Wedding Entertainment Trends 2011

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a fantastic Christmas. I expect a few of you who are new to The Wedding Community this year are the result of recent Christmas proposals...how exciting!

So, I thought what better way to start off the New Year than some predictions for 2011 trends in Wedding Entertainment.

1. Comedy Shows – This is a relatively new and innovative idea for weddings, but a great way to get your guests in good spirits! Check out www.laughlines.net for some hilarious options, including a Faulty Towers show (which I keep seeing everywhere lately!), a Father Ted tribute (brilliant!) and comedy waiters!
2. Balloon Modelling – I saw this at a few weddings in 2010 and what a fab idea! Not only is it great for the kids, but the adults got rather involved too! The act I saw were two really friendly girls who got chatting to everyone, and generally got everyone in a fantastically cheerful (and silly!) mood! This is their website – I think they’re fab! www.balloonatic.biz
3. Larger Live Bands – We found that in 2010, people seemed to be booking the larger bands and allocating a little more of their budget to evening entertainment. By large bands I mean perhaps 7 piece plus – featuring live brass, perhaps more than one vocalist etc. This is guaranteed to get the party started!
4. Rock & Indie Bands – Again, this really started to take of in 2010 and I feel will properly hit the mainstream in 2011. A lot of brides and grooms-to-be are thinking more about hiring a band who can pay homage to The Killers and Kings of Leon, as opposed to Gloria Gaynor and Sister Sledge! This is becoming really popular, and fair enough too. I think we’ve probably all heard ‘I will survive’ one too many times at weddings over the years!
5. Ice Sculptures & an Ice Bar – I love this! I can’t think of anything cooler (ha, see what I did there) than a bar made of ice! I think you have to choose the right wedding for this – it probably might be a bit out of place at an old country mansion wedding, but if your wedding is set in a modern, chic marquee or ultra funky London venue, this fits the bill perfectly!
6. Cocktail Waiters – This is such a fun idea. Again, it seems to be really taking off recently, and I think it’s fantastic to have a couple of cocktail waiters to show off to your guests and wow them with their bottle spinning abilities! Think Tom Cruise...and the ‘Hippy Hippy Shake’!
7. What about something truly exciting like Fire Juggling? – Check this out for an innovative wedding idea.
8. Close up Magician – Ok, this sort of thing has been around for years but it continues to get more and more popular. I met one at a wedding a few weeks ago and was absolutely blown away! A close up magician can meander around your guests, perhaps during reception drinks or the wedding breakfast, and can bring your guests a mind blowing combination of wonder, fun, sheer amazement and enjoyment!
9. Undercover Singers – This originates from the popular ‘singing waiters’ acts that have been popular for a while, but the idea has grown and developed to now feature modern singers (it used to be only opera) and also new undercover characters like Firemen, Chefs, even your wedding guests! Secret singers will be hidden undercover at your event, and will at some point burst into song and shock everyone! Check out www.undercoversuperstars.com for ideas!
10. Modern Music – More and more couples are tending to opt for modern options for their wedding – so where you may have traditionally had an acoustic string quartet, you might now go for an electric string quartet like ‘String Fever’, or perhaps where you may have had a harpist during reception drinks, people have been tending to go for something more modern, like a singing guitarist or solo singer performing ‘Buble-esq’ numbers. Similarly, with a live band or DJ in the evening, couples seem to prefer these days to have a nice mix of modern music, some even choosing to turn their evening reception into an ‘Ibiza Club’ sort of vibe after 11p.m.

Best of luck to everyone getting married in 2011! This is going to be a great year, I can just tell ;)

Love & Hugs,

Sera xx

Article by Wedding Entertainment Specialist Sera Golding

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