First if anyone else would like me to nominate them please let me know – thanks!
Today I’ve picked Maze who Ce and I saw at The Hammersmith Odeon, we’re not sure of the date but I’m pretty sure it was in May 1985. I’m not sure if it was just the two of us or if we went with friends. What I do remember was the amazing vibe and the feeling of love in the room. This was in the days when I was working as a sales rep around the Central South Coast area and had Radio London with Tony Blackburn and Robbie Vincent on in my car most days of the week.
If you don’t know Maze you should. Their Live in New Orleans album from 1981 is one of the greatest live albums ever made (according to me). The track I’ve picked is Joy & Pain, which sums up so much of what life has brought us.
Thank you to all my couples for voting for me in the 2016 Wedding Industry Awards. All of my eligible couples have voted and that means so much to me.
Judging on the results from previous years, when I entered with Alan and Gary, it is unlikely I’ll make the National Finals but you never know! All voting is anonymous and I won’t get my feedback and scores until I’m eliminated from the competition but you can see last years here
Last weekend could be described as “The End Of An Era” ~ don’t panic, I’m not giving up, but it was the last weekend I will ever do weddings on consecutive days. I made an announcement about this back on June 13th and have had a couple of “double -headers” since then which have both been brilliant but I worry about being totally focused and also about being able to offer last minute support to my couples in the lead up to their big day.
This has already meant I’ve had to turn down weddings for next year, so if YOU are thinking about booking me PLEASE don’t leave it too long – it’s never too early to talk about wedding entertainment.
So this was it, my last double-header wedding weekend …
On Friday I was delighted to supply ceremony music and then the evening disco for my good friend of nearly 30 years Andy and his beautiful Bride Vicky. Andy was my “lighting jock” and warm-up DJ back in my New York New York days and then at Martines 2 in Eastleigh. He’s been DJ’ing all the way through and still is very sought after as a club DJ.
They had their ceremony at the beautiful Winslowe House in West End with just their closest family followed by drinks and photographs in the grounds there. Then they moved in a white Rolls Royce on to The Navigator at Swanwick for a meal and then they were joined by more family and friends for a great party to celebrate. I had the honour of sharing their Love Story with everybody before their first dance which was to the Luther Vandross and Busta Rhymes version of “Lovely Day”
Later in the evening Vicky did a DJ set comprising of a mix I’d prepared of Andy’s own “Mercmonk” edits. It was lovely day and it was great to see many old friends and celebrate with Andy and Vicky.
Then it was home by 1:30am and a few hours sleep before I left at 10:30am for Josh and Max’s wedding at excellent The Winchester Hotel. I actually had help all-day from Charlie Rogers, an great young DJ who was keen to help and see how I ran an all-day wedding. Everybody at the Hotel was very helpful and the day ran very smoothly. I provided ceremony music and then my full Master of Ceremonies, background music, party DJ package, and it was a blast! It was great to be working alongside Andrew from Hampshire Photography ~ Whitley Weddings, Andrew also provided an “open Photo Booth” during the evening reception.
I’ll probably post more about Max and Josh’s wedding in the future, there was such a lot going on!
Again I was delighted to be allowed to share their Love Story with their friends and family before their first dance which was to the Boyce Avenue version of “Without You” (originally a hit for David Guetta and Usher).
… and that was it, the End Of An Era! Home by about 2am on Sunday morning and, as I type this on Monday morning, my feet still ache but I can’t stop smiling thinking about all the fun I had with these two fabulous couples and their nearest and dearest.
https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paul-The-Party-DJ.jpg430430Paulhttps://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-party-dj-logo.pngPaul2015-08-03 11:36:442015-08-06 18:56:57The End Of An Era
I set out with the best intentions of posting regularly and keeping up to date with everything but like many other bloggers I never quite deliver what I intended. The reason is simple … I’m just too busy having fun!
Here we are in June and I know I promised lots of videos with great content about wedding planning and posts about the weddings I’ve been doing but life just seems to get in the way. This year has been full of fabulous couples and clients with plenty more to come and I will try and get some blogs together but everything takes time and the next few weeks are looking even busier. I know I’ve said it before but every wedding I work on takes at least 40 hours of planning with three or four meetings, site visits, preparing of playlists, love stories, props, and then a further 12 to 16 hours on-site on the actual day of the wedding. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I love it!
I’ve made a few decisions this year that are going to help me offer an even more focused service. The main one is that I won’t take functions on consecutive days – this means if a couple book me for their wedding I won’t be working at any other functions for a clear 48 hours before, unless I’m called on to help out one of my Party Host colleagues in an absolute emergency. My availability will be even more restricted – with no more than 30 weddings in a year and only one booking in any given weekend. By doing this I hope to offer the best possible service to my couples and deliver amazing, unique, elegant and fun weddings.
I’m also going to spend more time helping people with their wedding planning by holding more of the WOW Wedding Guy “Creating Your WOW Wedding” and events for Bridegrooms. Details of this Autumns events coming soon. If you know someone who is planning to get married point them this way – I offer lots of free resources and tips. There will be more videos and blogs soon I promise. CLICK HERE to go to a post about my wedding tips series and CLICK HERE for one more. If you’d like more information about booking The Party DJ for your wedding or be added to the list for information about the Autumns WOW Wedding Guy events, just email paul@thepartydj.co.uk
That’s it for now, thanks for reading this.
https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Party-DJ-e1458121603114.jpg300300Paulhttps://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-party-dj-logo.pngPaul2015-06-13 15:02:152015-06-13 15:09:34What an amazing year already for The Party DJ
The latest issue of the Pro Mobile Magazine dropped through my letter box yesterday and it features a four page profile of me!
Pro Mobile actually played a pivotal role in my return to DJ’ing, to quote from the article …
I used to subscribe to Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert weekly email and among the free stuff he mentioned one week was a magazine for DJ’s called ProMobile – and you could get a free sample. I did, and it was another step that changed my life (thanks Eddie).
That offer is still available – if you are interested in DJ’ing Pro Mobile magazine is pure gold and you can get a FREE COPY (CLICK HERE) and find out more – it probably won’t be the copy with me in it, so don’t apply just to get a picture of me for your dartboard!
Pro Mobile is still a vital cover-to-cover read for me now with it’s great mix of articles on the business side of things and equipment reviews. Pro Mobile also organises the annual conference I attend each spring and I’m already looking forward to next years event.
CLICK HERE for the first half of the article. If you want to know more, buy a copy, study this blog, or buy me a drink ~ Cheers!
https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Party-DJ-e1458121603114.jpg300300Paulhttps://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-party-dj-logo.pngPaul2015-05-03 11:33:172015-06-13 15:09:00Pro Mobile Magazine
April is looking like a busy month with lots of planning meetings, weddings, and much more! Here are four special events for your diary.
Sunday 12th April ~ Filming
You’ve probably seen some of the footage I’ve been sharing of my fabulous clients talking about their wedding experiences. Well we’re shooting some more on Sunday 12th of this month, so if you are one of my clients (wedding or party) and you can spare half an hour I’d love to get you on video too. Just let me know what time would be best for you! paul@thepartydj.co.uk
Then it’s two wedding fairs – both at venues that I haven’t DJ’d at for a long time … Monday 13th April ~ Asian and traditional wedding showcase at the Botley Park Hotel
Something a little different and perfect for those of you who can never make a Sunday fair. More details here soon.
Macdonald Botley Park Hotel, Golf & Spa
Winchester Road,
Boorley Green
Southampton
SO32 2UA
and … Sunday 19th April ~ Southampton Grand Harbour Wedding Fair with PMN Fairs
The Grand Harbour is probably the most famous hotel in the city of Southampton.
Open 11:00am through ’til 3:30pm with a £1.50 per person entry fee (children free)
Grand Harbour Hotel Southampton
West Quay Road
Southampton
Hants
SO15 1AG
Finally at the end of the month Tuesday 28th April ~ Your WOW Wedding event
The second time this year I’m presenting this evening to run through the wedding day timeline and how you can put the WOW guide into action – if you haven’t got a copy email me today for a PDF version. Here’s what Hannah had to say about the last event …
I really loved how Paul cared so much! He really showed that he wanted to help us all make our wedding day special! Paul gave some great tips and ideas which I had never even thought about! The real life testimonials were such a lovely touch and really insightful of what you could do for us!
For more information about any of these events just drop me an email or give me a call.
paul@thepartydj.co.uk 07973 617153 023 8086 1715
In the last two episodes of my wedding tips blogs I talked you through your ceremony and your ceremony music. How it sets the tone for the whole day and what you will probably need.
This time I want to show you just one example of why booking someone like me to look after your ceremony sound can make a HUGE difference to a really important moment in your day, your recessional.
If you’ve opted for an in-house sound system at your venue with one of your friends pushing the button …
do they know what they are doing?
do they know what to expect?
and are they ready?
and how’s it going to sound?
If you book a professional, like me, he’ll have a professional sound system and he’ll probably offer to make special edits of tracks for youTo find out why, watch the video.
For more information and/or to get a free copy of the “Your WOW Wedding” guide email paul@thepartydj.co.uk or just give me a call for a chat on 07973 617153 / 023 8086 1715
https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paul-The-Party-DJ.jpg430430Paulhttps://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-party-dj-logo.pngPaul2015-04-01 09:56:552015-04-01 09:59:47How’s it going to sound?
The April edition of Wedding Ideas magazine arrived in the newsagents this week and one of my couples from last year are among the featured weddings. Hey it’s Sophie & Tom in Wedding Ideas magazine.
Their wedding was held at Bartley Lodge, almost a year ago, at the beginning of May. In fact it was on May the fourth which explains some of the pictures you’ll see in the article.
I was introduced to Sophie and Tom by Mia, their photographer, and I was able to help with plenty of ideas that were included in their amazing day. Tom told me after their wedding that when we first met he couldn’t understand where I was going with my questions about their vision for the day but by the time I left he was really excited about my involvement with their planning.
At just £2.99 Wedding Ideas is great value for money with lots of great ideas to help couples plan their wedding day. There are also competitions with over £10,000 worth of fabulous prizes to be won including a chance to win a Photo Booth from our friends at Gigglebooth!
https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Paul-The-Party-DJ.jpg430430Paulhttps://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-party-dj-logo.pngPaul2015-03-20 13:05:132016-01-29 08:45:23Sophie & Tom in Wedding Ideas magazine
Back in 2012 I ran a Bridegroom Workshop for guys who wanted to really make sure they knew what to expect on their wedding day and wanted to give their fiancé an amazing experience. Now, as part of my war on boring weddings, they’re back.
The first event is to be held on the evening of Tuesday 31st March! If you’d like to attend please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk
https://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/The-WOW-Wedding-guy.jpg229229Paulhttps://www.thepartydj.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/the-party-dj-logo.pngPaul2015-03-03 15:54:132016-01-29 08:46:40The Bridegroom Workshop is back!
To get your FREE COPY of Your WOW Wedding and start planning The BEST Wedding Celebration EVER…...please complete this form, click below and I’ll email you the link.
