It is the dream of every bride to have a wonderful, smooth flowing and happy wedding reception. It is a goal that not only the bride & groom, family, friends and guests want to have but is also the mission of those serving them on the wedding day. So, why does it not always go that way? As a DJ with over 2,300 successful weddings and events completed, I have a good idea of why, and here are three of them from a DJ perspective.
Life is busy. We all know that working, meeting the many other obligations in our lives and still having a enough time to relax and enjoy takes up just about every minute we have. It is often very difficult to have good time management but when getting ready to organize your wedding, it is a requirement. One of the very first thing I see couples do is wait to the very last minute to hire their key services. Most often the venue is the first thing achieved but in many cases the key service of their entertainment is left close to the last thing on the list of things to do. Planning early and getting all of your key services hired at least six months before your wedding is a great stress reliever and won’t leave you scrambling at the last minute for a DJ or other key vendor.
Ok, now that the venue and vendors are hired and you are breathing a bit easier, the next thing to do is start to get organized. In most cases this will be the couple’s first, and hopefully last, wedding…so you want to get it right. All of your vendors should have their own particular tool designed for their service to help walk you through that. With years of experience, your vendors should make this easy for you and have a lot of ideas to help you. For example Boogie Shoes DJ Services has 16 point checklist that takes you through the whole process of mapping out when and where the music for the cocktail, dinner and dancing portions of your reception is best placed to make your event sparkle. This is so much more manageable for the couple to choose music that is perfect for them.
Within the organization of your reception it is also advisable to be clear in your instructions. It is better to say that you want the wedding processional to begin when cued by an assigned person than to say, “when everyone is ready, start he wedding processional” or “I would like to hear Spanish Guitar” instead of “just play some Latin music” The more precise couples are in their instructions the better chance they will get exactly what they want.
Along with that, it is best not to make multiple last minute changes. The DJ has spent time getting your play list the way you want with the music you want. With modern technology and the huge amount of music a DJ can bring to the event, it is easier than ever to bring in music on the fly but changing the dinner play list one day ahead or at the event can throw some wrenches into the smooth oiled organizational machine that is working for your event. I have had a bride decide at the reception that she suddenly didn’t like the dinner music she had picked and wanted to change to a completely different genre on the spot. I was able to do it of course, but there was a bit of a scramble to find the songs in the genre she wanted and probably the songs were not exactly what she would have liked. It did change the ambiance of the event around.
The same for your dance music choices. As a DJ, I have seen the bride bullied by the brides maid or a pushy friend or relative into changing the songs on her dance play list to those that the bridesmaid likes. This is a bit confusing. The DJ then has to figure out if they are working for the bride and groom or someone else. My favorite though is when after just playing a song that has been a hit and I am going starting into the next song on the bride’s play list, someone will come up and yell “Play another song just like that one…right now!”
Most often, the bride who does not stick to her guns as to the music she would like played and lets others control the music choices will find a lukewarm event. After all your wedding, especially, is about you and your husband…your personality is reflected in your music choice and you most often know your guests the best. It is the vendors job to fulfill your wishes. Please make sure they are indeed your choices so you won’t be unhappy with your event upon reflection.
Insight on some things that will help you have a successful wedding event include to rely on your vendors to provide you with suggestions that you can then take and morph into something that is you. Get them in the game early and you will have a really good and firm idea of what is going to work for you and your family, friends and guests.