Tips for a great wedding PARTY

Your wedding is a celebration of your love for each other as a couple and a huge day for the two of you.  However, it’s not just about that – it’s also an excuse to throw an amazing party that absolutely everyone enjoys and talks about for years! With this in mind we’ve come up with a few tips for making sure all your guests get truly involved and you really ramp up the fun.

Keep the ceremony short

The ceremony is obviously a hugely important part of the proceedings, and adds to the theatre of the occasion – but your guests, many of whom will have travelled a long way, want to spend time with you, not watching you.  Aim for a ceremony of around 30 minutes (not including entrances and exits) and nobody will feel the time is dragging.

Make sure you greet every guest

This might strike you as obvious but it actually takes a conscious effort to accomplish – the day and night will pass in a blur and it’s all too easy to get caught up in events.  Every so often during the course of the celebrations you have to mentally step back and ask yourself “who haven’t I talked to yet?”  Whether it’s chatting over a drink, visiting their table of circulating on the dance floor, you must make every individual feel personally welcome and appreciated.

Don’t let the speeches drag on

Speeches are an essential part of the proceedings and add to the fun – provided you don’t let people go on and on!  Keep the toasts brief too, upto 10 minutes for each should suffice.

Be smart with the music

You and your partner have your own musical tastes, and you want the occasion to reflect your unique personalities, but you also have to consider your guests.  Heavy rock might be your thing but that probably won’t be appropriated early on when people are chatting over cocktails.  Likewise, if you have a penchant for soft jazz that’s not going to get people up and dancing.

The best way to encourage your guests to strut their stuff is to play the songs they actually want to hear!  Arrange for your DJ to make an announcement that they'll be taking requests, then watch the dance floor fill up as the favourite tunes just keep on coming!

Get social media savvy

Use a Wedding App or Hashtag to ensure every last moment is captured and shared to best effect.  There are some interactive apps that make it easy for everyone to upload their shots into a single curated location, while others keep your friends and family up on any wedding-related news.  An even better idea is to create a crafty hashtag and ask guests to tag all of their photos using it.

Get the seating sorted

Put some serious thought into how best to group people so that everyone gets along.  Try to create a seating plan so that people with shared interests, similar ages or well matched personalities are next to each other.  Likewise, if you know certain characters are unlikely to gel make sure you seat them well apart!  Then have a very clear seating plan so it’s easy for people to see where they are supposed to go.

Don’t let the bar break the bank

If you have a budget for the drinks keep things simple by just offering beer and wine, possibly with a couple of signature cocktails.  This will keep the costs down and speed up the service.  As far as cocktails are concerned don’t go for anything too way out (or lethal!) – try to pick ones that will appeal to almost everyone, like mojitos or margaritas.

Late-night nosh

Your guests have been well fed earlier in the day but it’s surprising how peckish people can get after a few hours of drinking and dancing.   If you want to revive your revellers you could serve anything from mini burgers and fries to coffee and donuts, tacos and nachos to samosas and bhajis.   Just keep the potions bite-sized - big enough to satisfy without having to use any utensils.

Come to our Wedding Fayre in January

It’s a great way to pick up more great ideas and see what the latest trends are for 2017.  We’ve assembled a collection of the very best wedding suppliers from the local area and they have a wealth of experience and inspiration to share with you.

Our super talented Head Chef Alan Jones and the Front of House team will have a great spread of goodies for you to sample - but be sure to get there early to make the most of all the treats.

You can also explore our wonderful wedding venue, see example wedding breakfast setups, view the different public rooms, discover the wonderful selection of individually designed bedrooms and benefit from a host of special offers on the day.

Our Wedding Fayre is being held on Sunday 23rd April 11am – 3pm.