weddingvenuesworld.com

Siobhan Craven-Robins, London's premier wedding organiser and planner to international celebrities, will be writing a monthly diary for us here at www.WeddingVenesWorld.com
Siobhan has planned and organised weddings for Joan Collins and Percy Gibson featured in Hello Magazine, Stephen Purdew and Isabelle Cave again feautured in Hello! magazine, and so many more besides. As a regular on GMTV in the UK, Siobhan is regularly consulted by the media on Wedding related programming and has also featured in The Times, The Guardian, Independent, Financial Times and several tabloids, as well as within Hello!, Cosmo Bride and many other high end, quality publications.

We look forwards to reading Siobhan's monthly instalments and welcome Siobhan wholeheartedly to the site.

ENTERTAINING YOUR GUESTS

One way to guarantee a great party, event, wedding or celebration is to keep your guests entertained.
So long as they have a drink or something to eat, something to watch or listen to, they are being entertained in some form and this helps to keep the momentum going and ensure they are not bored.

There are many ways to keep your guests happy; the obvious being to make sure the drink and food is plentiful. This can also be an interactive part of your celebration and work as an icebreaker that gets guests talking to one another as well as enjoying themselves.
Chocolate Fountains are still popular, not only are they delicious, but they look fantastic. An advantage is that the chocolate can be topped up and the dippers refreshed so it means it can run as long as the party lasts. For tasty and fabulous looking chocolate fountains go to www.theoriginalchocolatefountain.com
An ice cream bar or tricycle both look fun and serve delicious ice cream. Guests can choose a flavour and then ‘dress’ their ice cream with their favourite dips or toppers. www.incredibleicecream.co.uk
Fruit like Flowers have the advantage of being decorative and delicious. Placing these strategically around your party room or on each table means guests can dip in when they feel peckish. www.fruitlikeflowers.co.uk
Food stations during a reception look good and have the potential to serve guests larger than canapé portions. Themed ones such as a seafood bar, dim sum station, crepe stall work well and are popular.
A Champagne or juice fountain is also a great centrepiece for a room, as it looks so impressive - a little decadent, but great fun.
Finally, a custom cocktail bar is always popular. Choose 3 or 4 signature cocktails that you would like to serve to your guests (perhaps even invent your own and name them appropriately) and have the bar tenders mix them up on request.

Live music is a wonderful diversion; I am a big fan of it. We hear recorded music almost anywhere we go in our day-to-day lives the gym, supermarket, lifts, hotel foyers etc. Live music creates an instant ambience and the fact that the musician (s) can respond to an appreciative audience means there is the option to vary the play list accordingly. Some of my favourites are harpist (acoustic or electric), wind quintet and Spanish guitar. For some ideas and great musicians go to www.classicalassociates.co.uk

There is also the option during a drinks reception to have some non-musical entertainment such as a magician, caricaturist, mind reader, handbag reader etc. These provide a great talking point and also encourage guests to mingle with one another. A great entertainer adds to the atmosphere, relaxes people and starts the fun for the rest of the party.
Some of my favourites are:
Peter Mehtab www.topmagician.co.uk
The Grey Man www.thegreyman.com

Surprise entertainment is a relatively new phenomenon and certainly adds to the fun factor of a party. The idea is that the performers mingle amongst guests posing as waiting staff and then at some point during the evening draw attention to themselves in a comic manner and the burst into song! The best-known performers are www.thethreewaiters.com
www.incognitoartists.com offer a variety of musical styles and performers who mingle as staff, or guests before starting their performance. I find that this sort of entertainment works best during the meal.
Also popular are tribute acts copying artists such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis and Michael Buble to name a few. These sing and wander between the tables during dinner and really help to start the party and get guests to enjoy the fun of the occasion.

Bands and DJs are primarily for dancing. A DJ has the option to change the music and play varying styles throughout the evening that may appeal to a wider audience. Most bands tend to specialise in a genre or era of music and have the advantage of being interactive with the audience and they may even encourage guests to get up on stage and dance or sing with them. When choosing a band, ask to hear a CD and see their playlist as this will help you to decide which one is best for your party. Do check that they come complete with lights and PA system as some bands charge extra for this. For a good selection of top party bands and DJs go to www.functionjunction.co.uk

Finally, performance style entertainment works well for a corporate function or for an event where there is no dancing. Cabaret, circus and comedians are all examples of this type of entertainment. Typically a show will last between 30 to 45 minutes, which is just right as an interlude as you do not want it to dominate your party, but to provide one of the highlights of the evening. For great ideas for show like entertainment go to www.preludeentertainment.co.uk

HOW TO KEEP YOUR RECEPTION BUZZING

Probably the key concern most of my clients come to me with is the question of ‘how do we ensure that our wedding is one that is thoroughly enjoyed by all our guests’. The majority of hosts of any kind of event, not just a wedding, fear that their party will be a flop. Although the day is primarily about the commitment the two of you are making to one another, you also want to ensure that everyone there enjoys the celebration.

Usually with a wedding or similar celebratory event you are only inviting people you like and who like you; that automatically makes for a great atmosphere. Everyone is there to have a good time. With careful planning you can ensure that your celebration will be one that all your guests talk about afterwards!

Timing is key to the day’s success; it should not be too long or too short. There is a tendency for couples to want to spin the day out for as long as possible and this can result in guests getting bored or leaving early. A drinks reception should last no longer than 90 minutes, as this gives adequate time for you to have photos taken and for guests to mingle and catch up. Dinner service normally takes between 90 minutes and 2 hours, longer if you decide to punctuate the courses with your speeches. This does work well and I always recommend it if the ‘speakers’ are nervous about their speeches, the earlier they get them over with, the more of the reception they can enjoy.

If you are having dancing afterwards, up to 3 hours is about right. After that guests will start leaving and the party will fizzle out rather than end on a high. I always recommend to my couples that they depart just before the end so that they are leaving while the reception is still buzzing.

Seeing that your guests are well catered for is another way of ensuring a successful event. So long as they are being wined, fed or entertained - they will be happy. It is the long pauses without a drink or anything to distract them that can make a party suddenly feel boring. Make sure that during the drinks reception staff are circulating topping up glasses and that the canapés are being served from different corners of the room so that all your guests are being offered something to eat. There are always a few guests who hover by the service exit and grab the canapés as the staff come out, depriving other guests of the opportunity!

Good entertainment is also a key factor. A close-up magician, caricature artist or the like work well during a drinks reception. They circulate amongst the guests entertaining them and they also act as a great icebreaker by getting your guests to interact with one another.

Live music is pleasant to listen to and a great distraction too. It creates an instant ambience for your guests as they arrive at the reception and helps pass the time acting as an entertaining diversion.

Your band or DJ for the dancing is a crucial element of your reception – choose carefully! A good band or DJ read the crowd and see what they respond to and will keep your dancefloor packed.

Change the lighting for the evening reception – lights should be dimmed and the dancefloor illuminated. This creates an instant buzz and is conducive to dancing. Somehow dancing in daylight or bright light never feels quite right!

Above all, you must remember to relax and enjoy your day. Hosts who are enjoying their own party are the best example for guests to follow!

January 2011

PERSONALISING YOUR WEDDING
Probably the most frequently asked question I hear is ‘How do I personalise my wedding?’ Every couple wants to make their wedding that little bit different from those they have been to and a day that is representative of the two of them. I strive to achieve this with every wedding I plan and so am constantly looking for new products and dreaming up new ideas.

Here are some of the ways you can personalise some of the elements of your wedding:

• CAKE – The cake can be a standalone feature at your wedding or, you can choose to incorporate it into your colour scheme or theme. I have had clients who chose to have a sugar paste model of their cat nestled amongst the flowers that decorate the cake, with mini paw prints doted around the cake. Clients who have had their names emblazoned in a calligraphy script all over the cake. Clients who have baked their own cake! And some who wrote a poem about their day and had it ‘printed’ on the side of the cake. The possibilities with a cake are limitless if you have a great cake maker who enjoys doing something a little ‘artistic’!

• STATIONERY – Another one that you can go to town on. I have had caricature cartoons of the couple used as the cover. One couple had their silhouette cut and then used that throughout their stationery. You can incorporate your colour scheme or have a motif designed of your initials to carry through. A photo image works well too as do drawings of the locations you are marrying and hosting your reception at.

• FAVOURS – I tell my clients only to bother with this if we can come up with something original. Having said that, the lottery scratch card is always a hit. I have had mini bags of hangover cures. Mini notebooks made of all the guests favourite quote, poem or song. Notebook of all the guests favourite recipe etc etc

• If you do have a symbol, image or motif – think about carrying it through and having napkins stitched, Perspex fronts made for the bar, it projected via a Gobo onto your dancefloor or simply carried through your stationery.