Grand Entrance or Grand March?

After 22 years of performing creative wedding receptions nationwide, one of the top questions from Brides and Grooms is about the difference in Grand Entrance and Grand March. It's quite interesting and I believe the answer stems from the Midwest. 17 years ago, I was a panelist at the International DJ Show in Atlantic City, NJ. My spot on the panel was dealing directly with creative Grand Entrances. As I began to discuss some of the creative  "Grand Marches" I have put together for Brides and Grooms, the room of about 1000 DJ's became divided. Someone raised their hand and asked "don't you mean the grand entrance"? I asked for a show of hands to identify "who" knew about Grand March vs. Grand Entrance. I explained that in our area, for years, wedding guests would ask "when is the Grand March"? and it typically was between 9-10pm. Another DJ asked "why would you introduce someone halfway through the reception"? This brought up a great point for discussion. I asked people to show who knew or used a "Grand March". The majority of the hands up were all from the Midwest. We concluded that in the Midwest, many guests lived by farmers hours. They may not make the wedding ceremony and dinner, but they always made the party/dance! Therefore for many years, people would repeat the same thing they saw at "other" people's weddings carrying the tradition forward.

For the past 17 years, I have offered every Bride and Groom all options concerning Grand Entrances and Grand March. I have dj'd in 19 States so far and have performed receptions at the Marina Del Rey Ritz Carlton, Caesar's Palace/Vegas, St. Johns Banquet Ctr (Plymouth/Detroit) and many more high end facilities. They all insist on a Grand Entrance as a rule. But for the majority of receptions I offer both aspects to Brides and Grooms. Some use the initial entrance as the "formal" entrance and later, the Grand March for themed entrance (props, etc). Some Brides and Grooms have also accepted one entrance as enough and use the initial entrance as the only entrance. Simply put, there are choices and the wedding receptions I perform, offer flexibility to support the Bride and Groom having it any way they like it. Either way, my advice is to be organized, keep it fun and most of all not over produce the moment. A effective entrance works best with no words in the music to compete with announcing names. The goal is to introduce-Cheers!