Wedding advice from a DJ's point of view
Posted on
Hi folks. Sorry no time to blog last week. My life is unbelievably busy. I'm taking a week off this week just to get all the stuff done that I want to. Always a bit of a bugger as I don't get any holiday pay so one has to both gamble and prepare. A good analogy for being a small business owner wouldn't you say? Whatever you think, You definitley have to be and optimist.
Enough of that. If you're planning a wedding next year and don't have £25,000 to spend then think of booking a venue on some other day than Saturday. Most venues seem to have the same rate on Friday as the rest of the week, but if you were to book on a Thursday for example, you may well in these times be able to score a better deal with them.
One huge, huge word of caution here. DO NOT start the wedding itself too early in the day. By the time your guests (who are still getting out of their work time table) walk onto the dance floor, you want them to be fresh and raring to bust some moves, throw some shapes etc (well "boogie" is so over used isn't it?) and not looking eagerly at the exit and the nice comfortable Vauxhall Vectra " armchair chariot to homeville" through the wondow to the carpark. If you have children attending it just exacerbates the situation. Trust me I've seen it all before. Try and encourage them to sleep late and prepare themselves for it. I party all the time but do your family? They do? What are you a rockstar?? Nice. I can do your party too.
There are also added benefits of booking on a week day. Not only do you find out which of your friends and relatives are willing to take a day off work to come and celebrate with you - Make that two days, one to recover from the late night shall we say... but also from my point of view, you get to book a profesional DJ who doesn't just do it at the weekend for a "bit of a laugh" The difference in ethics between these two groups though not always prevelant, can sometimes be astounding. You know you've got someone who's serious about (if that could ever be the right word) entertaining if his or her living depends on it. Obviously this isn't gospel but it does make logical sense. I've lost count of times I've been called up to replace hobby deejays who let the customers down at the last minute so they can go and see the Scissor sisters at Wembley or something. I don't always get the gig though as the prices quoted by these guys reflect the seriousness with which they regard the job and when the customer hears the true cost of professionalism it can be hard to take for some.
I know that last bit sounds commercially, utterly anal but it's actually depressingly regular.
If you've been following my previous blogs you know you'll want to ask them about their sound policy. Do they have a "noise limiter" in the dance area? Do they, as they did at Cowdray walled garden at Midhurst, come in half way through the gig and tell you to turn it down to the volume of roughly a kitchen radio (Not much of an exaggeration) and stand behind you for the rest of the night to make sure you comply? Does the music have to be turned down for Hotel guests above who don't understand what the word party means? If the answer is yes to any of the above (I know they'll be more cagey about it than I am of course) then you'll have a much better show elswhere no matter which Band or DJ you hire. Talking of which, make sure they have full insurance and your venue might need them to have portable appliance tested equipment. I have this as standard now. many other deejays say they do but actually they don't. As there's no law requiring it, it's not illegal to print your own labels. My attitude is: although I really don't need it as my equipment gets so much TLC, what the hell, it's tax deductable anyway. Why are you deejays so keen to give it to Alistair Darling instead? Or could it be that your not giving it to him either?
There are a million different web sites that give you advice
on how to plan a wedding but I've tried here to give you some expert advice that you probably won't find anywhere else.
Congratulations on your engagement. Now what are you waiting for? Don't you know what fantastic value for money I am?
Enough of that. If you're planning a wedding next year and don't have £25,000 to spend then think of booking a venue on some other day than Saturday. Most venues seem to have the same rate on Friday as the rest of the week, but if you were to book on a Thursday for example, you may well in these times be able to score a better deal with them.
One huge, huge word of caution here. DO NOT start the wedding itself too early in the day. By the time your guests (who are still getting out of their work time table) walk onto the dance floor, you want them to be fresh and raring to bust some moves, throw some shapes etc (well "boogie" is so over used isn't it?) and not looking eagerly at the exit and the nice comfortable Vauxhall Vectra " armchair chariot to homeville" through the wondow to the carpark. If you have children attending it just exacerbates the situation. Trust me I've seen it all before. Try and encourage them to sleep late and prepare themselves for it. I party all the time but do your family? They do? What are you a rockstar?? Nice. I can do your party too.
There are also added benefits of booking on a week day. Not only do you find out which of your friends and relatives are willing to take a day off work to come and celebrate with you - Make that two days, one to recover from the late night shall we say... but also from my point of view, you get to book a profesional DJ who doesn't just do it at the weekend for a "bit of a laugh" The difference in ethics between these two groups though not always prevelant, can sometimes be astounding. You know you've got someone who's serious about (if that could ever be the right word) entertaining if his or her living depends on it. Obviously this isn't gospel but it does make logical sense. I've lost count of times I've been called up to replace hobby deejays who let the customers down at the last minute so they can go and see the Scissor sisters at Wembley or something. I don't always get the gig though as the prices quoted by these guys reflect the seriousness with which they regard the job and when the customer hears the true cost of professionalism it can be hard to take for some.
I know that last bit sounds commercially, utterly anal but it's actually depressingly regular.
If you've been following my previous blogs you know you'll want to ask them about their sound policy. Do they have a "noise limiter" in the dance area? Do they, as they did at Cowdray walled garden at Midhurst, come in half way through the gig and tell you to turn it down to the volume of roughly a kitchen radio (Not much of an exaggeration) and stand behind you for the rest of the night to make sure you comply? Does the music have to be turned down for Hotel guests above who don't understand what the word party means? If the answer is yes to any of the above (I know they'll be more cagey about it than I am of course) then you'll have a much better show elswhere no matter which Band or DJ you hire. Talking of which, make sure they have full insurance and your venue might need them to have portable appliance tested equipment. I have this as standard now. many other deejays say they do but actually they don't. As there's no law requiring it, it's not illegal to print your own labels. My attitude is: although I really don't need it as my equipment gets so much TLC, what the hell, it's tax deductable anyway. Why are you deejays so keen to give it to Alistair Darling instead? Or could it be that your not giving it to him either?
There are a million different web sites that give you advice
on how to plan a wedding but I've tried here to give you some expert advice that you probably won't find anywhere else.
Congratulations on your engagement. Now what are you waiting for? Don't you know what fantastic value for money I am?