Planning your wedding
Planning your wedding should be exciting.
But once you start putting together the timings, guest list, seating plan, photographs, speeches, food and evening entertainment, those little “What if...?” thoughts can begin creeping in.
What if our guests get bored while we're having photographs?
What if nobody knows where they're supposed to go?
What if the wedding breakfast is running late?
What if our big entrance falls completely flat?
What if the speeches become awkward?
You've probably spent months — perhaps even years — imagining how your wedding will look.
But one of the biggest worries couples have isn't necessarily about how their wedding looks.
It's about how their wedding feels.
You want your guests laughing, chatting and enjoying themselves. You want the day to flow naturally. And, most importantly, you want to be able to relax and actually enjoy the wedding you've spent so long planning.
As a Wedding Host and Magician in Devon and across the South West, I've seen hundreds of events from the other side of the room.
Here are seven potentially awkward wedding moments — and some simple ways to prevent them.
1. "We're Having Our Photos Taken... What Are Our Guests Doing?"
You've just got married.
Congratulations!
Now the photographer wants you, your parents, bridesmaids, best man, grandparents, siblings and approximately seventeen different combinations of relatives for photographs.
Meanwhile, what are the other guests doing?
Standing around.
Checking their phones.
Making their third trip to the bar.
Or asking:
"Do you know when we're eating?"
The drinks reception can easily last 90 minutes or more. For you, it may fly past because you're busy having photographs taken and speaking to guests.
For everyone else, it can feel considerably longer.
How Red Suit Magic can help
This is one of my favourite times to perform close-up wedding magic.
While you're enjoying your photographs, I mix and mingle amongst your friends and family performing interactive magic right under their noses.
There's no stage and no need to stop the reception.
Instead, small groups suddenly begin laughing, shouting and asking:
"How did he DO that?"
Magic also acts as a brilliant icebreaker.
Your university friends might be meeting your partner's work colleagues for the first time. Two families may barely know one another.
Give a group of strangers something impossible to experience together and suddenly they have something to talk about.
So while you're away creating beautiful wedding photographs, your guests are creating some fantastic memories of their own.
2. Nobody Knows What's Happening Next
"Are we supposed to go inside?"
"Where are we sitting?"
"Are the speeches before or after dessert?"
"Has anyone seen the bride and groom?"
Every wedding has a schedule. The problem is that your guests haven't necessarily seen it.
You shouldn't have to spend your wedding repeatedly explaining where everyone needs to be. Neither should your bridesmaids, best man or parents.
Unfortunately, without somebody clearly guiding the day, that's exactly what can happen.
How a Wedding Host can help
As your Wedding Emcee, I'm there to keep guests informed without making your wedding feel regimented.
I can make the important announcements, guide guests between different parts of the celebration and work alongside your venue and other suppliers to help everything flow naturally.
That means you aren't continually looking at your watch thinking:
"Shouldn't everyone be going through for dinner now?"
Someone else is taking care of it.
And that leaves you free to enjoy being the newlyweds.
3. The Wedding Breakfast Isn't Ready
Here's something wedding brochures don't always tell you:
Weddings don't always run exactly on time.
And that's perfectly normal.
Photographs can take longer.
Traffic happens.
Guests disappear.
A previous part of the day overruns.
Or the kitchen simply needs another fifteen minutes before it is ready to serve 100 people.
Fifteen minutes isn't particularly long...
...unless you've got 100 hungry wedding guests standing around wondering what's happening.
That's when a small delay can suddenly become noticeable.
How Red Suit Magic can help
One of the advantages of having entertainment available throughout your wedding is flexibility.
If something runs slightly late, I can simply keep entertaining.
Your guests don't need to know there is a delay.
From their perspective, they're watching some incredible close-up magic, laughing with their friends and enjoying another drink.
Behind the scenes, the venue gets the breathing space it needs.
Then, when everything is ready, I can bring the entertainment to a natural conclusion and guide everyone smoothly into the next part of the day.
No awkward announcement.
No panicking.
No hundred people staring towards the kitchen.
Just a wedding that appears to be running exactly as planned.
4. Your Big Entrance Gets... Polite Applause
You've imagined this moment.
The doors open.
You enter your wedding breakfast as newlyweds for the very first time.
And everybody...
politely claps.
It isn't because your guests aren't excited.
They absolutely are.
They simply haven't been told what's about to happen or encouraged to get involved.
Your entrance should feel like a celebration, not like you've just walked into a business conference.
How your Wedding Emcee can help
This is one of the moments where a professional wedding host can make a huge difference.
Before you enter, I can welcome the top table to the room, build the atmosphere and get the room ready.
Then comes your introduction.
And instead of walking into a quiet room wondering whether anyone noticed you've arrived, you're welcomed by the people you love making enough noise to let the entire venue know:
THE NEWLYWEDS ARE HERE!
It's a tiny part of the overall wedding day.
But it's one of those moments you'll remember.
5. The Speeches Start... But Nobody Is Listening
Wedding speeches can be brilliant.
They can also arrive after several hours of food, wine and conversation.
Guests are chatting.
Someone is still at the bar.
Another table is taking photographs.
Uncle Dave has chosen this exact moment to visit the toilet.
Then somebody taps a glass and says:
"Erm... can everyone listen please?"
Not quite the introduction you imagined.
The people giving your wedding speeches have probably spent weeks worrying about what they're going to say.
They deserve an audience that's actually paying attention.
How Red Suit Magic can help
Depending on the wedding package you choose, I can introduce your speeches professionally and help bring everyone's attention back to the front of the room.
I can also perform a short comedy magic and mentalism performance before the speeches.
This creates a shared focal point for the whole room.
Rather than trying to drag guests away from dozens of separate conversations, everyone has already turned their chairs, settled down and become engaged.
The magic finishes.
The atmosphere is warm.
Everybody is looking in the same direction.
And now...
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our first speaker..."
Much better.
6. There's That Strange Gap Between the Day and Evening Reception
This can be one of the strangest parts of a wedding.
The wedding breakfast is finished.
The speeches are over.
The evening DJ isn't quite ready.
Some guests have gone to their rooms.
Your evening guests are starting to arrive.
Tables may be getting moved.
The room might be undergoing a turnaround.
And nobody is entirely sure whether they're supposed to be sitting down, standing up or going somewhere else.
Welcome to the wedding twilight zone.
How Red Suit Magic can help
This is another fantastic opportunity for close-up magic.
As evening guests arrive, I can welcome them into an atmosphere where something is already happening.
There's laughter.
There's conversation.
People are gathering around impossible pieces of magic.
Your daytime guests aren't simply waiting for the disco to start, and your evening guests don't arrive feeling as though they've interrupted something.
Instead, the entertainment creates a bridge between the two parts of your celebration and helps keep the atmosphere going until the evening really gets underway.
7. You're Spending Your Wedding Managing Your Wedding
This is probably the biggest one.
You've spent a year planning your wedding.
You know the timings.
You know when the photographer is leaving.
You know when the DJ arrives.
You know when the cake needs cutting.
You know when evening guests are coming.
And because you know everything...
you become the person everyone asks.
"When are the speeches?"
"Should we go through now?"
"Where's the photographer?"
"Is the DJ ready?"
"When are you cutting the cake?"
Except there's one slight problem.
It's your wedding.
You shouldn't be working.
You should be drinking champagne, hugging relatives, laughing with friends and wondering how the day is going quite so quickly.
That's where a Wedding Host really earns their place
As your Magic Wedding Host, my job is much more than performing tricks.
I can work alongside your wedding venue and suppliers, make announcements, introduce the important moments and help keep the celebration moving naturally.
More importantly, I'm there for you.
If you have a question, concern or change of plan, you've got somebody there who understands the day and can help.
You shouldn't have to worry about whether everybody else is enjoying themselves.
That's my job.
Your job is considerably simpler:
Get married and have an amazing day.
Your Wedding Doesn't Have to Run Like Clockwork
Here's the secret.
The best weddings aren't necessarily the weddings where absolutely everything happens at precisely the time written on the schedule.
They're the weddings where nobody notices when it doesn't.
A great wedding feels relaxed.
Guests know what's happening.
There's always something going on.
The atmosphere builds naturally throughout the day.
And the newlyweds aren't constantly checking their watches.
That's exactly what I aim to create with Red Suit Magic.
By combining professional wedding hosting with award-winning close-up magic, I can help keep your guests entertained, informed and involved while helping your wedding flow smoothly from one memorable moment to the next.
Whether you want a magician for part of your celebration or a Wedding Host and Magician helping you throughout the day, the goal is always the same:
Less worrying. More celebrating.
Planning a Wedding in Devon or the South West?
If you're planning your wedding in Devon, Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Taunton, Somerset, Cornwall or elsewhere across the South West, I'd love to hear what you have planned.
Every wedding is different
We can talk through your timings, venue, guest numbers and the atmosphere you want to create before deciding what would work best.
Take a look at my Wedding Magician and Wedding Host packages or get in touch with Red Suit Magic to start planning a wedding where your guests are entertained, everything feels under control and — most importantly — you get to enjoy it too.
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