Ten years ago, I attended my cousin’s Hawaii wedding as a guest. It was gorgeous reception at the Halekulani. The room was elaborately decorated, and my cousin spared no expense making the ballroom look magnificent.
Sometime during dinner, the unexpected occurred: my cousin’s wedding ring slipped off her finger. She, her wedding party, and the families looked all over the ballroom trying to find this very expensive piece of jewelry.
And the guests? We sat there…and sat…and sat. The emcee made no announcement, and no one told us about the delay. So we sat. And sat some more. After 45 minutes of searching, they fortunately found the ring under the head table stage. But with the delay in the presentation, the guests had grown restless, and as soon as dinner ended, many of the guests found it as an appropriate time to leave. So there were only a few of us to see my cousin cut her cake, toss her bouquet, and dance her First Dance.
If the guests were properly engaged during the momentary break in the presentation, they might have felt involved and been more inclined to stay. But alas, the break allowed people to get bored, and when you get bored, you probably would want to leave the situation at the next polite opportunity, wouldn’t you?
So it was with some incredible irony that many years later, I found myself back at the Halekulani for Maren & Erik’s Hawaii wedding in October 2006, but this time, instead of a guest, I was the Master of Ceremonies for their event. Like my cousin’s wedding 10 years ago, Maren accidentally lost her wedding ring somewhere in the Grand Ballroom. Like my cousin’s wedding, Maren had 250 friends & family at the reception, and Erik, Maren, and I did not want their audience to get bored as Maren, Erik, and their families searched for the ring.
So what did I do to keep the party going? I assessed the situation and made it into the positive by involving the audience in a Scavenger Hunt. I would ask for objects, and guests needed to find those objects, collect them, and place them in front of them at their table. To win, the guests needed to collect ALL of the items; if they are even missing one, they can no longer play. So I chose items that are commonly found among the guests or in the ballroom:
- A fork
- A napkin
- A watch
- An earring (it was funny to see some ladies take off both earrings and give one to their hubby or boyfriend so he would still be in the game!)
- Anything with a lens (camera, eyeglasses, shades, etc.)
- And so forth.
So as Erik, Maren, and their families searched for the ring, the guests were preoccupied and having a great time!
After everyone had collected their items, there was one final challenge. I told the guests that there is a wedding ring that is special to Erik & Maren somewhere on the floor of the ballroom, and if a guest found it, they would instantly win, even if they were missing an object!
Immediately EVERYBODY got down and searched for the ring! Two-hundred fifty guests searched every inch of the Grand Ballroom looking for Maren’s wedding ring, until finally the groom’s uncle found it by the door. Success!
In the end, the Scavenger Hunt was one of the highlights of the celebration, and today Erik & Maren still get many compliments about how the “missing ring drama” was handled!
What could have been a disaster, with the audience sitting bored and waiting for things to happen, instead turned into a fun and lively event that kept the energy and momentum going until we were ready to continue with the presentation.
When you meet with your potential emcee for your wedding, ask him what he’ll do if you lose your ring on your wedding day, or if the power goes out during the reception, or if you get delayed to the party because the limo breaks down. Listen to his answers to how he would react. You see, anyone can host the perfect wedding reception if everything runs perfectly. But you know that nothing is perfect. Will your emcee know how to react when the unexpected occurs?
Now that’s a great question.
written by Marino_NinjaEntertainment
\\ tags: 2006, Advice, erik, halekulani, maren, october, preparation, stressfree, unxpected, wedding