Wedding Slideshows opinions

jrich29

I have always enjoyed when people do slideshows at weddings. I think it is super cute and throwback pictures always amuse me. However, I have been reading on these forms that other people hate them. We were thinking about doing a slid show cause as I said I think they are super cute. But I am interested in knowing other people's opinions of wedding slideshows.

I can't be the only one who likes them right?

tcnoble

Just don't set aside time and make people sit and watch them. I had a friend who had one playing somewhere in the venue throughout the night so if you wanted to, you could watch. I was at another wedding where we had to sit, after dinner, and watch a 6 minute slide show. That wasn't fun after the first minute.

wrigleyville

I don't mind if it's in a corner and doesn't have music. I still think it's sort of an attention-grab, though. I don't ever remember seeing slideshows before a few years ago. Most people would put a framed engagement picture or two near their guestbook.

Anyway, what I don't like is sitting through a presentation. It's pretty boring, and it feels like even more of an attention-grab. So that's why I don't mind so much if it's off in a corner.

levioosa

Didn't you just post this on another board?  Write XP in the title of your post.

I doubt you'll get the answer you want to hear though.  People aren't generally fans of slideshows. 

jrich29 said:

I have always enjoyed when people do slideshows at weddings. I think it is super cute and throwback pictures always amuse me. However, I have been reading on these forms that other people hate them. We were thinking about doing a slid show cause as I said I think they are super cute. But I am interested in knowing other people's opinions of wedding slideshows.

I can't be the only one who likes them right?

Butterflyz419

I love slideshows, although I do think they work a little better in the relaxed and more intimate setting of the rehearsal dinner a than at the reception, where I think overall flow of the events is more of a concern, especially with the other planned events like the spotlight dances, toasts, tosses, etc., but I haven't yet been to a wedding that a slideshow at the wedding itself so I can't say for sure.

Last year I went to a rehearsal dinner that had a video a friend of the couple's put together where she interviewed them separately about their relationship, the proposal and intermixed the audio and some shots of them being interviewed in with photos through their relationship. It was maybe 10 minutes or so long I think. But I thought it was beautiful and it was so lovely and moving to hear the things they each had to say about each other and to hear about the proposal from each of their perspectives. A friend of mine had a regular slideshow at her engagement party a few years back and I also loved that.

I just don't understand slideshow hate. I love seeing other people's pictures, I love learning more of the details of how a couple got to that day and seeing the pictures of change over the course of a relationship and the places they've gone and things they've done together. I just don't understand how spending 6-8 minutes seeing pictures of a loved one (they are a loved one right if you're at the wedding, you would think) and their loved one could be considered so boring and painful. I don't care about the attention-grabby complaint, I'm at the wedding in order to give the couple my attention, so why should I resent anything that furthers that, especially when you're only talking about a few minutes. The complaint just comes across as pretty crotchety to me. 

wrigleyville

I said boring, not painful. You're the one adding an exaggeration to it.

I like looking at pictures of people, but at my own pace and when I want to. As I said, I LIKE slideshows when they're off in a corner where I can look over at them when I feel like it. I also really like guestbooks made from the couple's engagement pictures.

I don't like having it done presentation-style, though, where I'm held captive for 6-8 minutes to watch something with cheesy music. I don't like super-cheesy romantic things, so it's not that I don't like the couple and don't want to celebrate with them and don't care how they met - I just don't like that type of thing. It's like going to a sappy, romantic movie.

It's not crotchety to have preferences. Would you call me crotchety if I said I didn't like "The Notebook"? It's kind of the same thing.

Butterflyz419

wrigleyville said:

I said boring, not painful. You're the one adding an exaggeration to it.

I like looking at pictures of people, but at my own pace and when I want to. As I said, I LIKE slideshows when they're off in a corner where I can look over at them when I feel like it. I also really like guestbooks made from the couple's engagement pictures.

I don't like having it done presentation-style, though, where I'm held captive for 6-8 minutes to watch something with cheesy music. I don't like super-cheesy romantic things, so it's not that I don't like the couple and don't want to celebrate with them and don't care how they met - I just don't like that type of thing. It's like going to a sappy, romantic movie.

It's not crotchety to have preferences. Would you call me crotchety if I said I didn't like "The Notebook"? It's kind of the same thing.

Yes, you didn't say that, but that word was used in that "more than a slideshow" thread to describe them.

It's not crotchety to just have a preference. It's fine to not like slideshows and therefore choose not to do it yourself. It's the tone of eye rolling exasperation directed towards those who would like to do them that I find off-putting. Slideshows are not rude and they're not an imposition. It's a few minutes, it's usually free for the couple to do, so it's just not a big deal. 

BlueBirdMB

Your wedding is not a performance where you have a captive audience there to be entertained by a show.  They came to see you get married.  Period.

I go to the bathroom during slideshows.  I think they're boring and frankly a little embarrassing. 

wrigleyville

I never said it was rude or an imposition, Butterfly. Stop putting words into my mouth. All I said was that I don't care for them and find them boring. Opinions were asked for, and I provided mine.

Jen4948

Since you asked for opinions, skip the slideshow. The vast majority of people don't find them "super cute" let alone want to be treated like a captive audience for one.

southernbelle0915

I'm one of the ones who thinks they're boring and painful. Every wedding I've been to that has them, these are done after intros, first dances, toasts...so everyone has already sat there politely not talking and watching/listening to the couple/their friends for 30-60 min (a couple had painfully long toasts). And then they force everyone to watch a 20-40 minute slide show. Its just too much.

I'm like wrigleyville. I enjoy watching them off in a corner somewhere where I can leave to use the bathroom, get a drink, or dance whenever I want. I'm not a mean or uninterested person for having that opinion. Of course I'm interested in my friends/family. When I want to hear their story, I'll just ask in person. If we're close enough, I probably already know anyway.

If people are so sure everyone wants to see 20+ years if their lives via slide show, then putting it up off to the side would draw a giant crowd. The thing is, it usually doesn't. There are a handful of people who will watch the whole thing. Most people will stop by for a minute and say "Aww, how nice" and move long. At least that is my experience and observation with the two ways of displaying a slide show.

vmj23

I don't like them  I have only been to one wedding that did one and after the first couple pictures I stopped paying attention and just talked to the people at my table while we waited for it to be over so they'd serve food.  

ahyatt87

Yeah, I also don't like them at all. I have saw them done at three different weddings and I just don't understand the point of looking at baby pictures on a couple's wedding day.

Early on in the wedding planning process my MIL contacted my mom because she wanted my mom to work with MIL to put together a slide show for our wedding. Oh, and she wanted it to be a surprise for me and DH. My mom knows how much I dislike slide shows and she thought it was inappropriate for them to plan something like this on our wedding day. My mom came clean and said she wasn't comfortable with it, and I said I wasn't either. DH then confronted his mom. She was not happy but we did not have any surprises on our wedding day, which made us happy.

I don't think they are harmful, I just think a lot of guests are bored with them.

allispain

ahyatt87 said:

Yeah, I also don't like them at all. I have saw them done at three different weddings and I just don't understand the point of looking at baby pictures on a couple's wedding day.

Early on in the wedding planning process my MIL contacted my mom because she wanted my mom to work with MIL to put together a slide show for our wedding. Oh, and she wanted it to be a surprise for me and DH. My mom knows how much I dislike slide shows and she thought it was inappropriate for them to plan something like this on our wedding day. My mom came clean and said she wasn't comfortable with it, and I said I wasn't either. DH then confronted his mom. She was not happy but we did not have any surprises on our wedding day, which made us happy.

I don't think they are harmful, I just think a lot of guests are bored with them.

Ugh - my SMIL wanted to do something like this at our rehearsal dinner, also a surprise. I found out because she asked my mom for baby pictures - she wanted to have pictures of me and DH in similar situations, including naked in the bathtub. I would have been mortified had my mom not had the sense to put the kibosh on that idea. She contacted me, asked me my opinion on said "surprise," and was happy to communicate to SMIL that she didn't think that DH and I were the kind of couple that wanted that kind of attention.

Add me to the camp of people saying that, if you really want a slideshow, you should put it off in a corner or something so that people aren't a captive audience. I personally find them very embarrassing, because they always include "awkward" / "ugly duckling" pictures for some reason. Or, another idea (this is what we did) would be to put out a small table with framed pictures of you both at the cocktail hour. We are both musicians so we had maybe 6 frames of each of us at different ages performing in different settings - people who were interested (mainly the grandparents and aunts/uncles) loved it, while people who weren't walked right past it to the bar :-)

PrettyGirlLost

Butterflyz419 said:

I love slideshows, although I do think they work a little better in the relaxed and more intimate setting of the rehearsal dinner a than at the reception, where I think overall flow of the events is more of a concern, especially with the other planned events like the spotlight dances, toasts, tosses, etc., but I haven't yet been to a wedding that a slideshow at the wedding itself so I can't say for sure.

Last year I went to a rehearsal dinner that had a video a friend of the couple's put together where she interviewed them separately about their relationship, the proposal and intermixed the audio and some shots of them being interviewed in with photos through their relationship. It was maybe 10 minutes or so long I think. But I thought it was beautiful and it was so lovely and moving to hear the things they each had to say about each other and to hear about the proposal from each of their perspectives. A friend of mine had a regular slideshow at her engagement party a few years back and I also loved that.

I just don't understand slideshow hate. I love seeing other people's pictures, I love learning more of the details of how a couple got to that day and seeing the pictures of change over the course of a relationship and the places they've gone and things they've done together. I just don't understand how spending 6-8 minutes seeing pictures of a loved one (they are a loved one right if you're at the wedding, you would think) and their loved one could be considered so boring and painful. I don't care about the attention-grabby complaint, I'm at the wedding in order to give the couple my attention, so why should I resent anything that furthers that, especially when you're only talking about a few minutes. The complaint just comes across as pretty crotchety to me. 

Is that 6-8 minutes eating up time that could be spent on the dancefloor?  If so, then I find it annoying.

I'd rather spend time during an RD or the wedding reception being able to eat and socialize with people, not watching a slideshow presentation of awkward childhood photos of the couple.

I like visiting people in their homes and looking at pictures.  It's just not something I want to do at a reception.

WhatawagSBNy

One more vote for having any slide show be somewhere off to the side, or in an entryway just outside the main crowd,  where a few people at a time can sit and watch and chat if and when they feel like it.  NEVER  have I enjoyed a command performance where a show is presented to everyone.  People bitch about those for months afterward. 

atlastmrsg

How about a nice e-picture frame with the photos scrolling next to your guest book or somewhere else if you really want this?

I have Facebook.  I've already seen all your photos from the last X number of years.  

climbingsingle

Not a fan.

ohannabelle

I said painful, I think. Yes, I actually find them painful. It's embarrassing to me when people are so enchanted with their own "story" and photographs of themselves that they feel the need to make an actual production of it. It comes across as seeking admiration. So yep, a lot of people are uncomfortable with deliberate attention seeking behavior, or self admiration. We feel vicarious embarrassment. Fremdschämen. (Again, today!)

10 minutes of cringing? Ack. No, please.

If I'm at your wedding, it's because I care about you.  I don't care about a contrived video production of you. Why? You're right there. I'm looking at you.  Why do I need to see you on a screen?

Off to the side, those who wish to stare at you on a screen may choose to do so, those who don't may continue to socialize. Nobody is uncomfortable. And it's much more personally attractive than turning down the lights and demanding that people pay attention to the Me Show.

AddieCake

Your posts states that you have been reading on these boards that people hate them, and yet you still want to ask for opinions. Hmmmm.

BlueBirdMB

Quick story.  Slideshows are more of a modern thing.  The first time I ever saw one I was there with my mother.  She grabbed my hand under the table and looked at me like she was going to burst out laughing, which made me want to laugh.  It was all so embarrassing we couldn't help but laugh, so there we were, squeezing each other hands to try to not laugh out loud.

danamw

How long a slideshow are we talking about? I would say maybe 10 or so pictures, keep it upbeat and funny. No dead relatives, nothing sappy.

MandyMost

atlastmrsg said:

How about a nice e-picture frame with the photos scrolling next to your guest book or somewhere else if you really want this?

I have Facebook.  I've already seen all your photos from the last X number of years.  

This is a great idea. Our venue actually had a big monitor in the cocktail hour area, that we put together pictures for a slideshow for. We came up with about 30 or so pictures of us...some silly, some on vacations, a bunch at other people's weddings...that we planned to have running during the cocktail hour. Turns out the screen was broken, so we didn't end up doing it. Obviously no one missed it. Because the screen was there, it was more of a "why not" situation for us. We debated doing pictures of us as a couple, childhood pictures, or pictures of our dog (who we're kinda obsessed with but wasn't in the wedding). 

peachy13

I've only been to two weddings that featured slideshows. One was at a rehearsal dinner and it was presented like we were watching a movie... like "okay everyone, be quiet... here comes the slideshow" and we all had to stare at old pictures of the B&G with a sappy love song playing in the background for 5 minutes. Really boring if you're not the B&G.

The other wedding that had a slideshow had it playing on small monitors at the church while everyone waited for the procession to start. I actually didn't mind that.

jrich29

Yes I assumed the answers because I read other boards but I was curious if anyone liked them and I wasn't interested in spending time stalking other boards so I made one for myself.   I have always enjoyed learning more about the couple's journey at weddings (even if I am facebook friends with them) but clearly I stand alone on that concept. So I have no problem not including it at my wedding. Maybe as a cocktail hour quiet show for background.

Thanks for the responses

hpubride

I like them too, but timing is key. We did one after dinner and before the cake cutting to allow guests a little bit of time to digest before diving into dessert. Good luck!

LondonLisa

Would you normally shut down a party, make everyone stop what they are doing to look at 5 minutes worth of photos of you?

If one is absolutely determined to have a slideshow, they really should be played silently in the background whilst the party continues. It is distasteful in any situation, not just a wedding, to force your guests to be a captive audience. 

happybridetobe1987

Sorry to add to the "no's", but I'm a firm no on the slideshow. I haven't been to a single wedding where they were done well, either off to the side during dinner, or during a speech. To me they seem a little AWish. I go to a wedding to see and spend time with the new married couple. Most weddings I find I see more of them through a slideshow or some pictures in a frame than I do of the actual bride and groom (or bride/bride, groom/groom! love is love) (not the slide show's fault...It just seems that a lot of couples are more into portraying what an amazing couple they are through speeches, slideshows, and pictures than just SHOWING us by talking to us and dancing with us....rant over).

ohannabelle

hpubride said:

I like them too, but timing is key. We did one after dinner and before the cake cutting to allow guests a little bit of time to digest before diving into dessert. Good luck!

Nope. You didn't do this to allow for a digestion break. You did this because you really really enjoy showing people your pictures. You're still doing so.

So let's don't be silly and pretend you were concerned with the timing between your guest's small intestines and colons. This wasn't for your guests. Or their digestive systems. This was for you. 

southernbelle0915

ohannabelle said:

show previous quotes

hpubride said:

I like them too, but timing is key. We did one after dinner and before the cake cutting to allow guests a little bit of time to digest before diving into dessert. Good luck!

Nope. You didn't do this to allow for a digestion break. You did this because you really really enjoy showing people your pictures. You're still doing so.

So let's don't be silly and pretend you were concerned with the timing between your guest's small intestines and colons. This wasn't for your guests. Or their digestive systems. This was for you. 

You have a way with words @ohannabelle. All of this.

But yea, slide shows are never to "bridge time" or help other people. People have been managing their own digestion for years. If they aren't ready for cake, they won't eat it. If you were so super concerned with your guests' digestion, I'm SURE you hosted a very fibrous meal in lots of small courses over an adequate amount of time. Right? Riiiiiight... Sure you did. WINK!

"The slide show was for my guests' digestion!" Now that's one for the books.

fwtx5815

hpubride said:

I like them too, but timing is key. We did one after dinner and before the cake cutting to allow guests a little bit of time to digest before diving into dessert to soak in our awesomeness and fully appreciate just how great of a couple we are. Good luck!

FTFY