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Why?

This is a bit of a reflective rant, so please bear with me.

Wedding djsAs you may have seen here, or on my FaceBook page, I was in London for 3 days at the start of this week for some more training.  When people hear me say I’m doing more training I often get the reply “really!” or “why?”. Well there are at least three reasons.

First, I love it, it’s fun!  I get to spend time with my Party Host colleagues Alan and Gary and other DJ’s who all have different opinions and experiences to share. Frequently these other attendees come from another part of the country or even another country.

Secondly, and most importantly, I’ve really come to understand that learning doesn’t stop after school or college – yes we all learn from the School of Hard-Knocks and the University of Life – but continuing to try and improve is really important too.

Surely there has never been a better time to learn with all the access to information the internet has put just a click away.

Surely there has never been a time when continuing to learn and grow has been more important to keep up with this fast-moving World we live in.

Towards the end of the last Century (how old does that make me sound!), when Ce and I were planning to open our new business, I was encouraged to start looking at books and videos that would help me run our company.  I’ve found out so much that has helped me from that moment onwards!  If YOU have never read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey – just do it – get the book or the audio book and give it a go.

Finally, I want to make the most of every moment of my time left on this planet – especially when I’m doing my job for my clients.  You’ve probably seen the adverts for Berocca ~ their tag line is ‘You, but on a really good day’, when I provide my services at a wedding, or play for a family, event I want to be the best I can.  I’ll make a confession here, I hate doing things I’m crap at. Anything that pushes me out of my comfort zone I avoid, so you won’t find me on a golf course or doing anything that I feel I’ll look stupid doing.

Wedding Djs HampshireThis latest workshop with two amazing guys from America ~ Bill Herman and Jason Jones ~ and it came under their banner of The Entertainment Experience. Eleven of us, including Alan and Gary,  spent two and a half days learning how theatre, acting and comedy skills could be adopted to help us improve our performances.

Wedding DJ New Forest

It’s never easy performing and being critiqued in front of your colleagues, especially first thing on a Monday and Tuesday morning in the first working week of a New Year, but I certainly got a lot out of it – stepping outside my comfort zone.

The certificate isn’t a pass it’s more a commitment of intent …

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… and that, dear reader, is why.  Thanks for reading.

Finishing Touches with The Party Hosts

Here’s the latest video for The Party Hosts Finishing Touches project

For more information about my work with Alan and Gary check out www.thepartyhosts.co.uk

Makin’ Movies

Southend Barn

Last week Alan, Gary and I spent a day shooting video with the brilliant John Stewart from Vison Productions at Southend Barns near Chichester. This was my first visit to Southend Barns and I really hope to go back soon ~ it’s absolutely gorgeous!

Southend Barn Ceremony Building

Owners William and Mariella really have created a wonderful wedding venue, it’s an amazing fusion of traditional buildings and contemporary design features. My pictures really don’t do justice to this beautiful location.

Southend Barn Ceremony Room

The ceremonies room is located in what was formerly the dairy barn and the adjoining milking parlour is now the Bridal Suite.

Southend Barn ntrance

My favourite area is a covered outside space which is the perfect chill-out lounge, as you can see it’s really innovative.

Chill Out Southend Barns

We were there to shoot a series of videos called The Wedding Entertainment Show where we’ll be sharing our thoughts and ideas to help you create a fabulous wedding. John from Vision Productions and his team did their best to make us look good – that’s got to be a tough job – and we’re really looking forward to seeing the results.

Making Movies

Many thanks to John, Ryan and Nick for all their help and patience. We hope to launch our weekly video series before the end of June.

Gary on the decks

Southend Barns really is an excellent venue. Gary is one of their local preferred suppliers and I know that he would be delighted to tell you more about weddings there.

CLICK HERE to visit the Southend Barns website.

Southend Barn pots

Marbecca 2013

May has been an amazing month for me. I’ve had some fabulous events, met some new couples who have chosen me to share their special day, finally found a van, and I got to spend more time with Mark and Rebecca Ferrell who came back to the UK again.

I spent six days with Mark and Rebecca, training and developing my presenting skills and learning more of how they honed their craft drilling down to the importance of every word.

Marbecca Stretch

For three weeks I spent every Monday and Tuesday in their workshops. Last year I did two Marbecca workshops and really felt stretched – this year was even more fun!

It was brilliant spending time with like-minded DJ’s especially on the Gold Master of Ceremonies workshop which included Alan and Gary, my colleagues from The Party Hosts.

Party Host Gold

Mark and Rebecca’s signature piece was the Love Story and I’m thrilled to have spent time with them understanding and practicing the skills to deliver it.

Love Story

The Love Story is something that Mark and Rebecca created to emotionally involve all of the guests at an evening reception. Last year I saw Alan deliver a Love Story for one of his couples and I’ve been looking forward to learning the methodology ever since. I am now one of only ten people in the UK who have done this training.

Marbecca Gold Curry

We even found time for a few meals together – well it would have been rude not to.

Until next time, thank you so much Mark and Rebecca for crossing the ocean to share your knowledge, skills and love.

Kyrah & James @ Wick Barn

I was delighted to act as MC and DJ for Kyrah and James at their fabulous wedding back in February. This video is made up of photo’s and video footage snapped by my Party Host colleague Gary Evans ~ please note we are not film makers, we are Party Hosts who haven’t been to a boring wedding in years! We’d like to thank Kyrah, James, their family and friends for allowing us to play our part in an amazing day.

Wick Barn and Strawberry Field Catering were absolutely brilliant.

www.wickfarmbath.co.uk
www.strawberryfieldcatering.co.uk

Wicked!

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Just a very quick post about yesterday’s wedding at the lovely Wick Barn

First I must thank my friend, and Party Hosts colleague, Gary Evans for his help throughout the day. I’ve had some vehicle issues and Gary very kindly offered to act as driver, roadie, support team and photographer – what a legend.

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This was my first time performing at Wick Barn. I visited with the clients last year and was really looking forward to playing there – I wasn’t disappointed. The Barn is a lovely setting and under the expert supervision of Hannah from Strawberry Field Catering the day went really well. For more information about Wick Barn CLICK HERE.

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Sunday 10th ~ Lovely and Vintage Wedding Fayre

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It’s been a very very busy week, especially considering that I don’t have a booking this weekend. I’ve had meetings with two couples whose weddings are fast approaching and two more with couples who have now booked me to play at their weddings.

Gary, my colleague from The Party Hosts and I also had a very exciting meeting with a very prestigious venue to talk about mood lighting and entertainment. Meanwhile Alan, the other Party Host, has been in Vegas at the annual DJ convention and training with the amazing Mark and Rebecca Ferrell – Gary and I have to wait until May for our next sessions with mark and Rebecca when they visit the UK again.

I’m eally looking forward to my first wedding fayre with Lovely and Vintage on Sunday at Victoria House in Hamble. I was over that way yesterday visiting one of my new couples and it was great to see some nice big yellow signs directing people to the event. Gary’s at the Southend Barn’s wedding fayre So come and say hello ~ bonus points if you come and see BOTH of us!

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The Swan Alton Wedding Fair.

Yesterday my colleague Gary and I were at The Swan Hotel wedding fair in Alton. It was great to meet the lovely couples who attended and also catch up with some new suppliers. Gary and I were both suffering from lack of sleep from working the previous night … well actually we were both finished after midnight so we were actually working earlier the same day – and Gary was in Essex!

The Swan offers some great value-for-money packages and is well worth considering if you are looking for a venue that provides great service on a budget. They do have packages that include an evening DJ but you can replace that element with other services and book your own entertainment.

The Swan is licensed to hold Civil Ceremonies, so you can have your whole day there. CLICK HERE for more information about Weddings at The Swan, or call Harriet on 01420 83777.

Among the other exhibitors we met were …
The Farnham Boutique who had some absolutely gorgeous wedding gowns on display
The Short Film Company who as usual were blowing people away with their amazing Big Brother style inflatable diary room.
and Impress Your Guests who offer a wide range of services including venue dressing,chair covers, candy buffet and fingerprint trees.

Sunday 30th ~ FREE Wedding Fair in Alton

I’ll be there with Gary spreading the word about Party Hosts!