Everyone on your guest list is very special.  Whether they’re close friends or family, you want to make the most of your time with them.  And you want to be sure they have the best time possible!

• But how do we make the most of their time at the reception before the party even starts?
• What can we do about guests who may be prone to leave earlier on in the reception?
• WHO is most likely to leave before the party even gets started?
• How can we make them stay longer or, even better, GIVE THEM REASONS to stay longer?

To answer these questions, we need to first understand who is most likely to leave a wedding reception “early,” and WHY.

Once we know these things, we can give them reasons to stay longer, while maximizing their enjoyment of your celebration!

Generally, the folks who tend to leave earlier in the reception are either older guests, or guests with small children.

There’s no telling when folks might decide or start to leave, but it’s fairly common, and pretty widely accepted as a matter of wedding etiquette, that one can leave after the cake cutting.  How can we use this in our favor?  Let me show you!

There’re also ways to ensure that guests with young children hang around for the fun as well.  I have tons of ideas!

The bottom line?

Guests who feel involved, and are being entertained and included, won’t want to leave when the DJ plays the last song of the night, let alone sooner!

I have lots of cool ideas to help make the most of various “down time” spots at a reception, and ideas on how to get your guests involved, engaged, and interacting with one-another.

If you’re interviewing DJs for your wedding, be sure to ask each of them what types of ideas they have in this area, and ask the for suggestions on how to maximize your guests’ stay and enjoyment at your wedding.  They should be able to rattle off several ideas & suggestions as easily as if they were telling you what they had for breakfast that day.  If you’re met with something like a “deer-in-headlights” look (“Umm, well…”), it might be good idea to keep looking.

Here are some fun out-of-the-box ideas from TLC on keeping your guests engaged at your reception as well.

If you are in need of DJ & Entertainment services for your upcoming wedding, I’d be honored if you’d consider my services.