When it comes to spending money, your wedding day ranks among the most expensive. With UK weddings costing an average £18,500, and in some areas £25,000+ (ouch!) you really want to make sure your day is one to remember!
Whether you have lots to spend, or are working to a tighter budget, it’s important to remember that it isn’t how much you spend that counts, but how effective you spend the money you do have.
There are lots to consider – the dress, the venue, the flowers and the photographer for starters. Some of the costs can be minimized with a little creative thinking. Place-holders and wedding favours can be created with a little help from your friends – you could even get the bridesmaids together and throw a pre-wedding ‘make-a-table-decoration’ party.
It is important that you celebrate your marriage in style. The entertainment you choose for your reception offers you a chance to really make your mark and put even more of your personality into your day.
There are so many options available to you, from hiring a jazz band or harpist for some light background music, or you could go full throttle with a karaoke machine and party DJ! Anything goes.
When you’re considering your entertainment options, think about your guests and what they would love to experience too. Try and get as much value out of your entertainment – for instance, does your DJ have the playlist you know will get everyone up and dancing, or will “Come on Eileen” do the job? Do your guests get to take something away with them to remember your day?
Do your research. Find out as much as you can about your entertainment options. Is their website easy to navigate? Are there lots of spelling mistakes and broken links? This is their website – their calling card – if they can’t get this bit right can you really trust them with your one special day?
Have a look at any galleries they have and see if you can get an idea of how the guests are interacting – do they look like they’re having a great time – the kind of fun you would want at your wedding?
Are there any customer reviews and testimonials you can read? What are their previous customers saying about them? When was the last one written? Are the reviews on independent sites or could the entertainer simply have made them up? Most independent review sites allow you to contact reviewers to check they are genuine.
Once you are satisfied, get in touch. How fast do they respond and how do they communicate with you? Are they friendly and professional? Are they going to treat your day as special as you are, or are they blasé and stand off ish? Sometimes your gut reaction is what you have to go on.
Next is payment – what is their price? Are they offering discounts? Do they require a deposit? When will the final balance need to be paid and do they have any special requirements?
The entertainment you choose will take up a big part of your evening celebrations, and you want to ensure you get the most ‘bang for your buck’. Obviously my own speciality is wedding caricature entertainment. Caricaturists like myself will come to your wedding celebrations armed with paper and pens and will draw funny cartoon portraits of you and your guests.
Each caricature should take only 3 -5 minutes and will be in black and white and range from A4 – A3 in size – you can even have a message pre-printed on the sheets – ‘Mr and Mrs Smith
would like to thank you for helping to make our day so special’ for instance.
Wedding caricatures will entertain not only the subject being drawn, but all the spectators too, and they get to take home a gift to remember your special day – what other entertainment offers you that?
So how do you go about finding a caricaturist to entertain your wedding guests? Keeping your search to your local area should help to save you added travel costs or accommodation for your entertainment. You should be able to enquire with them directly from their website or Facebook page, or alternatively, you could hire your wedding caricaturist via an agent. The agency can arrange everything for you and will act as a go-between for you and your caricaturist – they can also help out if your chosen caricaturist is already booked or a problem occurs. Reputable agents
should be registered with the Entertainment Agents Association of Great Britain, or The National Entertainment Agents Council.
Hiring your caricaturist via an agent will incur more expense as the agent usually adds their fee on top of the caricaturist’s. The choice really is yours.
Whatever entertainment you decide upon, make sure it reflects both the mood you want to create AND your personalities, for a truly memorable day to remember forever.
Lastly, if you ARE considering hiring a Wedding Caricaturist to keep your guests entertained, and you’re based in the East Midlands, then please take 5 minutes to visit my site – Beefys Caricatures and hopefully I’ll be available for your date.
Anyway, that’s all for now
Good luck with all your planning!!
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