If you’re planning a wedding in Manchester, you’ll have no shortage of entertainment to choose from. Live music, singers, caricaturists, photo booths and DJs can all add something special to the day.
So why choose a magician?
For me, the answer isn’t simply that your guests get to see some amazing magic. Close-up magic can actually help the wedding day work better.
Bringing your guests together
Weddings bring together different groups of people.
Your immediate families may know each other well, but there will also be friends, relatives and colleagues meeting for the first time. During the early part of the day, it’s perfectly natural for people to stay within the little groups they already know.
Close-up magic gives them a reason to come together.
I mingle amongst your guests, performing for small groups at a time. People aren’t simply watching me — they’re reacting, laughing and talking to one another.
Very quickly, the magic becomes the conversation.
That’s one of the things I enjoy most about performing at weddings. I’m not there to interrupt the celebration. I’m there to help create it.
When is the best time to have a magician at a wedding?
The drinks reception is one of the best times to have a magician at a wedding, particularly while the couple are away having photographs taken.
While you’re away having photographs taken, your guests can sometimes have quite a long period with relatively little happening.
And couples occasionally worry about that.
They want the photographer to have enough time to get the photographs they’ll treasure for years, but they also don’t want their guests standing around wondering where they’ve disappeared to.
This is where close-up magic works beautifully.
You can concentrate on the photographs while I mingle amongst your guests. By the time you return, instead of finding people who have been waiting for you, you come back to a room full of conversations and laughter.
Filling the natural gaps in the day
Every wedding has periods when the energy naturally changes.
Another common one comes after the wedding breakfast and speeches, before the evening celebration really gets underway. For many weddings, this is the other ideal time for close-up magic.
Rooms may need to be turned around. Evening guests begin arriving. The DJ or band may still be setting up.
It’s another excellent opportunity for magic.
Rather than trying to create a separate “show” that everyone has to stop and watch, I can simply move amongst your guests. Daytime and evening guests start mixing, there’s something happening around the room and the celebration keeps moving.
What does a close-up wedding magician actually do?
A close-up wedding magician moves amongst your guests, performing for small groups rather than asking everyone to stop and watch a formal show. It’s interactive, informal and happens right in front of them.
Your guests aren’t sitting twenty feet away watching somebody perform on a stage. The magic happens right in front of them — and often in their own hands.
A playing card changes while they’re holding it.
I reveal a thought they haven’t told anybody.
Something impossible happens inches away from them.
There’s no television editing and no distant stage. Your guests are part of what is happening.
That intimacy is what creates the reactions — and those reactions often become some of the loveliest candid photographs of the day.
Something special for the two of you
I also think wedding magic should feel different from magic at any other event.
You’re not simply hiring somebody to entertain a room full of people. It’s your wedding.
That’s why my wedding magic includes a special magical moment created for the couple themselves, together with a personalised keepsake to take away afterwards.
It’s a small part of the day, but often a very memorable one.
A Manchester magician for a Manchester wedding
I’m a Manchester-based wedding magician and regularly perform at venues across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and the wider North West.
Being local matters for more than simply keeping travel sensible. I understand how weddings work, how to fit around photographers and caterers, when to approach a group and — just as importantly — when to leave people alone.
The best wedding magic shouldn’t feel like something that’s been bolted onto your day.
It should feel as though it naturally belongs there.
Choosing your wedding magician
When choosing a wedding magician, look beyond the photographs and promotional claims on their website.
Watch them actually performing.
Look at the reactions of real guests and, above all, listen to what previous couples say about having them at their wedding.
That will tell you far more than a list of tricks ever could.
You can watch my wedding magic in action here and see reviews from previous couples here.
If you’d like to know about the different points in the day when I can perform, take a look at my wedding packages and current prices here.
And if you’re planning a wedding in Manchester or the surrounding area and would like to see whether I’d be a good fit, get in touch here.