Black Iris wedding ceremony and reception for Chelsea and RJ Benz January 6th 2018 - Photos by Anne Buskirk Photography


 

Six ways to add more dance time and keep the momentum of the party going!

Six ways to add more dance time and keep the momentum of the party going!

• Shorten the cocktail hour from one full hour to 45 or 50 minutes. No one will even notice.

• Cut the cake before dinner so that the catering staff can slice and plate the cake during dinner, and not after.

• Instead of having the cake served to the tables, have a dessert station where guests can help themselves to dessert after they finish their meal. I once saw a wedding where cupcakes where part of the table centerpieces and guests did not even have to get up from the table to get their dessert.

• Instead of having the toasts after dinner, have them between the salad and entree. Nothing is usually happening during that time anyway. A bonus is that the bridal party and the guests are still seated and don't have to be called back to their tables.

• Combine the Father Daughter and Mother Son dance into one dance.

• Instead of a traditional bouquet and garter toss (which I see being eliminated more and more), have the DJ do a Dedication Dance Off!. I have all the guests form a circle and have a fun upbeat song playing – I then call different groups into the center of the circle and recognize them and have them show off their dancing skills
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  Example are: All the out of State guests, all the guests under 21, co-workers of the bride, etc. Then have the DJ invite all the single women to the center of the circle and announce that the bride will be throwing the bouquet into the center of the circle. Same thing with the garter toss with the single men being called into the center of the circle and the groom tossing the garter.

Congratulations, you have just added a minimum of 30 minutes of dancing and made your celebration even more fun!

For more ideas like these emeil Mark Beecher at mark@grapevinedj.com

Up lighting from a recent wedding at Newfields Indianapolis Museum of Art

Up lighting from a recent wedding at Newfields Indianapolis Museum of Art - Photos by Jessica Strickland https://www.jessicarstrickland.com/

November 2017 wedding at Sahm's Atrium at The Tower

Michaela and Evan threw one of the best wedding receptions of the year at Sahm's Atrium at the  Tower which is located on the first floor of the One America Tower. Michaela is one of nine siblings in a Italian family so I knew this was going to be one heck of a celebration, and was it ever! Friends and family danced for four solid hours and I can't remember a happier bride and groom. I did tell the group that they were invited to next weeks party and I'm almost afraid they will show up! I have a sneaking suspicion I will see them on another dance floor. The wedding and reception was photographed by my favorite wedding duo Cybil and Brandon New - Check them out if you ever need a photographer or videographer.

Canal 337 Wedding ceremony and reception - Grapevine DJs.

Canal 337 was the perfect venue choice for Emily and TJs wedding celebration.
The wedding ceremony was held on the second floor of the Historic Buggs Temple and then guests were invited out on to the terrace over looking the downtown canal (and amazing skyline views of downtown Indy) for appetizers and drinks while the staff transformed the room into a beautiful open dance space. After the cocktail hour, guests then were invited to be seated for a delicious dinner  (prepared by Thomas catering) just steps away on the first level. After dinner, toasts and dessert were finished everyone headed back up stairs for Emily and TJs first dance and dances with their parents - From there it was 3 hours of non-stop dancing until midnight with "Shout" being the last dance. Congratulations to the newlyweds who are honeymooning in Italy and Germany!



Canal 337 Wedding ceremony & reception Emily and TJ - Grapevine DJs from Mark Beecher on Vimeo.

Musical Table Release cards

Simple but fun and effective way to release tables if you are having a buffet.

Musical table release cards. Cards are placed on each table and guests are told that when they hear "their song" then that is their cue to help themselves to the buffet!

I have heard people cheer when they hear their song and dance to the buffet line!

For this reception the couple wanted crooners and rat-pack style music. Next week we are doing the same thing thing with classic rock selections - The choice is yours and we do all the work!

7 alternatives to the garter toss

Feeling awkward about doing the garter toss? Here are six Garter toss alternatives.

Garter mystery scavenger hunt. Participants are given clues where the garter is hidden.

Garter dice challenge. Garter is placed in well sealed gift box. Participants form a line and are given a die, first person to roll a 6 gets to try to open the package until someone else rolls a 6, and so on.

"Heads or Tails”

1. Host will ask all garter Heads and Tails participants to stand up. Then participants select either “heads” or “tails” by putting their hands on their heads—or their tails!
2. The host flips a coin and announces whether the coin came up heads or tails. Those participants whose choice matches the coin flip get to stay standing—everyone else sits down.
3. The host continues asking participants to select “heads” or “tails,” then flipping the coin, eliminating more players until only a handful are left.
4. Ask these few finalists to come to the stage for the last few coin tosses, until only one player is left standing. This is your garter winner!
   

New traditions - Cat toss! throw a stuffed plush cat into the whole assembled crowd and the person to catch it is predicted to be the next person to get a cat.

Shot toss. Singles gather and toss a shot back to celebrate being single until they meet Mr. or Mrs. right.

Little black book toss. Instead of the garter, the “tosser” tosses away their “little black (date) book”

Tie sale: At some point in the night, take the groom's tie off of him and go around selling parts of it to the guests. They cut the tie up and sell the individual pieces to anyone who'd like a good luck memento from the wedding.