Wedding slideshow

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

The agonizing part for me is always been the moment where they go to present and the slideshow/computer/projector/operator don't know how to make it work for 10 minutes. Probably 9 out of 10 weddings i've been to. Just skip it, and let people browse a photo album if interested.

When it's done well it's the life of the party! It can be an emotional roller coaster that people can remember for a long time. The problem is that everyone and their dog tries to do it and it's just pictures lined up. That's where the story comes in. Then it's entertainment! People laugh!

I remember this one time where the groom forgot his outfit because they went out drinking the night before. Well I got pictures of that and built a funny intro of the drinking then the painful morning the day of the wedding then the admission that they forgot the grooms clothes! It was a hit! Everyone loved it and it was about 12 minutes long because I included embarrassing pictures and loving pictures and pictures of the families lost... It CAN be a fantastic experience but like anything it's not a bunch of pictures in a row. It's a story that you tell people.

All this forget it and be done people have no fn' clue and are just thinking about themselves. Entertain the people! Celebrate your life! Tell them what's happened! Tell them funny stories! The embarrassing stories. The sad stories! It's a wedding so play with the strings! Help the bridesmaids and the groomsmen have some sex that night!

[calgarywinning]

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

When it's done well it's the life of the party! It can be an emotional roller coaster that people can remember for a long time. The problem is that everyone and their dog tries to do it and it's just pictures lined up. That's where the story comes in. Then it's entertainment! People laugh!

I remember this one time where the groom forgot his outfit because they went out drinking the night before. Well I got pictures of that and built a funny intro of the drinking then the painful morning the day of the wedding then the admission that they forgot the grooms clothes! It was a hit! Everyone loved it and it was about 12 minutes long because I included embarrassing pictures and loving pictures and pictures of the families lost... It CAN be a fantastic experience but like anything it's not a bunch of pictures in a row. It's a story that you tell people.

All this forget it and be done people have no fn' clue and are just thinking about themselves. Entertain the people! Celebrate your life! Tell them what's happened! Tell them funny stories! The embarrassing stories. The sad stories! It's a wedding so play with the strings! Help the bridesmaids and the groomsmen have some sex that night!

You view this and approach it as entertainment. I agree a 100%. Most of the time though it's not carried off in this manner. It's some sappy songs with poorly scanned images barely put together. Can you tell me you haven't been at a wedding where they fumble to make the connection to the projector and then the windows computer doesn't work?

What you are talking about is a very expensive project or having someone very talented that views it as entertainment.

Your passion is clear, a poignant presentation can be good and heart stringing. In my experience 99.9% of the time it's just not that way, which is why I made the comment.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Originally Posted by calgarywinning

You view this and approach it as entertainment. I agree a 100%. Most of the time though it's not carried off in this manner. It's some sappy songs with poorly scanned images barely put together. Can you tell me you haven't been at a wedding where they fumble to make the connection to the projector and then the windows computer doesn't work?

What you are talking about is a very expensive project or having someone very talented that views it as entertainment.

Your passion is clear, a poignant presentation can be good and heart stringing. In my experience 99.9% of the time it's just not that way, which is why I made the comment.

It's what I do. Not just weddings, but that's what I do to pay some bills in slow times. There is a formula and you should get a pro to do it. They are hard to find however. If you don't it is amateur much like you said. The op said he'd rather just thank people and be done with it, so going in his heart isn't in it and he shouldn't do it. He's asking people to pay attention to something for a specific amount of time and if it's just pictures moving in a row than he is wasting peoples celebration (drinking) time...

There is a choice - elope (spend next to nothing) or spend the coin and have a traditional wedding. I choose elope and have a simple party after, but that rarely happens. So, if your traditionally wedding it, do it right and don't expect people to watch something created with half a heart.

[calgarywinning]

You are speaking my language. Trust me.

[To Be Quite Honest]

Probably... I'm a bit lit.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Saying don't use a slideshow because I've seen them suck is like saying don't use an emcee for the reception because I've seen them suck.

If you remember to keep it entertaining and engaging it'll be fine.

If you just throw it together willynilly (like anything in life) it'll likely suck.

Make sure you do a runthrough first. Play it at the venue the day before or get the DJ to do it. Someone, don't have show time be the trial run.

[taco.vidal]

My two biggest suggestions would be:
-keep the inside jokes to minimal. You and an inner circle of friends may find it amusing but outsiders may finding it boring or even confounding.
-do a dry run in front of an outsider such as a coworker. That person will be able to tell you if they understand what you are talking about and find it entertaining or if it seems like you need to be in the bride or grooms inner circle for the stories to make sense.

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Saying don't use a slideshow because I've seen them suck is like saying don't use an emcee for the reception because I've seen them suck.

If you remember to keep it entertaining and engaging it'll be fine.

If you just throw it together willynilly (like anything in life) it'll likely suck.

Make sure you do a runthrough first. Play it at the venue the day before or get the DJ to do it. Someone, don't have show time be the trial run.

[GreenLantern]

One thing I love about CP is you are always going to get a lot of different views, even those of a drunk professional! Thanks for all the tips guys, lots of good info here.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Inside jokes are one of those things that you can throw one into a speech/slideshow but just one.

You need to keep it general enough so grandma can understand, as well as co-workers spouses.

Any inside joke should be done in passing so if it flops it seems like part of the plan.

[Derek Sutton]

For the Bride- Girls Just wanna have Fun
For the Groom- Bad to the Bone
For both- Happy

three songs less then 10 minutes, everyone pukes.

[stampsx2]

Slideshows? Booooooring.

A good way to kill a party. I can't believe people still do that. Throw in some inside jokes and really make your guests feel like their not part of the celebration. A bad dj will be the icing on the cake and make sure your wedding is a forgetable one.

Can you imagine inviting your friends, over to your place to have a party, we're going to look at pictures and tell jokes that none of you were there for.

If there's one thing europeans do better than us it's throw a wedding party.

[Bigtime]

If you've got the audio-visual system setup why not just have a slideshow running during the dinner?

Wedding I was at a few weeks ago did that, plus also was showing pics of out of town guests with the location they came from on Google maps. Kind of cool.

[rd_aaron]

We just had a basic slideshow showing pictures of us before the ceremony so that people in the church had something to look at. We didn't even have a projector during the reception/dinner.

I would just run it in the background during dinner, if anything. If they want something formal, keep it to 5 mins.

[OutOfTheCube]

We had a slideshow. My parents and I are paying a hundred + dollars for each person to be there, you can sit through my damn slideshow.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

We had a slideshow. My parents and I are paying a hundred + dollars for each person to be there, you can sit through my damn slideshow.

Fine. As long as it's not more than 5 minutes.

[OutOfTheCube]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

Fine. As long as it's not more than 5 minutes.

I just checked, ours was ten minutes. A lot of it has to do with pacing though -- a lot of sideshows they linger on each picture for 5-10 seconds each and that's dull. You need to have 3 seconds max on each picture to hold interest.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

We had a slideshow. My parents and I are paying a hundred + dollars for each person to be there, you can sit through my damn slideshow.

That's a tad bit aggressive.

Next wedding I'm invited to I'm going to leave the cheque for the bride and groom blank, for each minute over 5 on the slideshow I start deducting $10 from the amount I was going to give them.