How to plan your wedding animations ?
The animations are often among the things that you have the most difficulty to plan. Because you don’t know what to do, you don’t know how many you need, when to propose them. And to top it all off, you want to be sure that your guests will like it. Don’t panic, you’ll see that it’s easier than it looks! Today I give you all the keys to plan your wedding animations.
Why plan wedding animations ?
Because they will give rhythm and dynamism to the day. They will allow you to avoid dead time and keep your guests in the mood. It is also the right moment to break the ice between your guests and allow them to get to know each other. The animations generally bring nice memories to you and your guests. The goal is to offer an experience to your guests and to immerse them in the adventure of the day.
There are as many animations as there are ideas that you will find! I reassure you right away, there is no need to plan 50 animations for the day. First of all because it can be expensive and take a lot of time.
In the end you will only have to plan a few things and you will understand why.
The types of animations
We distinguish 5 types of animations:
The traditional or natural animations which are directly linked to the course of your day
The surprises and animations of your guests, witnesses etc… which you do not really have to worry about or almost
The self-service animations which are at the goodwill of everyone to participate (generally all that concerns food)
Collective animations that place you and your guests as spectators that require little or no effort from your guests
Games that place your guests as actors and require their participation by capturing their attention
The idea is to find a balance between surprises, self-service animations, collective animations and games.
The traditional or natural animations
Most of the animations of a wedding are already planned without knowing it. Because when we think about animations we forget those that are naturally linked to the wedding day:
Speeches
Entrance and exit of the ceremonies
Tossing of the bouquet
Entrance of the bride and groom into the dinner
Opening of the ball
Arrival of the cake
Not to mention the surprises and animations planned by your guests that you don’t have to worry about.
So in the end, there is not much left for you to plan. I invite you not to plan more than 4 or 5 (without counting the natural animations of course) in order not to lose your guests and continue to capture their attention throughout the day.
The surprises and animations of the guests
These are all the animations directly planned by your guests or your witnesses. Generally they are surprises for your greatest pleasure.
Choreography
Personalized song
Video or slide show
Speech
Games
You don’t necessarily have to take care of this part… Although! There are a few things to put in place to ensure the smooth running of these animations.
Warn your guests. I strongly advise you to warn your witnesses, family or close friends who could prepare a surprise on what you absolutely do not want. If for example, you don’t want to do the garter, the 12 months games or even things you don’t want to see in your video: SPECIFY THEM. It’ll save you the embarrassment of the big day.
Ask when the animation will take place so you don’t end up with two animations at the same time. Don’t worry, no one will ruin the surprise effect by telling you the time or the moment of the animation. On the day of the event, you will not have a watch or any sense of time, and you will certainly have already forgotten.
Ask them for the necessary equipment: microphone, video projector, computer, music, light etc… Then maybe not tell you but give them the number of the DJ if need be he will incorporate it in his brief and in his D-day schedule. He will have all the information in terms of music or equipment if necessary
Once you have all these indications, and your natural animations already planned, you can now see if you have room for other animations.
Self-service animations
These are all the animations that do not need to capture the attention of all the guests. They are made available and it is up to everyone to watch or participate. For the most part, they are available continuously during the evening.
This includes for example:
The culinary entertainment: candy bar, burgers, cocktail bar,
Activities: outdoor games available (petanque, molki…), board games, casino tables
The providers who circulate: caricaturist, magician, juggler, ice sculptor…
Workshops: tattoo bar, guestbook, painting workshops…
Collective animations
These are all animations that do not require your guests to participate or to be an actor of the animation but they are there to capture the attention of your guests at a given moment.
This includes for example:
Shows: dancers, singers, music groups …
The release of lanterns or balloons
secular rituals
The games
They correspond to all the animations which will make participate your guests. Some games require a group of guests and others all your guests. The ideal is to try to integrate all your guests to your games without it being too complicated. Choose a game that lasts 15 minutes maximum and that does not require physical effort. I have several ideas that I will share with you later.
When to plan the animations of your wedding ?
The animations take place throughout the day:
During the ceremonies
The wine of honor
The dinner
The dance party
The ideal is to foresee the animations which require to catch the attention of all the guests or their participation during the dinner between the courses. Be careful, only one animation between each course. Otherwise, the dinner may drag on and the caterer may be embarrassed. Hence the interest to ask your guests when they plan their surprises. You don’t want to bore your guests and end up boring them.
And then you can plan the animations of your wedding in self-service during the wine of honor, after the dinner or during the dance party. To let your guests take the time to participate or not. Some animations like shows can be placed during the wine of honor for questions of schedules and availability of the providers.
