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St. Simons Wedding Planner :: Island Destination Weddings | wedding reception
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How To Get Guests to RSVP to Your Wedding or Event

RSVP This has to be one of the most frustrating parts of planning for brides when it comes to their weddings:  handling the RSVPs.  Some guests assume that you know they are coming so they need not send a response in.  Others are procrastinators, cards are misplaced or worst yet, they come back without a name on them. What’s a couple to do?  Your best bet is to make your guests feel like the world will utterly shatter and spontaneously combust if they do not receive your response. Okay, not that bad, but make them feel included!  It has been a staple in planning to know that the wedding invitation sets the tone for the event and prepares your guests for what is ahead.  While this is true, most couples and designers fail to put much forethought into the most important and needed card in the invitation suite:  the RSVP card.  Here are some ideas to help your RSVPs roll in: Photo RSVP Photo RSVP Card Here, your guests can see your personality and excitement, and they’ll “have to say no/yes to your face”.  Get creative enough and your guests will know there is a major party ahead. Themed RSVP Cards Themed RSVP Card Unique RSVP Cards Full Invite with RSVP attached Themed invitations, and by default the RSVP cards get people extremely excited for your wedding and event.  If you’ve put this much thought into the invitation, surely the party will be just as or even more phenomenal, right?  They are fun, clever and make an impression on your guests who will actually stop to respond. Change Up the Wording

RSVP Cards with funny wordingModern RSVP

Fun wording for whimsical RSVP Fun Options/Story on RSVP Card for WEdding Graphic Choices  with Fun wording on RSVP One way to inexpensively shake up the RSVP routine is to add your personality with the responses guests have to choose from. Go Interactive Full Interactive RSVP Card Mad Libs RSVP Cards Interactive RSVP Card Multiple Event RSVP Allow Guests to Doodle or Make Notes on RSVP Special Note to Couple on RSVP Card Let Guests Leave A Note on RSVP Card Mad Libs on RSVP Card Allow Guests to Pick Songs Music Requests on RSVP card Interaction is always fun!  Don’t believe me?  Look at the spike in photo/video booths at weddings. People love to have fun, be heard and make their mark.  Doing something as simple as adding an additional line for guests to add their favorite songs  or leaving empty space for them to leave an endearing note, words of advice or favorite recipe for a future family cookbook, involves your guests in a special way.  Want to really have fun?  Cook up the Mad Libs from your childhood as part of your RSVP and have them on display during your cocktail hour for great laughs.   Other Tips for Handing Your RSVPs Use invisible ink on the back of your RSVPs to track If the unfortunate circumstance happens where your guests forget to put their names, you can write it in invisible ink to track them later.   Another way is to number all of your RSVPs on the back and refer to that number on your master list when tracking responses. RSVP Basket to separate responses Need a way of separating your RSVPs during the process? Have basket for those who will attend and those who will send regrets. Two different RSVP Cards for Yes and No An easier method is to have two different RSVP cards– guests will choose the one with their response and send it back. For more great tips on RSVPs and your wedding, dig into ourdelicious post full of advice.

Send off Ideas for Your Wedding

Believe it or not, your send off can be just as important as your entrance for your wedding.  After a great night, you need a great finale—it’s a sweet finish to a sweet evening.  Moreover, it’s a great picture opportunity!  That being said, how do you plan a great, memorable send off?

Your first choice will be if you want to do your send off after your ceremony or after your reception.  Traditional weddings of yesteryear opted for post ceremony where the couple would run through happy guests tossing birdseed.  I personally favor doing the send off after the wedding, as it seems to make more sense:  what’s the point of sending you off when your guests will see you after cocktail hour?

However, if you choose to do your send off after your ceremony, there are some great options that capitalize on two things that are great for wedding ceremonies:  daylight and open air:

Balloons

recessional

Rose Petals

WB_Wed106

Bubbles

sendoffribbonelizabeth

Ribbon Wands

These are all beautiful, festive and fun!  Night time send offs add a flair of their own with even greater potential:

lantern-calmness-143239-530-353

I can remember watching Tangled with my children at the movie theater and seeing the birthday scene with the lanterns, thinking, that would make an awesome send off for a wedding!

I thought it was absolutely stunning and romantic—the perfect ending for a wonderful night! But there are more options for the evening, too:

Sparklers

Fireworks

 

What great ways are you ending the night with your wedding?

I Dare You: Get a Mermaid

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Many times you will see that grooms run the gamut when it comes to getting a band or DJ.  Some make the argument that they love live music, others say they don’t want to see someone else sing covers.  If you’ve opted for a DJ, this may leave funding available in your wedding budget for some “other” entertainment.

Now, when I was in college, one of my major’s pre-reqs was to take Sociology.  I had the best professor who was a freelance writer for Cosmopolitan magazine. At one point, she told us a story of how she had to interview Steve Tyler of Aerosmith for the magazine.  She said she stepped into his house and he had mermaids swimming in his living room.  INSANE.

Well, now your event can have a mermaid, too.  I’m a huge proponent of creating fun, unique events.  We’ve given you options of incorporating some tasteful, yet nonconventional ideas into your wedding to make it the most talked about event of the year.  However, Zhantra takes it to a whole new level.

Fabric Aerialists Belly dancers for event
Aerialists and Belly Dancers (funny how they are in the same position…)

Brazilian Brasilian Carnival Dancers

Imagine ditching the “traditional” introductions into your reception and coming in between lines of Carnival dancers who can then do a short performance for you and your guests.

Event Entertainment :: Fire dancers

Fire dancers and synchronized swimmers are ALWAYS fun. We’ve done fire dancers towards the end of the evening to avoid the reception lull and guests LOVED it.  The show was great and gave the guests a chance to rest and enjoy the entertainment. When it was time for the show to be over, every one was excited and ready to tear up the dance floor again.

 

 

strolling table for weddings and events

strolling table for weddings and events strolling table for weddings and events
Credit: Screaming Queens

These strolling tables are my absolutely favorite.  They add so much character…pardon the pun. These tables can move, hence the term “strolling” or the can be stationary.

 

So go on…get a strolling table…or a fire dancer…or a mermaid.  Shake it up!