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Your wedding day is about celebrating your love for each other – but it’s also an excuse to throw an epic wedding party your guests will talk about for years to come!  In this post we share some essential tips on how to make your wedding day festivities a roaring success. 

Make the ceremony brief 

The wedding ceremony is hugely important and adds to the theatre of the occasion – but don’t draw it out.  Aim for about 30 minutes (not including entrances and exits) and you won’t lose anyone’s attention. 

Be sure to greet every guest 

The reasons are obvious but accomplishing this takes a conscious effort during a full-on day.  Take regular moments to mentally step back and ask “who haven’t I talked to yet?”  Whether it’s chatting over a drink, visiting their table of circulating on the dance floor, you must make every individual feel personally welcome and appreciated. 

Create a smart seating plan 

Try to ensure that those with shared interests, similar ages or well-matched personalities are sitting next to each other.  Equally important, if you know certain characters are unlikely to gel make sure you seat them well apart!  Then have a very clear seating board and place cards so it’s easy for people to see where they are supposed to go. 

Keep the speeches short 

Wedding speeches are an essential formality and add to the fun – provided you don’t let them go on and on!  Up to 10 minutes for each should suffice, with a couple of minutes max for each toast. 

Get the music mix right 

It’s your party so you’ll want to indulge your own musical tastes.  But heavy rock from the start, when people want to chat, is not a great idea.  And soft jazz, even if you love it, won’t get people up and dancing.  Try to include something for everyone and think about what’s appropriate at different stages of your wedding celebrations. 

Want everyone to dance till they drop? 

The best way to encourage your guests to strut their stuff is to play the songs they actually want to hear!  Get your DJ to announce that they'll be taking requests, then watch the dance floor fill up as the favourite tunes just keep on coming! 

Sort the social media 

Use a wedding app or hashtag that makes it easy for people to capture all the best moments and share them.  There are some interactive apps that make it easy for everyone to upload their shots into a single curated location, while others keep your friends and family up on any wedding-related news.  An even better idea is to create a crafty hashtag and ask guests to tag all of their photos using it. 

The bar – stick to basics 

Keep things simple by just offering beer and wine, possibly with a couple of signature cocktails that will appeal to almost everyone, like mojitos or margaritas.  This will keep the costs down and speed up the service.   

Late-night nourishment 

Even after a hearty wedding breakfast people soon get peckish.  If you want to keep them dancing and revelling until the early hours then they’ll need reviving.  Mini burgers and fries, coffee and donuts, tacos and nachos, samosas and bhajis should all do the trick.   Just keep it bite-sized - big enough to satisfy without having to use any utensils. 

Exit in style 

No one wants the party to end but when the time comes give the celebrations a crescendo.  Maybe with fireworks show, a sparkler exit, or a confetti send-off. Your guests will love it, and it will make for some amazing photos. 

Follow these tips and you won’t go far wrong – your wedding party will be a massive hit with every single guest!