If you are planning a wedding and wondering how to introduce the wedding party at the reception, this article is for you.
I talked with professional wedding DJ Adam Gingrich from Select DJ Group and got a bunch of great tips to make your wedding party intros organized and fun.
What is the order of the wedding party or bridal party entrance at the reception?
Here is the most common wedding party reception entrance order (I listed these using the terms bride/groom, but you can simply swap out the word bride or groom if this is a same-sex wedding):
- Grandparents of the bride – If any grandparents or parents are unable or uncomfortable walking into the reception, you can have the DJ acknowledge them at their seats.
- Grandparents of the groom
- Parents of the groom
- Parents of the bride
- Flower girl and ring bearer – If the kids are young or uncomfortable, you can have them walk in with one of the wedding party members (or someone they know and trust).
- The wedding party – typically, you announce these in the reverse order of how they left the wedding ceremony. So the couple who walked out of the ceremony last gets announced into the reception first.
- The best man and the maid/matron of honor
- The bride and groom
How to make your wedding party introductions stress-free and fun
Here are a few tips to make your wedding party reception entrance easy, stress-free, and fun:
Get organized
Coordinating your grand entrance with the DJ or MC is very important.
Your wedding DJ should get the names of the grandparents, parents, wedding party members, ring bearer, and flower girl before the wedding day.
Confirm that your DJ has all the up-to-date information during your last meeting/call just before the wedding day.
I recommend giving your DJ a printed list of the names and roles of the people being announced at the reception a day or two before the wedding (or when the DJ arrives on the wedding day).
This way you can line up in order without confusion.
You can also include your song choice for each announcement (some couples choose a different song for each announcement, and some couples pick one song for the entire wedding party and then a 2nd song for the bride and groom (or grooms/brides).
This will cut out a lot of delays that we typically see on the wedding day just before the reception starts.
If you need song choice ideas or the most common order for the wedding party entrance, check out this article: Our favorite wedding party entrance songs for the reception.
Remember…if you get organized before the wedding day, you get to spend more time at co*cktail hour with your friends and family (Bonus!)
Coordinate with your wedding photographer and videographer
I have photographed over 500 wedding party reception entrances and here are a few reasons why it’s important to touch base with your photos/video team before entering your reception:
Typically your photographer and videographer will have lights and/or flashes set up for the entrances and first dance.
To get the best results from your photos, your photographer is going to want each person announced to hit a specific spot on the dance floor before doing whatever it is that they are doing (striking a pose, giving each other a high-five, spinning each other, dipping each other, etc.).
Ask your photographer to give instructions to the wedding party just before they are announced. This way your wedding party will know exactly what to do and when to do it.
One common mistake we see (when there is no communication) is the photographer will set up a flash pointed at the middle of the dance floor.
Then, if the photographer does not tell the wedding party that he/she has done this, the couple being announced will typically do their thing as soon as they step into the reception room (it’s natural to want to do this as soon as you hear your name announced).
By the time the couple being announced makes their way to the center of the dance floor (where the best light is), they have already done their fun entrance, and are simply walking to their seats by the time they get to the spot that the photographer has pointed their lights/flashes.
Ask your wedding photographer to coordinate this with the bridal party just before announcements and you will get amazing photos.
How do you make the wedding party introductions fun and entertaining?
A fun and energetic song is really all you need to make your wedding party intros fun and exciting.
But if you want to make your reception intros a little more unique you can have your DJ tell one fun fact about each member of the wedding party as they enter the reception room.
Here is a fun example:
As the DJ announces the best man and maid of honor or matron of honor, he/she says, “She was voted most talkative by her senior class, and he once ate an entire large cheese pizza by himself. Please give it up for the maid of honor and best man, Miss Jennifer Lawrence & Mr. Kevin McCallister!
You can include things like hobbies, the relationship to the couple, a funny fact, an inside joke, etc.
What are some good songs to use for the wedding party and bridal party entrances?
We have put together a list of about 150 songs that are perfect for the bridal party/wedding party reception entrance.
Here are a few of our favorite songs:
- “Bring ‘Em Out” by T.I featuring Jay-Z
- “Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor
- “Who Let The Dogs Out” by Baha Men
- “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” by The Darkness
- “Where Them Girls At” by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj & Flo Rida (Perfect song choice for the bridesmaids)
Check out the list above for 150 more songs to choose from (you can hear each song from the blog post)
We also have this list of the best songs to use for the parent entrance into the wedding reception.
More Wedding Planning Resources and Tips
Here are a few more helpful articles to help you out while planning your dream wedding:
- Fun wedding party entrance ideas
- The best wedding reception dance songs
- Perfect songs for the first dance
- Father-daughter dance songs
- Songs for the mother-son wedding dance
