Make Your Speech or Toasts EXTRAordinary

    

                   (picture taken from an actual Top Notch wedding- Photo credited to Hilary Mercer Photography)


Why be Ordinary when you can be EXTRAordinary right? Why not apply that same philosophy to your event as well. Top Notch is consistently looking for techniques, ideas and props to make our events stand out and be memorable. This past weekend's wedding of Eric and Leslie Jones supplied me with a great idea for future speeches, toasts, and presentations. It made such an impact that I felt compelled to share it with all of you, my readers. Although a toasts or a speech at event is necessary, it can often be perceived as one of the less exciting times of an event. However, the example below is certainly not the case regarding Saturday's wedding.

Prior to start of the ceremony, Leslie's maid of honor introduced herself and described that she had specific requirements from me, the DJ to ensure that her toasts went accordingly. After nearly a week of planning, the maid of honor had prepared a soundtrack of popular song samples and sounds that were coordinated to play along with her speech. Top Notch has certainly met these demands for maids of honor before, as they have requested for the DJ to play a certain song as a memoir to the bride such as “Here is a clip of the bride and me back in 7^th grade singing Spice Girls”. However, this particular toasts was different. It was creative, it was humorous, and had every guests members attention as they eagerly awaited in anticipation for the next “tune” to play. The bridesmaid had brilliantly chosen specific songs to fulfill her words in her speech. Examples that I can recall were the following

“Eric as a single gentleman would go out on a Friday and Saturday night to his favorite local hang out, I'm sure he thought “I Love This Bar”. The lyrics to Toby Keith's popular song “I Love This Bar” were then played in place of the her stating the exact words.

Other examples include

“When Leslie and Eric found each other, they both were thinking “At Last” by Etta James was then played

“Then along came their first baby which clearly made them say “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns n Roses was then played

The idea was brilliant, but also got me thinking, what other “twists” can be placed here to make a toasts, or speech stand out? Perhaps a dance to music? A Slideshow or filmstrip from a lost relative or friend who couldn't be present at the event? Or even a similar speech coordinated to music like the example mentioned above. With a little bit of planning and creative brainstorming, the possibilities of making the “toasts” or speeches stand out at your next event could be the one factor that all of the guests will be talking about and remembering for years to come.