Yet again, I saw a different thing this weekend that I thought I should share with you all. You know those little cards you see at the front of the hall at the beginning of the ceremony? Yeah you do. The place cards with the guests name, directing them to their assigned table.
The wedding I did had little tea lights with professionally printed names on each one and the table number. It was really cool to see everyone surround the table and look for their candles! Then, on by one, each person carefully brought their little candle keepsake to their destination table.
Live Photo Magnet Shoots at your wedding can be great fun!
As a mobile DJ, you see some really neat ideas from time to time, but none have struck me as much so as what I have been seeing more and more of this summer.
With printing capabilities increasing with technology and color printing cartridge advancements, a new trend is definitely hitting the professional wedding industry. This new wedding trend is quickly becoming a magnetic attraction to the guests, because this new trend is magnets.
One new magnet prop is showing up before the wedding. I have seen “Save The Date” magnets sent out to guests to announce their wedding right from the start. These are usually business card size with just the date and the bride and groom’s names on them. They can however be bigger and more elaborate.
Magnets can also be used for the invitations themselves. If you look up on google save the date wedding magnets you will see that many specialty printers are now offering some really cool magnetic stock for invitations. Companies like Magnetstreet.com, MagnetQueen.com, Wedding-Magnets.com and SaveTheDateMagnet.com are all just the tip of the iceberg for companies that are beginning to specialize off of this growing new idea. They have some great stock images to pick from, as well as cool ideas for customization.
At the reception itself, many people are now opting to make the magnet-making process itself as part of the fun and towards the provision of wedding favors. Photo Magnet creation actually becomes an activity. An additional photographer can be hired with on site capability and the proper equipment to provide refrigerator magnets as party favors to the bride and groom and/or all your guests with their images on the magnets.
At a recent Albany, NY wedding I played music at, the magnet photographer set up a photo shoot area in a corner complete with lighting and a backdrop. Couples and friends alike could then go over for the shoot and immediately, within seconds, have a decorative portrait of the participants in hand. The magnets can either then be set aside for the bride and groom, or kept as a favor!
Quite often I get the uncomfortable question from curious brides and grooms about tipping. I always say the same thing. “It is optional at weddings. A tip for any service is appreciated, but usually not at all expected. Just tip if you were really really happy with your outcome.”
I did a little looking around on the net to see what other people say about wedding gratuity. Before sharing my findings below, I have read that for the most part, I am right. Tips are a voluntary thing, and you should really use your discretion.
So, how do you make the decision?
DO YOUR HOMEWORK – First off, if you are thinking about tipping, you may want to find out from your vendors if, tipping is allowed at all. There are many services, caterers for one, that include the gratuity for their staff directly in their quoted price, so they sometimes actually discourage tipping. In this economy, be sure not to double tip!
Giving wedding professionals and vendors a tip is completely up to the couple, how happy they are and how much they can afford. There is no percentage, if any, as you see expected by restaurants.
All tips should be given in cash. If the person serving you is an employee of the company, their tip should be in a separate envelope, so that the business doesn’t try to absorb it.
Tips should be given just before the party ends. That way you can judge how much to give, according to the job they did for you.
DOLLAR GUIDELINE ACCORDING TO SERVICES PROVIDED:
Limousine Drivers – 10-15% of the limousine bill, given at the end of his/her service.
Valet Parking Attendants – 50 cents to $1.00 per car, is about right.
Disc Jockey – When your guests compliment the reception later, remember it was the DJ that had created a big part of the fun stuff. While it is not expected, if there is one DJ, $50-100.00, isn’t totally unheard of. If you have two DJs, some people give each person $50.00 in separate envelopes. It’s really up to you, as, again, there is no need to tip at all.
Albany Wedding DJ
Photographer / Videographers – The tip is optional. Usually if they own the photography business, no tip is necessary. If they are employees, $50.00 goes to the main photographer and who splits in with any assistant.
The Wait Staff – Usually the tip is worked into the quote. If the tip is not in the contract, a 15% of the total catering bill is tipped.
Bartenders – 10% of the total liquor bill is normal, if you are not allowing your guests to tip.
Ceremony Musicians – $5-10/hr per person.
Wedding Officiate – Usually you do not tip. You pay the set amount, and offer a donation to the church, if you wish to offer more for their help.
Hopefully, you have a rough idea of what to give now, if you feel the urge to tip.
Again, the amounts above are only examples and are not written in stone. They are, however, what I have found people have suggested to give when you are impressed and overly satisfied with your service provider.
Every bride pictures the day they are to be married as being the perfect-ending of a fairy tale, when they are very young. If you want your big wedding to be a fairy tale come true, why not consider putting just the right theme to it? If you want to set an atmosphere of fantasy, enchantment and fun, then maybe a Cinderella wedding could be just for you!
DARE TO PICK A THEME – If you really want the groom to buy into the helping of planning your wedding, add a theme. From experience, adding any type of theme can really get your Prince Charming to buy into the whole party planning process, as many grooms do not really buy into the planning side. Add a theme, however, and the creative juices start to flow!
DO SOME RESEARCH – So first, you have to do your homework. If you think that a Cinderella theme could work for your wedding, then make sure you re-watch the movie Cinderella, itself. You will see from watching the movie a number of things that can really add to the overall feel.
First off, Cinderella is from a kingdom and the messengers use scrolls. You can send your invitations out with that scroll feel, and also even create something like this for your guestbook. Since you want your guests to really know that they are attending a fairy tale wedding, a nice glass slipper or something from the film should be printed as a background of clip art on the invitations. If you can, also try sealing your envelopes with a royal wax seal.
COLORS – The official colors for the reception should include ivory, light pinks and white. These colors should be used for flowers, linen, and even the clothing. To get that ballroom feel, the bride should shoot for a bell-shaped gown, when possible, if it compliments her body well. She should try to match the style of Cinderella, of course, from Disney, as this is the image that is well-known. The groom should look at black tuxedos with tails.
PROPS – Props are everything and will really sell your theme, no matter what it may be. In this case, props should include, glass slippers, pumpkins and perhaps long red carpets. (At the ceremony, you may even want to have the ring bearer carry the ring inside a glass slipper or pumpkin!)
The venue will also play a good hand in getting the Cinderella feel across. A ballroom with chandeliers and fancy drapery and wall hangings would be the perfect setting for your Cinderella wedding reception theme and your fairy tale coming true. Locally Glen Sanders mansion, might be nice, or any place that has a cascading staircase for a grand entrance, too!
MAKE IT SPARKLE – For that added magical feel, you should use glitter everywhere you can. Table tops with tinsel pieces would be great and you have to make pumpkin couches your centerpieces. Also, small magic wands with stars on the tips provided as party favors would make for some fun pictures, as well. Also, if your budget allows, you may want to shoot for a giant ice statue of a slipper to add to the night.
Today, times are tough. We are seeing traditions broken daily and hard decisions have to be made. Maybe you really want to get married but know that your venue bill will be 15 to 20 times the size of what the DJ bill will be, and you know you can’t afford it. That’s right. Your average wedding venue bill with food is $10,000-$30,000 today! Weel, what can you do?
POTLUCK! BRING YOUR OWN FOOD?!
A Potluck Wedding Can Actually Be Better!
Before you dismiss this as an unacceptable option, let’s look at history. One hundred years ago, there was no prime rib. There were no candy tables. There was no open bar tab. Almost every wedding reception was catered by the guests!
Part of the wedding gift was your loved ones sweating over a hot oven. Then, they would show up with their labors of love bearing a covered dish for all to partake, in the name of the bride and groom.
Another trend of guests bringing their own food to a wedding reception to be shared by all happened a little more than only fifty years ago. In the ‘60s, dematerialization and sharing also was a big part of that generation’s mindset. This bled over into the matrimonial ceremonial trends. At this time, Potluck weddings were about sharing all kinds of things.
Believe it or not, the idea of guests bringing the food to the reception was not low-brow at many points in history. It actually used to be the norm. However, in the “instant gratification” materialist world that we live in, and now with the economic state that our country is in, this trend is making a comeback at weddings.
Here are a number of tips to keep in mind, in order to make the idea of covered dishes work at your reception:
PLANNING A POTLUCK WEDDING – While this is a great idea, there may be some materialistic money-grubbers who will oppose your quest for crockpots. Many wedding halls will not allow you or guests to bring in food or alcoholic beverages. In most cases, this directly affects their bottom line, as providing high end dishes is an integral part of their income and overall profit. In order to have a potlock reception, you will first have to locate an appropriate hall to your liking that allows self-catering, and one that still fits the atmospheric-setting role that you are looking for.
PROMOTING YOUR VISION – Whenever you can, consider a theme! For our house warming, we held what we called a “cultural covered dish party.” You couldn’t just show up with hot dogs and chips. We challenged our guests to recreate and share their favorite ethnic dishes from all around the world.
For our cultural covered dish party, we communicated with out friends and family to see what area their cuisine would come from. Once we heard one country or area was being represented, we might mention that to another person. Then, each guest would bring some really cool things to the table.
One friend could represent Mexico, another could represent Italy, and so on and so forth, so that many different and fun dishes were represented. We then put little flags in front of the dishes, upon receiving them. It felt like Disney’s “It’s a Small World” ride, but much tastier!
Potluck Wedding Dishes Are Fun and Can Be A Great Conversation Starter at Your Party
CHEF TO IMPRESS & RESTRICTIONS – Tell your people to all bring entrees, not side dishes. Push the idea of “CHEF TO IMPRESS!” You always have the handful of loser relatives who want to only bring soda and chips. Make it clear that side dishes will make for a poor spread. Side dishes are very lame and that each guest needs to try and provide at least one entree, with any amount of supporting sides that they wish! If you get entrees across the board, there will be some really great food and fun for all!
TAKE INVENTORY & COMMUNICATE – It is crucial that you make an ongoing list of what guests would like to bring so that you don’t get a dozen meatball dishes, for example, and nobody shows up with some succulent shrimp or chicken! (Gotta have chicken!) Consider using facebook to make communication easy.
TIMING & STORAGE – Let the people plan early. Put your food information/request right on the invitation. When the wedding day finally comes, the best way to organize is to put someone in charge of receiving the food, before the ceremony actually starts.
CROCK POTS – Rule. Enough said.
PREP TEAM & CLEAN UP TEAM – Since there are no caterers waiting on your guests, this does mean that there will be more work that will need to be done on your behalf. It is best to ask for volunteers to man food prep & clean up. With two separate teams, the brunt of work doesn’t fall heavy on one or two people’s shoulders. You will need one group to organize and set up the food, and also another to break down, preserve and get the containers ready to go back to the original owners.
MUSIC – Everybody knows that music makes it better. Food is best consumed with music, so get a DJ! (I know a good one!) Your savings on food allows for even more fun to happen!
DISH PRESENTATION – We don’t want this to look like your average party. Since you are potentially saving thousands on the food bill, you may want to make everything look as classy as possible.
To avoid the stigma that a hodge-podge potluck wedding reception could receive, try and create some kind of uniformity in presentation. Another trick is to elevate entree dishes on your buffet tables with some kind of milk crates or soda riser-trays, then cover the boosters with linen.
If you really want to change people’s minds about being thrifty, stay away from dollar store table cloths to avoid cheap presentation of good food! To remain classy but still save money, if your hall does not provide linens, you can always purchase sale fabric at a discount fabric stores.
If you don’t want to go all the way with a potluck wedding, you could just do potluck desserts!
POTLUCK DESSERTS – Maybe you still want the dinner catered, but love this idea. How about potluck desserts only?!
ADDITIONAL GIFTS ARE OPTIONAL – Remember, since guests are providing the food, it is customary to accept the fact that the dish could be considered the only gift to you, or at least a portion of the gift. Encourage this and embrace it! You are saving thousands of dollars!
Food is love and when prepared by your friends and family, love as well as scrumptious scents will be in the air. The possibilities are endless. People will go out of their ways to really show off their skills, and at the same time, impress you.
Having a successful covered dish wedding reception is all about cooperation and fun with people who are important to you. Your friends and family will love the idea and probably go out of their ways to really make it a spread that will impress everyone.
If done correctly, your wedding reception could turn out to be much better than any catering company could ever deliver.
Custom Decorations For Dishes Can Also Be Fun
A Potluck Wedding Can Actually Be Better!
If you don’t want to go all the way with a potluck wedding, you could just do potluck desserts!
Potluck Wedding Dishes Are Fun and Can Be A Great Conversation Starter at Your Party
Pick songs that are important to you, AND your guests.
Of course, the bride and groom’s song choices outweigh anyone else’s at the wedding. However, it is still very important to try to incorporate lots of music that their guests will enjoy. Think about it for a second. Who wants to put on a wedding where people hate the entertainment!?
The purpose of playing music at all is to set an atmosphere. Therefore, the real logic behind planning your reception music should be to create an atmosphere where people will have fun, rather than expose your guests to music you like.
Throughout the years, wedding receptions have changed. They are vastly becoming the party dancing part of the wedding, while the ceremony holds the classy and more serious peaceful part of the day. Therefore, the trend now for receptions is to be far more upbeat and fun. If this is the atmosphere you want, the possibilities of song choices are endless. However, picking songs that ONLY you like can be a big mistake.
Most bride and grooms want to select songs that are special to them. Sometimes the songs relate to how they first met or the couple’s first date, or perhaps some other memorable event. It is very important, to do this, however, if the whole playlist are “special songs” to the bride and groom, they may not be special to everyone else.
If you want to have a finger on the playlist, as you plan songs for the wedding reception, seek out a second opinion from friends or family. With the internet, you can easily send out emails and get a feeling for what people will like.
If your overall goal really again is to create a fun, dancing atmosphere, you really have to pick songs that people can dance to and songs that people like to dance to. Even if you do not like “dance music,” if your guests do, you will need to pick songs they like to get the atmosphere that you are looking for.
