Albany Wedding DJ Disc jockey - DJ Kenny Casanova - Cut Wedding Cake. When?
So… Umm… When do we cut the wedding cake?
The activity of celebrating the wedding cake has been an important part of the wedding reception since the days of Ancient Rome. During that time period, things were a little different. There was no stacking and there was no crazy decorating. There was, however, a simple wheat cake crumbled over the bride’s head and into her hair. Sound odd? There was a reason. Wheat at this time to this culture was a symbol that represented bounty, so this messy tradition was carried out to ensure her fertility.
Today, many things have changed at the wedding reception. While we may seem more civilized to pour crumbs over the head of the new bride, we do carry on a twist to the old cake tradition. Instead, now the bride and groom hold a knife together and cut the cake together. In some cases, the groom lovingly smashes the cake in the glowing bride’s face; Not a far cry from the old tradition after all. This new tradition continues with the top of the layered cake is now saved for the bride and groom to eat, one year later on their first anniversary.
The first wedding I ever DJ’ed at where there was no cake cutting happened last week. Do you have to cut the cake? Technically no. However, cutting the cake gives your guests and your photographer a great photo opportunity and lets them all celebrate your marriage with you, and your creativity of cake choice.
I have heard that there seems to be a constant battle, of late, between the DJ and/or wedding planners and the wedding hall/ caterers on when the best time it is to cut the cake at your wedding reception. Well, what is the answer?
Traditionally, the cake should be cut towards the end of the evening. Think about it. After eating a big meal, dessert isn’t always right on the guests’ minds, but could be after an hour or two of dancing. Some also choose to do the cutting right after the dinner so that everyone can dance the night away without any interruptions, but again, the cake often isn’t eaten then, if at all, until later.
One thing to keep in mind… If you do notice that during your reception, the hall is seeming to nag you for the cake to be cut and eaten right away, they probably have a hidden agenda. Sometimes they truly just want to get it out of the way. Other times, however, having the cake cutting activity done early is often a cost-cutting factor for the hall; the hall can send home their extra staff when the serving is done and then save extra money on payroll!
Whatever you chose to do, do what feels right for you! Here are some song ideas to play while the cake is being cut:
Destiny – Jim Brickman
Can You Feel The Love Tonight? – Elton John
Recipe For Making Love – Harry Connick, Jr.
I Got You Babe – Sonny and Cher
This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) – Natalie Cole
Thank You – Led Zeppelin
The Sweetest Thing – U2
Sugar, Sugar – The Archies
Wedding Song – Bob Dylan
Unbroken – Tim McGraw
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) – James Taylor
It’s Your Love – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Ain’t That A Kick In The Head – Dean Martin
Chapel Of Love – Dixie Cups
Love You Madly – Cake
Because You Loved Me – Celine Dion
When I’m Sixty-Four – The Beatles
Love And Marriage – Frank Sinatra
That’s Amore – Dean Martin
Grow Old With You – Adam Sandler
Eat it – Weird Al Yankovic
After All Is Said And Done – Beyoncé Knowles & Marc Nelson
1, 2, 3, 4 – Plain White T’s
‘Cause I love You – Lenny Williams
Whatever It is – Zac Brown Band
One Love – Bob Marley
Here and Now – Luther Vandross
I Do (Cherish You) – 98 Degrees
Cut The Cake – Average White Band
All My Life – K-Ci & JoJo
Yummy Yummy Yummy – Ohio Express
Sweet Emotion – Aerosmith
Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – Four Tops
Sounds simple, but this almost always never happens. You mean to plan for a great big “everybody picture,” but you just don’t seem to find time between the business of the whole day. Why not actually stop everything for a second during the party, and create a memory that will last a lifetime?
Last week, we actually took time out of the fast-pace dancing to set up a time-slot where everybody lined up for a group shot, behind the bride and groom. The shots were incredible!
If you have a decent disc jockey, you can easily make this a fun activity. You do have to be careful with this, because any stop in pace can slow things down. This is why the bride and groom had their DJ do announce the photo opportunity immediately after the cake cutting sequence.
It seems to me that the extra three minutes were, in fact easy to recover from. Everybody stayed right out on the dance floor and moved right into a fast dance.
True story… Last weekend, I had three weddings; a Mexican Salsa Reception in Saratoga at Tiznow, a Pakistani Wedding at Best Western in Albany, and a Six Flags Lodge Reception in Lake George, NY. There is a first time for everything.
First off, my first time experience was doing a DJ gig at The Six Flags Great Escape Lodge. It is a really nice place and good people. At the Six Flags wedding reception, the guests settled into their seats for dinner right after the cocktail hour and the intro. They were just about to enjoy their salads, when all of the sudden a loud siren sounded with a blinking white strobe light from wall.
Whhhhoooop! Whhhhoooop! Whhhhoooop! A recorded voice followed the shrill alarm. “The fire alarm device has been activated. All guests, please evacuate the building.”
At this point, the hotel wedding coordinator ran up to me to inform me that all was okay. “A 5-year-old boy pulled an alarm,” he said shouting over the siren. “False alarm. However, the alarm is going to have to run its course.”
“Ugh,” I replied. “How long is that going to take?”
“I am not sure,” he replied. “Maybe fifteen minutes? Can you make an announcement and ask the guests to stay seated?”
“Okay. I will try.” I said. For one, one of the piercing alarms was right behind me over my head, and for two, there were others around the room annoying the attendees.
I grabbed the mic and people who were gathering objects looked over at me. “Ladies and gentlemen, do not worry it is a false alarm,” I said. “The cake is not going to melt and my equipment is not going to burn, so let’s try and make the most of it.”
I quickly browsed through my computer and found “Burning Down The House” by The Talking Heads and pulled it up. A few faces started to laugh.
Now, mind you, you usually do not want to play loud dance music while people are eating, but I needed a way to entertain and cover up the annoying backdrop and the salads weren’t cutting it. The talking heads was a good start. The next step was to get the people on the dance floor to make them forget that a peaceful first course probably wasn’t going to happen for the moment.
Shift gears to a hot set… “Disco Inferno” by The Tramps, “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis, “Burning Love” from Elvis, and Buster Poindexter’s “Hot, Hot, Hot.”
The guests had a blast. Somewhere in the middle of the last song, the alarm ended and everyone went back to their meals.
Later on, the manager said, “Kenny Casanova saves the day!”
Also, the Lodge was really cool about everything. They gave the guests a free hour of open bar, that they wouldn’t have had otherwise, as well as an extra half hour of hall time at the end of the night.
In my opinion, it made the night better and a fun memory.
I just thought I would give everybody a little heads up when it comes to planning the locations for your wedding ceremony and reception.
From experience, I have learned that the weddings that have had the smoothest transitions from ceremony to reception have been at the same location, or under ten minutes away. I know this sounds simple, but it doesn’t always happen.
I have seen many wedding receptions run late, due to, in part, the transition between ceremony and reception.
We already know that pictures typically transpire during this time, and that the bride and groom will be engrossed in what usually becomes a lengthy photo shoot. Depending on the circumstances, the photo shoot alone can be the cause of upsetting anxious guests and also end up running overtime charges by the hall and other wedding professionals waiting at the reception hall. To avoid further wait time, it really is best to plan for the ceremony to be very nearby the place of reception, whenever possible.
Rule of thumb; you really only want about an hour to an hour and a half at the very latest between the ceremony end time and the reception start, and that includes the cocktail hour within that window frame. Just keep in mind, that everyone is waiting to be with you on your special day.
We have all been to a wedding and know the deal. At some point, the disc jockey yells, “will all the single ladies come out on the dance floor?” Next, the DJ plays something like, “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” and eventually, the bride throws her flowers back to a bunch of crazed daisey-hungry women who fight over them.
How Can You Plan For The Very Best Bouquet Toss Segment At Your Wedding?
As matrimonial legend goes, this ceremonial tossing of the flowers is symbolic. It promises to bring good fortune to the one lucky unmarried woman who catches the flowers. The magic of the flowers passes on to the catcher and suggests that she, will in fact, be the next lucky pretty bride to marry and live a long happy life, just as the bride before her.
As Ron Popeil always said… “But wait. There’s more!” To the victor go the spoils. That means, if you are an old maid hoping to catch the magic flowers so that you too, can get married soon, you do so with a price.
The lucky flower-catcher also has to take part in receiving the garter that the single male counterpart caught. And usally, when I have a say in it, this is not a quick drive-by moment in passing. Like many DJs love to do, this event is an embarassing ordeal albeit in jest, and quite often a sultry exhibition set to music.
You have seen this before, I am sure. And when done properly, it is often a fun moment that really makes everyone laugh. Except, however, for the the two involved! (LOL!) But how can you do organize this fun, time honored-activity, so that it comes off exactly how you want it to? Plan… Plan… Plan!
STEPS TO ACHEIVING A SUCCESSFUL BOUQUET-GARTER SEGMENT
BOUQUET SELECTION – Buy local! When you order from a national chain, they act essentially as a middle man. Therefore, you pay more for less flowers. If your wedding is in Albany, look for a reputable floral shop like http://www.centralfloristofalbany.com/, or head on out to a nice farmer’s market.
INCREASE AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION – One big thing to think about is the question, “who is my target audience?” As the leader of this activity, I have noticed that quite often there is very good crowd participation. Usually your wedding guests are all about jumping in there for a good time, especially when booze is a factor. However, there have also been many times, when you get the “meh” response and people do not move to the floor.
Bribe Your Audience, If You Must!
You know your crowd better than anyone, afterall, you invited everybody there except the wedding-crashers. If you predict a dull bouquet segment in looking at the roster of single volunteers to participate, and this is not what you want, there is hope.
If you really want to have everyone lining up for bridal bouquet & garter toss, and pray for a super picture, there is only one answer. BRIBE THEM.
It may even be funny and add to the moment to have that dead air silence, until the bribe is made. Have your wedding disc jockey hold up a prize that you have provided for people to participate. It is amazing what people will do for $20, or a bottle of cheap wine. (If you don’t belive me, ask my first prom date.)
After the proper group-appropriate bride-bribe, your bouquet-garter participant base will grow, and you will have great pictures and memories for years to come!
NOT ENOUGH SINGLES ON HAND – What if it seems everyone is married or has a significant other? If you feel that not enough of your guests are single and yothis will affect te amount of participants shown in that must-have bridal bouquet shot, fear not. Change the rules.
Many people throw away the single requirement, these days, and have the DJ request anyone to come particiapte. What I like to do is include all the single people and, “…or people who PRETEND they are single on a Saturday night.”
ELIMINATE THE KID FACTOR – Kids can blow the whole thing. Whenever there is some kind of contest, regardless of the prize, you know that children will want to take part. If you have invited couples and permitted children attending your reception, you may want a back plan. You won’t want them to partake in this activity, no matter how fun it may be to see them holding the flowers in a picture for the photgrapher. Nobody ever thinks about it when the cute little girl goes to catch the flowers in the bouquet toss line. It is AFTER the garter is removed and caught that the realization sets in.
I have seen a number of flower tosses where an unsuspecting little girl has caught the flowers, and an older man catches the garter. What happens next? As I DJ, I call this a “Deliverance Banjo Scene” in the making, or locally, “an outback Ravena, NY” moment. Tradition dictates that the old man then has to put the garter on a young girl’s leg. We were first shooting for a fun picture that all the bride’s friends will remember forever. Now, can you say, “creepy moment we want to forget?”
THE BRIDAL BEAR TOSS – One thing you can do to hold over the kiddies not participating in the bouquet toss is the classic “bait & switch.”
The Bride Teddy Bear – a distraction to keep the kids happy and away from the bouquet
To avoid the backwoods moment and keep the flower fun on the adult-side of up-and-up, you can have your DJ announce that all children under 16 are from not alowed to participate. But instead of just cutting them out altogether, before the actual wedding bouquet, you can always toss something else just for the kids. You could toss a stuffed wedding animal in bridal dress, or a teddy bear or even a special smaller bouquet of flowers just for this segment.
This family-friendly alternative will not only keep the kiddies happy, but also creates an additional photo opportunity!
There are many ways to remember loved your ones on your special day.
It is a very thoughtful idea for the bride & groom to want to honor a relative, loved one, or family member who is no longer with us. The key to making this happen effectively is to keep it classy and in the spirit of celebration.
You do not want to depress the members attending your wedding reception by causing something that could invoke tears, but provide something that will at as a visual representation of the missing person that celebrates their life.
Remembering a loved one who is no longer with us everyday anymore is not hard to do, as you really can end up with plenty of fun or celebrational and tasteful options that can really mean something to everyone. I have seen annotated pictures and photo album displays, a small table setting with a plaque that held many names, a stand-up photo cut out, a poetry reading, a song dedication activity from the wedding DJ.
I have also been a part of some very touching special lit candle and/or lighting presentation, an insert on a slide show, and witnessed countless personable items and things on display to represent the deceased; belongings that really meant something to the person who no longer with us.
Whatever you choose, it is a great idea. Just keep in mind that it is very important to not dwell on the loss, but to smile, toast and celebrate the person for their contributions in life to the couple’s happy day. After all, they would have wanted it that way.
DJ Kenny Casanova – is a professional wedding reception mobile dj and professional wrestling ring announcer out of Albany, NY and Troy, NY.
