You and your friends know how to party, right? And that’s great! But your definition of a great party is likely to be somewhat different to your granny’s, not to mention the children at your wedding. Dancing just isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, so how do you keep everyone entertained? The Designer Card Company are on hand to give you some tips!

After the big day is over, one of the sure signs of success is when all your guests tell you what a wonderful time they had. Obviously it’s important that you enjoy yourselves, but it’s also crucial to consider your guests and the range of ages when organising your evening entertainment.

Entertaining younger guests

Amusing speeches, delicious food and beautiful table decorations are sure to impress and delight the majority of your guests, but they will have little impact on anyone under the age of ten. For these younger guests, the wedding reception can be a little boring to say the least. Children who aren’t entertained are likely to become restless and pester their parents. All of a sudden, neither the children or the parents are having a fun time and that’s not what you want.

When it comes to the reception, if you’re having a children’s table, consider decorating it accordingly. Children are unlikely to appreciate pretty favours and elegant white linen. Instead, give their table a paper tablecloth, with pots of pens, so that the table cloth itself becomes a drawing board. Instead of five sugared almonds or other traditional favours give them each a small ‘funbag’ of games or toys. Face painting, magicians, balloon artists and bouncy castles are other great ideas. For very young children or babies, it’s worth asking parents whether they would appreciate a crèche facility. There are companies out there that specialize in looking after children during weddings. They could even dine separately if you are worried about disturbances.

A great party for mature guests

Spare a thought for Great Aunt Mavis - she’d probably enjoy a dance but she’s not all that familiar with Girls Aloud. And she may love the idea of standing around with a glamorous cocktail, but her feet are starting to ache.

Perhaps consider guests like these when you choose your venue. Some venues offer billiards rooms for the men who refuse to get up and dance (this is fine as long as you don’t lose your groom in there!) Some venues also have quieter rooms or areas where older guests can sit. Just try to make sure that they aren’t too far away from the action, as you don’t want them to feel excluded.

Ideally, your evening entertainment should be enjoyable for all guests. If you’re having a DJ or band and would like to have contemporary music, that’s fine, but do consider playing a few classics to get everyone up dancing. Bear in mind also that even though some more elderly guests may not wish to join in the dancing, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready for bed. You might also consider including some alternative entertainment in the form of a close-up magician, silhouette cutter or even a fun casino.

If you are packing quite a lot into your wedding day you may wish to have ‘Order of the Day’ cards produced. These usually come in the form of a booklet to inform your guests as to what will be happening, when and where. The Designer Card Company offers a range of bespoke wedding stationery and this includes Order of the Day Cards, produced to match your personalised wedding invitations. Your reception venue can be dressed up to match your chosen theme, with matching table numbers, Menu Cards, Place Cards or Place Tags, Favour Boxes, Table Plan and Thank You Cards.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Wedding News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.