Help! Best wedding evening entertainment ideas!

[SPARKS17]

I'm in desperate need of a few suggestions.

We are having a small wedding 40 ish people, in a venue which can only have loud music between 10.30pm and 12am.

Wedding dinner/speeches will probably be wound up by 9.30ish and I am stuck for what we do in the evening. I have looked at bands for a ceilidh but they want a minimum of £700 for the 1.5 hours we would need them (I may have to suck it up as a last option) but wondered if anyone had any fab ideas of what we could do in the evening?

What was the best evening entertainment you've experienced at a wedding especially if it was a small one?

PS. Ipod playlist is an absolute last resort!

[CMOTDibbler]

We went to a wedding in December, and they had a Blues Brothers tribute duo who were absolutely excellent - the music was familiar enough to people that loads of people were dancing, and it was a great laugh as well. Worked across the ages too

[DarthMaiden]

I'm not sure how helpful I'm going to be, but my wedding sounds similar.

It was 40 people and started at 3pm. It was in a small stately home we had the full use of.

By the time the meal/speeches were wrapped up it was around 9pm.

To be honest we didn't have any "entertainment" at all. We did flirt with the idea of a close quarter magician - who we'd seen at a works event and was very good but decided against it. Might be an option? They just go from table to table doing tricks and the one we saw was really clever.

Dancing etc was out for us - it's not really our thing and tbh with just 40 people (and working on a ratio only 50% would dance) we thought it just would be a bit crappy.

As it was it was fine. Everyone just retired to the cozy bar and it was a lovely evening with people catching up, chatting etc. No real entertainment was needed - in fact a lot of people said how much they'd enjoyed it. No pressure to dance, or get involved in something they didn't want to.

So up to you but tbh I'd aim for low key and not actually worry too much about it at all

[SPARKS17]

@CMOTDibbler ooh I like the idea of that, entertaining and people could dance if they wanted too!

@DarthMaiden we have discussed the no entertainment option and OH loves this idea, I just don't want people getting bored and heading home early (wedding is in London). What time did your wedding end up winding up?

[Helenluvsrob]

40 people would a cracking barn dance or the Scottish name I can't spell😂

[Slimthistime]

I'd opt for a magician.

[DarthMaiden]

Our wedding ended in the (very) early hours .

Honestly, no one was bored. It was just all very sociable and lovely. I think weddings can be "over planned" iyswim.

We did arrange for a "midnight feast" to soak up the booze which went down well - just canapés and nibbles.

I know you said no iPod but DH had done some playlists and the venue just put them on as background music.