Journal: News & Comment

Keep the slides and speeches short

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As someone who works in a band that has played many weddings, I have to agree with Darren Barefoot's wedding slideshow advice. I was once stranded behind a curtain on a small stage at the Vancouver Yacht Club for an hour and a half while PowerPoint slides and droning speeches went on and on.

Three of the best weddings I've been to (mine, that of my old university colleagues Yo and Evie, and my friend Tara's) did better than that: my wife and I had no slideshow at all (it was 1995, pre-PowerPoint-everywhere days); Yo and Evie had their whole reception (including the continent shapes of the tables) designed around their world travels, with photos in various places around the room; and Tara and her husband had a slideshow of his growing up—shown in a separate room in his parents' house, where the wedding took place. No one had to watch it, and those who did were voluntary viewers, who doubtless enjoyed it.

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