Wedding Wonder

The modern wedding is a wonder, and in lots of respects.  It's full of wondrous moments in a wondrous day.  It's still typically a once in a lifetime for the bridge and groom.  Behind the wonder of the occasion, it's certainly a wonder of choices, planing, co-ordination and logistics.

There's lots of choices to make, there's the where and when of course.  That's followed by lots of choices about what's needed to help make the day special, and who'll provide that help and those services.  There's plenty of bridal magazines and wedding fairs to choose from.

Here's the offer of a regional bridal magazine. This one is focussed on the East of England.  There's 865 offerings.  There's the usual suspects...gowns [77] and make up [28], catering [53] and cakes [46], and then cars [51], flowers [72] and photography [66].

Then there's the added extras... 18 choices for chocolate fountains , and 14 for fireworks.  Plus Toastmasters [9], wedding planners [21], and balloons and decorations [8].  And 11 insurance choices to cover all of those commitments.

Another wondrous thing is that, besides the fireworks, there's no reception entertainment options.  Research for bridal magazine shows that besides the actual wedding ceremony and the bride's dress, the thing people remember most about a wedding is the entertainment.

Entertainment is the active rather than passive element.  Flowers and balloons can create the environment, but it's the entertainment which creates the atmosphere...the potential harpist, jazz piano, band, and of course the disco.  Even the magician with the close up table magic.  A toastmaster can very helpfully bring structure and style but it's not engaging entertainment. Music of some sort is the added magic, even if it's it's mostly in background.. There's real magic in the bridge and groom's first dance, typically chosen with deep care.  And then of course the possible father and daughter dance....

So this is all about getting that balance right between passive things and actively creating that engaging, entertaining experience that makes magical memories.

Here's that list of choices from that regional wedding magazine...

Venues                    125
Cars and Transport         51
Gowns and Dresses          77
Flowers                    72
Photography                66
Catering                   53
Cakes                      46
Rings and Jewellery        45
Marquee hire               40
Men's formal hire          36
Lingerie                   36
Bridal make up             28
Shoes                      27
Honeymoon                  22

Wedding Planners           21
Horse and Carriage         19
Hen and Stag               19
Chocolate fountains        18
Fireworks                  14
Bridal beauty and health   13
Insurance                  11
Fairs and shows             9
Toastmasters                9
Balloons and decorations    8

Ice Breakers 2: Scenarios, Favourites and Experiences

The right ice breakers can help people relax and hence enable then to enjoy themselves even more, even sooner.  We've discussed previously why icebreakers can be really helpful, see

Ice Breakers 1: Why do it?

Here's a specific sort of ice breaker, or perhaps more correctly "mood maker".  This one is based around some fun questions about scenarios, favourites and experiences.

Getting the right questions is part art and part science.   Best to start generic, which can work in most circumstances.  Then depending on the individuals and the event, then to make it more interestingly specific.

The warm up questions can be  be hypothetical scenarios... these are the "What if..."..... "If you could have a superpower, what would it be? ".

Then to build on that with some personal favourites or preferences...."Who's you're favourite TV detective?".

The next step can be to introduce some personal experiences..."What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?".

So here's a sample of some of those ice breaker questions to help encourage the fun along...

A. Scenarios

• If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

• If you could have a secret camera in any room in the world, what room would you choose?

• If you could have a servant come to your house every day for an hour, what would you have them do?

• If you owned a shop, what would it sell?

• If you could commit one crime without being caught what would it be?

• If you could physically transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?

• If you won a million, what would you spend it on?

B. Favourtites

• Who's your favourite TV detective?

• What's your all time favourite movie?

• What isn't strongest craving you get?

• What do you order when you have Chinese food?

• What was eye last thing you bought yourself just for fun?

• What's your favourite knock knock joke?

• Who's your favourite muppet?

• Tell us a quirky habit of yours.

• How much taller or shorter would you like to be?

• What's the skill you're most proud of?

• Which of the seven dwarfs are you most like?

C. Experiences

• What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?

• What's the best bargain you've ever found?

• What's the most disgusting thing you've ever eaten?

• What's the longest you've ever waited in line?

• What's the biggest surprise you've ever had?

• What was your best ever holiday?

• What's the oddest thing that has ever happened to you?

• What was your most embarrassing moment?

• How did you celebrate your last birthday?

• Have you ever been in a food fight?

• Have you ever been stung by a bee?

• What's the most memorable class you ever taken?