Providing Mobile DJ Entertainment to Northern Illinois Since 1997

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Welcome to our wedding reception planning guide

This page was designed for those who are looking for help in planning their reception and no idea where to begin. First off, rest assured we have been to may receptions and no two are alike! It's all up to you on how you would like things done. You can use any combination of the events below for your reception. And they can be in almost any order. Even if you don't hire us as your DJ, we still want you to be informed! 

Here is a handy reception work sheet to help you ask all the right questions, at potential venues. Brought to you by elegala.com 

The events

The evening starts with your wedding ceremony. Where does everybody go after that? The reception of course! While you two newlyweds are out dragging cans and honking horns all over town, your guests are making their way to the reception. By the time you get to the reception your guests should have found their places to sit awaiting your arrival. Some people choose to use place cards at each chair. This is not a bad idea because it ensures no one is left without a seat, but the place cards do add cost to the event.

-- The Grand Entrance is the first event of the night. It usually starts with the flower girl and ring bearer (if you have them), then your bridesmaids and groomsmen, followed by the maid/matron of honor and the best man. Then it's your turn to make the "grand entrance"! Sometimes grandparents and parents are introduced before the wedding party. Again not everybody has a grand entrance, it all depends on your personal preference.

-- Prayer/Blessing if you chose to have it, it always comes before the dinner hour. After the blessing, instructions should be given as to how your guests will proceed with dinner. 

-- Dinner Hour/Cocktail Hour  Most of the time there is a dinner hour. After you make your way to the "head table" and take your seats. It's time to eat. Generally it seems to work the best when the venue hostesses release each table to get their meal. Not all venues provide hostesses. This is something to consider when choosing your venue.

-- Slide Show While everybody is eating why not give them something to do. Most slide shows have music and generally have those pictures from way back in the day! Mom and Dad always have those!

--Speeches/Toasts When your guests are finishing up their meal is often the best time for the Speeches/Toasts.

-- Cut The Cake Sometime after the speeches and toast is a good time for this event. Some choose to wait on this until a little later in the night. We don't recommend it after the first dance has started. 

The Dances

-- The First Dance is just what it says. It's the very first dance with you and your new bride/groom.

-- Father/Daughter & Mother/Son dance is a special dance for the parents and their children. This dance almost always is right after the first dance. There are other special dances we have done too like step parents for example. Remember it's your day, we just here to help!

-- Bridal Party Dance is a dance that involves, you guessed it, the bridal party! If you have this dance, it would be after the father/daughter and/or mother son dance.

At this point the dance floor opens up to anybody. We start taking requested songs also! After 45 minutes or so it's a good idea to do....

-- The Guarder and Bouquet toss For the bouquet toss you need all the single women and girls on the dance floor. With the brides back to them she counts to three and tosses the bouquet over her head. Legend says that who ever catches it will be the "next" one to get married. It kind of works the same way for the guarder toss. The only thing different is the groom has to take the guarder off from the brides leg. And toss it to the single men and boys. It's always harder to get guys to play along than girls! 

-- The Dollar Dance is a chance for the guests to dance with the bride and groom for a "dollar". Of course they don't have to be stingy, it could be fives or even tens for that matter! The maid/matron of honor will collect the money for the bride and the best man will collect for the groom. This isn't a dance we see alot anymore, but don't let that stop you from using it to make some easy money!

The rest of the evening is generally spent just having a good time dancing and catching up with old friends and family. By this time in the night the older people are getting ready to head home if they haven't done so already. You are probley getting a little tired yourself. After all, you just made it through the biggest day of your life! You deserve to be tired.

-- The Last Dance is just that, the very last song of the night. It's always a good idea to end the night with a song that brings everybody together. And nothing seems to work better than a slow love song. But it don't always have to be a slow song. Billy Joel's piano man is one example.

Hopefully after reading this you now have a better idea of what to expect at your reception. And what to ask for. Remember, this is only a very basic outline. You can mix and match any way you want. Feel free to let us know if we have left something important out, email us at fran@gmdjs.com

Thank you for taking the time to stop by our site!