Creative Events The Blog

 

Do You Play Any Music We Want?

This is a very common question from most brides who call to book our DJ Services.  About 95% of our prospective clients are very concerned about whether we just play a bunch of clubby, techno type music; have a set playlist that we use over and over again; or let the clients choose.

I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about what DJs have done.  As a matter of fact, at my own wedding in 2004 (six years prior to forming our company), the DJ called out at the last minute and sent a substitute who not only didn’t have all the songs we requested, but only had about 20 CDs on him in total.  He literally played the YMCA twice!  One of my best friends, Marty Defilippis (who in 2010 helped Michael and me start the business and continues to help to this day) actually went out to his car on my wedding day and brought in all his CDs with my favorite songs.  And he had to play them for this so-called DJ also.  Thank goodness for Marty’s large music collection and knowledge of technology.  Even back when DJs used CDs and records and had to haul all those crates everywhere, they still should have been listening to their clients and advising.

So the answer we give our brides is always that we will play whatever you want but are here to advise.  In other words, when you give us a list of songs you want for your reception, if we don’t have them, we can get them prior to the wedding; however, we will also discuss your choices.  Often brides and grooms like a certain type of music and want to hear all or mostly one genre at their wedding because after all, it’s their wedding and it should reflect their life together and make them happy.  While we totally agree that brides and grooms should have their weddings their way, we feel we must explain the tradeoff of choosing only one type of music at their receptions- people aren’t going to dance much.  If you want to have a lot of people on the dance floor, the DJ needs to incorporate all genres for all types and ages of guests.  Grandma doesn’t want to hear “Party Rock Anthem” and “Shots,” but surprisingly, it’s very likely she does want to hear Pitbull and is in love with “Blurred Lines” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”  Bet you didn’t know that.  But she also wants her “Runaround Sue” and some “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer.  We recommend using your ceremony, introduction, and special dances music to display your personality.  We will get into these choices in a future blog.  Cocktail and dinner music are not too important because everyone is mingling and eating.  We just make sure it’s not too loud.  Also, you might get two and a half hours for your dance party if you are lucky.  That’s only roughly 35 songs.  So making a playlist with two-hundred dance songs isn’t going to work either.

Based on the ages of the bride and groom and average age of guests, we always pre-make a playlist using the bride and groom’s selections and the songs that are popular at the time based on our experience as DJs and Zumba® Instructors.  But we always have to watch the crowd and feel them out when we get there.  The playlists often change about 10 percent on the spot if the bride and groom agree that their choices shouldn’t be the only ones.  We also highly recommend participation dances such as “Cha-Cha Slide” and “Cupid Shuffle” even if the Bride and Groom think they are corny because those songs ALWAYS get everyone up dancing.  Then we follow it with something that everyone likes such as “We are Family” and they all stay.  Consider participation dances as your wedding reception ice breakers.

If we meet with a bride and groom and explain all of the above and they remain set on a playlist which is non-dance-friendly, we simply go along with it but are always prepared to switch it up on the spot in case they change their mind.  Ninety-nine percent of the time, that’s what happens.  In the end, everyone is always happy with Music in Motion’s DJ Services!

Music in Motion’s 10 great songs that always get and keep people dancing at wedding receptions (not in any order):

1. “September” by Earth Wind and Fire
2. “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo
3. “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake
4. “The Twist” by Chubby Checker
5. “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bonjovi;
6. “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer
7. “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” by The Gap Band
8. Anything by Pitbull
9. “Respect” by Aretha Franklin;
10. “Hot Hot Hot” by Buster Poindexter (use leis and do a conga line)

Is this a new concern all of a sudden?  I have noticed the question of who is responsible for the cost of the bridesmaids’ dresses arising lately.  Wasn’t it always understood that when a bridesmaid accepts the invitation to participate in the bridal party she assumes the responsibility of paying for the dress?  Not only the dress, but she should be pitching in toward the shower and bachelorette party too, right?  That’s how we always did it.

I believe this is becoming a concern to today’s brides because they are now becoming accustomed to paying for more of the wedding as a whole than in past decades.   In the past, the bride’s family was expected to pay for most of the wedding, and the groom’s family would pay for the rehearsal dinner and possibly chip in with the reception in order to expand the guest list.  Today, the average age of a bride is around thirty whereas in the past, a first-time bride was in her early to mid- twenties.   So today, a bride and her husband-to-be are often a little more financially independent in general, which often provides them the opportunity or at least the expectation to pay for more of the wedding themselves.

But, Ladies, I doubt most of you have so much money that you can’t even find enough to spend it on.  The average cost of a wedding (without the added expense of six bridesmaids dresses)  is already more than $30K.  Even if you do your wedding with Music in Motion’s Pop-Up Party Package, you are still looking at $10K.

Let your girls buy their own dresses.   Really, don’t feel obligated to purchase them yourself.  It’s an honor to be a bridesmaid.  Instead, if you are afraid you may discourage one or more of your friends from joining the clan due to the price of the dress, let them choose their own dresses and you pick the color.  This way, they can work with their own budgets.  If you have a bridal party who are mostly struggling to get by, choose black.  Everyone either already owns or can borrow a black formal dress, and black can usually fit into anyone’s wedding color scheme.

The bigger moral of this story: don’t add to the drama of your special day by worrying about accommodating everyone involved.  Would they all do the same for you?

 

If you are choosing to have your wedding in October, it could be nice to incorporate some Halloween elements into your décor.  That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to make the room look like a haunted house; wear a black wedding dress with fake blood on it; and ask your guests to come in costume.   But you can…

Once again, it’s your wedding.  You should do as you please.  Can you believe I have actually witnessed people saying that if one chooses to have a Halloween-themed wedding, she isn’t serious about the wedding or even the marriage?  That is ridiculous.  The same could be said for someone who has a wedding with too many flowers; or spends $10K on her dress; or even has an actual wedding at all.  The wedding isn’t serious, People!  It is a ceremony and a party in celebration of a serious step in life, but it’s NOT the step itself.

I love Halloween, but I wouldn’t choose to do a costume party for my wedding because it’s just not me.   But if you do, my professional opinion is that the guests would have a great time as it’s something different.  I have never seen a wedding guest say that they aren’t having a good time due to the color scheme or décor of someone’s wedding.  And the Halloween-themed ones often get the most compliments because they’re always so unique.  The one thing I do advise though is that if you choose to have a Halloween wedding, decorate as ghoulish as you please; have people come in costume; wear a black dress, but try NOT to have the DJ play too much Halloween music during the dance party.  It’s fine to do one or two songs or maybe just during cocktail or dinner.  However, too much of any genre in general at a wedding (during dancing) is never a good thing.  The average wedding reception only has time for about two hours of dancing, which is only about thirty songs; so don’t plan on making ten of them Halloween-related.

I am putting together a really cute Halloween wedding table.  Stay tuned…

 

I’m not sure I can really provide a fair opinion of whether or not a “Wedding Planner” is necessary or not because I truly don’t know what their actual job description is.   I’ve never known anyone who used one (except on TV).  I believe they are supposed to coordinate a bunch of different vendors and maybe help decorate.  How will you measure their qualifications?  They can get a certificate, but there are some things that just can’t be learned from a book.  I’m obviously not going to say where, but I just saw people posting their aspirations of becoming a Wedding Planner.  Several were saying that they’ve just become a “Wedding Planner,” but they don’t really know what they are supposed to be doing.  I guess they just woke up one day and said, “I like weddings.  I think it would be fun to be plan people’s weddings.”  It’s not like they had to learn a trade or purchase equipment.  Can’t anyone say they’re a Wedding Planner simply by just deciding it one day and making a business card?  Many of these so-called-Wedding Planners also asked the group if they suggest having a questionnaire which the brides can complete prior to their meetings.  That’s just weird to have to ask something like that. This all reminds me of the time when I was a year or two into my business, and all of my friends started asking my opinion on whether or not they should start their own business.   When I asked them what type of business they would like to do, they all admitted they had no idea but just wanted to run a business.  Enough said.  Back to the Wedding Planners: When deciding whether or not to hire a Wedding Planner, ask yourself an important question:  What do you expect this person to do?  Are you hiring them for connections to vendors?  Are you hiring them for their organizational skills?  Are you looking for someone to actually design your wedding?  Are you looking for all of the above, and if so, does this person have all of the above?  How do you know?  I don’t know; I guess you can rely on the recommendation of a trustworthy source.  I can tell you that I’ve been approached by Wedding Planners who have asked me if I would like to be on their referral list.  They don’t even know me or my company.  And the vendors might give them a commission, but they’re not going to give you, the bride, a discount on their services simply for using a wedding planner.  Why would they?  Can you believe that according to the Association of Bridal Consultants, the average cost of a Wedding Planner is $3262?  For that money, they’d better be doing something great because you are now adding that number to the average cost of a wedding, which is currently $35K (It’s not included.).

Let’s talk about the role of the venue now.   Most people opt to simply rely on the Maitre D or Wedding Coordinator at the venue.  That makes sense, but they are only there for the actual day of your wedding.  They are supposed to know the way the formalities run and be able to execute each step properly.  I’m not at liberty to say which ones are which, but some of these venues do it well and many do not.  You would think it would be easy since they do these cookie-cutter weddings all the time.  It’s really not that difficult.  Don’t believe me?  Ask your former-bride friends about their venue experiences.  I bet at least seventy percent say the Maitre D was horrible.  Word to the Wise Bride:  Don’t expect miracles from your venue.  More than half the time that I DJ a wedding, the Maitre D or coordinator is completely lost so I have to run the show.  Remember, this person is simply an employee working his or her eight-hour shift and just wants to go home.

So either I’m contradicting myself here or you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.  You can either spend money on someone who may or may not know what she’s doing or you can simply leave it to the venue whose staff and coordinator may or may not know what they are doing.   Or…

You can call Music in Motion to discuss Creative Events and the Pop-Up Party Package, which not only saves you thousands of dollars but also treats each and every individual wedding as a separate project.  How do you know we are qualified to help plan your wedding?  Well, we do every part of the wedding ourselves with our family members and close friends.  We never hire contractors to do any of the jobs; Michael and I have been DJs for quite some time.  We’ve run many weddings because the venue can’t or won’t.  One time, the Maitre D didn’t even show up.  Also, we’ve run so many events for both our Performance company and Creative Events including but not limited to putting on our own plays.  It’s a lot of work!!  I am not going to lie.  But we only take on the amount of events we can comfortably handle, ie 4.3 Pop-Up Weddings (one per week) or about nine single, double or triple packages such as just DJ or DJ/Photography/Photo Booth, etc.  In addition, the price for you to hire my Team to Pop Up your wedding is $799.  This includes not only the Coordinator who is with you from the day you book throughout your wedding (on and off-site) but also your linens, centerpieces and mood lighting and the Team who puts up your linens!  How?  Keep reading My Blog to find out not only how but why we provide this for you at such a reasonable cost.

I know I sound like a commercial right now, which I don’t mean to do, and I would like to offer you other options to help your wedding go smoothly.  However, it’s difficult to do so when we are the only ones who offer such a service.   I may sound very biased throughout this entire blog, but I am not.  For instance, when I ask someone who calls up looking for a photographer if they need a DJ and they say they want a band, I don’t try to persuade them to have a DJ.  If they want a band, they want a band.  I’m not singing at their wedding.   Keep following My Blog and Facebook Page, and I’m sure I will come up with many helpful tips on ways to make your wedding flow more smoothly even if you can’t hire us.