Weddings are typically happy occasions that the whole family can participate in and enjoy. You want your wedding to be perfectly perfect, which is why you plan it so meticulously. No matter how carefully you plan, though, mistakes can and will be made. One of the most trying things a person may go through is the wedding preparation process. You can reduce some of the process’s tension. In order to do this, frequent wedding errors should be avoided.
To reduce your stress and enjoy one of the most significant days of your life, we will help you avoid common mistakes that you can make at your wedding reception in this post.
1. No detailed timeline
This shouldn’t be a problem if you engaged an on-the-day wedding coordinator to help you with your special day as a day-of coordinator or a full wedding planner. If not, your DJ will probably assist you in establishing your chronology or order of events. Although this doesn’t have to be exact to the minute, we discovered that dinner and sunset photos both require prompt arrival.
If taking sunset shots is important to you, talk to your photographer about the best time to do so, which is typically 15 to 20 minutes before sunset. The sun sets in its own time regardless of what you are doing.
When you are attempting to fit in a lot of activities in one day, planning your schedule around the sunset might help things go much more smoothly.
Your caterer will have a certain time for dinner preparation and a short execution window for the meal portion. Missing this deadline could cause the remainder of the evening to start to drag significantly. The length of time it takes to serve everyone depends on whether your meal is a sit-down, buffet, or family-style affair.
To keep your visitors interested throughout the timeframe, we advise breaking up the dancing no more than once. Here is our suggested schedule for your reception, along with a backup plan:
- Great entrance
- Welcome (optional)
- Dinner
- Toasts
- Cutting the cake
- Initial dance
- Father/daughter
- Mother/Son
- Group image
- Dancing
- Flower toss (optional)
- Garter toss (optional)
- Dancing
Alternate Scenario
- Large entrance
- Initial dance
- Dinner
- Toasts
- Father/daughter
- Mother/son
- Group image
- Dancing
- Cutting the cake
- Flower toss (optional)
- Garter toss (optional)
- Dancing
2. Equipment issues
This can occur occasionally, especially if the DJ you are hiring only performs at weddings occasionally, lacks a business license, or hasn’t done much wedding work. A good wedding or event must have redundancy because you never know when the equipment will break down. The following is a list of supplies your DJ should have on hand just in case, as it is better to have them and not need them than the reverse:
- Adapter cords
- Microphone and speaker cables
- A computer or other music-playing equipment
- Speakers
- Batteries
- Microphones
Although it is understandable that the equipment could malfunction, a true professional would always have a backup set of tools on hand. This is another reason why your DJ should show up at least 90 minutes before the wedding so that they may test the setup and make any necessary adjustments.
3. Not being able to talk to all of your guests
The best way to make the most of your family and friends being together is with Helen’s advice, who says, “A wedding day typically flies by in a rush, which is why I adore a wedding weekend! Why not add something to your celebrations the night before or the next morning? You’ll spend a lot more time together if you include a BBQ or maybe a walk and a stop at the neighborhood pub.
4. Lengthy dinner
The long meal is the next thing you should steer clear of having at your wedding reception. One of the most crucial components of your wedding is catering because it can be logistically difficult to feed 50 to 200 people. Choosing the proper caterer can make all the difference in the world. We advise using a two-sided buffet instead of a one-sided one when setting up a buffet line so that customers can serve themselves much more quickly. Having a second buffet set up will speed up the process if the catering crew needs to serve the guests.
Determine how to let the guests go to the buffet line as well. Parents, the wedding party, and the newlyweds are released first, or their plates are produced for them. From there, you may design a task to release the tables or establish a predetermined sequence for the DJ or coordinator to follow.
The pair may want to visit different tables throughout this time of the evening, but this will likely extend the dinner’s duration significantly. Try to visit each table quickly and eat before talking to anyone; if you don’t take advantage of the delicious food while you can, you’ll regret it later. Starting the speeches/toasts after the final table has passed through the buffet line will help make this event go more smoothly. If there is a plated meal, the speeches can start after the head table has been served and concluded.
5. Too many/long speeches, open mic
The most heartfelt and moving parts of the evening can often be found during the speeches. We’ve witnessed hysterically funny tales, emotionally moving speeches, and motivational toasts that are just pure joy. Even though they can be great, there are a few things to consider when choosing the speakers for your reception. More than five remarks, according to our research, can make visitors leave.
The open mic can be a four-letter word depending on your crowd and where you would like to spend your time. If you only have 1-2 scheduled speakers for the toast, a limited open mic can work but should be approached with caution. The DJ can give the crowd a heads up that an open mic is coming, and have the person who wishes to speak make their way to the mic to wait “on-deck” so it runs more efficiently.
The DJ can also remind the crowd that “less is more” when giving a toast. Ideally, the toasts/speeches should take 45 minutes tops, and closer to 30 minutes is more ideal.
6. Specialty dances
Another lovely aspect of the event is the specialty dances, such as the Father/Daughter, Mother/Son, or any other. This needs to be explained and made known to the guests so that they can be considerate by keeping their talks to a minimum and savoring the occasion.
We advise keeping the specialty dances between 90 and three minutes in length to assist sustain their interest. The DJ and the couple can decide on this in advance, or the individual dancing can indicate to the DJ when it’s time to end the dance. Due to this, the two dancing can embrace without being concerned about other people.
You can combine the mother-son dance and the father-daughter dance into one song where all four people are dancing simultaneously if you are short on time or having problems choosing two distinct tunes. This is also a fantastic option if any of the dancers are shy and don’t want to be the center of attention for too long.
7. Not saying “thank you”
The speeches are now a significant part of the day. They might be amusing, moving, heartfelt, or even heartbreaking, but they must always convey gratitude for all the people who have supported you. The wedding error that won’t be soon forgotten is leaving someone out. Here’s a piece of advice: make a list of everyone you want to thank in advance and have someone else check it to make sure you don’t forget anyone! In case your personal copy disappears, bring a few extra copies of the speech and give one to a responsible visitor.
8. Losing sight of what the wedding is really all about
Try to remember that the day is all about the two of you and your love for one other. This is the wedding day mistake that really hurts our hearts. not another. There might occasionally be a minor hiccup, but I can assure you that nobody notices. They only care that you are content.
