Planning Tips :: Wedding Budget Breakdown :: Entertainment

Entertaining your guests is an important part of any event. Give them something memorable to look back on! The suggested budget for entertainment is 10%, so for example, a $20,000 wedding would have a $2,000 entertainment budget. Keep in mind that you can lessen or not use other portions of the budget that you don't want or need and add that to your entertainment budget.

Entertainment can include the following types of vendors:
-DJ
-Live band for the Reception
-Live musicians for pre-ceremony, ceremony entrance and exit
-Live painter to paint your event as it happens
-Caricature artist to draw your guests 
-Live dancers to put on a show
-Fireworks show and a sparkler exit

Here are some ideas for FREE or extremely inexpensive entertainment:

- Create a scavenger hunt for your guests. Print the list for your guests and include it in your programs or at each place setting so they can join in the fun throughout the evening.

- Get social! Create a #hashtag and/or Snapchat filter for your wedding. Put out signs or cards asking guests to snap photos and post them using your #hashtag and filter. Entertainment plus memories to keep!

- If you have an outdoor venue, set up lawn games for your guests. Hula Hoops, Horseshoes, Lawn Dice, Cornhole, Giant Jenga, etc... If you don't have the ability to put these together on your own, they can be rented rather inexpensively....or maybe even borrowed from a friend.

-Surprise Dance! Whether it's the bride & groom, bride & her father, or groom & his mother...a surprise fun and funky dance will be loads of fun for the guests! Start out slow and then surprise the guests by switching it up into something fun! You can even invite the guests to join in and increase the fun!

- Flash Mob! Plan it with family and friends in plenty of time before the event. Pick a song and dance, teach it to some family and friends, and create your own surprise flash mob at the reception!

:: TIPS ::

1. Combine portions of your budget to get extra bang for your buck:
Fresh Made Cotton Candy Cart with Take Home Bags (entertainment/favors)
Photo/Video Booth with Props (entertainment/photography)
Surprise Late Night Food or Dessert Truck (entertainment/food + beverage)
Chocolate Fountain and Hands-On Desserts (entertainment/food + beverage)

2. Be sure to check your contract for start and end times and any additional fees or requirements. Know what the overtime charges are so you can plan accordingly just in case.

3. Make sure any musician, bands or live entertainment will deliver and set up themselves, and make sure they come with all necessary resources needed to perform (sound system, a plan for power access, etc...). You don't want to have surprises at the last minute!

4. If you're having multiple musicians (for example, a harpist for the ceremony and a band for the reception) see if you can book them all through one agency. This makes coordinating much easier, and you may even save a bit when booking this way.



Previous Post: Budget Breakdown :: Flowers + Decor

#Hashtag Social Media Fun at Weddings

If you're a Millennial bride, tech savvy or a lover of Instagram, a fun way to entertain and collect memories from your wedding is by creating a #hashtag for your guests to use when they snap and post photos. You can even have a live stream of the photos being taken and posted shown on a screen at your wedding! Wedding Hashtag Wall 

Photo from PopSugar

For your #hashtag, come up with something creative, catchy and personal that they will remember to use! If you can't decide then check out this hashtag generator, answer a few questions and check out the suggestions! Wedding Hashtag Generator


After you've decided on the #hashtag for your event, let everyone know about it at the proper times. Share it on your own social media accounts so your guests will see it from the beginning, include it on your save the date's and invitations, use it at pre-wedding functions and parties, and of course use it on wedding day! Create a graphic to share on social media, then print and frame it to post at pre-wedding parties and the wedding. Instagram Printable Wedding Sign Generator 

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Here are some great hashtag tips from WeddingHashtagWall.com:

3 Characteristics of a Great Hashtag

Keep in mind there’s no registration procedure for creating a (wedding) hashtag. Anyone on Instagram or Twitter can just choose one. That is why you want to make sure your hashtag is the only one for your celebration. Obviously you don’t want your collection of Instagram wedding photos mixed with stranger’s photos. This will mess with the intimate, special memories your Instagram hashtag will collect.

Secondly, you want to give your friends and family a hashtag they can easily remember so they can and will use it. What would be worse than having guests use the wrong hashtag for photos never to be found again or only to be found when your guest wonders why their photo is not in your wedding photo album?

Last but not least, your hashtag must encourage attendees to use it. It’s all about making it fun for your guests to post on Instagram. So, your Wedding Hashtag must be unique, encouraging and easy to remember.

Do’s & Don’ts for your Wedding Hashtag

Do’s:

• Be specific so all your guests know which hashtag to use.
• Make it easy to remember so nobody gets it wrong.
• Make it unique: test search for the #hashtag you use and see if others are using it. Double check right before the wedding.
• Be open for some trial and error. Find out a couple used it before? You might wanna rethink your choice.
• Add a “wedding word” like “hitch”, “love”, “weds”, “happilyever” or “newlyweds” to appeal to your guests.
• Make your hashtag funny or a little bit bizarre, this will add to the appealing factor of your hashtag. Time to get creative!

Don’ts:

• Add symbols, dashes or spaces, this will cut the hashtag. A good hashtag only consists of alphabetic characters (a-z, no special accents) and numbers.
• Just use initials and dates. Weddings tend to have these in common.
• #Useaverylonghashtagwithoutcapitalletterstodescribeyourwholewedding, because… You can see why.
• #WOJAAWSID, would you know what that says? No you don’t… It doesn’t make any sense because it’s the abbreviation of Wedding Of John And Amy Who Say I Do.

For the full article and more about the great idea of using a hashtag at your wedding, see WeddingHashtagWall.com.

Unplugged Weddings :: Why Guests Should Put Down Their Phones

Hey wedding guests, we're sure you mean well with the rampant picture taking during the wedding, and we're sure you fully intend to share your Facebook and Instagram posts with the happy couple, but please allow the professional HIRED photographer to do their job and capture the most beautiful photos they can. These will always, always be better than a bouncing pic from a camera phone and much more important to the bride & groom.

Photo from @belovely_design

Every photographer out there will tell you that guests lingering around with their own phones and cameras make it difficult for a photographer to shoot what they were hired to shoot. Don't get in front of the paid photographer who is there trying to do a good job for the bride & groom, don't stand in the way the entire time snapping pics and making it difficult for all of the other guests to see, and especially don't block the groom's view of the bride during the walk down the aisle...not cool, guests!

Photo from @motionartcinema

What you can do as the Bride & Groom if you don't want camera phones in the way at your ceremony or reception: Post a sign at the ceremony entrance regarding your "Unplugged Ceremony". Guests should respect the fact that you want them present in your ceremony, not present with a phone attached to their hand.

Photo by @garrettnudd

Some weddings promote the use of camera phones to capture the day - - and if the bride and groom say it's ok, then go for it! Sometimes the bride & groom provide a #hashtag to use for the event photos, and this is always an invitation to snap pics and share with everyone! However, still remember to be respectful! Please remember to keep it out of the hired photographer's way and not to bother other guests in the process, even if it's invited to happen by the happy couple themselves.