A Demo In Personalization

“Dave is full of great ideas that he will help personalize to your personalities so that the entire evening is filled with special moments that you or your guests will never forget.”
– Dayna & Ryan

“You personalized their day in a way that no one else could.”
– Leanne, Mother of the Bride

“I cannot imagine our wedding without your involvement, effort, and personalization.”
– Daria & Jason

Today’s post is about one of the many reasons wedding couples hire me. This post is about one of the many things I have done to separate myself from the “competition.”

What you are going to read about today is one small part of the process (and the result) that takes place during the planning sessions with my couples. Today’s post is about personalization…for one simple activity…for one simple moment…with one simple idea.

THE WHY

Mandy and Kyron’s wedding took place in July 2017. The day began with reasonable temperatures, but rapidly rose to an extremely uncomfortable level of heat in the curling rink that played host to their reception. Even though the dance part of the evening suffered a bit due to the heat, the wedding was a huge success (as you’ll see at the end of this post) in part, because of how it was personalized.

A few months before the wedding, as Mandy, Kyron and I were discussing how we would choose the order of tables for their buffet at the wedding, it was brought up through some questioning of mine, that they love to play the game Cards Against Humanity with their friends. In very little time, we had come up with the basic premise for a buffet invite game, based on their love of Cards Against Humanity. When their wedding day finally arrived, this is what took place.

THE SETUP

Prior to the guests arrival, I left a single envelope (as pictured above) on each guest table. The print on the envelope was meant to communicate the personalized nature of the activity, as we’d named the game according to Kyron’s last name, “Frecon” (pronounced FREE-son).

In addition to the name of the game, the “warning” label in the middle of the envelope was added to create anticipation (thank you to the Entertainment Experience for insisting I think about this principal more often). By design, the wording also carried with it some of the humour and fun that we wanted guests to be feeling when they noticed the envelope (during cocktail hour, or whenever they happened to see it).

Inside each envelope was a set of 4 x 6 index cards that had been printed specifically for this wedding…for this game.

THE HOW

When it was time to announce dinner, I explained to the wedding guests how much Kyron and Mandy love the Cards Against Humanity game. After briefly explaining how the game generally operates, I directed all guests toward the single envelope located at each of their tables. They were instructed to open the envelope and remove the entry cards located inside.

The guests were informed that I would ask a single question and it would be up to them, to come up with an answer to that question. Each table was only required to submit one answer (one entry form), which they would then deliver to Kyron and Mandy’s head table. The additional entry forms would be used for subsequent rounds of the game.

Upon receiving all entries, Mandy and Kyron reviewed all of the answers (entry forms) and selected their 3 favourites. I would then read the winning entries aloud, and the tables who supplied those entries, were invited next to the buffet. When it was time to send more tables to the buffet, another round of Cards Against The Frecons would be played.

Some of the questions we used for this game were things like “How would Kyron and Mandy describe how you all look tonight?” or “The thing that stressed Kyron and Mandy out most when planning the wedding was…?” or (a personal favourite) “Who do you think is going to come out of tonight with the most outrageous story and why?”

In order to ensure that the activity would be fun and enjoyable, I actively encouraged guests to get creative and fun with their answers, much like people often do with Cards Against Humanity.

IN SUMMARY

The game was a massive success with loads of laughter and hilarious entries by the guests. I’m still giggling today just thinking about it! (But I forgot to bring extra pens with me, so that was a minor stumbling block.)

You are, of course, free to use this activity at an event of your own BUT…

It won’t be original to that wedding…

It won’t be original to you…

It could be missing the WHY…

You can make it original though. Make it better! Get creative with the premise to this game and turn it into something else, even if only slightly different.

Have I used this activity for another wedding since? Yes. This game will likely come out, from time to time, when the WHY is fulfilled. If I come across another couple who love Cards Against Humanity, I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest this game to them.

I hope this inspires you to get creative and think outside the box a little more. Ask your couples more questions. Ask them better questions. Then create something personal. The more you exercise your creative mental muscles, the stronger and more productive they will become.

Mandy and Kyron’s wedding dance wasn’t a raging party…but I have already begun receiving referrals from this wedding to DJ and MC future weddings.

Don’t be cookie cutter; get personal.

————-

PUBLICATION EDIT:

After requesting his pre-publication review of this blog post, Scott Faver, The Game Master, suggested I add the following two points of explanation:

This game was played following serving of the head table and parent tables. Bride, groom, wedding party and parents are always served first.

Additionally, during the introduction of the game, I asked the audience if they were familiar with Cards Against Humanity. This helped me determine how many details from our version of the game would require explaining.

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4 thoughts on “A Demo In Personalization”

  1. I would never think of copying your idea but you definitely got me thinking of how to entertain the guests while waiting their turn at the buffet table. Thanks for sharing and giving us advise on adding value to our services. Gears are starting to turn in my head for future events!

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