Anatomy of a traditional wedding reception

1. Guests arrive approximately half an hour before the bridal party and begin cocktail hour with drinks and hors d’oeuvre’s. DJ plays soft background music.
2. Bridal party arrives at location; DJ is notified. Bridal party remains just outside reception room waiting to be introduced. DJ meets with bridal party and prepares them for entrance.
3. DJ introduces the wedding party in the following order. (entrance music optional)
   1. Parents of the Bride
   2. Parents of the Groom
   3. Flower Girl and Ring Bearer (or Jr Bridesmaid and Jr Groomsmen)
   4. Ushers
   5. Bridesmaids and Groomsmen (paired together as they were in the wedding)
   6. Best Man and Maid/Matron of Honor
   7. The Bride and Groom              
       
4. Wedding party stands behind or in front of the head table. (At this point, a prayer or blessing may be offered for the meal) Then any instructions are announced as to the meal. (i.e.: Proceed to buffet, etc…)
5. Soft or instrumental music is played during dinner. (usually about an hour)
6. After Bride and Groom finish eating, the best man and maid/matron of honor give a toast. DJ will provide a wireless microphone so that they may stand at the head table while they are speaking. (pause music)
7. After the toast we are ready for the cake cutting. DJ announces that the bride and groom are going to cut the cake.
8. After the cake cutting, as long as the couple doesn’t have cake all over their faces, then we begin the special dances.
9. Bride and Groom first dance.
10. Bride and Father dance.
11. Groom and Mother dance.
12. Wedding party dance.
13. After these special dances, DJ will call for all the single ladies to come to the dance floor for the bouquet toss. DJ will play a “fun” song as the girls come to the floor. DJ will wait for photographer to get ready, and then count to three for the bride to toss her bouquet.
14. After this, DJ will call for all the single gentlemen to come to the floor. Someone usually sits a chair out on the floor and the bride sits down and the groom begins to remove the garter. (DJ will play appropriate ‘stripper’ music) Same scenario as above as for the groom tossing the garter.
15. On occasion, the photographer likes to get a photo of the girl that caught the bouquet and the gentleman that caught the garter along with the bride and groom.
16. DJ then announces the dollar dance. (Optional) DJ will play several songs and try to allow everyone participating to have a chance to dance with the bride and groom.
17. Open dance begins. DJ usually starts out by inviting all couples out to the dance floor for a slow dance or two.
18. Tempo picks up. DJ will play a mix of different styles and “feel the crowd” for the genres that keep the dancers dancing.  Line dances such as “The Electric Slide” or “The Cha-Cha Slide” are a few examples of hits at wedding receptions. Slow dances will be mixed in frequently.
19. DJ will also take requests and try to play all pre-selected music as time allows.
20. Approximately 20 minutes or so before the end of the contracted time, DJ will ask if any more performance time is desired. More time is almost always available as long as the venue allows.
21. As the end of the performance time approaches, DJ will announce the last dance. This is normally a slow dance.
22. DJ thanks everyone and says goodnight.