The Best Wedding Reception Ever! [Perfect Paperback]

Peter Merry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 2007

If you could only choose 3 words to describe your dream reception...WHAT 3 WORDS would you choose? If one of your top choices was...FUN...then this book was written just for you! For years the bridal magazines, wedding planning books, and wedding focused TV programs have explored every facet of wedding celebrations except for one...the FUN. Brides are being told to shop for "Music," and then when their wedding reception arrives, they suddenly realize what they really needed was talented and appropriate entertainment. In this ground breaking book, Peter Merry will shine a light on the subject of creating fun and entertaining wedding receptions. You will learn how to find the right vendors who know how to deliver unforgettably entertaining receptions. You will discover how to map out an agenda that will flow smoothly while encouraging guest involvement. You will also explore creative ideas for creating memorable moments that can be personalized to fit your style and unique sensibilities so your reception can truly be "The Best Wedding Reception...Ever!" *Personalizing the Wedding Party's Grand Entrance *Creative Ways to Liven Up the Dinner Hour *The True Value of Money Dance/Dollar Dance *Memorable Father/Daughter Dance Moments *Last Dance Endings: Forgettable vs. Unforgettable *Tips on Finding Your Perfect Reception Location *Regional Considerations for Your Timeline *The Value of Preparing a Good Plan "B" *Mapping Out a Realistic Budget for Your Needs *Simple Methods for Creating Guest Involvement

Editorial Reviews

Review

Peter Merry's ideas for creating fun wedding receptions are the best I have ever seen! --Tom Haibeck, author of "Wedding Toasts Made Easy" and "The Wedding MC"

About the Author

Peter Merry has been helping couples create fun and entertaining wedding receptions since 1992. During the last decade he has presented seminars on wedding entertainment performance techniques, wedding marketing, sales consultation skills and the value of solid standards and ethics in business. These seminars have have been presented for wedding entertainers in over 40 cities across the United States. He has also frequently been asked to speak locally and nationally for various professional associations and conferences, such as: ABC (Association of Bridal Consultants), ISES (International Special Events Society), NACE (National Association of Catering Executives), WMBA (Wedding Merchants Business Academy), and AFWPI (Association for Wedding Professionals International). He served as the 2003-2004 National ADJA (American Disc Jockey Association) President. He currently serves his clients as thier Wedding Entertainment Director via his exclusive entertainment company, Merry Weddings, Inc. His varied entertainment background also includes years of public speaking and teaching classes at Saddleback Church, serving as a "Morning Host" for KBRT AM 740, hosting and engineering his own Talk Radio Show on KBRT and performing Stand-Up Comedy at the Improv. He was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and he currently lives with his wife, Lisa, in Ladera Ranch, California. He is also the proud step-father of Eric and Jason Lovato. Peter's infectious passion for creating memorable moments at weddings has caused many to affectionately refer to him as "the fun wedding guy!"

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Merry Weddings, Inc.; 1st edition (February 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1424331781
• ISBN-13: 978-1424331789
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and much needed tips for a successful wedding reception, April 22, 2007

By 

Benny Choi (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Best Wedding Reception Ever! (Perfect Paperback)

My fiance and I are experiencing a bit of a role reversal, in that I am in the minority of grooms, one who is the primary planner/coordinator of our upcoming wedding. My fiance has great taste and is involved with all major decisions, but is also an extremely busy professional, so I was happy to step up as the experienced party planner, doing the homework and pre-negotiating with vendors, before my fiance and I together make final selections of vendors and the plan. However, I had never planned a wedding before, so I've bought many books and read lots of websites and paged through many magazines (I don't think I can look at another magazine ad of a bride-model laying horizontal on a couch without snickering). Virtually everything is written for the bride who typically plans the wedding - which to me means there is a heavy emphasis on decorations and flowers and invitations and linens and color schemes... it was all driving me crazy as a guy trying to put together a wedding plan that is simply fun and action oriented, while still allows for nice things. I've attended many dozens of weddings over the years and I've kept an eye on what makes weddings enjoyable and memorable: keep it festive, keep guests involved, and make sure there is time for the happy couple to spend time with each of the guests. I never saw any correlation with the size of the party, the location, the decorations, even the food quality (and I'm a big foodie), with how successful and fun the wedding was. Given this perspective, I looked and looked for wedding planning advice in all the books and magazines and websites, hoping to find action oriented advice for having a festive wedding reception - frankly, I found little useful advice. Finally, just three months before our upcoming wedding, I have found the book I really needed - on the recommendation of a wedding DJ friend (who lives and works in another state), I ordered Peter Merry's book, which I have found to be chock full of actionable ideas from an experienced wedding DJ/entertainment director. He focuses on the concept of entertainment and leaves decorations and other more frivolous things to the other books. He is a welcome voice, a rare male perspective in wedding planning books, that a planning groom, and presumably planning brides as well, needs. I've already made adjustments to the reception agenda and found validation with some activity ideas we already had in place. Rest assured, there will be great food and many touches of elegance in the design of our wedding, but I am now more confident as ever we will have a truly festive wedding with Peter Merry's advice influencing our plan. Many thanks to the author - the advice is easily 10 times worth the cover price of the book. I strongly recommend this book to anyone planning their wedding.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Wedding Reception Planner Ever!, April 30, 2007

By 

Amy E "Ames" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Wedding Reception Ever! (Perfect Paperback)

As not only an event coordinator, but a bride-to-be I found this book extremely helpful. After having experience as a wedding planner I didn't think that I needed any reading materials to help plan my reception. I'm so grateful to have received this book as a gift! There are so many awesome ideas and tips that I'm excited to use or create my own spin off.
Another nice thing about this is that it's broken down so it's really easy to find what you want. So even if you don't think you want to read all of it, it's not an issue to go through and find the things that you need the most guidance on.
Be sure to check this book out. It will be one of the best wedding planning tools that you can get!

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good for a Large Wedding with an MC/DJ; Not as Good for the Small Budget Wedding, August 3, 2008

By 

Eva - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Best Wedding Reception Ever! (Perfect Paperback)

Useful if you are planning a large wedding reception. Very useful if you can afford to hire a super talented DJ/MC and/or a band (as Chapter 7 will scare you away from any other option).

However, for the "intimate wedding" or "destination wedding", like the one I am planning, the book is not as helpful. With a budget of <$10K, only about 40 guests attending, 1 bridesmaid and 1 best man, and guests who would leave a reception rather than run the risk of being singled out to play a game or dance, I did not find a lot of useful tips in the book.

On a positive note, there was one example in the book that included a wedding without dancing where they filled the time with games, instead (which wouldn't work for guests that are scared off by the threat of public humiliation). Plus, there were a couple of nice sentimental ideas such as the Unity Candle and the Anniversary Time Capsule, where the guests filled out advice cards to be placed into a metal container and opened on the couple's 25 wedding anniversary. But those ideas comprised about 3 pages of the book and many of the other suggestions needed an MC to execute.

I still think you can have the best wedding reception...ever! without having a large guest-list, large budget, dancing, games and an MC. Perhaps there are restaurants that specialize in this kind of thing? Perhaps providing icebreakers at the table? Perhaps, if the wedding is small, a large dining table that everyone sits at so everyone feels included? However, you won't find ideas for that kind of wedding in this book.

My advice to you if you are not planning to have a DJ/MC or you have a quiet family is to either avoid the book altogether, or go to a bookstore and flip through it for the occasional sentimental idea to incorporate into your ceremony.