Video/Picture Slideshow at Reception

It can be done well, jsut make sure it's the sort of thing that doesn't have a captive audience. If it's playing in the background during hte cocktail hour, it's fine. But I went to a weddign where we had to sit through the whole thing, silent, staring at it, before we were allowed to get up for dinner. When it's done that way, it comes across as tacky and self-indulgent.

We are doing one. My grandma did these as a business a while back- they are very popular. The way they were done when she did them was not as a show that every HAS to watch- but more something they could watch if they wanted to ( and many people did!)

Ours will be hooked up to a tv that is setting by the cake/ guest table. The way our venue is set up the guests will be able to watch this while standing in line for the buffet table. We are including pics of us both growing up, and well as pictures taken during our courtship.

Thats cool. If I were to do one, I would have it on while our guests are in the reception area eating, and FH and I are somewhere taking pix.

I don't think the idea is tacky at all. I am planning on having one with pictures of FH and I growing up and then during our courtship going in order. I haven't decided on when or where to play either. So I am looking for suggestions there too!

I like these presentations. I think setting it to music towards the end of the meal would be good

I just went to a wedding not too long ago. They played it right after dinner was served so that we could watch while we ate. They did a childhood section, friends and fam, and then some of them together. I loved it and all of the responses from guests were positive. It was very meaningful.

In my opinion, there are two ways to do a slide show/video presentation. The first is to have a continuous loop playing off to the side, perhaps next to your gift table or the table where your guests sign in. This is typically a no-sound or very low sound video montage that your guests can appreciate while they're going about their business.

The second way is to incorporate the slide show/video presentation into your program, typically done after dinner, or after the cutting of the cake. This type of video is much more involved and usually requires the audio to be plugged in to the DJ's sound system, with much more planning and consideration. If you're having the video made professionally, this might be the better way to go.

This is actually part of our video/photo package, it's always been done at every wedding I've attended. FH and I plan to do it, with pictures of us as kids, pictures of us with close friends and family and pictures of us together thoughout our relationship. We plan to have it done while dinner is being served or during, but we're not set yet, all I know is that people won't just sit there and look at it without doing anything, plus it's gonna be a good laugh with the pics I plan on using lol.

I've seen this idea done at almost every wedding I've been to this year. As a DJ and the "friend who's very techy" I've been nominated to make them for several friends as well. The last one I did included pictures of the each person growing up. These are nice, but I like to see a majority of the show include pictures of the couple while they were together (since we are all there to celebrate their relationship of course). I even made a small story out of the pictures with captions for the guests to read so it wasn't silent staring. I really like the idea of having the slide show shown during dinner since it can be mixed with the BM and MOH speeches or can be played in the background without being disruptive. Good luck! (if you need help creating it I have some really simple steps you can use)

We did one after dinner, and I think people enjoyed it. I know I enjoy watching them at weddings. and I actually dont like when its just playing somewhere in the background, cause i feel like Im to busy chatting with people or doing something else to sit and watch the whole thing. or, i feel weird just standing there and watching the whole thing when no one else is

1. Is the idea tacky? Will people think it's silly or not want to watch it?

I personally don't think its tacky at all. People love it, All weddings I've been to had a slideshow We are having one too, and also maybe showing a clip of the proposal

2. If I do it, when should it be shown? Cocktail hour? Right before or after dinner?

After dinner is a great time

3. What kinds of pictures should I include? I'm thinking a handful of me as a child, a handful of my fiance as a child, a few of each of us with our parents (his dad passed away, and I know pictures like that would mean a lot to him), and then some of us together. I was thinking the last picture of the 2 of us could have a message like, "thank you for sharing our wedding day, and helping us to start our new life together" overlaid on top of the picture.

Include pics of you both as children, with family, with your friends(guest are happy when they see pics of them with you) & finally both of you together.

Lots of people do this.

My cousin did hers while they were outside doing pics.

Cont'

Include some engagement pics also. It could last a whole song, if you want. 3min long is good. Doing the toast right after is special too, because it gets them in the mood to hear or see more of you both, I can't explain it hehe The mood is just right I've seen them set it up from the laptop, to the projector, & from the projector onto the screen! That's all i can think of for now lol

I'm going to do this, perhaps during the cocktail hour or right after dinner is served. That might give us time to actually sit down and eat since I have heard so many couples don't even get to eat! We have the start of it on our website... that so many of my guest have not looked at (oh, that's another vent for another day). So I am going to finish it up with some pics of us with our families and friends (like someone mentioned above, the wedding guests love to see themselves in the pictures) and then our epics, which very few people have seen yet.

People love it..to a point (lol) I really like it, but if it's too long it gets pretty boring..so just watch for that..I've seen one played at cocktail hour when we were waiting too long for them to get back from pictures..so just keep that in mind.

I've shot a wedding where they had two large flat screen LCDs playing a slideshow of their engagement photos (no music) and then after people ate, they played the actual slideshow.

My only tip is not to make the slideshow play for too long otherwise people will start to lose attention.

I always enjoyed these types of slideshows at wedding and had one played at our wedding. We played it after dinner and speechs but before we cut the cake. I think if you want to make a presentation out of it then to keep it fairly short...no longer than 3 songs. We did my pictures set to 1 song, his pictures set to a 2nd song and our pictures together set to a 3rd song.

I don't think it is tacky at all. However, I do think it should be shown at a time when the guests need to be occupied, or can choose whether they would like to watch it or not. For example, you could put it off to the side so guests can watch while waiting in line for a buffet or the guest book. You could also put it on a big screen, and have it run during the cocktail or dinner hours. I think it is important that guests are not wasting precious party time watching a video.

Sincethe majority of our guests are people we ride with, we are doing a slide show of our rides, a handful of childhood pics and a handful of pics with the family members attending. Guests love to see themselves. I am setting it up on a lap top, in the lobby, where our guest book will be. We are including this framed quote and these stills of our family members. There will be small tags identifying the family so that our riding guests know who is whom.

We had one at our rehearsal dinner, and our guests LOVED it! While probably a little longer than the average slideshow, it's done a little differently and we got a lot of compliments on it. Take a look at it here on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6t8ttYnfQ8

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