IbleedBnG83 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Best piece of advice I can give: do not play the YMCA, the chicken dance, the cha-cha slide, or the macarena. Instead, play songs that will get people on the dance floor because they bring back great high school/college/childhood memories. Of course if the latter includes the former, then by all means go for it. But in my experience the YMCA, etc are the absolutely most annoying songs EVER and will kill a reception. I much prefer a cheesey boy band song, or some rap song that everyone knows and will get in to. I have been to several weddings and these songs always seem to be a hit. No matter how corny or cheesey you may find them, its peferfect for the older crowd and kids who maybe more shy or don't know the music. The photo booth idea sounds really cool. As does the disposable cameras idea! Photo booth sounds cool. Every wedding does the disposable camera thing, do the booth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IbleedBnG83 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Honestly, just make certain you have a great photographer. Everything is truly a whirlwind and happens so quickly, all you have from it to remember is the pictures and video. BINGO!!! Spend good money on a photographer. Because after everything is said and done, that will be all the you have left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjah Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 We brewed our own beer, labeled it with our own waterproof labels featuring trivia about our lives together, and stocked the reception bar with it. As table name placeholder thingies, we burned and artfully labeled CDs with about 15-20 tracks of good non-sappy songs that matched the fun feel we wanted for the reception. Many of the tracks matched the first dance, reecption music, etc. Each guest picked their personalized CD out of a rack as they entered the reception, which told them their table name and also served as one of the take-home favors. We worked some old-world tradition into the wedding too: My wife's father and uncle are a Greek traditional bouzouki/vocal duo, so they sang/played some dancing songs and the entire crowd got on the floor for circle dancing and lots of "OPA!" People were throwing money in the air -- the Greeks make it rain like nobody else -- and we paid kids to crawl around on the floor and collect all the cash for us. You might be able to work some of your own heritage into your reception. Folks come to a reception pre-wired for a good time. The best reception is one that stays out of the way: Good food, good music, good booze, good people, good flow. There are traditional interruptions to the fun: Cutting the cake, etc. But overall, it should just flow. So set up the fun and let people have it. Looking back on it, a reception is like taking your kid to a friend's house or day care for the first time. You're responsible for everything, and yet at some point you just have to trust that everything is in good shape, step back, and let go. And it all turns out fine. Oh, and also: We splurged on the best photographer we could get and said to hell with the videographer. Best decision we ever made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 The video part is certainly a rip off. Spend the extra money on the photographer and skip the video. You wont look at the video more than once or twice anyway. Better off with more pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 My ex is a wedding photographer and her best friend is a wedding planner. One thing they always told me was that planning this event by yourself (as a bride) is one of the most stressful and difficult days of your life. Saying that, have fun. This is your day. It will not be perfect. Something WILL go wrong but that's half the adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 My ex is a wedding photographer and her best friend is a wedding planner. One thing they always told me was that planning this event by yourself (as a bride) is one of the most stressful and difficult days of your life.Saying that, have fun. This is your day. It will not be perfect. Something WILL go wrong but that's half the adventure. I didn't think it was that hard at all. You just interview the people that are going to work for you and get the people that fit with what you want for your day. I thought my DJ was an *******, but I felt very confident that he would do an amazing job. He did, and we were all impressed. Look for professionals. It's worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldskool Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I didn't think it was that hard at all. You just interview the people that are going to work for you and get the people that fit with what you want for your day. I thought my DJ was an *******, but I felt very confident that he would do an amazing job. He did, and we were all impressed. Look for professionals. It's worth it. You definitely seem to be one of the exceptions Keeastman, i'd throw in more but i havent been to a wedding that I didn't shoot as the 2nd photographer in years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 The only hang-up that we had was our string quartet, ended up being a trio and they had to call me about it that morning to see what I wanted to do about it. No one knew about it besides me at the time. It worked out just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckus Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I went to a wedding recently that had something I LOVED, and something I want to replicate at my own wedding. We all know that weddings are big parties that usually involve a fair amount of drinking and dancing. Well, at about midnight or 1am while the band was rocking and most people were trashed, an announcement was made that freshly cooked GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES were available near the bar for anyone with the late munchies. OH. MY. GOD. It was amazing. There is nothing more amazing then being drunk, dancing at 1am, having a great time with friends only to hear that a grilled cheese sandwich has been freshly prepared for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 My fiancee and myself are planning our wedding right now. We are doing a destination wedding in St. Lucia W.I. on the beach. We didnt know what we wanted as our center pieces but we thought of a bed of blue and green sea glass with an Orchid as the center piece for each table. I didnt think Id like it but it looks really beautiful and not cheap at all (that was my worry). I like the disposable camera's because people think differently then your photographer will, they also know the little things about you two that may make for a better picture. Go with the disposables, you will see some wild ish. Has anyone mentioned the "candy bar" yet? it keeps all the little rugrats entertained, and if you strategically place it, corralled as well. Just a bar with a bunch of candy dishes or bowls set up, 10/20 different candies to choose from, some soda's maybe an adult cooler or station with bottles drinks not being served at the bar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 I didn't think it was that hard at all. You just interview the people that are going to work for you and get the people that fit with what you want for your day. I thought my DJ was an *******, but I felt very confident that he would do an amazing job. He did, and we were all impressed. Look for professionals. It's worth it. We looked into professionals, but everything they wanted to do, we could arrange ourselves... why use the middle man and pay themas well? However, we are nailing down everything with 9 months to go. The only thing left for me to do is get the groomsmens outfits (All white linen embroidered Tommy Bahama Shirt 128.00 and khaki linen pants from Tommy Bahama at 70.00 a pair.) Im paying for the groomsmens outfit because they can be doubled as leasure wear, so the outfit and a watch are my groomsmen gifts. Anyways, we also decided not to go with a wedding planner because we are going to the West Indies for the wedding and I doubt the wedding planner had any connections out there that we dont already have, makes sense for us to just do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedlightG20 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Make it kind of like a tailgate party. Set up a beer pong table and a beanbag toss game. Get the old heads involved in these games--they'll love it. I know many weddings don't have this, but definitely stay away from any form of karaoke. I went to a wedding with karaoke once, it was terrible. Guests started leaving an hour and a half early because the same group of like 3 or 4 little teenage girls kept singing terrible pop songs and their voices were awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 My ex is a wedding photographer and her best friend is a wedding planner. One thing they always told me was that planning this event by yourself (as a bride) is one of the most stressful and difficult days of your life. Fortunately, I am sifting most of the work onto my mom and little sister...I mean, I have papers to do and Extremeskins to post on, I'm a busy girl! :evilg: We've got pretty much everything planned and reserved; we are using all the same vendors from my sister's wedding a few years ago at my parents' place, so that really helps All that's left is the little detaily stuff which will be fine because I don't really care all that much, it'll look nice however it ends up. I'm more focused on throwing a fun party for everyone that is very personalized and incorporates my fiance and my slightly whacky characters. Oh, and also: We splurged on the best photographer we could get and said to hell with the videographer. Best decision we ever made. We have a family friend who's volunteered to do the videography for us, which is so sweet of her. Had she not volunteered, I definitely would not have worried about going out and hiring one, I've just heard too many horror stories from friends where paying a videographer was way more of a hassle than what it was worth.I also totally agree that getting a good photographer is extremely important. I'm using the photographer from my sister's wedding, and she's also shot several of my friends weddings and her quality of work is great. By the way, your personalized reception ideas sound awesome! I will definitely keep those in mind, thanks. No one knew about it besides me at the time. It worked out just fine. See, that's reason I'm not really stressed about all that type of stuff, because like you said, anything that goes "wrong" most of the time goes unnoticed by guests.When my sister had her wedding at my parents' home a couple years ago we were in the middle of a heat wave. The lady who made the cake was putting it together before the ceremony and putting flowers on it and everything and the cake started melting...then cracking...then falling over, lol. I went outside to see what my aunts and uncles were all fussing over and I see the cake with large cracks in it being disassembled. Some brides would freak, but my sister was like "meh, whatever." That's pretty much the attitude I have going into this whole thing. We are getting married which is ultimately what's important and we get to hang out and party with all our family and friends...can't get much better than that. I've had friends lose that perspective for their weddings and they stressed out way, way, way too much over the small, stupid stuff and ended up not having as much fun as they could've and should've had. Well, at about midnight or 1am while the band was rocking and most people were trashed, an announcement was made that freshly cooked GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES were available near the bar for anyone with the late munchies. Yeah, that's pretty badass. I think my sister did that at her wedding, but I forget what it was. I'll definitely do something like that, and not even so much for the guests, but moreso for the purely selfish reason that I want a freaking grilled cheese sandwich at 1am for myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 My fiancee and myself are planning our wedding right now. We are doing a destination wedding in St. Lucia W.I. on the beach. Ooooh, that sounds awesome!! Congrats! We were originally thinking of a destination wedding, but decided not to because it would have been cost prohibitive for some of the guests we really wanted at our wedding. I think it's an awesome idea though. The destination wedding one of my girlfriends had a couple years ago was amazing. Has anyone mentioned the "candy bar" yet? it keeps all the little rugrats entertained, and if you strategically place it, corralled as well. Just a bar with a bunch of candy dishes or bowls set up, 10/20 different candies to choose from, some soda's maybe an adult cooler or station with bottles drinks not being served at the bar... Great idea. My girlfriend had one at her wedding and it was great. I'm definitely going to do that...I'm sure their parents will be so happy we're aiding and abetting the crazy hyperness of the kiddies. :evilg: I know many weddings don't have this, but definitely stay away from any form of karaoke. I went to a wedding with karaoke once, it was terrible. Guests started leaving an hour and a half early because the same group of like 3 or 4 little teenage girls kept singing terrible pop songs and their voices were awful. Lol, OMG, that sounds awful. Note taken! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renaissance Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Great idea. My girlfriend had one at her wedding and it was great. I'm definitely going to do that...I'm sure their parents will be so happy we're aiding and abetting the crazy hyperness of the kiddies. :evilg: That is actually a really cool idea....and if the parents get to get drunk, the kids should definitely get to get high off of some sugar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeysc23 Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 please tell me you're having an open bar ... in my mind non-open bars = not mandatory attendance ... no bar = you will get a nice card haha. I have some "friends" getting married in late July. Asked me to fly down to texas for the wedding etc. But there will be no bar ... sorry I was busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Ooooh, that sounds awesome!! Congrats! We were originally thinking of a destination wedding, but decided not to because it would have been cost prohibitive for some of the guests we really wanted at our wedding. I think it's an awesome idea though. The destination wedding one of my girlfriends had a couple years ago was amazing.Great idea. My girlfriend had one at her wedding and it was great. I'm definitely going to do that...I'm sure their parents will be so happy we're aiding and abetting the crazy hyperness of the kiddies. :evilg: Lol, OMG, that sounds awful. Note taken! yeah the only reason we are doing a destination wedding is because her parents bought a house cheap down there twenty years ago and now they rent it out when they dont stay there. (PelicanhouseStLucia.com) We are having the wedding down there, and having the recpetion 6 weeks later when we get back and get settled and back into the swing of things at AltoPlaza in Centreville. (Altoplaza.net) The whole wedding is costing about 15K for us, and i think thats really good for a destination wedding. The hardest part was figuring out who was going. In thic economy, asking people to go to your destination wedding is a hard thing to do. At times, I almost felt bad asking. But my die hard friends already confirmed before i asked so it made me feel better. Thast also why we are having the recpetion when we come home, so anyone who couldnt come down can still come to the recpetion and be a part of it. We are doing a videographer for this reason specifically. What was cool was that he traded his services if we just covered his room cost (1050 bucks for the week), so it worked out for us. I take it you are on "theknot.com" or whatever the website is? My girl did most of her planning on that site and they broke it down and made it really simple for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 That is actually a really cool idea....and if the parents get to get drunk, the kids should definitely get to get high off of some sugar! Haha, true dat! At my sister's wedding, I forget what we did for the kids...I think we set up a bunch of activities out in the barn (supervised by hired babysitters of course) and let the kids go crazy out there. We'll do something similar this time too, so hopefully that will help offset the sugar rush. Also, this time we will have someone manning the freaking chocolate fountain every second, good Lordie. Within 5 minutes after the ceremony, the flower girls were pretty much swimming in that thing. My little niece had chocolate all over her dress in some of the formal pictures, it was pretty funny. please tell me you're having an open bar ... in my mind non-open bars = not mandatory attendance ... no bar = you will get a nice card haha. No, amazingly, it won't be a full open bar. We'll have different red and white wines, champagne, and a signature ****tail, but not a full on bar. Even the signature ****tail took some serious negotiating with my dad, lol. He's pretty much against drinking and doesn't want guests to get ridiculously drunk on his property and possibly get hurt either driving home or whatever. Little does he know that whoever wants to get drunk is going to do so anyway off the alcohol we do serve, lol. Whatever, I think those selections will be plenty for people...I mean, all our bridal party and crazy friends will be bringing their flasks anyway, haha. And then we are all going to do an afterparty at the local pub, so, I think people with have enough opportunity to get as wild as they want. :evilg: yeah the only reason we are doing a destination wedding is because her parents bought a house cheap down there twenty years ago and now they rent it out when they dont stay there. Oh, dang, that's awesome. I would definitely have a wedding down there if my parents had an actual house. Thast also why we are having the recpetion when we come home, so anyone who couldnt come down can still come to the recpetion and be a part of it. There you go. That's definitely the way to do it if you are having a destination wedding. I take it you are on "theknot.com" or whatever the website is? My girl did most of her planning on that site and they broke it down and made it really simple for her. Haha, no. I'm on the having mom organize the details and plan the event bandwagon. She wants to do it, so I'm totally stoked about sitting back and letting her take care of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renaissance Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 This cash bar talk got me wondering if the wedding I'm going to in a couple weeks. I inquired to my friend who is the sister AND maid of honor. She has no idea :doh: Anyway I've been two weddings that do it a couple ways...The best reception I've ever been to was at a brewery and they had open bar until a certain time (I think like 10pm?). At 950 or so we saw this one table with like 20 beers and I was like WTF are they doing?? Then we realized oh ****!! Almost 10pm time to stock up. That was a good night. I've also been to weddings that had free beer but you had to pay for liquor. Either of those options is solid IMO. Then again, I am not currently paying for a wedding, so my opinion only matters so much (and I would go regardless of the bar arrangement!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Either of those options is solid IMO. Then again, I am not currently paying for a wedding, so my opinion only matters so much (and I would go regardless of the bar arrangement!) Yeah, one of my friend's weddings did a free open bar until 10pm, then after that, we were on our own. I remember freaking out like you too around 9:45ish. We ran up to the bar and order a bazillion tequilla shots...and I don't even like tequilla, but it was free. I would love to have an open bar, but my dad's kind enough to be footing the bill so of course I will respect his wishes in not wanting to have an open bar. I think people will be fine with the wine, champagne, and the signature martinis. And he won't have to come with us to the afterparty at the pub! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Musicwise, I don't think a wedding can be sanctioned by God if you don't play Hava Nagilla. Seriously. More, if you aren't cool enough to pull off Hava Nagilla. Circle Dances are great to involve the kids in and adults who can't dance or are self-conscious about their dancing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 Musicwise, I don't think a wedding can be sanctioned by God if you don't play Hava Nagilla.Seriously. More, if you aren't cool enough to pull off Hava Nagilla. Circle Dances are great to involve the kids in and adults who can't dance or are self-conscious about their dancing. Haha, nice Burgold. One thing I am thinking of doing is a few Swiss dances. My fiance's done Swiss wrestling for fun for several years. After all the tournaments they have a big party and dance like crazy, like seriously, 90 y/o men out there tearing up the dance floor. There are a ton of traditional dances, involving brooms, big circles, switching partners, and this one chicken dance thing that are so much fun. We might just have to incorporate some of those, as I know a ton of the guests from his side know all the dances. Hmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissU28 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 I would love to have an open bar, but my dad's kind enough to be footing the bill so of course I will respect his wishes in not wanting to have an open bar. I think people will be fine with the wine, champagne, and the signature martinis. And he won't have to come with us to the afterparty at the pub! Yeah no big deal....my brother didn't have an open bar at his wedding- they went to Costco and stocked up on a bunch of his favorite beers and a bunch of his favorite wines- and that's all there was. It was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMike619 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 personally I think you and your girlfriends should shower... I mean have a shower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seabee1973 Posted June 2, 2009 Share Posted June 2, 2009 In all candor, if you save the money you'll spend on a wedding and put it towards a GREAT honeymoon, you'll never regret it. In fact, everyone I know who had a large wedding regrets the money spent.Go someplace exotic, somewhere that is not a usual honeymoon destination. Go to Hong Kong, or take an Outback excursion, something off the track like that. ~Bang I agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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