Most people at a wedding are watching the doors when the couple walks in. Phones come out, conversations stop, and for a few minutes the whole hall points one way. It's also the part that goes wrong most easily: a song that starts late, a dancer who blocks the photographer, a walk that's twice as long as the track.

Rainbow Entertainment plans bride and groom entries for weddings in India, Delhi and across the NCR. We've been producing events for more than 20 years, and an entry is one of the things we plan most carefully, since you only get to do it once.

What goes into an entry
On paper an entry looks simple. The music plays as the couple enters, and everyone claps. In practice, it takes three to six minutes of staging that someone has to manage: the song, the route, who walks beside the bride, where the dancers stand, when the anchor speaks, and where the photographers should be. Miss one and the whole thing wobbles. 

We plan these with the family. First we look at the venue layout and what the couple actually want, then we fit the performers and the timing around that. Couples don't always agree with each other, a groom who wants a dhol and a bride who'd rather have something quiet, say. That's an ordinary brief for us, and it often works out as a loud opening followed by a calmer walk.

Entry ideas that suit Delhi NCR weddings
These are the formats people ask for most often. 

• Dancers leading the couple in, with a Bollywood routine or folk steps, clearing a path through the crowd
• A bhangra troupe with dhol for a groom who wants noise from the first second 
• A singer performing a slow song while the bride walks in 
• A floral canopy held by cousins or friends, with petals dropped as she passes 
• Both partners entering together on one song, sometimes with a short choreographed moment in the middle 

Fog, sparklers, a doli or a decorated car depend on the venue. Some halls ban fire effects or limit sound, so we check with the venue and the decorator before anything goes into the plan.

Before the wedding day
Check what is permitted before you settle on an idea. Several farmhouses in Delhi NCR and banquet halls in Delhi NCR have restrictions on fire and fog effects, and may switch off the music at a certain time. 

Walk the path. How far is it from the door to the stage? Where do the parents and the bride and groom get their shots? A longer walk calls for a longer song, a narrow aisle fewer dancers.

Choose the music early as this is the basis for the rest of the work. It will mean reworking all else if you change it a week beforehand!

See if you can rehearse once even just a little with the couple, the dancers, and the sound guy. A bride in a heavy lehenga isn't the same as the same bride in her jeans, and you'd prefer not to discover that the night before. Tell the photographer and videographer where the couple will pause so they're already standing there.

Why people book Rainbow Entertainment
We're a Delhi event company that also does sangeet nights, ladies sangeet, corporate events and stage shows, so the dancers, choreographer, singer and anchor for an entry can come from one team. That means one point of contact on the wedding day instead of five. 

Photos from past entries are on this page. If you're planning a wedding in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Greater Noida, Faridabad or elsewhere in India, call 9999941089 or write to us through the contact page. Our office is at B-12/13, Sainik Nagar, near Dwarka More Metro Station, New Delhi - 110059.