Where's Waldo? At a Wedding! THE REQUEST: Ashley and Jonathan were getting married. They had the locations booked (ceremony at the Spadina House and reception at the Windsor Arms Hotel in downtown Toronto), but they wanted their wedding to reflect their playful personalities and to be extra memorable and fun for their guests. So they approached the Extant Jesters to see if we had any ideas. Ashley and Jonathan had already decided they wanted to have a "surreal themed" wedding (take a look at the photo of their cake! straight out of a Magritte painting!) and they wanted to see if we could help animate the reception in a fun, surreal, way. After brainstorming for a few hours, Waldo (of Where's Waldo book fame) came to mind. What if Thomas (co-founder of the Extant Jesters) came to the party dressed as Waldo? All involved thought it was a great idea and so we started planning accordingly. AT THE WEDDING: We decided it would be best if Waldo made his first appearance at the reception. (We wouldn't dare steal any focus from the bride during the ceremony!) As soon as people started to settle in to the banquet hall at the Windsor Arms Hotel for the reception, Waldo slowly started to wander through the crowds. He was very discreet for the first hour, appearing only in big crowds and only on the periphery. Even still, slowly but surely, wedding guests did start to take note and to snap pictures of him amidst the crowds. As dinner commenced, Waldo wandered the balcony on the second floor of the hotel, smiling briefly when a guest or two pointed him out. But he was then quick to disappear again. We overheard many fun comments (like, " What the heck!? I could have sworn I just saw Waldo- from the Where's Waldo books!" and "Look, look here at the photo I took! I told you Waldo was in the background! I'm not going crazy!"). Slowly but surely everyone realized Waldo's presence had been planned and the guests had a wonderful time asking him to pose in their pictures and to dance with them. Ashley and Jonathan were thrilled and tell us that to this day (nearly nine months after the wedding, their guests are still talking about Waldo and what a fun idea that was). Waldo (and Ashley and Jonathan's surreal wedding) was recently featured in Toronto Life Magazine: Winter 2013 Wedding Edition.  |
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