Our “Grand” Entrance
I kind of cringe when I think of entering the tent at the reception. The thought of music playing and someone announcing us into dinner just sounds really uncomfortable. I might like to pour my little planning heart all over the Internet, but I don’t like being the center of attention in the real world! I know, big problem with having a wedding in which 200 sets of eyes will be on you. I’ve already casually mentioned to some people that we won’t be doing a grand entrance, to which they replied, “then, when are you entering the tent?”
“Um…I’m going to come in when everyone else is going inside?” Yeah, they didn’t like that idea. What I wanted was for us to enter with everyone else, but be introduced at the very beginning by my sister (the emcee). This is my flexible plan of action as of now.
So, my dear EAD readers, I have two questions for this incredibly brief post.
1) Are you doing/Did you do a “grand entrance” and if so, what song will be/was playing??
2) Do you think it’s awkward if we don’t do a grand entrance? Will people even realize we didn’t do one and think “man, what are Mo and the boy doing sitting down already, shouldn’t they be doing a choreographed dance into the tent right about now?”
Or perhaps we can think of a happy medium. Your thoughts?
I’m with you – I was hoping to just show up at the cocktail hour, just say “hi” and that would be it… I probably need to think it through a bit more, though – can’t wait to see what people suggest!
we did our grand entrance with a uber-grand starter song (the beginning of it had to be you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5PbVrorP2A&feature=PlayList&p=A7D8435FC8839A47&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2)…he walked me around the dance floor..it was so funny, we were both laughing..and then we went right into our first dance (the very thought of you, by billie holiday). it was great..because we got that out of the way..and it started the tone off just right…a fun-loving atmosphere. :)
it’s not so bad. it’s your only time you will ever get that moment..and it’s really kind of fun..besides..you’re going to be beautiful, so might as well enjoy it.
We just kind of had a mass entrance…the bridesmaids and groomsmen that were partnered together picked their own snippet of a song and kind of dance/shuffled in- some were crazy and have no shame so they loved being able to dance their way to the table (that way they were also introduced to the family there that didn’t really know them) and the hubby and I just sort of sidled in to our own snippet of song…the hubs is a pretty shy guy and at the prospect of us having to walk down a winding staircase with a red carpet and pomp and circumstance didn’t really float his boat…so we let everyone see us enter, but it was short and not too embarrasing for the man.
we’re not doing the “grand” entrance. there’s only one way into our reception so we figure we’ll just walk in whenever we get there. we’re just not spotlight people so being announced would make us more uncomfortable than anything.
i’m pretty sure people will notice when we’ve arrived… i’ll be the only girl there with a white dress and veil : )
We are, although I’m not sure how grand it will be. Music: The Muppet Show Theme Song. :D I think our DJ is just going to say something to let people know that we are open for business. Then there will be cake cutting, so I suppose that’s the purpose of the thing.
Oh, and no, I don’t think it would be awkward to skip the big deal. People will know you are there!
Thank you to everyone for your input!
@Natalie: I’m with you, I was just hoping to waltz in and say a quick ‘hey what’s up?’ before sitting down. I’ll let you know what we decide to do!
@amy, @Rebecca: Those entrances sound like so much fun and must have really set the mood of the party. I’ll have to think of the right song for us!
@notsojenny: good to know I’m not the only one who doesn’t care for the spotlight much!
@julia: COOL *achem* It’s time to get things started on the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, some other words I do not know, dun dun dun duh dun dum! THIS IS WHAT WE CALL THE MUPPET SHOW!
Please tell me you’re recording it. :)
My fiance and I aren’t going to have a grand enterance. We’ve opted to enjoy the cocktail hour with our guests (we’ll take pictures before hand and see one another before the ceremony), and would LOVE to invite our guests personally to join us for our first dinner as a married couple. :) I hope you find something that suits you.
Mr. and I had this chat last weekend. We also don’t want some sort of grand entrance and we won’t even have a DJ to announce us. Although we don’t want to be announced, we do think it’s weird if we just kind of magically appear, sneaking in, ya know? So, we’re going to wait till all the guests have been able to get settled in, get a drink and maybe a munchie and then casually make our way in behind our bridal party. We are guessing that naturally people will clap or something, and Mr. is convinced that he’s going to get one of his friends to start a slow clap moments before we enter. I think it’d be hilarious!
We’re doing an entrance, but are trying to make it as fun as possible! That means we’re coming into the opening song from the movie Lilo and Stitch, which is definitely peppy and fun enough to put a smile on everyone’s faces. We’re also going to have our guests blow bubbles at us and the wedding party as we enter instead of doing an exit later in the night. Being surrounded by bubbles should make it that much more fun! As for being nervous about having everyone watching you as you enter, i figure you just walked down the aisle while everyone was watching, at least this time you get to do it with your husband!!!
@Liz: We were going to enjoy the cocktail hour too, hopefully! I like your plan, I hope we can chat with a lot of guests during that hour.
@juel: Ha! The slow clap is something I did not think of. Maybe we need to ‘plant’ clappers too!
@Gretchen: Good point. It’s not like they haven’t been watching me already! I love Lilo and Stitch, I even owned the VHS back in the day. All of the music was so much fun in that movie (”…flying by on a Hawaiian roller coaster ride!”) that I have no doubt it’ll get your guests in a fun and happy mood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4X1_3VipWs&NR=1
We’re not doing one…If it’s not your style, I say don’t worry about it. It’s going to look awkward if your heart’s not in it — do whatever fits you best as a couple, and forget about tradition. Most people probably won’t miss it anyway!!
I’m not one for the spotlight but hubby wanted a grand entrance. We came in dancing to Finally by CeCe Peniston. I figure everyone watched us get married so by the time the reception came I didn’t mind having 175+ pairs of eyes on me! I think a grand entrance with an announcement is expected but I don’t think guests will be so disappointed that it will take away from your day.
We felt the same way…it felt silly to us to be “announced” again, especially considering that we’d just been talking to all the guests right before the reception started! We just moseyed on in there with the rest of the guests. It was totally normal feeling and cut back on the pomp and circumstance we didn’t want anyway!
We didn’t do a grand entrance for three reasons:
1) Casually coasting into our cocktail hour was a better fit with our overall wedding vibe than a formal entrance
2) I didn’t change my name, and I was terrified the DJ would make a mistake and announce me as I name that’s not mine at my own wedding
3) We didn’t want to do our first dance at the very beginning anyway, so having a separate announcement for the dance later seemed like it would be strange
It worked really well… not awkward at all, really.
We didn’t do a grand entrance…we came to the cocktail hour (better named appetizer 2 hours…so much food!) and basically hopped in and said hi to people as we would any other time. Don’t feel pressured just because it’s not what’s “normally” done.
