5. Marry Me, Train

If you want a modern song but aren’t sure what sort of thing to go for, then we think this a great choice. The melody and lyrics are both beautiful, and the tempo isn’t too fast for a processional.

A Whole Day Of Music

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Starting with the wedding ceremony, a piper is traditional to play the bride in and out of the church. A string quartet or harpist are common choices to provide a beautiful musical backdrop during the wedding ceremony and immediately afterwards whilst photos are taken.

Your wedding drinks reception. A jazz or swing band is an ideal choice to provide light background music during the afternoon reception, helping to settle guests and create an exciting atmosphere. It is also quite common for the string quartet from your ceremony to continue playing during the afternoon reception.

Evening wedding reception. And what evening reception would be complete without a top quality wedding party band or DJ? Rock and pop bands are by far the most popular choices, with soul, disco, salsa and jive offering something a little different.

DJs are a cost effective solution if a band is out of your budget but are also often booked as well as a band to fill in the gaps between the bands performances. Also, ask if the band themselves can DJ in between sets as this is very often possible.

Don’t just stop at wedding music though as all manner of wedding entertainment can be arranged. From top caricaturists and table magicians to entertain your guests while they mingle, to traditional dancers and stage hypnotists, there’s no end to the fun that you can arrange.

Booking great entertainment

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After your guests leave your wedding and have returned to their daily routine, they’ll remember two things about your special day: the interaction between you and your spouse-to-be, and the rockin’ band or DJ. Details like centrepieces, name cards, and dinner selections will trail far, far behind in the memory banks of your friends and family. That’s why you should look at all your options and carefully choose the most amazing wedding entertainment out there.

Tips for Booking the Best

When you’re searching for that perfect wedding entertainment, it’s important to do your homework. If you’ve never heard or seen their performance, you can do a little research to see what they offer. Reviews are always a great option as you can hear from some of their happy past clients. However, in some cases, reviews may not be available. If you’re interested in hiring a performer but you want to dig a little deeper to make sure they’re the perfect fit, then you should do the following:

  • View their website.

  • Look at their social profiles to see how they interact with fans and followers.

  • Have a contract with clear and precise terms.

  • If at all possible, go see a live performance.

  • Reach out to the entertainer to discuss their prior performance experience. They may be able to connect you with clients they’ve worked with for a referral.

  • Most importantly, you must trust and like who you are dealing with while negotiating the booking.

This is a very special day in your life, and like any milestone event, planning a wedding can get hectic. It’s wise to be prepared for last-minute hiccups and do everything you can to make sure the entertainment is what you’ve always dreamed it would be.

Help your guests feel relaxed

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When it comes to wedding reception entertainment ideas, there’s a number of ways which you can go. Many choose to simply ditch entertainment completely in favour of quiet talking or complete silence as guests struggle to work out just who they should speak to over their glass of Champagne. In order to break the ice, we think that a little wedding entertainment goes a long way and here are just a few ideas to get you started.

Bagpiper

There’s nothing quite like completing the wedding vows and heading to the wedding reception to be met by dulcet tone of the Bagpipes. Many of the guests may be in kilts anyway so it’s a perfect excuse to celebrate your heritage! Admittedly if neither the groom or bride are Scottish or Irish, bagpipes may be a truly unusual wedding entertainment idea, but there are many other options.

Living Topiary (or a puppeteer!)

Don’t go thinking that these two are just wedding entertainment ideas for kids, because they really aren’t. When you think about it, a wedding is a celebration and all about having fun, so it makes sense that the wedding reception entertainment is fun as well. With that in mind, Living statues are the perfect solution for ensuring a good time is had by all. These living statues always go down well, whilst a puppet show is an endearing way to tell the story of the couple. It’s bespoke, imaginative and unusual wedding entertainment most guests won’t have seen before.

Fortune Teller (or Tarot Card/Palm Reader)

Some strolling entertainment at your reception is often a fab way to get people chatting. Moving away from the music acts, there are some wonderfully romantic wedding entertainment for hire that at first might not seem obvious but then make sense when you’re there. One of these is looking into hiring a fortune teller, tarot card or palm reader. A great bit of fun, you never know, they may just see another wedding on the horizon between a couple of your guests!

Magician (or Graphologist)

If you aren’t too sure about predicting the future of those in your wedding party, ideas don’t come much better than hiring a magician for your big day. As the wedding reception entertainment, magic is sure to bring people together and provides a little relaxation for the Best Man and others ahead of the speeches later on! A graphologist is also an unusual entertainment idea for a wedding but no less compelling. Who doesn’t want to know what their handwriting tells an expert about them!? You never know, the writing might be on the wall for another marriage before too long.

5 basic party planning rules

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It’s natural to stress over all aspects of an event but if you follow these five basic event planning rules, you’ll be a brilliant event planner in no time! So whether it’s your first time booking entertainment for an event or you’re an old hand, here are a few tips that it’s always worth remembering.

Make a List of Entertainment Ideas

This may seem like a no-brainer but always make a list of the entertainment ideas you have in mind for your party or event so that you don’t get side-tracked when looking at all the other event entertainment which is out there! There are a lot of superb entertainment acts out there but not all of them will be suitable for your special event. As such, it’s best for event planners make a list of the sort of thing you’re looking for even if you have quite a broad spectrum.

Get the latest exciting acts.

One of the most important things about being an event planner is that you need to know what is available on the market. After making your list of entertainment ideas, it’s now time to look out for any other acts the people seem to be excited about and consider the date as well. Make sure you get the latest exciting entertainment act.

Budget Wisely

Decide on a budget far in advance of when you sit down to allocate the funds to each part of your event or wedding. Entertainment can be pricey, as can each part of event planning, but shrewd event planners are the ones who do not waver from their initial costings and ensure that they are getting a good deal. Musicians in particular vary widely in price but rest assured we at Red Masque only advertise the very best acts who have excellent reviews.

Give Yourself Some Time

People like to plan early so don’t leave it until the last minute before booking the entertainment for your event. Some of the most popular acts are already being requested by event planners for weddings late in 2017, so don’t delay if there’s a piece of entertainment you just have to have! It’s better to book sooner rather than later as this also gives time to deal with any possible song requests or dealing with venue difficulties like sound limiters.

Think About Everything Else

Well, once you’ve hired wedding entertainment, it’s time to focus on other things. Event planning is all about juggling tasks and assigning time to each of them. Once your entertainment is booked, start thinking about how to improve your venue by picking a nice theme. Then onto the catering and flowers. It feels like it’s never ending but it doesn’t have to be. So book your wedding entertainment early and then allow yourself some time to think about everything else.

Wedding Music Ideas

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Now that you have got some different wedding entertainment Ideas, you may need some wedding music ideas. You will probably be planning to hire the traditional wedding band for the evening reception, but there are many other options that will enhance your big day.

Maybe you would like some sophisticated music in the background of your Drinks Reception or a Bag Piper to add a traditional touch to your wedding. Let’s take a look at some of the Wedding Music options you may not have considered:

String Quartet- how about hiring a string quartet? A string quartet could be an excellent accompaniment to the religious service, where music can play an essential role. The quartet could also be used for the evening reception, playing background music for the drinks reception, the meal and at any other times where you feel a gap may need to be filled

Jazz / Swing music – a jazz music act could be used during your wedding to maintain a relaxed environment at any stage of the reception. Jazz acts range is sizes but a jazz trio could be perfect for your wedding day.

Wedding DJ – many weddings now include a DJ after the band. As a result, many of the better bands are now offering a Band and DJ package. This will ensure the DJ will already have a feel for the audience as well as being able to use the same sound equipment to avoid any delays or gaps

Bag Piper – looking to add a traditional feel to your big day? How about hiring a traditional Scottish bag piper? The bag piper could be used before, during and after the ceremony as well as for entertaining your guests while the photographs are being taken. They can also welcome guests to the wedding reception and to introduce the bride and groom to the reception.

Solo musician- a solo musician could be a great idea, particularly if you are having an intimate wedding. A harpist or a pianist, for example, could be used to create an ambient atmosphere on your big day.

Professional gospel choir – a gospel choir could be perfect for your big day, particularly if you are having a church wedding. Your choir will provide a beautiful sound for your wedding and could perform at any stage of the service.

So make sure you do everything to make sure your guests are happy and provide them with entertainment they will love.