With a night of drinking, dancing and celebrating, it’s hard to imagine that your wedding wouldn’t be fun. But as any bride and groom will tell you, it takes a lot of planning and preparation to make your big day special. Gina Jokilehto-Schigel, owner and creative director of Shi Shi Events, shares her advice on how to throw an authentic and engaging wedding and reception.
Be flexible. Your itinerary will need to be adjusted in some fashion or another. Jokilehto-Schigel highly recommends adding some leeway to your schedule to account for longer toasts, receiving lines, serving and clearing plates. “If you have a really solid outline where you built in time for mistakes to happen, you’re setting yourself up for success,” she says.
Be original. We all want to turn to Pinterest for decor inspiration, but plan your celebration so it’s authentic to you. “When [guests] see elements that feel like the couple, that’s very exciting for them,” she says. “Recently, we built a canopy full of multi-colored ribbons and lights for a client. It was a perfect element for their wedding because their wedding was very whimsical and fun.”
Be efficient. The key ingredient to a fun wedding is keeping your guests engaged. Try serving cake right before formal dances or toasts during the salad course. “Any way we can condense the timeline so there’s multiple things happening at once during the course of dinner, that’s wonderful,” Jokilehto-Schigel says.
Be prepared. After hours of drinking and dancing, your guests (and you!) are probably going to get hungry again. Take your hosting game to a new level by adding a post-party menu. “I love late-night snacks via food truck,” says Jokilehto-Schigel. “It’s something really fun that the guests will really engage with and be excited about.”
