Frequently Answered Questions - Simon Jordan, Pianist

A wedding pianist is a pianist who specialises in playing at weddings. The pianist knows what and when to play, and is part of a team of suppliers working for you, not a prima donna performer.

A wedding pianist will play music with a romantic theme and they will play a range of music that appeals to guests of a variety of ages from your preferred genres (classical / jazz / modern).

You wouldn’t want your guests to be bored by long and tedious classical piano music, confused by complicated jazz solos or uninterested with modern piano songs that only the teenagers would know.

A wedding pianist has experience in playing music that your guests will recognise and they have spent a lot of time putting together a set of music that will make the day feel even more romantic and special.

Most wedding pianists will be more than happy to learn requests for your wedding because they understand the importance of adding a personal touch to the music.

As a pianist you can specialise in various areas: concerts and recitals, live bands, shows and musicals, recording music in studios, teaching, accompanying other musicians, ballet and dance, playing in bars and pubs, etc. Simon Jordan specialises in all of these and has decades of experience playing at venues such as the Royal Festival Hall.

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Digital pianos are designed to replicate the sound of a real piano. Keyboards are designed to play a range of different sounds, effects and rhythms. All of Simon’s digital pianos have the full range of 88 keys (the same amount of notes as a real piano) and many of them have wooden keys with a weighted action so that the feel of pressing a note on the digital piano is the same as on a real piano.

This means that Simon can play the same pieces of music that he could play on a real piano. The sound of the digital piano depends on the quality of the instrument – just as a cheap real piano will sound horrible, a cheap digital piano will sound horrible too. Simon uses top of the range Roland professional instruments that sound absolutely beautiful. You can listen his recordings made using his digital pianos.

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The cost of a wedding pianist is the same for every day of the year and for every venue with the exception of bank holidays, when a small increase is applied.

You can book a wedding pianist for the ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast, turnaround period or any combination of these.

Simon performs regularly across England and Wales and this means that your event should always be within a reasonable driving distance of one of his bases. 

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The short answer is yes, you can still have a wedding pianist.

Simon has a selection of professional digital pianos that he can bring to your wedding venue and this is included in the standard price of a wedding pianist. Simon has been recommended by both Roland and Yamaha (the best digital piano manufacturers). Simon’s digital pianos sound just like a concert grand piano and every note will sound as stylish and beautiful as you would expect from an acoustic instrument.

You can keep the look of a grand piano by hiring Simon to play with his Dutchgrand piano shell.

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If your venue has a traditional real grand piano then the volume of the piano music will depend on the instrument and the size of the room.

If Simon Jordan is using a professional keyboard then the volume of piano music can be controlled so that it is just right.

The piano music will be loud enough to float around the gardens/rooms of your venue so that all of your guests can hear the music and it will be quiet enough for your friends and family to chat without struggling to hear each other.

The piano is a really versatile instrument and it is absolutely perfect for background music at a wedding.

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Simon Jordan has bases in the Home Counties and the South West, with easy travel to all areas of the UK. He plays for a lot of weddings in the surrounding counties of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, London, Somerset, Avon, Surrey and Kent. Simon works regularly for weddings in London, Midlands, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottinghamshire, Glasgow, Bristol and Oxfordshire.

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Your wedding guests will be able to talk comfortably whilst enjoying the piano music. The piano is a beautiful instrument. When it is played sensitively, it forms a lovely backdrop to conversations in sophisticated and romantic settings.

There is a long standing history of high-end restaurants and hotels using live piano music to create a really special environment for afternoon teas and fine dining. The UK’s most famous restaurants have a live pianist playing background music – Harrods, the Dorchester Hotel, the Ritz and the Savoy. Simon Jordan has played regularly at the Dorchester, in particular.

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As a special request Simon can offer this service to customers at a cost of £50 per track. If you would like to request a song to be recorded please use the contact form to make an enquiry.

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Simon Jordan has played the piano since age six (and the violin since age 5). He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won a major music prize, and performed at the Royal Festival Hall at the young age of 14.

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Simon Jordan plays mostly at private events – weddings, parties, business events and other specialist performances – unfortunately, he cannot invite you to somebody else’s event!

However, it is completely understandable that you would want to hear and see Simon playing the piano before you book them for your wedding, so Simon can make the following options available to you.

You can meet Simon and audition him on Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp or Zoom, listen to a multitude of recordings on this website, watch videos on YouTube or come and meet me at a local wedding fair.

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Simon owns four state-of-the-art professional keyboards for weddings and these keyboards are included free of charge in all of his piano packages.

The majority of performances he gives use Roland and Yamaha professional keyboards and these instruments are designed and built to sound exactly the same as a real piano.

When you book Simon to play for your wedding, he will bring one of these (or maybe more, if your event layout demands it for venues that have multiple rooms – because you can have different keyboards set up in different areas of your venue.

Simon also possesses a state-of-the-art Dutchgrand Piano Shell..

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It is much cheaper to hire a digital grand piano than a traditional acoustic grand piano, it is easier to transport and set up and it will sound just as good.

Simon can put you in contact with a range of local suppliers that he recommends, but it will be up to you to make arrangements with them as you know the demands of your venue.

Or you can hire Simon and his DutchGrand to play for you!

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Simon Jordan’s performances are covered by £1,000,000 public liability insurance and all of his equipment is regularly PAT tested.

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Simon currently has  bookings in the diary for weddings that are in two years’ time.

He finds that couples who have seen him playing at a friend or relative’s wedding tend to book as soon as possible to make sure that he is definitely available.

If you are getting married between May and September, Simon recommends that you book your wedding pianist at least a year in advance, in order to make sure that he is available for your wedding.

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Simon has wide experience in playing many different styles of music. Part of the requirements of a good wedding pianist is that they can play lots of different styles to represent people’s varying tastes, and those of your guests, and the pianist must be able to adapt his playing styles to play everything from Bach to Beyonce to Bollywood.

Styles of piano music could include: classical, jazz, music from films, indie, the great American songbook, music from musicals, pop songs and chart hits arranged for piano, 90s dance music played in a chill-out style, etc.

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Yes, please make contact with Simon and have a (free) Skype session with him so you can start to think about what music works best for you!

If you have a favourite song that you would like to have played on the piano for your wedding ceremony then why not drop me an email with your ideas?

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Simon is often asked by couples who have booked him to arrange a piano instrumental version of their favourite song especially for them. Requests have ranged from love songs and chart hits to rock and UK garage.

Simon will make every effort to learn a piano cover of “your song” – even if it has not been done before.

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A piano arrangement of a song will always sound different from the original, but the live music will add an extra special sense of occasion and intimacy that you cannot get from a recorded track.

Live piano music will be able to give you that “spine tingling” sensation as you walk down the aisle towards your other half.

Please contact Simon and he will be happy to play a sample of how your chosen song will sound played on the piano.

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Simon has previously accompanied over 100 singers for ceremonies. It is not at all a problem and he will talk to the singer in advance and arrange a rehearsal on the day if that is possible.

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Sometimes Simon is asked if the bride or groom’s friend can play a special piece for them. Would it be OK for them to use his piano?

He is happy to trust your judgement about your friend’s piano playing and would love to help you with such a special request.

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In the summer, Simon often plays outside for the drinks reception. It is really lovely to hear the sound of live piano music drifting through the courtyards and across the gardens at your wedding venue.

You should consider that Simon will need a safe supply of electricity, and should ideally be playing in a spot that is sheltered from the wind.

Simon will check the Met Office weather forecast on the day of the wedding and if he feels that it is likely to start raining, then he will set up the piano inside with speakers positioned so that you can still hear the piano music outside.

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A wedding pianist like Simon Jordan regularly plays the piano for extended periods of time without any breaks.

He is more than happy to play without any breaks – unless, of course, he needs to answer the call of nature!

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You can be sure that Simon will be dressed smartly for your wedding. He will wear a suit, a waistcoat, or a shirt and tie set.

For more formal occasions, Simon is more than happy for you to request that he wears wear black tie, or alternatively dress in a more relaxed way as required.

For themed weddings, Simon will make every effort to fit in with the theme. 

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If Simon is taken ill on the morning of a wedding, he will contact you and also one of four or five colleagues, all of whom he personally recommends.

This gives him time to prepare the other musician with all the information they need to play at the wedding instead.

All of the music requests, venue details and logistics of the day are kept on a spreadsheet and will be emailed over to the replacement musician.

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(Don’t forget to ask the same question to your photographer, videographer, toastmaster, magician, etc.)

For all weddings, please provide your pianist with soft drinks. In most situations, the pianist is able to ask a passing waiter for a glass of water and this is more than adequate.

If you book a pianist to play for the ceremony, drinks reception and wedding breakfast (over 5 hours of continuous piano playing), or if the pianist is booked to play for the ceremony and wedding breakfast and is unable to leave to eat a meal in-between, please provide the pianist with a main course or a plate of sandwiches.

Our pianist will eat this when they have finished playing for your wedding – at the end of the wedding breakfast (during the speeches).

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Simon’s digital pianos and electrical equipment are regularly PAT tested yearly and he is happy to email proof of PAT testing to your venue if they require this information.

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It depends on the size of the room. Simon has seen and heard other wedding pianists playing for large weddings with only one set of speakers. The result is the people next to the wedding pianist are deafened by the volume of the piano and the people at the other side of the room cannot hear the piano at all.

In large rooms a consistent volume can be kept across the whole room by setting up multiple sets of speakers across the room, so that everyone can hear the pianist at a suitable volume.

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Simon has never yet had a problem fitting his piano into a wedding venue.

A wedding pianist can fit comfortably between the back row of chairs and the rear wall in most ceremony rooms.

The width of the digital pianos that he uses is between 130-150cm and the depth from the front of the piano to the back of the piano stool is between 90-100cm.

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When you book with an agency – and Simon is represented by several – the company will always take a premium. Book Simon direct and you can normally get a better deal – and direct day-to-day interaction with Simon, rather than a team of agents and handlers.

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Simon often plays during for church ceremonies and is able to offer several options to ensure that you are offered the best choice for your requirements.

The first option is that Simon will bring his keyboard into the church and play this during the service, as he would at any venue.

Alternatively your church may have an organist that you must use for certain parts of the ceremony, such as the hymns. In this case, Simon will play your procession music, as well as the songs for the signing of the register and the recession song and the church’s organist will play the hymns.

Alternatively you may want Simon to play the organ for your entire service, and that is easy for Simon has he trained as an organ scholar for Oxford university. There really is an option for every eventuality.

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Yes – Simon often gets requests to play at weddings where the theme of the day and the music match, such as musicals, Disney or jazz to name but a few. Simon is able to offer you complete flexibility and freedom when choosing your song requests. Simon has built up an impressive repertoire and has hundreds of songs from every imaginable genre to offer you the perfect playlist for your day and theme.

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Simon encourages you to ask him for requests during the day. He distributes song request cards onto the tables before the wedding breakfast, which can be left with him before or during the meal. If he does not have the song, he can plug into the venue wifi and download the sheet music himself. 

It is a great way to interact with Simon on the day and appreciate the versatility of what he can do. It also really impresses your guests when they can have a song that is special to them played with no prior warning! Simon loves to receive requests on the day.

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Simon Jordan will always arrive one hour before he is due to begin playing, so that he has the time needed to set up, park, be shown the areas he will be performing in (if it is a new venue) and sound check before you or your guests arrive.

If Simon is using his own keyboard/s for the wedding, then this can be set up within 10 minutes per location.

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Your wedding ceremony is the single most important part of your wedding day. It is during the wedding ceremony that you will become a married couple and it is at this moment that your life together truly begins.

In a mixed-sex couple it is traditional for the bride and groom to spend the night before the wedding and the morning of their wedding apart from each other – to be joined together again when the bride walks down the aisle at the start of the wedding ceremony.

Setting the Mood for Your Guests

All of your wedding guests will be really keen to arrive in plenty of time for your wedding ceremony. This is a really exciting moment for them as well and you can be sure that they will arrive at your wedding venue ahead of time. It is quite normal for guests to start arriving up to 30 minutes (and sometimes even an hour) before the start of the wedding ceremony. During this time, it is traditional for the bride to be adding the final touches to her hair and make up or driving to the venue and the groom is likely to be making the final arrangements at the venue. These can include sorting pinning on button holes, trying to remember how to tie a cravat, running over final plans with the venue staff and speaking to the registrars.

This means that your guests will largely be left unattended to make themselves at home somewhere at the venue. Most venues do not serve any alcoholic drinks before the start of the ceremony (due to licensing rules) and you will want to avoid leaving your friends and family with nothing to do. You can hire a wedding pianist to play romantic background music as your guests arrive. Music is used by the best directors in films and movies to create an atmosphere and set the mood for the story that is about to unfold and at your wedding you can do the same. In fact, you can do this even better, as live music is countless times more emotional and romantic than a CD/mp3 soundtrack.

You want to set the mood for your guests so that when they arrive at your wedding venue after a long drive, they feel relaxed and well looked after. Live piano music will help them forget about the queues on the motorway, it will make them smile and it will focus their attention on your wedding so that they can really start to get excited about your wedding ceremony.

Impatience, Nerves and Excitement

Simon meets a lot of grooms at wedding fairs, showcases, exhibitions and weddings around the country and in the 10-15mins before the start of their wedding ceremony you see all sorts of different emotions start to kick in.

The other two key emotions that you see are nerves and excitement. Simon has met grooms who are so nervous about standing in front of their friends and family for their wedding ceremony, or grooms who get suddenly really nervous about the enormity of the event. They will stand rooted to the spot, pale as anything! On the other end of the spectrum, you see extreme levels of excitement, pacing around, gibbering chatter and sometimes even tears of joy and last minute sobs / hugs with the best man.

The top and bottom of it is that the 10-15mins before the wedding ceremony are probably going to be one of the most intense experiences of your life so far.

This is where a wedding pianist will really help you out. It can be so calming to have your favourite pieces of music played on the piano as you wait for the wedding ceremony to begin. You can hand pick all of the songs that you find relaxing and send these over to Simon to learn so that on the day of your wedding you stand the best chance of making it to the start of your wedding ceremony in one piece. 

The Most Magical of Entrances

The entrance of the bride is a moment that most women have been dreaming of for years and years and years. It is one true fairytale moment of a lifetime and it is the most magical moment of the whole wedding day. This is the moment where your fiancé, all of your friends and family will see you for the very first time in your wedding dress. WOW – what a moment.

After years of planning, this is what you have been waiting for. A mind blowing wonderful dress, new shoes, beautiful flowers, stunning hair, perfect make up and hours of preparation. This moment has to be perfect.

If your wedding was a piece of cinema, then the director would save the best piece of music for this moment. This is your chance to make an unforgettable impression on your fiancé, to create a memory that you both will cherish for the rest of your lives and you deserve to have your favourite piece of music in the world played on the piano by an incredible wedding pianist. Piano music can set an atmosphere in a handful of carefully played notes and it will heighten the experience of your wedding entrance (and probably make a few people cry with happiness).

Other Key Moments for Music in the Wedding Ceremony

After your wedding entrance, the formalities of your wedding ceremony begin – the marriage service, the ring ceremony, the readings, your promises and your wedding vows. At the end of these formalities you will officially be married!

The celebrations don’t begin straight away, however, as you have to fill out all of the legal paperwork and sign the marriage register. This admin process usually takes 5-10 minutes (depending on how long it takes your photographer to stage all of the photos) and during this time, your guests are left seated with nothing to do. They have to sit and wait until you have finished signing the register.

If you choose not to have any live music during this time then it can really kill the atmosphere as your guests sit in silence with a few occasional whispers. One of the great things about a wedding pianist is that the volume of the piano music can be controlled by the musician so that it is at a perfect level to accompany this part of the ceremony. Your guests will feel less awkward chatting over the top of gentle background music and it gives them something to enjoy during the admin period of your wedding ceremony. You can pick two of your favourite songs and Simon will learn a wedding piano remix version especially for your wedding day.

As soon as the legal paperwork is complete, your wedding ceremony will draw to a close. The final moment of your wedding ceremony is when you walk back down the aisle – this time together as a married couple. You are now married, all the nerves will be gone and they will be replaced with the best feeling of happiness…ever!!

This is where the celebrations start and you should pick a really upbeat song that is going to lift your spirits even further. Let the party begin!!!

The drinks reception is the start of your wedding day celebrations and during this time you will be kept busy by your photographer taking your wedding photos, you will have short conversations with all of your guests who will be dying to wish you congratulations and with any luck you will get to enjoy some lovely champagne and canapés.

Church weddings

If you are getting married at a church then it is likely that you will have a short photo shoot in the churchyard before you head over to your reception venue. If the weather is behaving itself then it can be really nice to use the backdrop of a beautiful church for your group photos. When these photos are coming to an end, your wedding guests will start to make their way over to your wedding reception venue. It is traditional for your wedding guests to arrive at your wedding venue before you so that they can give you a really special welcome when you arrive. Top tip: ask your driver (whether family member or professional chauffeur) to have a drink ready for you for the drive so that you can both have a romantic toast on the way over!

Your wedding guests will arrive at your reception venue in dribs and drabs, gradually congregating in the area that you have chosen for your drinks reception. One of the common mistakes that couples make for this part of the day is that they forget that their guests will be standing around waiting and doing literally nothing for about 20 mins. The venue will often not serve food and drinks until you arrive and this means that your guests are left unattended and with nothing to do. You don’t want your guests to have a bad first impression of your wedding venue and be quiet and subdued – you want them to arrive, be wowed and for a buzz of excitement to be created ready for your grand arrival.

Imagine if your guests arrive at your venue and they find a wedding pianist playing really cool, upbeat arrangements of catchy songs or if they arrive and find a pianist playing stylish and sophisticated cocktail jazz or if they arrive and find a piano player performing romantic classical piano music. You can craft the perfect impression of your wedding venue and set the exact style and mood that you want to create for your guests with a pianist. For example, for a festival themed wedding the pianist could be playing wedding piano remixed of indie and alternative festival anthems or for a wedding in a grand country house the pianist could be playing Gatsby themed swing songs.

Civil ceremonies

If you are having a civil ceremony then it is likely that you will have chosen a wedding venue that allows you to have your wedding ceremony and wedding reception at the same location. Many hotels, country houses, wedding barns and restaurants now have an area of the venue in which you can get married. This means that at the end of your ceremony, you and your guests will already be at your reception venue and the drinks reception will start as soon as the ceremony is finished. In light of this, you want to make sure that your wedding pianist has two professional keyboards so that they can have one set up for your ceremony and another set up for your drinks reception. This means that Simon can move from the ceremony area to the drinks reception area without any delay and can start entertaining your guests without an awkward 15 minute gap while the keyboard is moved.

Spring and Summer drinks reception

In the spring and the summer, it is likely that you are planning to have your drinks reception outside. The UK has a reputation for throwing the best summer garden parties and this is recognised across the world as a stylish, fun and quintessentially British activity with picnic style food, refreshing drinks, games and live music. There is nothing better than standing in a beautiful garden and sharing a couple of hours in the sun with family and friends. It is really lovely touch to add live music to your outside drinks reception and there is nothing better than the sound of piano music drifting across the lawns and gardens and (weather permitting) pianists absolutely love playing outside for drinks receptions. Professional keyboards are such flexible instruments because they can be connected to discreet external speakers that spread the sound of the piano music around the garden. This means that everybody can hear the music but it is at background level so that all of your guests can chat over the top.

It is likely that you will be involved in a lot of different photos during your drinks reception. Traditionally, wedding photos taken during the drinks reception include lots of different group shots with photos of you in combination with different sets of your guests (brides family, grooms family, each set of parents, siblings, friends, work friends, relatives, stags, hens, etc).

These photos are still popular, but one of the current trends in wedding photography is now moving to a photo shoot style of photos. Your photographer will take you both away from your guests and you will visit 4-5 different locations at your venue to get some really beautiful and stylised photos of you as a married couple. Form chatting with photographers, I understand that they focus on these styles of photos because they were finding that after the wedding, most couples were picking these type of photos for their wedding album and not the groups shots. The downside of this is that it means that you will be taken away from your guests for a considerable amount of your drinks reception. This means that you will not personally be able to entertain them and do the rounds. Many couples choose to book live music and arrange activities for their drinks reception to keep their guests entertained during the wedding photos. Piano music is the favourite live music choice for couples who booking music for their drinks reception and it can be combined with other elements such as garden games, a magician, a characturist, archery, a treasure hunt, canapés, a video guestbook, cocktail waiters, an ice-cream cart, street performers, bouncy castle, vintage funfair stalls and many other lovely ideas.

Another trend in wedding photography is reportage photography where the photographer takes natural photos of you and your guests having a good time and enjoying yourselves. If you prefer this style of photography then you need to do a bit of forward planning to make sure that you and your guests are going to have a good time. You need to think about interesting things for your guests to do (so that there is something for your photographer to take photos of) and you want to make sure that everybody has a smile on their faces! You will treasure your wedding photos for ever so it is worth putting in the effort now to capture a really happy moment. Live music can make people laugh and cry and feel happy or sad. Live music had the most amazing qualities and it has been proven to have incredible emotional effects on humans. A talented wedding pianist will react to guests in the same way as a professional DJ does on the dance floor. The pianist will see what people are enjoying and they will focus on playing music that will make people smile. For a drinks reception, it is really easy for your guests to interact with your pianist and make requests. You will often find guests having a little dance to the piano music. You will see feet tapping, conversations starting and the atmosphere will be fantastic.

Autumn, Winter and bad weather drinks reception

For weddings in the early autumn, British weather is too unpredictable to know whether you will be outside in the sun or inside in the rain for your drinks reception. If you hire a wedding pianist to play for your drinks reception then you already have a contingency plan for bad weather. After a couple of pieces of upbeat piano music, your guests will soon forget about the bad weather and the mood will be lifted. There is nothing worse than rushing inside when the rain starts and standing in a silent room in a soggy jacket or wedding dress. A wedding pianist will work really hard to transform the mood. They will have lots of tricks up their sleeves and you will find that the chatter and conversation starts up again really quickly and that it moves away from moaning about the bad weather to more exciting and fun topics – such as your wedding!

In a way, for autumn and winter weddings, you almost need to do a bit more work to make up for the fact that there are not huge gardens to enjoy and interesting spaces for children to explore. You are more limited to the types of entertainment that you can choose and you need something that compliments the indoor space and makes your drinks reception even better. There is something really nice about being in a warm room in the winter. It is cosy, intimate and a great environment to catch up with family members. The focus of an indoor reception is more on conversations and enjoying the pleasure of each other’s company. Live music provides a really good ice breaker for guests who do not know each other that well and a wedding pianist can play such a variety of music that appeals to a whole range of people that there is going to be something for everybody to enjoy. Music is known for triggering memories and when this happens, it often starts a conversation. For smaller spaces, a wedding pianist can control the volume of the keyboard / piano to create the perfect balance so that everybody can hear the piano music yet it does not become too loud or intrusive in any way. For festive weddings, an indoor drinks reception can be the perfect place for Christmas music on the piano. Nothing beats festive favourites being played live on a piano next to a roaring fire.

After your wedding ceremony and drinks reception – a good two hours of standing up and a whirlwind of activity – you will finally get to sit down and take everything in when you take your seats for the wedding breakfast. The wedding breakfast is the main banquet meal of your wedding reception. It is called a wedding breakfast because it is your first meal together as a married couple. 

This is the time that you can really sit back and enjoy yourself. You are going to be served a menu of your favourite food that you have both handpicked especially for your wedding day and in between courses there is nothing better than sitting back and enjoying some of your favourite songs in the world being played on a piano. Piano music is the epitome of style and romance and all of the best hotels and restaurants have a live pianist playing in their premier bars and restaurants. Your wedding day deserves the best and it is little extra touches like a wedding pianist that help to transform a meal with friends into an occasion worthy of your wedding day. A wedding pianist can play for 2-3 hours without a break, although you should expect a short 5 minute break if a call of nature is required!

As a special treat for your friends and family you can arrange for the wedding pianist to play a selection of their favourite songs. In the run up to your wedding, you could do a little bit of detective work and find out what song your parents / best friends / favourite family members had for their wedding as they walked down the aisle or for their first dance. You can then ask the pianist to prepare these songs and play them during the wedding breakfast. As the meal progresses, you will hear murmurs of excitement from around the room as your guests recognise their favourite song being played. This is a really subtle trick that works really well to heighten the experience of the music and the meal for your guests.

If you are a music lover, then perhaps you have a music theme for your wedding. It is quite common for music lovers to name the tables on their table plan as different songs/bands/musicians. Another common theme for table names is films / movies / Disney. If you are going for a musical theme then it follows quite naturally to have a wedding pianist to play for your wedding breakfast. To cement the theme, you could ask your pianist to learn one piece of music that reflects each table name.

It is quite a fun idea to include done some of ice breaker on your table. You will have a group of 10 people sitting together for 2-3 hours and even good friends might need something to liven up the conversation after a while. You can buy packs of ice breaker cards which have interesting questions that guests can ask each other or fun games that you can play. These can be a really nice touch. A recent trend is to have a quiz running throughout the meal with a (alcoholic) prize for the winning table. Simon regularly gets asked to provide some specific music for the music round of the quiz…and it can be quite fun for one of your ushers to have the job of organising this so that you can both take part in the quiz as well.

Towards the end of the meal it will start to dawn on certain people that they are about to stand up and give a speech in front of all of your guests. This can be a nervous moment at the best of times – especially for the best man who has the tough job of playing a comedian for the day. Ask your wedding pianist to play some more relaxing and calming music towards the end of the meal just to help settle the last minute jitters of the speech makers.