Building REALationships

As part of my commitment to serving my clients and making their wedding day as stress-free and smooth as possible, I attended a meeting of the Oahu Wedding Association last night at RumFire in the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. I attend these wedding industry functions in order to network and get to know a lot of my colleagues. By building REALationships and getting to know one another before the wedding day, it makes it easier to work with your photographer, videographer, etc. on the day of YOUR wedding. I had a great time, spent some quality face-to-face time with some photographers, videographers, florists, and entertainers I really enjoy working with, and had some good food.

Before that, I spent the day following up with brides I met at the World Class Wedding Expo two weekends ago. I met a lot of 2008-2009 brides who are looking for something unique and different for their celebration, and many were turned on to the fact that what I can help them create is something that will make their celebration more lively, fun, unique, and memorable. So if you haven't heard from me yet or if you were strongly interested in knowing more about what I do, check out my website today! You can find it at www.ninjaentertainment.com

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Since we're talking about building REALationships, here's a good low-key icebreaker-type game you can play at the beginning of your reception as your guests arrive.

For many of your guests, particularly your co-workers, friends, and extended family, your wedding may be the first time they have met each other. So have some fun with them as they get to know one another--after all, everyone is now one big ohana/family, right?

As the guests check in, each guest is given a sheet with boxes of different categories that may describe your guests. It may look something like this:

Is one of the bride's best friends	Drives the same type of car as the groom	Owns a car like the bride
Is directly related to the bride	Works with the groom	Went to college with the bride
Traveled the farthest to be here	Lives a block away from the bride	Is wearing a tux

More categories can be added and personalized to fit the bride & groom's personal styles and tastes, and to more accurately reflect who the guests are.

During cocktail hour, guests are invited to go around to meet each guest and see if that other guest applies to any of the given categories. If that guest fits, then he or she places his signature in the box underneath the category.

And the end of dinner, the guest who has collected the most signatures wins! A good prize to reward their efforts may be to send them FIRST to the buffet line, after the bride & groom's families have gone through.

To take it a step further, you can even make this game more exciting during dinner, although a little more prep work may be involved. To do this, a few weeks before the wedding, the bride, groom, and their families get together and play the game, but instead of looking for signatures, they try to imagine who among their guests best fits each category. Hopefully they come up with 2-3 or more names per category. Each name is then put on a strip of paper along with the related category, and then put in a box.

During dinner at the reception, the guests will play bingo with their funsheets! The bride & groom will randomly pull a name out of the box, and if a guest has gotten THAT particular signature in THAT particular category, they cross out the box, just like in bingo! The first person to cross out a row, column, or diagonal wins! This addition makes mealtime much more entertaining, since the guests are actively involved rather than simply sitting around waiting for their turn to the buffet.

Happy Blogiversary!

Yes, it has been two years since I started writing this, so it's nice to see how it has developed, as well as how Ninja Entertainment and I have evolved over the past few years. I'm not going to go through the laundry list of what's different then and now, but I will say that I am quite satisfied with where I am and where the company is headed.

This anniversary is also another excuse to have some ice cream cake. Yummy.

Blowing Kisses

Here's a fun wedding game that I recently picked up at a workshop. It's called "Blowing Kisses."

Ideally, you will need two teams, with 3-5 members per team. You can make teams from table representatives, bridal party members, etc. This is best done at small, intimate celebrations, although I've heard it's been done at larger parties, with more tables, teams, and contestants. Adults can play, but it's also a cute game for children to do.

Each contestant is given a straw. Each team is given a Hershey's Kiss. The Kisses are placed on their sides on one end of a long table. When the emcee says "Go!", contestants use their straws to blow the Kiss across the table. First team to blow their candy off the far end wins!

A few rules:

No hands or body parts must touch the candy. Movement of the candy can only be accomplished by the breath of air from a straw.

Teams may take a moment before the game starts to develop a "strategy" to accomplish the feat. Some teams require all three members to blow at the same time. Others have players alternate. Still others may have one team member blow until exhaustion, and then another team member takes over. Ultimately, each team decides HOW they want to accomplish the task.

If the candy falls off the table, the team automatically forfeits the race, so team members must always be aware of where the candy is on the table, and be prepared to do something if it comes too close to the edge!

This is a great game to play during a buffet dinner, while guests are waiting for their turn to the buffet. It is something entertaining for them to watch and participate in instead of simply sitting around being bored and doing nothing. This game also works great during cocktail hour, as an icebreaker among groups of friends and relatives who may have not met before!

Fun Thing To Do During Dinner #4252

As your guests are waiting for their turn to the buffet, here's another original idea to entertain them. This is something we did at LORIEDEL & KEITH'S wedding.

Blindfold the bride. Have the Best Man put some trinkets (e.g., watch, ring, $50 bill, spoon, etc.) somewhere on the groom. Once trinkets have been hidden, the bride must find these objects. This is where the audience participation kicks in. If the bride gets close to an object, encourage the guests to yell out "Warm", and "warmer" as she gets closer, and "HOT!!" if she's really close. Conversely, if she's moving away from an object, guests can yell out "cold", "colder" if she's really moving away, and "FREEZING!" if the bride is way off.

With the right bride & groom, this is a fun activity that is sure to entertain the guests as they wait for their turn to the buffet.

Thanks for dropping by!

The World Class Wedding Expo was this past weekend, and we had a wonderful time! Thank you to all of the brides who dropped by my booth to say hello, talk about their wedding day, and get excited about their wedding reception! I look forward to meeting with you as we get closer to your wedding date.

The fashion show went off quite well. Considering how little time I had to prep for it, it's amazing that it worked out well. It goes to show the quality of professionals who come together for this presentation. Special mahalos goes out to DUN, who produced the show, and ERICA, who directed it. Sound and stage lighting were provided by GIL & ROMEL with ND Mixx Productions. The models were also great to work with. And of course, the interactive games and hosting for this event was presented by...moi. If I get invited to do the October show, expect greater things, since I will have even more time to prepare and rehearse!

To the brides who I met at the expo: have you signed up for my VIP list yet? If not, email me so I can add you to it! Membership gets you access to my monthly Wedding Newsletter, filled with tips and ideas to help you create a FUN, STRESS-FREE, and UNIQUE wedding celebration that you and your guests will REMEMBER FOREVER. And the cost for VIP membership? Absolutely nothing...

So the World Class Wedding Expo starts tomorrow, and I am approaching it with both a sense of excitement and a sense of nervousness.

Excitement because I love these events! I enjoy meeting new brides-to-be and getting them excited about their celebrations! So if you are reading this and plan to drop by the expo tomorrow, visit my booth to say hi!

I'm experiencing some nervousness because I have been asked to host the fashions show. THIS...IS...BIG. I know that I've done large crowds before and performed at several large weddings, but for some reason, I am actually more nervous about tomorrow than anything previously! I guess a part of me is afraid that I am going to choke so badly tomorrow that no one will want to work with me again. But the professional in me says to focus in, forget all of the things going on around, and just nail the performance, like I usually do! Positive thinking can do wonders, so I definitely should psych myself up for this!

Sooo...if you're in the neighborhood tomorrow, drop by, say hello, see me at the fashion show, and let's all have a fabulous time.

The Invitation

Forget what you know about the typical wedding invitation. This is cool!

Appreciation has its rewards.

This is a true story.

A photographer friend was shooting a wedding I was performing at. For him, it was a fairly typical wedding event. He had a "shoot list" to fulfill, in addition to capturing all of the important events of the reception in his typical photojournalistic style. Nothing really out of the ordinary.

Sometime during dinner, after the pomp & circumstance of the Grand Entrance had subsided and everyone was settling into the delicious meal, the bride made her way to the ladies' room to freshen up. But before leaving the ballroom, she paused for a moment to speak privately with the photographer. She said only a few words to him and went on her merry way. But something changed in the demeanor of the photographer for the rest of the night. He smiled more. He seemed livelier and more animated. He seemed to take more photos. Instead of just slogging away at his "job," he seemed more passionate about this wedding in particular.

Two weeks later, when the photographer delivered the wedding photo album, the bride & groom were surprised to see that the photographer had included two "mini-albums" for the newlyweds to share with their families.

What did the bride say to my photographer friend on her wedding day?

"Thank you for all the work you're doing tonight. I really appreciate it."

Your wedding day is going to be a hectic day. But sometimes just taking a brief moment to genuinely show your gratitude to your vendors can make them remember how much you appreciate them, and in turn they may go above and beyond to serve you.

Have you hugged your vendors lately? :)



Marino M. Regalado
Master of Ceremonies & Interactive Entertainment Specialist
Ninja Entertainment

I've got great friends.

I've got great friends.

Just in time for the wedding expo, ERIC KIM from Imaginewurks has put together an awesome demo video based on our work at Wini & Kin Wai's wedding in January 2008. Here's a little teaser. The titles were added by me, but the footage and editing is Eric's creation. If you are looking for a great videographer for your wedding, check out Imaginewurks' website, give Eric a call, mention that Marino from Ninja Entertainment sent you, and Eric will take good care of you!

Thanks to Eric & the Imaginewurks team for the awesome job! It was a pleasure working with you!

More videos to come in the next few days, as we ramp up towards the wedding expo! Stay tuned!

How to stay busy and not go crazy.

It's April, and it's been busy since the last update, but I don't have the time right now to go into depth, so here's what's important.

We did a wedding on March 29 for LORIEDEL & KEITH. They were an awesome couple to work with, and they had wonderful guests & families as well! We helped them have a really interactive and fun party--very creative as well. Lorie had a lot of original games and ideas that she wanted to incorporate into the presentation, and we were able to include them. In the end, everyone had a great time, especially Keith's family who flew in from the Midwest to celebrate the wedding! It truly was an excellent way to cap off a fabulous Hawaiian vacation!



With the new month comes a new newsletter. If you haven't received your copy of the Wedding Newsletter, let me know so I can add you to the VIP list. This month's edition includes tips on delivering a great toast (it's great advice for your Best Man & Maid of Honor), as well as tips on how to keep the romance once you're married. Of course, we celebrate the weddings from the last three months as well the anniversaries, so there's a lot of good stuff in this issue. Email me if you want to get it!

Finally, the World Class Wedding Expo at the Convention Center is coming up next week, so if you haven't made any plans this weekend, come check it out! It's a great opportunity to meet with wedding vendors in one place, and many of them are eager to help you create a wonderful and memorable event.