Latest Wedding Trends - Part I

Bygone are the days of chocolate fountains, ice sculptures, and dove releases. If you really want to impress your wedding guests these days, I highly suggest renting a photo booth for your reception. Take my word for it. It’s a small price to pay for the hours of joy and entertainment you will derive from it.

Peggy and I just finished a wedding last weekend. It was a beautiful intimate wedding with 110 guests, most of which were Chinese family members from both the bride and groom sides. For those of you who’ve never been to a Chinese wedding, it’s sometimes difficult getting the older Chinese generation to let loose on the dance floor. Don’t get me wrong. There are exceptions to the rule. When the mood strikes, my mom will not hesitate to give you a taste of her line dancing skills. Nonetheless, more often than not you’ll find Aunt Rosemary or Grandma Lee sitting at their respective tables guarding the centerpieces, being entertained only by watching the younger generation crowd the bars and spill their drinks as they stumble their way to the dance floor. Well, I was happy to see that this was certainly not the case at a wedding reception well equipped with a photo booth.

Before I continue, for those unfamiliar with a photo booth. It’s a portable booth approximately 6’tall x 5’wide x 3’deep (see pic). You and your friends step inside the booth and with a press of a button the built-in camera takes 4 shots which are then printed almost instantaneously in photographic quality.

This particular photo booth printed all 4 poses on a 4”x6” semi glossy waterproof photo paper with a customized footer selected by the bride and groom (see pic). Two copies of the photo are printed, one for the guest to keep (FREE of charge) and one for the married couple to put in their photo album. Yes, TWO copies, so pose with discretion ;) This photo booth vendor even provided scrapbooking tools for guests to get creative with. This was very popular with the kiddies.

Back to my story, the photo booth welcomed its first guests at the start of the cocktail hour. This worked out really well because guests, especially the non-drinkers, find themselves at a lost during this portion of the wedding day. They’ve already signed the guest book, found their seats for the reception, and pocketed their favors. What else is there left to do? Well at this party, even before the drinks were flowing there was a line forming at the photo booth. Rarely do you see that happen on the dance floor.

Needless to say, no one noticed that an hour had passed before the wedding party made their entrance. In fact, I personally had to put a halt to the photo booth line so that people had sufficient time to take their seats before the official start of the reception. I sensed a sigh of relief from the guests when the emcee announced that the couple rented the booth for the entire reception so people were welcomed to use it at any time. Sure enough, they did not need to be told twice, as groups of friends and family flocked to the photo booth throughout the entire evening. It helped fill in any gaps that you may otherwise experience at a wedding. By the end of the evening the 200 picture album was almost completely filled up! The couple definitely got their money’s worth.

I think the photo booth appeals to guests because it’s easy to use, photos are shot in private so people are more comfortable with their poses, and best of all you get to take with a free photo keepsake of yourself having a good time with your friends and family. By the same token, the photo booth is a great way for the bride and groom to entertain guests who are dance floor shy and as an added bonus, they will take with them many photos of their guests having a blast on their big day!

Interested in renting one of these guaranteed crowd pleasers? Just ask Peggy or I and we will get you a great deal!

The Wedding Toast

Two weekends ago, I was the unofficial wedding coordinator and the non-existent matron of honor to my best friend Cindy (more on Cindy's wedding later).


Regardless of the title, I gave a toast, as I was not about to give up my only chance to congratulate my best friend in public. My speech was well received, there were quite a bit of laughs throughout my toast, and at the end of it, I think I saw Cindy's eyes glistening with tears.


I have been to many weddings myself where sometimes the toasts were so long that they were unbearable.  Part of the reason is because most people dread public speaking. In fact, in one of the surveys, making a public speech is the #1 fear for most people! I cannot believe that making a public speech is actually feared more than death!


So I thought I share what I think are the elements of a good speech for a toast. I am talking mostly about content. As for introduction, body language and delivery of the speech, please refer to: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Wedding-Toast


Here are some Do's & Don'ts:


Do's:

1. Prepare for what you want to say ahead of time. Rehearse it, and time yourself.
2. Tell people who you are, how you're related to the bride or the groom. It's important for people to know your relationship with the bride or groom, because it makes your speech that much more relevant.
3. You can share with people your first impression of the bride or the groom, including anecdotes, if any.
4. Add some humor to your speech, if appropriate.
5. Use short stories or imagery to demonstrate your points.
6. It's OK to make fun of yourself.
7. Be sincere and genuine.
8. End your speech with well wishes for the couple.

Don'ts:

1. Don't read from your writing. It's OK to use little cue cards with highlights or bullet points.
2. Don't have a long speech. People have short attention span. It's generally good to keep the speech under 3 minutes.
3. Don't embarrass the bride or the groom. Although it's OK to poke a little fun at them, if you know that this won't upset them in public.
4. Try not to get overly emotional and cry while delivering your speech, because it makes your speech hard to understand.

Next time when you ask people to raise the glass, hopefully it leaves a warm, fuzzy feeling to the people whom you're toasting.