Beating the Waiting Game pt 3

I've address two major waiting periods at weddings that need to be carefully planned for. Here's a recap.

The three most frustrating times of waiting are

• Time waiting at the reception for you to arrive
• Waiting in line for food
• Waiting for open dancing to begin

Today I'll be addressing the last in the series. It's probably the most important of the three because it defines the difference between just a dinner and a full-fledged party. Let's dig in...

Waiting for Open Dancing to Begin

How it kills the party: So you've had dinner, listened to toasts, saw a video about the bride and groom, watched as the pounded each other with cake and you're just about ready to get your dance on. BUT WAIT! Now it's the first dance. And then the father daughter dance. And then the Mother son dance. Oh, and a tribute dance to the parents of the bride and groom. And let's not forget the wedding party dance. Fabulous! The bride and groom love honoring people in their lives, but when you aren't one of those people, this succession of dances turns into a huge bore. Unless you're performing choreographed dances, think about how long you're making your guests watch you sway back and forth. Chances are, they are going to check out early if you don't keep them engaged.

How to get the party started: I'm not suggesting choreographing dances here. And if you'd like to honor people, that's awesome. But lets look where you can cut out some of the dead time that makes the night drag on.

• Love Story Videos/Slide shows- show them while people are eating. As soon as the last people have gone through the line, get it up on the screen.
• Toasts- These can be done at a lot of different points in the night. I would suggest doing them right before or after the video/slide show (if you have one), because you already have everyone's attention (side note on toasts: don't let the whole bridal party give a toast at the reception, do that at the rehearsal dinner).
• Cutting the Cake - do it right when you get there. Usually the cake is off in some corner so it's easier to get it out of the way first. This also gives whoever is cutting the cake more time to get that done before people are hankering for dessert.
• Scatter dances to honor different people throughout the night (without switching gears too much in the music) and include other guests in them (invite all fathers and daughters out for the father daughter dance) or find other meaningful ways to honor those people.
• If you really want to have all the different dances, consider making a slide show with pictures to the song of choice to be shown while you dance so that there is more than just swaying to be watched.
  

The important thing is that someone is keeping things moving. This can be a coordinator, DJ, or a host couple. This person should have a good understanding for the order of events. Avoiding a lot of downtime for set-up is important. That's why doing toasts and slide-shows while people are eating is a great idea so that they aren't focused on what is taking so long to set-up. Starting the dancing right when you serve dessert helps to keep guests distracted while they aren't a part of the action.

Get the party started early and keep it going.

If you can eliminate the frustration guests usually face, it will make your wedding truly a night to remember for everyone who attended. Thanks for reading!