Posts Tagged ‘wedding’
If you are getting ready to set up your meeting with your entertainer, ultimately, you are going to be thinking about the music that you want played at your wedding. Are you going to go with a club vibe, full of dance hits and club classics? Will you be more traditional and request a lot of wedding standards for your request list? Somewhere in between? Here’s a few suggestions to hopefully guide you in the right direction, musically.
1. What is the age range of the guests who will most likely participate on the dance floor throughout the night?
This question is important because if you want to get the most out of your crowd, you need to be in tune with generational style changes. The baby boomer generation will most likely want to dance to some Disco, Funk and 80’s Pop and Rock. 
The Golden Oldies generation will usually respond to Motown, classic standards like Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin and Dion. The younger 15-30 age group will most often want to dance to Top 40 and some 90’s. Knowing the different age groups at your wedding and choosing music accordingly, will ultimately lead to a packed dance floor filled with memories and laughter. If you stick to one or two genres of music exclusively… you might find that a large percentage of the party socializes from their seats or around the bar, instead of the dance floor.
2. How many choreographed “line dances” will you want on your big day?
Songs like the Electric Slide, Cupid Shuffle, The Wobble and the Cha Cha Slide can motivate guests to participate. They also can frustrate guests who either don’t enjoy this kind of choreographed dance… or are tired of it. 
Understanding how many of these songs to request at your wedding is important. For some, you will put these songs on your “Do Not Play” list. Others will specify a few to play. Whatever you choose, understand how it will play to your crowd, as well as for yourselves. If you can’t stand them, don’t play them!
3. Are you willing to be flexible with your own musical tastes and interests to allow for the flow of the night to determine the way things go?
If the answer is “yes”, you now leave the entertainer a lot of leeway to read the crowd and react to what is working… as well as to understand what isn’t and move away from that. This is where your choice in entertainer is very important to the overall style of party you will have. As long as the DJ is understanding your vision and wants to provide exactly what you are asking of him/her, you will have a very successful event. In the same sense, if you are willing to be flexible and adaptable with your music choices based on what is working, you will contribute immensely to that event’s success.
4. What is the overall “tone” you are looking to achieve during the party?
Do you want the party to be as traditional as possible, with many breaks in the action and plenty of time to sit down and socialize while you eat? Are you looking for a dance party that infuses just enough tradition and format as you need, without having to ask the guests to sit down multiple times? Whichever you choose, have a clear goal in mind and we’ll work together with you to achieve that goal. In the 18 years I have been entertaining for my clients… I have seen many ways for a party to unfold. Some start out more mild mannered, laid back and social. Others start out with a BANG! and get the crowd going immediately. Then, there are cocktail receptions which don’t have as much structure and format and allow for more of an “anything goes” approach to the music and dancing. There are no wrong answers here. There’s a vision in your head and we’d like to make sure that vision becomes reality.
By the end of the night you want your guests smiling from ear to ear and talking about the great time they just experienced. However you choose to provide that atmosphere, we’ll be right along side to help walk you through it, lay the foundation for the party and then watch the memories create themselves. We never aim to be the focal point of the party. Instead, we hope to be remembered for creating the perfect atmosphere of fun and excitement, complete with the right songs at the right times and by facilitating all of the dance moments you’ll remember most. If you want someone motivating, exciting and music savvy without all of the “me first” and personal agenda that sometimes comes along with that… we are confident that you’ll make a great decision by choosing Essential Sounds Entertainment for your affair. You won’t see us constantly talking on the mic about who we are, what we’re doing and how people can get a hold of us. The night will speak for itself. If you have a great time, tell your friends and family. A call from one of them when it comes time for their special day will be all the recognition we require and could hope to achieve.
Asbury Park, NJ – January 10, 2013 – WeddingWire, the nation’s leading online wedding marketplace, is thrilled to announce that Essential Sounds Entertainment has been selected as a winner of the prestigious WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2013 for DJ/Entertainment in Asbury Park, NJ!
The esteemed annual awards program recognizes the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Essential Sounds Entertainment’s selection as a Bride’s Choice Award 2013 winner was selected based on the positive experiences expressed by past clients on WeddingWire, the world’s largest wedding review site with over one million reviews. While many industry awards are given by the host organization, the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ winners are determined solely based on reviews from real newlyweds and their experiences working with Essential Sounds Entertainment.
The WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2013 are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, based on professional achievements from the previous year. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and
timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients. As a Bride’s Choice Awards winner, Essential Sounds Entertainment is highlighted within the WeddingWire Network, which is comprised of over 200,000 wedding professionals throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.
“Each year, WeddingWire looks forward to celebrating the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire Network,” said Timothy Chi, CEO, WeddingWire. “Now in its fifth year, the Bride’s Choice Awards™ program continues to recognize the elite wedding professionals who exemplify a commitment to quality, service and professionalism. These businesses were chosen by our bridal community for their responsiveness and dedication to their clients over the past year. We are honored to recognize {Enter Your Business Name} for their impressive achievements within the wedding industry.”
Essential Sounds Entertainment is thrilled to be one of the top DJ’s in Asbury Park, NJ in the WeddingWire Network of sites, which include leading wedding sites such as WeddingWire, Project Wedding, Brides.com, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for taking the time to review our business on WeddingWire. We value all of our clients and truly appreciate the positive feedback that helped us earn the WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ for 2013.
Every morning since Monday, I have opened my eyes around 5-6am to find the sun is still down below the horizon and the moon is visible. I am still on an east coast time schedule to some degree… but it’s really beneficial. We are able to wake up, have coffee and some breakfast and go out on our balcony to watch the beautiful sunrise over the mountains in the distance along the horizon.
Now in Maui, where Jillian and I will be for most of the trip… we’re getting into a pretty great routine. We started in Honolulu for 2 days, but the hustle and bustle there pales in comparison to the serene, relaxing nature here. Wide open roads and spacious fields allow you to really take in the scenery. I find myself breathing deep often, very thankful for where my life has taken me. We are on day 6 of our 10 day honeymoon and I can truly say that I don’t think I’ve ever been quite as content and excited for each new day as I currently am. Of course, being in absolute paradise does help my perspective… but what it also does is reminds me not to take anything for granted. “Stop and smell the roses” once in a while takes on a whole new meaning here. Everything you do while here in Hawai’i is with an emphasis on appreciating nature, culture and those around you. I will be sure to take this back with me to the Mainland when I return.
I have had the privilege of celebrating for over 14 years with some of the best couples and families I could ever hope for. Entertaining has become not just something that I do but more so, who I am. I pour every ounce of my being into what I do. I get a pure sense of joy every time a Bride or Groom tells me how special their day is and that I was an integral part in making that happen. Now, being in their shoes for the first time in my life … I have gained a completely new perspective that I feel will only enhance the way I entertain in the future. Matt Knight, Ryan McCrorey and Chris Martin took such good care of Jillian and myself during our special day. I had no doubt about this. They are all very reliable, respected and well liked individuals… but more than that… they care so much about what they do. It showed, last Saturday night. I was able to look at them from a Groom’s point of view and see just how much they put into their job. I’m so proud to represent them and have the ability to promote them through Essential Sounds Entertainment. I consider myself truly lucky to have incredible employees who see this industry in the same light that I do.
The entire wedding day was surreal to me. I felt myself wanting to try to “do my job” almost instinctively because it’s all I can remember doing for the last 14 years. I had to remember to release all control to the wedding professionals and I couldn’t be more pleased with the people who were a part of our picture perfect day. We made sure to format the day with enough down time to allow my beautiful bride and her bridesmaids a chance to relax and take in the moments. Us guys can be ready in twenty minutes with a drink in hand and laughing the entire way… so it is very important that we remembered how long of a day it is for the girls. They get ready early, with hair and makeup to do for each, dresses to put on and make perfect… and lots of pictures to pose for. We chose to see one another before the ceremony to allow for all of the pieces to come together rather smoothly, with an emphasis on relaxation. Our special day is important and for that reason alone, we wanted to be able to relax and enjoy every moment. This is where the selection of wedding professionals becomes so integral to the overall success of the event.
Without the expertise of John Arcara of John Arcara Photography – one of my great friends in the industry, we would have felt much more stressed during our photo shoots. We never once found ourselves worried about anything and we owe such a great deal of that to John. His images captured every sincere and candid moment we had and furthermore, his personality allowed us all to laugh and relax during the day which made for more true moments instead of staged and posed photography. He and Lovina are two leading industry professionals and I am so thankful to know them, call them friends and have had the chance to work with them on our special day. Here is a link to the facebook images that John uploaded WHILE STILL AT THE WEDDING! Now that is first class service! 11.24.12 – Jillian & PJ @ Doolan’s Shore Club
Greg Lassik of Endless Wave Studios – is a pure genius with film. His attention to detail and his willingness to make us happy on our day is something that I have not come across often, even being in the wedding industry myself for so long. He is another close friend, just like John. I met him while DJ’ing a wedding and immediately knew he was something special. His work speaks for itself… it’s quite simply the very best in the business in my eyes, but his character speaks even louder. Greg is the type of person who wants so badly for you to have the best quality product that he has to offer… that he will go to just about any length to provide that for you. He put together a Same Day Edit, which means he shot a lot of video before the ceremony even occurred, edited the video during the wedding and provided everyone in the room, a 4 minute emotional journey through our wedding day. I can’t stop watching the video, it is literally THAT good! 11.24.12 – Jillian & PJ – Same Day Edit
The venue, Doolan’s Shore Club in Spring Lake Heights continued with the theme of first class service by waiting on us with such care and expertise. Our Maitre De’, Bob, was such a gentleman and I’ve had the chance to work with him very often during my time in the industry. Sue Doolan is amazing and her attention to detail shined throughout with her decoration, her design and layout of the tables and her willingness to make us smile (she bought 3 cases of my favorite beer to share with the guests). They are a very well run banquet facility. Our ceremony took place in their atrium, as well as cocktail hour and it all went off without a hitch. A sincere thank you goes out to the entire staff of Doolan’s Shore Club.
As I sit here in Hawai’i and think about all of the amazing things that have occurred in my life lately… I find myself very thankful. I now have an incredible wife, experiences of a wedding day to last a lifetime, the pictures and video to prove it… and the memories of a honeymoon that aren’t even finished being created. Stop and smell the roses… indeed. Wherever you go on the honeymoon, take time to reflect on just how special your wedding day was for you and be sure to take a few deep breaths along the way. Sharing love with someone else is truly what makes life worth living. Mahalo (Hawaiian for: Thank You) for a few minutes of your time!!
Aloha from Maui,
PJ Windle
At some point throughout the wedding music planning process, the question “What are we going to introduce our parents, bridal party and ourselves to?” will come up. Anyone who tells you that every set of introductions should be similar in feel and excitement, clearly is not customizing anything to your best interest. Some Bride and Grooms are outgoing, loud and proud, excited and full of life. Others are more reserved, laid back, quiet and aren’t overly interested in the spotlight. To ensure that your introductions reflect the type of person YOU are, customizing your intro music is the most important part of the process.
For the Bride and Groom who love a good, loud, exciting atmosphere, we suggest that you pick out songs that not only represent who you are, but also motivate your parents, bridesmaids and groomsmen, as well as your crowd, to participate. The best introductions are the ones that captivate a crowd. For this Bride and Groom, we recommend a few songs that will allow everyone to “let loose” so to speak. Your parents might walk in to something that reminds them of their childhood, or at least to some days when they were singing and dancing and having a great time. The Bridal Party will most likely want to come out to music that allows for them to dance into the room, clapping their hands and smiling while they are being introduced. The Bride and Groom entrance would most likely be a song that captures the attention of the crowd, allows them to get involved by clapping and getting excited and makes the Bride and Groom anticipate being introduced.
In the instances where the Bride and Groom are more laid back and don’t want the spotlight to be affixed squarely to them, more creativity is used to pick out music that represents them, without being over the top and intense. Picking out songs that can still build some energy, without going overboard are most appropriate. Introductions for this couple should be more on the tame side, meaning, the MC should not be trying to get everyone worked up into such a frenzy as they would if the Bride and Groom were attention craving people. Understanding which side of the coin you fall on, is important in planning out the best introductions you can for your big day.
For today, I will suggest some songs that can create energy in the room, just to get your mind thinking creatively about music. There are literally thousands of choices for each one of these special moments, but I will provide a small list of suggestions to help get you started:
Parents Introductions
- Bruce Springsteen – Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
- Dave Matthews Band – Two Step
- Santana – Oye Como Va or Smooth
- Van Morrison – Bright Side of the Road
- The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
- U2 – City of Blinding Lights
- Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Strawberry Swing
- Jason Mraz – I Melt With You
- Barry White – Love’s Theme
- Average White Band – Pick Up the Pieces
Bridal Party Introductions
- Pitbull/Ne-Yo – Give Me Everything (Tonight)
- Rihanna & Calvin Harris – We Found Love
- Usher – More
- Muse – Uprising
- Guns N’ Roses – Paradise City
- Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
- Elvis Costello – Pump it Up
- Kid Rock – All Summer Long
- UB40 – Every Breath You Take
- Kanye West – Stronger
Bride & Groom Introduction
- Usher – OMG
- Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes – Home
- Korn – Blind
- Ozzy Osbourne – Crazy Train
- Jay Z & Alicia Keys – NY State of Mind
- Avicii – Levels (Flo Rida – Good Feeling’)
- Chris Brown – Yeah 3x’s
- Bruce Springsteen – Glory Days
- LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
- U2 – Beautiful Day
Hopefully this list will be a jumping off point where you can start to get creative with your introductions. If you choose the right music to set the atmosphere you are looking for, your introductions will be awesome!!
It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and written a blog. The past few weeks have been very exciting for me. Since I last blogged, I have become an engaged man! Planning the proposal, getting the ring, organizing a little impromptu get together for celebratory drinks with family and friends, all while continuing to help Bride and Grooms celebrate the happiest day of THEIR lives has been consuming a lot of time in the last few weeks. Being a week out now from my best friend accepting my proposal to become my wife, things are definitely in a bit of a whirlwind, but in a very good way. Prioritizing the wedding planning process is definitely underway, with us already checking out a few locations and settling in on one. We picked out the date (11.24.12… that’s right, THIS YEAR!) and are starting to lock up our professionals. I can tell you first hand now, being in the wedding industry for now 14 years is helping tremendously with the large task of planning our big day. It doesn’t mean it will remove the stress that comes with all of this planning, but it does mean that we can round down our choices rather quickly. Friendships I have made, networking I have done through the years and experiences I have had all play a part in our choices.
The thing is, just because I have had these experiences, it doesn’t mean I want to be THE authority on it. Jillian has never gone through this and I want her day to feel like just that. HER day. Whatever makes her smile, whatever makes her heart skip a beat, that’s the choices that I want us to make. I am measuring my suggestions in that very way. I want to offer ideas without seeming pushy. I brought her to three locations that I have great relationships with the owners and told each owner to cater as much to Jillian as they could. Don’t act like I’ve been there 50+ times before so therefore “I know the deal”. This needs to be as special as it can be, to her. It’s already so special to me because I’m marrying someone I am completely in love with, want to spend the rest of my life with and share in every experience, together with, in the future. So far so good. We picked out a location, based on many factors… but a big one was having Jillian say “It just feels right”. That’s the tipping point for me. When something screams out “YES!!!” at you, it’s so much easier to be comfortable in the decision you make.
We have around 8 months until the big day. It seems like plenty of time but as anyone will tell you, whether it’s 8 months or 16 months, the time flies. Preparation, planning and execution takes time, especially if you aim to do it RIGHT, not just get it done. The biggest benefit to being in the industry is the fact that all of the entertainment is going to be handled by us. I am lucky to have a very talented MC in Matt Knight whom I can trust with those duties and a few very excited, willing technical assistants who help make our job a lot easier and more fun. Thankfully they are all willing to help make this day one to remember for the rest of our lives. Picturing the day now from the other side of the table, so to speak, is an amazing feeling. I’ve had the pleasure of planning over 1,000 weddings with Brides and Grooms. I genuinely feel the excitement that comes from the two of them… often extremely visible in their smiles, joy and laughter while talking with them about the big moments. Now, BEING that Groom that I so often enjoy painting the picture for, I am gaining a new understanding of just how important it is to dream, envision, get excited for and follow through with these big ideas we have. I already see it building another level of respect and love between Jillian and I. Her excitement is palpable. She’s definitely taken the initiative of designing her own Save-The-Date’s… as well as invites. She’s extremely skilled with design and it makes her happy to produce something that people get excited about. We have booked our honeymoon (10 days in Hawaii!!!) and we’re well on our way to booking up our professionals.
The biggest thing that I can never stress enough to Brides and Grooms is this. Enjoy the process. Take it all in. This is your moment. It’s the biggest day of your life.. but more than that… it’s a planning process with the one you love. This is the person that you have decided to spend the rest of your life with, someone who completes your thoughts, makes you feel whole and whom you genuinely can’t wait to wake up in the morning next to. Be thankful. You have a love in your life that so many people strive for. Remember that it is a gift. I try to remind myself of that often. Her love is not something that I am owed… it’s something that I am lucky to have. She certainly is my best friend and I respect everything she does to make me feel like that one person she puts on a pedestal. I always want to return that respect to her and especially throughout the planning of the wedding, I need to keep that in perspective. Brides tend to take this task very seriously, as they should. Grooms sometimes can get a bit careless with the smaller, minutia of planning. Keep in mind that if it’s important to her, it is for a reason… and try to help in every way you can.
2012 has been an absolutely incredible year for me in so many ways. Essential Sounds Entertainment is taking off in a big way, Pixeladvance has gone full-bore for Jillian and we’ve got a third project in development that we’ll talk more about when the time is right. I am now engaged and planning a wedding that for 30 years has seemed like it might elude me while I dedicated myself to passionately celebrating with other Brides and Grooms. I’m proud of where I’ve come from, where I am now and where the road ahead will lead. It’s an exciting time… and if you are currently planning your own wedding… take a few moments each day to breathe and be thankful for the privilege. I know I try to pinch myself as often as I can. November 24th, 2012 will be here before we know it!!!
If you are currently in the market for DJ Entertainment, one of the questions that is bound to come up either by you the customer or the DJ him/herself… is “Are you interested in any enhancements for your event?” The most popular enhancement at the moment is uplighting. If you are like me, details are important. I’ve always thought very detail oriented when it comes to event planning. The idea of uplighting, just a few years ago was not as popular as it has now become. People everywhere are excited about the possibility of not only great sound and hosting by an entertainment company, but also about TVs, Candy Stations, Photo Montages, Photo Booths, and LIGHTING.
Uplighting is a very creative way to set your wedding apart. You choose the color or colors… you decide how much color you want in the room, decide if they are going to be static or dynamic (which means to change at any given time or to dance to the beat of the music, chase patterns etc). All of these options allow you to customize how your facility is going to look. This is why the option is becoming so popular. Brides and Grooms book a banquet hall or restaurant knowing that others have had their weddings there. You love the food, the atmosphere, the decor. That is what stood out initially. So you book the location and now is your opportunity to create the vision of your dreams. Are your bridesmaid’s dresses aqua? Are your flowers purple? Is your favorite color fuchsia? Coordinating your room to your colors will not only set off the room from the previous wedding that took place in that space, but it will also set a “mood”. I am a true believer in the subconscious and it’s ability to control our thoughts and emotions without us having the slightest idea as to why we feel a certain way. Blue colors tend to put people at ease, relax them and soothe. Red tends to lend itself to romance, love and attraction. Greens often make people feel excited, emotional and liberated. These colors and their effect on a crowd can not be overlooked for that reason alone. 
Whenever I set up a room with uplighting, I get excited. Not only because it looks amazing… but because I KNOW that night is going to feel special. When I hook up dynamic uplighting, I strategically change colors to set moods in the room. As people enter the room, I might have a blue setting on, with the option of alternating another color to offset the blue. As the first dance begins, I like to change the color to red. This usually gives the crowd a warm, loving feeling inside and ultimately the Bride and Groom’s love for one another grows palpable. These subtle changes allow me, the DJ/Host to further control the excitement in the room. I look at lighting just as I look at my hosting duties. How can I be different? How can I put my spin on it? How can I affect the overall success of the party in a positive way? With this passion, I decided to learn as much about color and the subconscious as I could. Now, it allows for a lighting set up to not only be beautiful, but to also be an “experience”. 
If you are thinking about possibly enhancing your event with uplighting, I strongly advise you to learn about how colors make you feel. Choose colors that make you feel happy, bring out the most excitement for your event and also coordinate with your decor. This is just another fabulous way to create that everlasting memory for you and your guests that you have been picturing since you were a child.
(*) Photos courtesy of Kristen Driscoll Photography
It’s just after Christmas and chances are if you are hearing wedding bells going off in your head… it’s because you have just received a shiny new ring! Statistics show that 77% of all proposals take place between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. So now is the time where your excitement leads you into the wedding planning process. What do you book first? How fast should you lock up your location? How far in advance do you need to book your entertainment? Videography? Photographer? All of these questions are important in making sure you have little stress throughout the process of planning your wedding.
The best advice that I can give you during this process is … set priorities. Rank your list from most pressing to least pressing. It’s not to say one thing is so much more important than another… but often one booking leads to another. In most cases, searching for and finding the spot for your reception should be a top priority. If you don’t have a location, it means you don’t have a date planned. There would be no clear way to determine which vendors are open for your day if you have yet to lock a day up. If you plan on getting married in a church, I would suggest checking with the church to make sure the day in which you plan on selecting for your chosen reception location is also free for the church.
I don’t want to walk through what I feel are the more important aspects of the wedding because I’m sure that would lead me to be a bit biased (I feel entertainment should be a very high priority, obviously). What I will do is suggest what type of day you are looking to have. What do you want people to remember most? Do you want to make sure your wedding reception is filled with action on the dance floor, along with being able to influence the music play list as much as you would like? Are you more excited to look at awesome photos of your day and purchase them to hang around your house, grandma’s house or your in-laws? Are you someone who feels that nothing tells a story quite like cinema and therefore you are psyched to have a professionally shot and edited movie of your special day? These aspects are all important and all deserve focus. How much focus and therefore, what percentage of your budget, is the determination that only you can make.
By prioritizing your interests, you will naturally be able to determine what to loosen the purse strings for and which you can cut some corners on your budget with. Every segment of the wedding industry has a high-end and a low-end for prices. Determining where you want to spend the extra money to get the “high-end” quality and which items you can leave to the lower end side of the budget is the task you have when planning your wedding. Everyone sets a number that they would like to fit their entire wedding budget inside of. Ultimately, it’s a guideline. Set that guideline at a number that you can be comfortable spending but also understanding if you decide there are enhancements to each product or service that you would like to add, the price will move higher. Weddings are expensive. This is an inevitable fact. The amount you spend should reflect the priority you set for that specific product or service. Every wedding vendor would like to be priority #1 for you. That is a fact. If they don’t, it’s probably not a service you want to select for your day. The fact is, every wedding has a different set of priorities and therefore a different way of ranking which to focus on first. Understand that if you put off one aspect of the wedding until late into the planning, there will be fewer choices available to you. This could be completely fine if you decide that the flowers aren’t something you need to book far in advance or the cake you choose is not that important to you. Most often, items of this nature are something that you can book closer to the date and still get what you want. On the other side of the coin, if you want ultra rare flowers that you need to import from another part of the country or another continent… move that up in your priority list. It will take longer to get those things.
In the end the priorities you set will help you set budgets for each vendor. Being educated about why vendors charge what they do will lead you into making the correct decision for your big day. No two vendors are the same, they might offer a similar service but they all come with varying degrees of experience, expertise and demand. Think about what you want your day to reflect… the memories you wish to create, and start your planning accordingly! Good luck with all of your wedding plans and if you would like more information on how we can help you plan the day of your dreams, give us a call or email us!
The price of a DJ is often the #1 focus of many brides and grooms when thinking about who to select for their entertainment. Let’s face it, in this economy, price is usually a very important factor in the decision to buy anything. When it comes to entertainment, I often focus on value vs. price. Why are some DJs so much more money than others? Why are some DJs so incredibly cheap? What do they offer that is not offered somewhere else?
The most important aspect to making a decision based on finances is, to me, value vs. price. If a DJ company is offering an extremely low flat fee for weddings and as you price around you see that most of the other companies are within a much higher range, take a moment to think about what that cheaply priced company is offering. Are they offering an entertainer with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry? Are they offering someone responsible, reliable and consistent? Do they offer the same services, the same quality equipment and the same enhancements? Is cocktail hour included? Lighting? Do they take pride in what their DJ set up looks like?
This is why simply stating that their DJs cost a flat fee doesn’t tell the whole story. Or.. it does. It could be that they simply can’t offer the experience, knowledge and quality of the other companies so they come in at the cheapest price. When you call 5 entertainment companies, chances are you will get a variance in cost and services provided. Simply matching prices doesn’t measure apples to apples. One DJ company might offer a 4 Hour entertainment package that doesn’t include ceremony or cocktail hour. They might charge for each of these individual services and once they quote that low price, you tack on the services you are looking for and the price becomes strikingly familiar again.
Value vs. Price: I bring this up again because if I asked you “what does your DJ cost”, you will have a clear and concise answer for me. If I was to ask you “what was the value of the price you paid for what the DJ provided to you throughout your planning process and on the day of your wedding” I would get a much more thought out response. I am not suggesting that because a DJ charges more, he cares more or has more of a vested interest in the overall success of your event, but I am saying the ones who don’t come in “the cheapest” usually are more experienced, more prepared, have much higher quality equipment and offer a product that the cheaper DJ can’t match. In the industry there are many seminars and workshops that provide guidance and thought into the pricing structure of a company. “What are you worth?” is a question that is often asked. We all want to believe we are “worth” a lot of money. The fact is, we are worth what we are confident enough charging, while meeting and often exceeding the Bride and Groom’s expectations of what a DJ is supposed to provide. If you feel you are worth a certain price and you are able to convey to the Bride and Groom why that is, then you are “worth” the price you charge.
There is a lot of thought that goes into our pricing structure. We do not offer simple flat rate pricing for this reason. Everything we do is focused on a personal, customized approach and if we were to offer flat fees for our services without finding out what YOU the Bride and Groom are looking for, we would be offering something exactly the opposite of personal. Customizing a package to fit your specific needs is important. Learning about you, from the moment you make contact with us is what provides a clear and comfortable path to the wedding day. Finding out what you want and more importantly what you don’t want is vital in the overall success of your entertainment. If I don’t take the time to listen, how will I know what I would actually be willing to do that event for?
The price that you pay is simply a number. The value you receive is much less tangible but in my opinion, far more important. At the end of the day if you feel your value far exceeded the price that you paid, then you paid the right price for your entertainment. If you ever feel that you are not getting the customer service you expect, the personal and customized experience you are hoping for, then the price you are paying fails to matter. Think about the price of a DJ as value, rather than a dollar sign and I can promise you that you will make the right decision when choosing entertainment for your big day.
A question that I get often is “Which is better, doing parent’s dances up front, or doing them at a later time”, ie: after dinner, after cake cutting, after first course. The answer that I typically would give is a little more complex than a simple answer of this or that. There are numerous questions that you should ask yourself when making this decision.
- Do you hope to have the attention of most of your guests when you do these special dances? This means, if you decide to do your Mother/Son and Father/Daughter dances after cake cutting, there is a chance that people’s attention will be on other things that are going on. For instance, if you have a Viennese table that will open after cake cutting, people might be thinking about the smell of chocolate in the air and the international coffee station that is about to open. This might be fine with you and therefore this would be the perfect time to do these dances.
- Do you expect your dance floor to be packed all night and you would want to utilize as much free time as possible to dancing? If this is the case, programming the parent’s dances to take place right after introductions is recommended. This way, you will be able to maximize the amount of time you have people on the dance floor. After introductions you will not have to worry about having the DJ sit the guests down for anything other than main course and the cake cutting ceremony. This is the way that I recommend when a Bride and Groom comes to me for advice and says they want as big of a “party” as possible. You get to enjoy having your moment with each other, with your parents… and then it’s party time!
- Would you prefer to break up your slow dances for different key parts of the night? If this is the case, I recommend you do your dances after dinner is over, back to back. The other way this can be accomplished is one at a time. By opening the dance floor to the Father/Daughter dance… enjoying a dance set and then slowing it down again for the Mother/Son dance, you create a way to utilize the spots in the night where natural progression would have you slowing it down for the couples and you could slot in the Parent’s Dances at that time. Then, you can make the decision whether you want to dance the entire song, just do a portion, invite all the guests out to join you half way through…etc.
After you think about these three main questions, I’m sure you will come up with the answer that best fits the atmosphere you are looking to create. Include your DJ in this planning, ask for suggestions and ideas and then come up with the decision that meets your vision of how your special day will “flow”. As long as you think about the cause and effect of your decision, you will ultimately be more confident that you know when, why and how the parent’s dances will fall into place.
This is a question that I often hear from Brides and Grooms. It used to be very typical to hear “Canon in D” by Pachabel for the bridal party processional, “Here Comes the Bride” by Wagner for the Bridal March and then something like the “Trumpet Voluntary” for the recessional. People get the idea that when it comes to ceremony, traditional is the only way to go. They might not be all that thrilled about it… but it seems like they are at a loss for what else would be acceptable, pleasing and enjoyable.
One recommendation that I have is to check out the Vitamin String Quartet. This is an ensemble that will remake classic rock, current rock, alternative and pop songs… in classical format. They will take a song such as “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, “Vida la Vida” by Coldplay etc, and then reproduce the song in classical style. This way, you get to choose songs that represent who you are, what you enjoy and allow the ceremony to take on more of a customized feel instead of going through the motions without any real interest or excitement about what music is representing you.
If you have guests that are sticklers for tradition, this will allow them still be under the assumption that the music is classical and therefore, traditional. Only guests with a keen sense of music will be able to pick out what songs are being remade and they will have fun doing a little guessing game each time a new song comes on. Often I will play Vitamin String Quartet music for prelude as people are making their way into the ceremony room, to their seats and waiting for the ceremony to begin. More than once I have seen people talking back and forth about the songs, trying to guess who the artist and song is and enjoying the style that the Vitamin String Quartet is able to reproduce the song in. They do a really cool job of accurately reproducing the beat, the key and the lead singer’s voice within their instruments. Here are some examples of my favorites:
Death Cab for Cutie – “Soul Meets Body”
Radiohead – “Karma Police”
Guns N’ Roses – “November Rain“
Muse – “Starlight“
Linkin Park – “In the End“
Plain White T’s – “Hey There, Delilah“
Jason Mraz – “I’m Yours“
The Killers – “Mr. Brightside“
There are literally thousands more but I will stop here. If you are looking for a way to show your own personal style within the confines of your ceremony, without sending people for a total loop and playing Slayer or Megadeth before you say “I Do…” this is the way to go.
I hope you guys enjoy this information and take some time to check out everything that the Vitamin String Quartet has to offer.
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