Wedding Entertainment Ideas

Some of our couples have hired musicians to play in the background to help in the mood setting.  We have seen harpists, jazz quartets of saxophones, string quartets, trios of keyboard, drum and guitar and singers.  

Sometimes singers will simply bring a box of tricks with them with all their backing tracks whilst others will play a piano or keyboard and sing along to that.  There are some pianists who will even play gentle music in the background whilst you all eat your meal - rather like a cabaret artist.

Ice-cream is always popular and we often see a queue at any ice-cream bicycle or van.

A popular choice for wedding entertainment is to have a magician. These guys simply move around the room amongst your guests wowing them with their fabulous magic tricks and easy humour.  Some of these magicians are simply awesome - one guest at a wedding was amazed to discover her wedding ring made its way into a sealed envelope in the magician's wallet which had been in his pocket all the time! 

Children hate being cooped up and having nothing to do. Inside or out, children will run around with the other children and largely entertain themselves when they're not sat down eating. 

Some couples provide garden toys and games, primarily for the children but in our experience they're just as popular with the grown-ups.

Some couples could hire a separate room at the venue and then hire in a minder, or simply ask a friend to just keep an eye on them, with a selection of toys and games and maybe a TV and DVD player with a selection of films for them to watch.

Another option would be to hire a children's magician or clown.  He can set up in a small area of the venue and will keep children of most age groups quite happily entertained with his tricks and jokes. 

For the more adventurous couple, a buckeroo machine can certainly liven things up.

A great option for keeping all your guests of all ages entertained during your meal is to give little bags of LEGO and run a competition for the best model. We did this once and it was great fun...but WE WOZ ROBBED!

Characaturists are becoming very popular. They don't keep many guests occupied at once, unlike magicians, but they work quietly with one couple at a time and build a portfolio of hilarious cartoons of your wedding guests that you can keep forever.

 by Jacqui Dunster

5 December 2013

Sunset Wedding at the Alverbank

Andy and Emma were married at the privately owned Alverbank Hotel, Stokes Bay near Gosport, Hampshire. When it looked as though there was going to be a sunset it was very easy to make the short walk into open ground to get some memorable wedding sunset photography. 

We able to get some lovely pictures of the last few fabulous moments of daylight of their wedding...and the colour of the sky was the same as their chosen wedding colours...

...an exotic orange which really added some vibrance to their wonderfully warm and sunny August wedding. 

And the guys weren't to be left out either. They all had very lively socks...in a good way.

The whole day was spent at the beautiful Alverbank Hotel including Prep, Ceremony, Reception and Dance. The time schedules were plentiful and this made for a very relaxing day.

Bridal Prep was in the Hotel's Bridal suite and was a beautiful place for Emma to contemplate what was about to happen.

When she was ready she came out of her room where her Dad was waiting to see her in her dress for the first time. It was a wonderfully emotional moment.

Then it was down the lovely Alverbank staircase for the Ceremony to begin.

 

The Ceremony room at the Alverbank was beautifully decorated and Andy had built quite of lot of things himself specifically for their wedding, including this wonderful archway.

After the Ceremony it was out in to the garden for games, drinks and group shots. These lovely fellows were lined up waiting for the kids to play on. They were brilliantly thought out covers for bouncy balls.

When the kids bounced on them their heads would nod and their legs would fly. It was very effective.

The ice-cream trolley was a very popular item in the garden on the warm Summer August wedding.

We had just enough room on the garden for a heart-shaped group shot.

Through a gap in the trees over the balustrade at the back of the garden (you can see it in the heart-shaped group shot above), we had a lovely view of the Solent and the Isle of Wight. During the afternoon we were also treated to the beautiful lines of the new Queen Mary 2 as she embarked on a cruise to somewhere sunny.

Later we were able to use the balustrade for some beautiful bride and groom portraits.

The evening guests were treated to an amazing Soul Singer who played all the bride and groom's favourite songs...and he sung them really really well. He was previously signed to Virgin Records and sung to television audiences of millions. 

He is not only an amazing singer and a really nice guy. We'd thoroughly recommend him to any bride wanting top quality music. His name is Olushola and his website is www.olushola.co.uk

Andy and Emma's First Dance was in the same room that the Ceremony was conducted in. It was decorated in the style of a marquee with a fabulous dark blue ceiling with star lights showing through. It was very effective.

The fun the bride and groom had together on the dance floor was clear for all to see.

It was the perfect end to the perfect day. Congratulations Andy and Emma and thank you for letting us be part of your day.