The reception is the time to celebrate your marriage and acknowledge the underlying desire for your guests to have some fun. Carefully choose music to match each part of your reception and in keeping with creating a more relaxed event, consider also using humour to guide your selections.

Pre-dinner music:

This music is played during the pre-dinner drinks. Choose music that all your guests will be able to enjoy.

Entrance:

This music is played upon the arrival of the newlyweds. Select a piece that is meaningful and makes a dramatic impact as enter. A good example is “All you need is love by the Beatles”

Bridal Waltz:
This is your first dance together as husband and wife. Select a song that has personal significance for you both.

Guest dancing music:

This music is for dancing and covers most of the reception. Choose styles and pieces to get everyone up and dancing.

Music for cutting of the cake:

This music is played while cutting the cake. Suggestions include:
The first cut in the deepest by Cat Stevens, When I am 64 by the Beatles and close to you by the Carpenters.

Hope this article was helpful.

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We often think of ceremonies as rather formal occasions, and mostly they are. However, the ceremony is punctuated with opportune places to play segments of particular music. The selection of any music you choose to play at these points can impact tremendously on the sort of atmosphere you create. This impact can be heightened by allowing live performers can be professionals or sourced from among the ranks of your family and friends.

Prelude:

This piece begin when the first guest arrives and should end when the mother of the bride is ready to make her entrance. You may ned to choose more than one piece of music, depending on your schedule.  For a classic touch, play “Spring” from the four seasons by Vivaldi, and for a more modern feel, play “Nothing Compares 2U by Sinead O’connor or When you say nothing at all by Ronan Keating.

Professional:
This music accompanies the wedding party’s walk down the aisle. For a classic touch, play The Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) by Wagner, Waltz of the flowers by Tchaikovsky. The wedding March from The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, or Ode to joy by Beetoven. For a modern feel, play I knew I loved you beforeI met you by Savage Garden.

Hope this article was helpful.

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There is nothing quite like music. The stage presence of a good band gives an additional sense of excitement, immediacy and substance to your wedding day. Check your respective venues (wedding and reception) for their policy regarding live bands. Some churches wont allow the playing of non religious music. You also need to consider the size and acoustics of the venue. People will still want to be able to talk to each other, so you don’t want the band to completely overwhelm the room.

Establish your expectations with the band, that is, dress sense, start and finish times etc. If they appear unable to satisfy your requests, then it’s time to look elsewhere.

Ask the band if they can play requests. There are only a certain number of songs a band will know, so they may need time to rehearse particular numbers. Try to include songs everyone will enjoy. Lastly ask how many sets the band will play and how many songs are in each set. Remember, when the band stops, so will the music. Some weddings have a DJ playing during the live act breaks.

I have worked with some great DJ and live bands in thepast. Please contact me if you are looking for one in Sydney.

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As a symbol of unity, the bride and groom hold a cake knife together and make the first cut into the cake. The knife can be personalised by using a butcher’s knife if you are a butcher, or s scalpel if you are a doctor.

You may wish to offer guests the choice of a boxed piece of cake to take home with them or s slice to eat at the reception. Various styles of small cake boxes can be bought from large department stores and bridal gift shops.

You can also send a piece of cake to absent friends after the wedding. The cake can be decorated with flowers, or have the bridesmaids /s place flowers or their bouquets around the cake.

Many couples preserve the top layer of the cake to eat on their first and subsequent anniversaries or at the christening of their first child. Having a wedding cake is not compulsory so, if you don’t want one, do not have one.

I always recommend Cake Atelier for couples who are looking for wedding cakes in Sydney. They do amazing work. I have worked with them so many time, and some of the photos on their website is photographed by me.

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When selecting flowers you should consider what your favourite flowers are, colours, that will match your themes, seasonal selections or the traditional meanings of flowers.

Cutting the cost of flowers in done by being selective in how you use the flowers. For example, in place of floral bouquets, have the bridesmaids hold a Bible.

Select in season flowers and re-use the same flowers for both the ceremony and the reception party and look for alternatives to floral centerpieces.

Ask the florist to deliver and set up the flower arrangements as close as possible to the commencement time, so the flowers stay fresh for longer. If you are handling the floral arrangements yourself, seek advice on how to transport flowers so they don’t collapse or squash.

Bouquets should match the colour of the wedding party attire. Take swatches of the bride’s and bridesmaids gown to your florist to coordinate colours. Smaller stature bodies should have smaller bouquets. Make sure that no-one in the bridal party is allergic to any particular flowers.

Many brides like to keep their bouquets for posterity. Bouquets can be preserved by pressing, hanging out to dry, made into potpourri or framed. Alternatively, at the end of  the evening, you may want to arrange to have the flowers given away to a local hospital or to a special guest.

Don’t forget to ask your photographer to photograph your flower arrangements!

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Most weddings have some sort of program.  Programs can be one, two, four or more pages long, depending on the length of the ceremony, your budget and the details you want to include. It can be professionally printed or self-published. Match the colour, themes, and style of the program with your wedding invitations.

The ceremony time, date and location are mentioned at the top of the program or on the front cover if it’s folded. On a two-page program, the left-hand page lists the service chronologically and the right page credits the wedding party participants. Include the titles of any music played or special readings and list the names of any musicians, soloistes or readers. Couples sometimes include poems and quoted. You can also include a thank you to your parents. On the next page is a sample for a wedding ceremony.

I usually photograph all my client’s invitation when I photograph the bride is getting ready at the bride’s place or a hotel room.

Here is a sample phrases for your invitation.

” Thank you for joining us on this very special day. We are pleased to welcome our family and friends and thank you for sharing this day with us.”

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Many couples are using a desktop computer and printer to make their own invitations in Sydney these days. All these options save money and are printer to make their own invitations. Al these options save money and are a perfectly acceptable service.

Most fonts are printed between 12 and 18 points. Set spacing at one and half lines. It’s better aesthetically, if you use fewer fonts although it has become popular to use a different font to highlight the bride and groom’s names.

Plain script and old English script are effective fonts. The text is usually centred on the page. Limit the design to one or two colours at most. Some formal invitations have an inner and outer envelope. The inner envelop helps to protect the card and remains unsealed, bearing the guest name.

The outer envelope contains the card and remains the full name and address of the invited guest. The colour and texture of the envelope should match the invitation stationery.

Jazz-up the way your message is delivered by sending the invitations in a bottle, as a jigsaw puzzle, by a town crier, with rose petals inside as a pop up when the envelope opens, spray it lightly with perfume, seal the envelope with a hot wax stamp or relate it to a theme, such as a ticket to a sporting event.

It’s always good idea to have your photo on your invitation, so get your photographer to do your pre-wedding photo shoot before you send out your invitation.

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The groom outfits should coordinate with the groom and the wedding party and consider the theme and formality of the occasion. Bridal magazines are a good place to look for contemporary outfits. Most grooms purchase their suit rather than hire outfits in Sydney these days. If you are going to hire your outfits, insurance in case of damage to the outfit can be purchased from the hire store.

Most hire store also offer a range of matching accessories such as an ascot tie, cravat, bow, tie, vest, cufflinks, braces and shoes.

For the sake of better looking photographs. it’s worth mentioning to the other male attendants such as the ushers, father of the bride, groom’s father, ring bearer and the pageboy – what the groom and groomsmen will be wearing, so they can fit in with overall colour and style schemes.

Ask these questions if you are going to hire your outfits:
When will the outfits ready? When do I return? What accessories do they have?
Do they have insurance cover? What is their refund policy? What is the total cost and what deposit in required?

I always make sure to photograph the grooms well as well as the brides, so make sure that
you wear nice outfits on your special day.

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You should be personally comfortable with the salesperson and have confidence in the honesty and integrity of the store. If not, move on to the next one. Take someone whose opinion you trust, such as your mother, or bridesmaid with you. They will also get to know the dress itself should they need to help you get in and out of it on your wedding day.

Ask the shop assistant if they can provide you with a photograph and sample piece of fabric the dress you have short listed.

When you have your final dress fitting, wear your wedding shoes, your wedding lingerie and your wedding jewellery also. Your accessories should be kept to a minimum. If this is a second wedding, don’t get concerned about what’s appropriate or inappropriate.

Once when you select your dress, take some photos and send it to your photographer too.
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When selecting your dress consider the overall picture of the event, such as the theme, the season, ceremony venue, formality of the occasion, family traditions, your taste and budget.

Brides have the option of buying a dress off rack or having a gown made. Having your own gown made specifically for your body shape would, in most instances, result in a better fit, buy they do cost more as well. Have a price range established before your talk with the salesperson.

Cut out bridal magazines pictures of styles you like and don’t like and take these with you when you shop. If you have any accessories, such as a veil, headpiece or jewellery, bring these as well. Although brides have worn white for hundreds of years, ask your salesperson to show you the latest colours, styles, and trends. Remember it’s your wedding and you have a licence to dress to your pleasure.

I have photographed brides in the dress in pink, yellow, black and red in the past as well as traditional outfits such as Japanese Kimono or Indian sarees. They are colourful and show your character.

Ask your photographer to get some advice as we have seen so many brides in the past.

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