Here's how it works. The doors are closed and the guests are seated. I have the wedding party lined up in the hallway in the order we agreed, and I've checked every name one more time. Music up, doors open, and I introduce them into the room, usually in pairs, then the two of you last, and the room stands. Who gets introduced is your call: nobody but the two of you, or the parents and the wedding party too. Five minutes alone, about ten with a party, and fifteen is the ceiling.

It's a common thought (and a misconception) that loud music and a loud voice are the keys to a good grand entrance. Like the ceremony and the cocktail hour, the entrance sets the tone for everything after it. Here's what I've learned about making it yours.

WHO WALKS IN

Just the two of you. The simplest version, and it's what the room has been waiting for. Two minutes, and you can't do it wrong.

The parents. Introduce them to honor them, or just ask them to stand. If any of your parents are divorced or remarried, tell your MC exactly how and in what order you want them introduced. This is the one I ask about twice.

The wedding party. In pairs, one at a time, or all together, with the little ones if they're up for it. No wrong way; just tell the party which way.

You first. Tradition says the couple comes last. Come in first and you get to watch your own party's introductions, and each of them gets to hug you on the way in.

No wedding party at all. Then the entrance is the two of you, and the best version is the shortest: walk in, take the mic, thank the room. The no-wedding-party article has the rest.

MAKING IT YOURS

Thank your guests right then. While they're still standing and cheering, take the mic and say thank you for coming. Thirty seconds. Tell me in advance, because I have to kill the music and hand you a live mic, and that's a cue, not an accident.

Theme music. A dramatic song for the two of you, or a different song for each pair. Songs with soft beginnings need to be cued to the right spot, and I need to know if the song starts on the door or on the walk.

A theme. Sports (heights, schools, fight songs), a movie, a game show, a ballpark with stadium music and popcorn. It works when the wedding party is in on it and it fits the two of you.

Talents, and the dance-off. If someone in your party has a real talent, I'll coax it out of them at the door. Or challenge each pair to top the one before. One rule: never embarrass anyone who didn't sign up for it.

Short bios. A sentence or two about each person as they enter: how you know them, where they live, one funny thing. The size of your party decides how short. Or write them and read them yourselves, from the hallway, with a mic. It's the version I remember.

THE DETAIL THAT MAKES OR BREAKS IT

Pronunciations. I've introduced a lot of wedding parties, and the one mistake the whole room notices is a name that comes out wrong. So I ask for every name written the way it sounds, not the way it's spelled: SHAWN, not Sean. I read it back to its owner in the hallway before the doors open. That's the reason the sheet exists.

The DJ Sheet's entrance page is the lineup I read from: names the way they should be said, the phonetic spelling, one line about each person, and the song, in the order they walk.

WHAT I'M WATCHING

The photographer; I don't open the doors until they nod. The pace: I read fast, but a pair still has to get from the door to the floor, so each pair is about half a song and I call the next one on the walk. The parents' order. The song intro. And what comes right after, because here on the East Coast the first dance usually happens straight out of the entrance, while the room is on its feet. The special dances article picks it up from there.

WHAT USUALLY GOES WRONG HERE

  • A name said wrong. Write it how it sounds.
  • Nobody told me which parent walks first, and both of them are looking at me.
  • Half the party is at the bar. I go get them; it costs five minutes.
  • The room doesn't stand. I ask them to, before the doors open.

QUESTIONS I GET ASKED

Do we have to do a grand entrance?

No. Walk in during cocktail hour and I'll open the room with a welcome instead. It's calmer, and it works.

How long should it take?

Five minutes for the two of you, ten with a party, fifteen at the outside.

Who goes first?

Usually grandparents or parents, then the party, then you. Or you first.

There's a lot you can do to set your entrance apart and make a moment people talk about for years to come. Prepare each piece with the right people, hand me the names the way they sound, and I'll get you into the room.

Thanks! Chuck