Format Guide Downloads

These Adobe PDF files must be saved on your local device in order to fill in the blanks or edit.

Click Here for the Wedding Reception (Itinerary & Music) Guide
Click Here for the Wedding Ceremony Guide
Click Here for the Music-Only Guide

Click to download Adobe Acrobat Reader

Reception Insight

A disorganized reception can lead to unprepared moments of readiness and time delays. We attempt to prevent these momentary hindrances by coordinating an itinerary of scheduled events. Generally most wedding professionals work with some type of schedule. In addition to playing the music, Future Sounds can coordinate and facilitate the reception events with other wedding professionals such as your photographer and caterer to make sure we are all on the same page. We are in the middle of reception activities throughout the evening, so therefore we can easily watch the pace and movement of your guest. We do not take breaks nor leave the room. We modify the schedule with the other wedding professionals as needed to assure that the evening flows smoothly and that expected events occur without a hitch. Simple communication can help prepare champagne for the toast or get ready the wait staff for the cutting of the cake. The itinerary organizes the evening. It gives us insight into the intended structure you have in mind for your wedding day. We are willing and capable to lead the event or follow someone else who is the acting coordinator. Feel free to call us for help if assistance is needed. If you have a wedding planner, please make sure they share their information and itinerary with us.

Some wedding planners tend to space traditional events throughout the reception. This will work fine if reserved events like the toast and cake cutting are done during cocktails and dinner and interactive events like the bouquet and garter toss are done during the dance. The events scheduled in the middle of the dance or late in the reception that require everything and everybody to stop and grab their attention--could cause your guests to lessen their participation and diminish numbers at the end of the event.

Our announcements are made based on the information shared on the format guide. We ask that you fill in specific times for your ceremony, arrival of you and your guests into the reception room or hall, dinner and expected departure. The remaining events like the cake cutting, toast and first dance are scheduled based on your expected number of guests and the turnaround time for the buffet or sit down meal. We suggest doing reserved events like the cake cutting and toast following dinner. Doing these two events following dinner keeps the captive attention of your guests. These two events should not follow the special dances or be inserted into the middle of the dance because it can break or completely halt the momentum expected for the dance. Furthermore, it is more difficult to gain everybody’s attention for the toast later in the evening after the intensity and volume of the room has increased. We suggest that while you are taking the formal pictures of the cake cutting, the caterer or servers pass out the champagne or sparkling cider. We suggest to your guests to refresh their beverages at the beverage station if champagne or sparkling cider is not offered or preferred. The formal toast is immediately after the cake cutting placing you in the center of the dance area which will then lead you into the first dance. While you are doing the formal dances, the caterer is slicing the cake and passing it out to your guests. Guests can enjoy the cake now or later if they wish. Our goal is to get the reception moving once dinner and desert is done. Is some situations, the toast occurred before dinner. Again, communication is key to assure guests have something to toast with in hand.

The bouquet and garter toss is an outgoing event and can be done at any point in the reception. Generally, we like to allow for an hour of dancing before doing another traditional events. Our Format Guides are designed to help you plan out and customize your evening. In addition to scheduling traditional events, the music guide completes the second page and helps you focus and plan out specific music request. The Guides above are geared specifically towards wedding ceremonies and receptions. However, we do have specialized Format Guides for other events such as Bar / Bat Mitzvahs, anniversaries, birthday parties and other corporate functions. These Guides are due one month (4 weeks) before the reception occurs. This helps us prepare needed materials and organize special request. Last minute music request that are not listed in the online library may not be readily available even with access to music sites. Please consult any changes or adjustments with us as soon as possible.

It is not easy to have every new or old song, but we make attempts to be prepared in advance with your request. Sharing specific desired versions is very helpful. You can share links to the specific file on the web, YouTube or share a specific playlist from you music site like iTunes or Spotify. We have access to these sites, but we do not stream directly from these sites during your event. Your song buffering at an inappropriate moment, does not look or sound good. We prefer to have all files local on our computer and prepare in advance. Downloading request at an event is possible however good WiFi and phone service is not always readily available or accessible.