I had the rare opportunity to attend two weddings in the past month as a guest instead of the hired wedding entertainment. I’ll be honest – it was nice!

As hard as I tried not to critique the Wedding DJs at these events, it was an impossible task at which I failed miserably.  What both weddings got me thinking about was the “wedding reception flow,” and in particular how vital your Wedding DJ is to creating the right flow on your big day.

Your wedding reception can be broken down into sub-sections; Cocktail Hour, Traditions (cake cutting, parent dances, etc.), Dinner, and of course…Dancing!  These are the essential pieces that make up a wedding reception.  Cocktail Hour and Dinner are both pretty standard and there is not much to think about when it comes to the flow of these two pieces of the wedding reception.  It’s really the wedding traditions and when they are carried out that are going to make all the difference in whether your flow works on not.

Why is wedding reception flow important you ask?  The right flow is going to make the difference between a good wedding reception and an AMAZING wedding reception.  Let me provide you with an example of bad flow from one of the weddings I attended:

The introductions happened and the bride and groom shared in their first dance.  Dinner was then served.  As dinner wrapped up the DJ opened up the dance floor for one set (4 or 5 songs).  The dance floor was doing well – people were dancing and having a great time.  The DJ had momentum, but he then cleared the dance floor and invited the best man and maid of honor up for their toasts.  After toasts, came the cake cutting – so there was a solid fifteen minutes or so where the crowd was sitting down.  Keep in mind that they had already sat through the wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, and their entire dinner.

After the cake was cut, the dance floor opened back up for dancing, but it did not fill up again.  The momentum the Wedding DJhad gained was gone and sometimes you cannot get that back.  As a Wedding DJ in MA, we focus completely on weddings.   We think about these little things and carry out traditions in an order meant to build momentum throughout the evening.

Typical Avid Entertainment wedding reception flow:

• Introductions
• First Dance
• Blessing/Toasts
• Salad/Soup
• Cake Cutting
• Main Course
• Parent Dances
• Centerpiece Give-Away (this may vary in it’s position depending on the interaction level)

On the surface this may not look much different than the wedding I described above, but once you peel back the layers and we look at how an Avid Entertainment wedding flows, you will see why this makes a difference.

Having the toasts before the meal is served is intentional.  People spend time writing toasts – these words deserve a captive audience, which is exactly what you have right after the introductions and first dance.  Everyone is at their table with their attention focused.  This is also a time of emotion and tenderness.  To cut into a packed dance floor and ask everyone to sit back down and pay attention doesn’t flow well and makes things feel disconnected.

Cutting the cake after the bride and groom eat their salad is also intentional – you once again have people sitting at their tables at a point they can easily pay attention to what is going on.  Cutting the cake at this time also allows the function hall staff to have the cake cut in time to serve for dessert.

Parent dances are conducted at the end of dinner, separate from the first dance.  You want the first dance and the parent dances to stand on their own.  These traditions are both special in their own way and are both shared between two different sets of people.  Putting the parent dances at the end of dinner allows both moments to stand on their own as one of the touching moments of your wedding reception.  Having these dances before the dance floor is opened for the evening also assists in avoiding breaking the momentum that is built during dancing.  There is no chance that the Wedding DJ is going to clear a packed dance floor for the parent dances, having to build their momentum from scratch once again.

Last, but not least we have the Centerpiece Give-Away.  As mentioned above, the timing of this can vary a little bit depending on what level of interaction you are planning to have.  If the centerpiece give-away is going to get your guests involved, we always perform it right before we open the dance floor and there is a reason for this. Think about it – your guests have sat through your ceremony, they have socialized during cocktail hour, and they have sat through dinner.  We all know what happens when we eat and just sit – we get lazy and tired!  That is the last thing we want at your wedding – we want energy and fun!  In comes the Centerpiece Give-Away – by having your Wedding DJ perform an interactive centerpiece give-away, it encourages everyone to get up, move-around and get ready to dance until their feet hurt.  The centerpiece give-away starts to build that momentum we have been talking about – it picks up the energy level in the room and is the perfect segway to opening your dance floor for the evening.

So, even though “wedding reception flow” may not be something you have thought about before, it is very important and can make the true difference between a good wedding reception and an AMAZING wedding reception.

Be sure to ask your Wedding DJ what their flow looks like…

Expert Advice by Eric Dawson of Avid Entertainment

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