How to pick the right entertainment for your wedding

For most, a wedding day, much like the birth of your first second or third child is the most memorable day of your life. It’s about romance, theatre, love, expense, beauty, sometimes quirkiness but also the bringing together of family and friends to share your special day with you. If ever there was a day for indulgence, excess and doing exactly what you want – this is it. For most brides and Grooms, one of the memorable parts of the day is the entertainment. For most, this is a time to splash a little bit extra to give people something extra memorable. However, sometimes people like to play safe. Sure people say that an event or a day is what you make of it and the people that get involved and sure it is but a day like a wedding, or private party often involves groups of friends, family and acquaintances who have never met. Providing a form of entertainment that appeals to all is not as easy as you may think. Of course, opting for a DJ or band is a safe option and rightly popular but there are two failings with this; one everyone has a band/DJ and I do mean everyone… and two, music is very subjective and not to everyone tastes. Would I recommend going without music, certainly not, but don’t place quite the emphasis on it as you think; music will come secondary and is something you can listen to in the car on the way to work, down the gym or on the radio. Sure music can be memorable….. After music, there are of course variety acts and I would wholeheartedly embrace this approach. There are jugglers, comedians, silhouettists, acrobats and all manner of other weird and wonderful ideas. You can usually search for ideas online and invariably you would have to book these acts through and agency, which, although this would give you the peace of mind that the act will appear a your wedding (and if not a replacement would be sent) sadly, this is not a particularly personal approach to booking an act. With the wedding day being an absolute personal affair, from personally deciding the venue, flowers, seating plans, food, date, cake and more, surely the act you book – you would like to meet to ensure they are a good fit for your wedding. If your wedding is going to be very earthly and organic occasion, then booking a band who sell themselves as a wedding band but actually arrive and bash out some very heavy metal would obviously be jarring…. I have initially avoided mentioning anything about magicians and mind-readers and their role they can play at a wedding. Yes, I am looking at this field from biased stand-point, but am happy to offer an unbiased advantage and disadvantage of booking a mystery entertainer for your special day. Magic, is an art form, which is possibly more popular than it has ever been and as such is becoming a more popular act to have at your wedding. Magic, when executed with aplomb and grace can take participants back to that infantile state of astonishment; a truly unique and memorable experience.  That said, when executed badly, magic can be distasteful, make people feel awkward or ‘tricked’. Mentalism or mind-reading can take people to an even higher plane of believability and astonishment and with there a lot fewer mentalists or mind-readers performing than magicians, you can guarantee that you are getting something even more special and unique. For me, I always like to meet with prospective clients before taking a booking so that I can give them a little taster of what I offer and to see if I would be a right fit for their wedding and offer any suggestions as to the entertainment section of the big day. I think it’s massively important to meet an act before booking to ensure they have the right personality and time of entertainment that they say they do. In a world of technology and the internet, sadly photos, testimonials and YouTube videos can all be manipulated using to offer the performer in the best light, sometimes taking years off their actual age too. There are a few more considerations but for now, those are a few suggestions, thoughts and tips, which will hopefully make your life easier and booking the correct form of entertainment even simpler. For information of assistance in finding the right entertainment for your wedding please do not hesitate to get in touch on 07934 856 696 or magic@magicduncan.co.uk for more information.