Sunday, April 10, 2011

Reception part 5

The most stressful part is finally over.  You’ve done all the traditional dances and you’re so close to open dancing.  It’s all downhill from here.
            This time, it’s ladies first of course.  That’s right, I’m talking about the bouquet toss.  This can be pretty fun, and I’ve noticed that most of my couples choose the song “Single Ladies” by Beyonce.  It works really well, and I’m pretty sure that’s why it was written.  I usually start the song and call the single women up while the music is playing.  I then lay down the ground rules telling the girls not to scratch, bite, pull hair, and things of that nature.  After that, I simply tell the bride to fire when ready.  She does, some lucky girl catches it, and it’s on to the garter toss.  On a side note, if there is any obstruction between the bride and the girls such as a ceiling fan, it will be hit.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought to myself “She’ll never throw it high enough to hit that fan,” only to see the bouquet smash into one of the blades.  I’ll admit, it never gets old.
            The next event is the garter toss.  I’ve heard DJ’s at other weddings say pretty suggestive things during this part, but that’s just not me.  I don’t think it’s the DJ’s place to say anything like that, and really find it creepy.  It’s always best to figure out how this event is going to happen way beforehand.  Sometimes they opt to put the best man on his hands and knees for the chair, but it’s always better to figure that out at your initial meeting with the bride and groom.  Opposite of the bouquet toss, I tell the guys not to run away, and to at least make an effort to catch the garter.

Reception part 4

After the cake cutting comes the dances.  The first dance is named so because it’s not only the bride and groom’s first dance as husband and wife, but also because it’s the first dance of the evening.  When it’s time for the first dance, I make sure that the photographer is ready and that everyone else has their cameras out too.  After that it’s simply pushing play, stepping back, and letting it happen.  I always like to do the dances back to back, but it’s important to have a couple segway songs in between the dances so there is no dead air.
            The next dance is the father/daughter dance.  I ask the bride to stay on the dance floor and have her dad come meet her there.  When he gets close, I start the song.  This way they can ease into it and it flows nicely.  After this dance I call the groom and his mother back to the dance floor for their dance.  It’s the same routine once again; push play and let it happen. 
            Sometimes the bride and groom will request that their parents dance as well.  Usually when this happens, about halfway through the song, I will invite anyone else from the wedding party who wants to dance to the floor as well.
            If you’ve done your homework, you should have every song ready to go, and this part of the reception should be a breeze.  The most important thing to remember is to do your best and make sure everything flows.  For safety, I generally like to take a couple steps back from my equipment to make sure I don’t accidentally hit the mouse or something while their song is playing.  That’s never happened to me at a wedding, but it has happened to me at karaoke shows.  I don’t want to be the guy that cuts off a first dance song in the middle.