The wedding does not begin with the appearance of the newlyweds on the threshold, not with their meeting. The wedding begins with the first guest. Guests must understand that they are welcome here, that every guest is special and loved. All preparations must be completed before the first guest, and he should not see the kitchen of the event (figuratively and non-figuratively?)
In our hall (Ocean Love https://kazan.nevesta.info/catalog/952084/) at the entrance there is a separate room reserved for the welcome zone, which can also be accessed during the wedding. The welcome room is not small, which we were very lucky with.
So, what will our first guest see (what is now at the stage of wishes and possibilities):
Welcome sign.
There are 2 entrances to our hall, and we want to let guests in through one entrance so that they get straight into the welcome area without passing through the reception hall. To do this, we want to place a sign next to our entrance like:
Greetings, names, our unusual date and hashtag.
Lounge zone
To give your guests a break from fun, dancing and enjoy communication and silence, organize a relaxation area where comfortable sofas and chairs, armchairs and poufs will be placed. Don’t forget to organize the space correctly - people should see what is happening on the main site: this way they can relax and continue to enjoy the holiday atmosphere. In the recreation area itself you can place other entertainment: relaxing board games, a cinema, and next to it you can place a wish area. A good option would be a sweet table next to the lounge area.
Gifts for the guest (bonbonnieres).
I read that originally a bonbonniere (French bonbonnière - “candy bowl”, from French bonbon - candy) was a beautifully decorated box for chocolates. In Europe, in the old days, these were five sweets - candies or nuts in sugar. They symbolized five wishes for the guest: health, joy, good luck, prosperity and longevity.
It’s interesting, but this tradition is no longer observed.
That's why I thought about filling and decorating the gifts. Honey, which has been very popular lately, as well as sweets and magnets. Then we thought - we love practicality, economy... And we can add a pinch of humor there.
My mother ferments natural tea from currant, raspberry, fireweed, apple, etc. leaves. She also loves to sew and recently just learned how to sew a Japanese omiyage bag (photo from the Internet) and bought a cool machine? That’s it, mom, you’ll help!
We have tea bags, we’ll fill them with tea, we’ll buy fabric for omiyage in the color of the wedding, we’ll sew them and it’ll be a gift. AH, yes, a pinch of humor. I would like to put a beautifully designed small certificate there too. The certificates are comic (taken from the Internet and supplemented with your own ideas), something like:
- The certificate gives you the right to walk Albus (our dog) once
- The certificate gives you the right to an exclusive photo with the bride and groom
- The certificate gives you the right not to give a gift to the newlyweds today, but to give it tomorrow.
You just need to tell the host to tell the guests that the certificates inside the gift can be used during the evening.
Next, the question arose of how to present them beautifully. What options are we considering:
- just put it on the table and sign next to it to take a gift as a token of gratitude for attending the celebration
- There will be a similar Donats-Bar in our hall. We can hang these bags around the edges instead of donuts
- There is an option to combine seating arrangements with gifts. The guest will need to find his name on the bag with the name of the table at which he is sitting.
Need to think. When we draw the entire welcome zone in a sketch, we will understand how best to do it.
Welcome zone
Foto welcome science
Welcome bar
Welcome show
Cocktail mania
Tape breaking
The theater begins with a hanger, and the event with a welcome. It is necessary to take into account everything: from the design to the “filling” of the welcome zone. Captivating and surprising guests from the threshold of the event is a modern standard in the event industry.
How to turn a meeting of guests into an unforgettable show?
Just invite us, of course. This is advertising text. Our repertoire includes 4 options for organizing a velcom:
Welcome bar
Instead of bartenders there are crazy but sweet scientists. Instead of a bartender show, there are experiments with liquid nitrogen and all kinds of chemistry. Instead of glasses - test tubes and flasks. Instead of cocktails - and you better not know this. Okay, in fact, we prepare any alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails with the addition of liquid nitrogen. When such a “smoking potion” is served in a test tube, you need to see the faces of the guests. Imagine a person who simultaneously experiences surprise, bewilderment, slight fear and delight? We bet that such a welcome zone will be remembered for a long time and will set the mood for the rest of the event. We haven’t talked about liquid nitrogen ice cream and other goodies yet. All details in the Cryo bar section.
Welcome show
Turn your guests' meeting area into a real laboratory. The presenters will show the wonders of science, and everyone will try themselves as chemists. This show at welcome takes place in the “full contact” format. Imagine, for example, loving spouses come to your event. She freezes his hand with liquid nitrogen and breaks it with a hammer (but this is optional), and he breaks her hair. We won’t even talk about frozen and broken roses and other items. What about foam volcanoes bursting out of cylinders and increasing in volume several times? Or chemical solutions that change colors? Imagine, there is a flask with a solution of the same color, no one touches it, and after a few seconds bam, and the color changes, and then a new bam and a new color! Real scientific magic.
Foto welcome science
Let's make your guests the kings of social networks. Everyone will put on chemist's coats, special glasses and gloves. In the hands of guests there will be “smoking” flasks with colored solutions, various scientific attributes or substances. The most important thing is that your guests will immediately receive photos on their phone. Instagram will start buzzing about your event within a few minutes of its launch. Add a banner of the company, sponsors or the event itself to the background and get anti-banal advertising. Additionally, you can order photo printing directly at the event.
Video welcome science
This is an upgraded version of the photo zone with Bullet Time technology. Yep, these are the same 3D photos, rotating 180°. Needless to say, this is now the main trend in the market. Your guests will take epic photos with a burning hand, liquid nitrogen shots and any other scientific props. You can use a live picture as a background, or you can take chromakey (a cinematic green background on which anything is depicted) with a pre-prepared image. You can also add graphics and elements. For example, your event hashtag.
Our presenters are real artists who will liberate and captivate all guests in the welcome zone.
Seating.
In general, our hall provides seating for free. But I wanted an original seating arrangement.
Firstly, we really don’t want table numbers, but names. If only it would be convenient for the host and the name could be beautifully placed on the tables so that the guest does not get lost (although this can also be decided with the help of the coordinator or manager).
Secondly, I want voluminous seating. Something like geometry, as in the photo. There is a separate figure for each table.
And, probably, you can even think about having a description next to the names about who the friend is, or how they met, or a funny incident. It's cumbersome, but it can be thought through.
For example, make such a volumetric wall
Book for recommendations.
We scoured the Internet for a long time in search of book options. They even wanted to refuse because nothing was impressive. But then the idea came to combine business with pleasure. We made a photo book from our Nikah (wedding) with some blank space around the photos and extra blank pages at the end so guests could look at the photos of our first family celebration and be excited to write wishes right on the book next to the photos.
A few options we had:
- order a book of wishes from a pro. Yes, it’s beautiful, but I don’t want to store it later
- make cards on which you can write a wish, answering a question written there in advance. For example: “what to name your second pet”, “what is love”, “who should apologize after a quarrel”. It can probably be arranged. Let it be extra
- renting an Instax camera so that guests can paste photos with wishes is expensive and it has been proven that guests often take photos for themselves
- Before, about 5 years ago, I wanted a puzzle of our photo so that wishes could be written on the back. The space is too small and I fell in love with this option.
Crossword about our couple.
I have already drawn it in a graphics editor. The crossword puzzle consists of questions about our couple, our desires, dates, places, favorite things. In principle, friends and relatives will easily figure it out. Therefore, we have added SPECIAL QUESTIONS that only those friends about whom the question can answer can answer. For example: “Who did the bridesmaids dress up as when they ransomed their best friend?” So that the crossword puzzle is not solved by one guest who knows everything about us?
And also the name of our wedding is already written in the crossword puzzle. The crossword puzzle highlights “The sky” “fell” “in” “us” on separate lines.
Outdoor ceremony area
An airy arch decorated with flowers, or an alternative ceremony area made of pallets and metal decor, a delicate path of petals or candles along the edges of the aisle, decorated chairs and bags with petals along the edges - that very ceremony area that appears in the dreams of brides. But in order for such a zone to remain in its original form before the start of the holiday, it is worth placing it separately, away from the buffet table area and the arrival of guests. This will allow you to avoid unnecessary things on the chairs. This means that photographers will be able to freely remove the decor before the ceremony begins. To prevent the path to the altar from being spoiled, block the passage to it with a ribbon, sign or rope and provide guests with access to the chairs on the other side. Do not forget to take care of both your convenience and the convenience of your guests: the passage should be wide enough and the distance between the rows sufficient for comfortable sitting and passage. In case of rain it is worth preparing umbrellas, and in case of excessive heat - fans. You can also prepare cute details: “tear scarves” or signs with words of gratitude on chairs.
Photo wall of friends' weddings where we were guests.
The idea is to print out photos from weddings we've been to (there were enough of them over 8 years) and hang them up beautifully. So that they would be pleased to remember the atmosphere of their wedding. And we add a smile to this idea. On each photo there is a caption like: “this is how we rocked at your place, now it’s your turn”; “played air guitar”; “hugged tightly”; “helped with registration”; “they were carrying weights,” and there was a photo of Airat carrying a pillow; in the photo where Airat is doing the splits the caption: “Ilshat, now it’s your turn to repeat it.”
I’ve already printed out the photos, I just need to complete the idea and write the captions and figure out how to make this zone. It's early to think, but I'd like to keep them hanging. If this can be done, I will be happy. Airat said that it is possible to make a separate structure for this. We need to start from the final sketch.
Entertainment area
Interactives, games, tabletop and outdoor, master classes from dancers, floral lessons and other entertaining elements of the program should take place in a separate area - the entertainment zone. Even if the host is not working at the evening, the program for guests should be carefully developed: if board games are planned, then tables and comfortable places for guests must be prepared, as well as notepads and pencils or pens for recording the score. For a floral master class, you will need a room/outdoor location that is not too hot. And for dancing there is enough space and suitable coverage. Make sure that people feel as relaxed and comfortable here as possible.
