Conversation Starters

                                                              

      Top Notch has been busy gearing up for Wedding Season 2015! Therefore, it is standard procedure to schedule free consultations with all of our wedding clients. It was during a recent one of these consultations when the bride and groom mentioned that their wedding will have“Assigned Seating” for guests. The concept of assigned seating is very common, and may help create a more structured affair for the cocktail hour and dinner portion of the wedding reception (as it avoids guests moving from table to table and scrambling for seats when dinner is served) however, in this specific scenario, the bride and groom further mentioned, that their guests may not necessarily be familiar with each other at each table. Coincidentally, during this consultation the bride and groom both looked at each other while conversing over certain guests they had invited and stated the following “we've invited (insert name here) and also (insert other name here) which will most likely be sitting down together, and they don't know each other so we don't know what they will talk about but I'm sure they'll be ok”. That specific statement led to today's blog post. Seeing how I personally have been “that guests” assigned to sit with complete strangers, I felt compelled to address the issue. A fantastic idea for future brides and grooms that may be faced with this issue, is to simply provide “conversation starters” on the tables. These items can be in the form of table topic cards simply placed on each table prior to the wedding, printed on guests napkins, or even placed in a jar at each guests tables (see picture) There is also the “Guesterly guide” which is a great tool guests can use prior to the wedding to familiarize themselves with other attendees (see more about guesterly here www.guesterly.com). Below I have posted some of the most popular conversation starters.

1. When was the last time you attended a wedding? Who was it that was getting married?
2. When you've been invited to a wedding, do you go out and buy a suit/dress and/or a pair of shoes for the occasion? Why do some people feel that they have to do this?
3. What do guests at each table have in common? One can actually make this a guessing game for other guests to determine who at the table shares a commonality with them (such as went to the same college, plays the same sport, works in the same field/industry, etc)
4. “What do you do” or what is your occupation (A common question which will inevitably arise) can be switched around to ask “What has been your least favorite job?
5. What is your favorite wedding song that you hope the DJ or Band plays?
6. Do you know how the groom proposed to the bride or how they met?
7. Who do you spy right now that you think may either be a great dancer and/or drunk by the end of the evening?
8. What is your favorite memory or experience with the bride and/or groom?
9. Do you think the bride and groom will have children? If so, what should they name their first child?
10. Where should the bride and groom go on their 5^th anniversary or 10^th anniversary or even honeymoon?

There are a number of resources available online which lists alternative questions are great tools for locating additional conversational starters for your wedding. Of course, this concept does not have to apply to weddings only. The questions can be altered and applied to Christmas parties, bridal showers, corporate parties, etc. The trick is simply get creative with the idea and the questions to insure your guests begin chatting and become more comfortable with the other attendees at the wedding. A few additional sites/links are listed below for further research and ideas. Have a great weekend guys and thanks again for reading!

Additional sites.

http://www.magnetstreet.com/wedding-blog/conversation-starter-ideas

http://somethingturquoise.com/2012/06/15/diy-conversation-starter-mason-jar/

http://blog.myweddingreceptionideas.com/2011/06/things-i-love-conversation-starter.html