Avoid These 5 Common Wedding Mistakes

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - March 1, 2015 - PRLog -- First it's your friends and family then your wedding planner and caterer pipe in and everyone is pushing you to do one thing or another at your wedding.   Wedding plans can go terribly wrong when you listen to someone without experience in the proper flow of a party.  Here are 5 common wedding mistakes that you need to avoid.

1.  Are you having a separate cocktail area?  Maybe there is a fire-pit outside?  Or does your facility have multiple rooms?

Tying these areas together so that music and announcements can be heard everywhere is paramount.  Without this, guests could be at the outside bar and never hear that you are about to dance with your father or other important announcements.    By using wireless speaker technology, it is easy to tie multiple areas together.

Thinking that there should be a designated quite area is not a wise idea.  By using multi-zones wireless speakers, you can have volumes set appropriately for all areas but still allow everyone to hear your DJ's announcements.  Yes, grandmother can still hear what is going on without being overwhelmed.  With the new digital wireless systems (not blue tooth) - 2.4Ghz can reach a couple hundred feet in distance.

2.  Too many toasts?  Let me tell you - no matter how important or interesting the toast is - your wedding guests will only have about a ten minute attention span.    If you have three people talking at your reception, then that's only about three minutes each before guests start getting loud and moving around.  They won't be paying attention to anything said after that.

Sometimes you might want a couple people to do their speeches at the rehearsal dinner v. the reception.  Other times, you might want to break up the toast over the course of the evening.  Do a couple before dinner starts, maybe squeeze in one or two between courses or one just before cake cutting.  Dad want to say a few words?  Have him do it before his dance with you.

We've seen as much as 45 minutes of toasts - remember every toast cuts into your dance time.  If you start with a typical 2 1/2 hours of dance time, just thirty minutes of toasts brings that down to only 2 hours of dancing.

3.  Rain rain, go away - mother nature is not always so kind here in New England.  Maybe it's raining, snowing or too windy.  Maybe the humidity or temperature is too high or it's too cold.  What about mosquitoes or pollen?

Whatever the case may be - you need to have contingency plans AND be willing to use them.  We've seen brides who insisted that they be married outside and had to postpone or even re-stage the ceremony AGAIN outside once the rain stopped.  Your guests don't want to be outside if the humidity is so high that their hair-do is ruined.  They don't want to be outside when it's 90 degrees and they sweat through their shirt and jacket.

It's knowing when to accept that inside with air-conditioning is better than sucking the energy out of your guest due to over-heating.   This will only guarantee that your celebration will end early or guests will not have the energy to dance like you want them to.

Sometimes you have to give up the idea of being married on the beach or under that tree to guarantee the overall success of your celebration.  Plan for rain or other issues and be quick to change plans as needed

4.  Lighting is great, but remember you need to set the right atmosphere for dancing when the time comes.  If your facility does not have the capabilities to dim lighting appropriately - this could negatively impact your dance floor.  Is it a tented wedding with string lights?  Better make sure your lighting vendor has installed DIMMERS.  You would be amazed at how much light that bistro light bulbs give off.  The same goes for up-lighting - wireless controlled LED up-lighting is a must.

5.  If you think you "just need music" for your reception and not an experienced Master of Ceremony / Event Director & Disc Jockey - you are sadly mistaken.  You can have the best playlist ever on your phone but it still won't handle guest requests, or the fact that a song cleared the dance floor.  "Just Music" won't make sure that your parents are in the room or that your photographer is ready when it's time for cake cutting.  Blending song to song is an art - your ipod just can't do it properly.  Be sure to hear examples of your disc jockey's vocal and music mixing skills before you hire your wedding entertainment.

Avoid these common wedding mistakes and have the time of your life at your reception.