The
Most Entertaining Wedding Ceremony Option
I
have seen just about every wedding ceremony option used under
the sun. But If I had to choose the one that most captivated
an audience, it would be without question,- the
use of a Photo Montage. A photo montage is typically a slide
show accompanied by music.
You will need the following items to create a photo montage
for your ceremony:
- A
slide projector and a projection screen. Your DJ may have
these items if you don't. And if
your DJ doesn't have them the odds are one of your family or
friends does. So just ask around!
- A
rich collection of photographs of the two of you. By rich
I mean plentiful and varied. Furthermore, your photo collections
should be fairly strong in three groups: each of your childhoods,
your high school/college years, and finally photos of the two
of you dating (courtship).
- Finally, you will need three musical themes to bring this
all together and play as background music as the photos are
advancing.
A
photo montage is played in mid-ceremony, just prior to the
exchange of vows. Depending on the length of the montage, brides
and grooms may either stand or, as shown above, be seated.
If seated, these seats will be brought up to them by ushers.
The bridal party, in either version remains standing.
The
lights are dimmed and the montage begins. The first set of
photos shows the bride and groom in their childhood. First
the brides' photos
and then grooms'. These photos may be intermixed. The music
chosen is that appropriate for childhood. Your DJ will help
you with
suggestions.
The
second theme takes the couple into their high school and/or
college years. That's what's happening above. Kathy is the
blonde cheerleader on the far left. Few guests would have known
she was a cheerleader and fewer still ever saw that photo of
her. Photo montages educate guests, and fill in much of
what they don't know about a bride' and groom's backgrounds.
A second musical theme is used for this set of photos. One
photo montage I watched used the Beach boys song whose lyrics
included "Wouldn't it by nice if we were older and we didn't
have to wait so long..." That theme played as we saw the bride
and
groom in their dating years.
The
final theme takes the bride and groom from dating to
engagement. The musical theme is romantic. Photos of the bride
and groom - together - on trips, at college, with their families
etc.
are played as the montage photographically and musically, brings
the couple together. Joan Osborne's rendition of Etta James'
"At Last" is an example of the type of theme played now. Unfortunately,
"At Last" has been badly overworked in wedding ceremonies but
it is an excellent example of the kind of theme that should
be chosen for the lyrics are killer....
" At last,
my love has come along..."
A
photo montage has a run time of 8 to 10 minutes (and never
longer!). After the montage concludes, lighting is slowly brought
back up. A
photo montage is EXTREMELY entertaining and lively; and guests
are enrapt as they watch the bride and groom go through their
childhood,
their school years, and ultimately their dating and
romance. Photo montages give guests, more than any other option,
a strong sense of what paths the bride and groom took to get
them to this moment as they stand before their guests, hand
in hand, and begin to take their vows.
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