Hampshire Wedding DJ Archives

Important announcement for all my couples

What will weddings look like after lockdown?

22nd April 2020/0 Comments/in Soap Box, Uncategorised/by Paul

What will weddings look like after lockdown? This question has been stuck in my head for the last week or two. Please don’t think I’m being negative. I appreciate thousands of couples have their big day “on hold” at the moment – I’m so sorry for you, try not to worry, your day will come.

I have already rescheduled most of my 2020 weddings up to July. Unfortunately, I’m beginning to think some of the rescheduled dates won’t be happening either. As the reality of the situation, we find ourselves reveals itself to us all, I wonder if this will change weddings forever.

Initially, what will weddings look like after lockdown?

Let me say again, I’m not trying to be negative – I hope I’m wrong and that things return to normal as soon as it’s safe.

Let’s look at what will happen when the lockdown is first relaxed. I think the Government will probably enforce, or at least recommend, guidelines of the number of people who can gather for an event. Most of my weddings are between 50 and 100 people during the day, with extra guests invited to join in the evening. My guess is that gatherings of over 50 are likely to be against the recommendations.

Then there’s personal protection equipment. People used to laugh at old wedding photos because of the fashions people were wearing. I remember attending a wedding in the eighties wearing bright green trousers – don’t judge me, I looked great! After the lockdown is relaxed some people are likely to continue wearing gloves and masks, this could make for interesting photos.

How will people behave when things start to change? Many people may decide to stay away from large gatherings.

What will weddings look like after lockdown in the longer term?

We have been forced to stay away from our friends and family. Many of us crave a hug from people we can’t spend time with.

Maybe after lockdown people will want to invite more people to their weddings to celebrate. Or perhaps they will have fewer guests, choosing to spend time just with the people they really cherish.

Then there’s the change to peoples financial circumstances. Many people have had their income reduced, this means they may be not so keen to spend out. Also, lots of people have become used to a simpler way of life – how will this affect weddings.

Finally …

Of course, THIS IS JUST SPECULATION (sorry to shout). I consider myself a wedding expert, but I certainly don’t know all the answers.

CLICK HERE to go to the Hampshire County Council website for their latest guidance.

What do you think? What will weddings look like after lockdown?

Do you have any questions or thoughts? I’m not particularly busy at the moment, so if you want to have a chat about this, or anything wedding or party related, drop me an email or give me a call on 07973 617 153. Cheers!

Engaged over the festive period? Congratulations!

27th December 2019/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

Congratulations to everyone who got engaged over the festive period. It’s a special time of year and now it will be even more special for you. My late wife, Ce, and I got engaged on Boxing Day a long time ago so I know how it feels.

4 Tips to get you started

So now the big adventure begins. Plenty of big decisions to make but please don’t worry about it – there is plenty of good help and advice to be had. Make sure you take some time for just the two of you to find out what each other want. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and get carried away.

1. Why not start with the simple “describe your wedding in 3 or 4 words” exercise. Both of you write down you words without showing each other and then talk through your ideas.

2. You can CLICK HERE to see my Your WOW Wedding booklet. It’s full of great advice.

3. Then talk to your married friends and family. Ask them what they loved about their weddings and ask them if there’s anything they’d do differently.

4. My final recommendation is to visit wedding fairs and talk to the exhibitors. You don’t have to book anything, just ask questions and listen to the answers you are given. If you really like a supplier get their details and do some research on them. My first fair of the New Year is on Sunday 5th January – I’ll post full details early next week.

That’s it for this post. If you got engaged over the festive period don’t forget to request your free WOW Wedding Guide and CONGRATULATIONS!

The DJ is FREE

29th June 2019/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

THE DJ IS FREE – this is something I saw on FaceBook a couple of months ago. Unfortunately I don’t have the original authors details to credit them, I apologise to them for this. The version I saw was a repost from another page and there was no credit given. If you wrote it and see this please contact me – I’d love to credit you or remove if you are unhappy with my repost.

Like the writer, I get calls and emails all the time asking “How much”. I know it’s one of the only questions people think to ask but there is more, way more, to think about.

Here’s the full original post

I receive calls every month asking. “How much does it cost for a DJ?”

As a professional Entertainer, Master of Ceremonies, Event Coordinator and Disc Jockey, I resist the temptation to make a snappy comeback. But once, just once, I thought it would be fun if the conversation went a little something like this:

Caller: “Hi, I’m calling to find out how much a DJ costs”

Me: “Just a DJ? They’re free.”

Caller: “Free? You mean it costs nothing at all?”

Me: “Sure! Well, you may have to feed him. Come on over and get him!”

Caller: “Huh? Don’t you come to me?” Me: “Well, I guess we could put him in a taxi, but I have to charge you for that.”

Caller: “That’s fine. It’s for a party next month. Do you have enough speakers and stuff for 200 people?”

Me: “SPEAKERS! Well, now you’re gonna have to spend some money! Speakers and equipment cost extra. We’re gonna need a truck because the taxi won’t haul our equipment. You said you wanted just a DJ!”

Caller: “Well, I need somebody to like, you know, set it up, and play the music and all that.”

Me: “MUSIC! You want music, too? We gotta charge you for that, too! Music isn’t free, you know!”

Caller: “Well, yeah, I guess there’s copyrights and all that. Oh, and do you have some cool lights to make it exciting and all?”

Me: “WOW! Speakers, music, and lights, that’s gonna add up. We have all the latest lighting: intelligent lights, color changing lights.

Caller: “That’s cool! We want all of that. And could the DJ like, make some announcements, and get everybody up dancing and having a good time, maybe do some games and contests, and do a photo montage for us?”

Me: “Well, that will require a microphone and someone with some experience. He needs to have a thorough knowledge of all different kinds of music, and know how to read a crowd and respond with exactly what they like. It costs more if you need somebody like that.”

Caller: “That’s great. So how much will this cost me?”

Me: “Well, that depends. Where and when is your party?”

Caller: “Why does that matter? Don’t you just have one set fee?”

Me: “No, of course not. Everybody wants the most popular dates. We usually end up turning away six customers on a popular Saturday and almost never book a Tuesday. Due to simple supply and demand, I can offer you a lower price on slow days, (Mon-Thur) but must charge more on the most popular dates. Just like the airlines and popular vacation spots.”

Caller: “Wow, I never thought of that, but I guess that makes sense. I suppose it matters where it is, too?”

Me: “Right, we need to factor in travel time, and perhaps overnight lodging. We need to know if the banquet room is on the ground floor, or if it is accessible by elevator or ramps. We need to know how much time and how many staff members will be needed to set up and break down equipment. And we need to know if the venue has special requirements, such as requiring a certificate of insurance and proof of business license or if they have special time constraints and that sort of thing.”

Caller: “Sounds complicated. All this for just a DJ?”

Me: “No, the DJ is free, remember? All the rest is what you pay for a professional entertainment job.”

Caller: “Ok, that sounds good, I’ll take it.”

Me: “Would you like an Experienced and Talented DJ with that? Because that will cost a lot more……”

How could the DJ be free?

That piece really resonated with me. I often play games with telesales calls, you know the “I’m calling from BT to let you know your internet connection is to terminated”. Unfortunately I don’t think I’m not brave enough to try this script when I get a “how much is a DJ’ call! Again, credit to the author for a well thought out post.

I have many more many examples of people putting “stuff” ahead of actual services. Probably the one that winds me up the most is potential clients who will happily spend more on a twinkly dance floor that than the DJ to fill it. How about book a dance floor and the DJ is free – I don’t think so!

Oh no, this is turning into a rant – who’d have thought it 😉

There’s so much more to planning a wedding than “how much”. CLICK HERE to view Wedding Day Secrets with lots more ideas on what’s really important. CLICK HERE to visit the Hampshire Wedding Group – well established local suppliers who can help you create the wedding of your dreams.

Thanks for reading, have a great day x

Get Me To The Church On Time

17th July 2018/0 Comments/in Soap Box/by Paul

“Get Me To The Church On Time” is a song from the musical My Fair Lady and this post isn’t about that, or even Church – I was just thinking about wedding day timings and the idea that “it’s the Bride’s prerogative to keep the Bridegroom waiting”. Whether it’s a Church, a civil ceremony or a humanist wedding blessing, this is one wedding tradition that you can forget in my humble opinion and here’s a few reasons why.

First, it’s just rude. Of course the Bride will make an entrance, everyone is there waiting for her arrival, to see the dress, to see the Bridegrooms reaction as sees her for the first time etc etc etc.

Being late causes stress – is she coming? Is she OK? What’s happening?

It’s quite usual for things just before the Ceremony to take longer than expected – maybe the traffic is heavier than expected, one of the bridesmaids has a problem, the photographer needs a little longer to get everything covered and captured for posterity. So please make sure you make a plan – talk to your hair and make-up artist, your photographer, your driver, make sure you have plenty of time.

If you are late for a Church wedding your minister may well take offence and your ceremony may “get off on the wrong foot”. If you are having a civil ceremony with a registrar they will probably have another wedding to get to after yours and have to rush, or maybe even cancel because they don’t have enough time. If you are having a humanist celebration then you may be OK, but it’s still not ideal.

People don’t like to be kept waiting – FACT. If your nearest and dearest are all seated and ready for the wedding and you’re late they won’t thank you for it. If you have any children or babies at your wedding their parents will probably be able to keep them quiet for the duration of the ceremony, but if you arrive late the children will me more fidgety.

If you are late it may throw out the timings for the rest of the day, the meal etc.

One last thing, if you are late YOU LOSE time for the rest of the day – time you will never get back.

Please make sure you make a plan to Get me to the Church on time.

And finally, here is Stanley Holloway’s version of “Get me to the Church on Time”

September Weddings

14th March 2018/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

September Weddings is the last in this series of looking at each month and the reasons why you might consider getting married then.

Couples holding September Weddings don’t have to worry about Bank Holidays or school holidays (well the schools normally go back in the first week of September) and the weather can be good … but as I usually say, this is England and we can’t take anything for granted. Here’s the headlines from myweather2 …

Temperature ~ September daytime temperatures will generally reach highs of around 19°C (67°F). At night the average minimum temperature drops down to around 11°C (51°F). In recent times the highest recorded temperature in September has been 29°C (84°F), with the lowest recorded temperature 0°C (32°F).

Rain ~ The average monthly amount of precipitation has been recorded at around 50 mm, that’s 2 inches. Throughout the month you can expect to see rain or drizzle falling on 14 days of the month.

Sunshine ~ for September expect the sun to shine for an average of 7 hours per day. This represents the average number of hours in the daytime that the sun is visible and not obscured by cloud e.g. the average number of hours the sun is actually out and shining.

For the full report from myweather2.com for the Hampshire/New Forest weather in September PLEASE CLICK HERE

September is the month when Summer turns into Autumn, you could get a beautiful day but you may not. Looking at these pictures of weddings I’ve been part of I can remember some when the days before and after were totally different from the wedding day.

The September Weddings featured in these photos were held at The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth CLICK HERE, Durlston Castle Swanage CLICK HERE, The Beaulieu Hotel CLICK HERE and Winchester Guildhall CLICK HERE.

So what is the best month to get married – stay tune for a couple more posts on the topic 😉

If you have any questions or would like a free, no-obligation chat about planning an amazing wedding please drop me a line.

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Good Friday, Walk All Over Cancer Challenge.

Monday 5th March ~ Day 5 of the Walk All Over Cancer challenge

5th March 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised/by Paul

It’s Monday 5th March ~ Day 5 of the Walk All Over Cancer challenge.

This is the latest in a series of personal posts about my quest to walk 310,000 steps in March and give some support to Cancer Research UK. To find out more scroll up or down for the other “challenge” posts, they started HERE.

Things still aren’t going to plan and it’s very frustrating! I don’t think I’m going out again today and I’ve only done 7,500 steps – basically I was thwarted by the weather … and lunch, but it’s not the end of the world and tomorrow is another day.

I didn’t stop to take any pictures, it was grey and damp even before the rain came after lunch. The snow had all but disappeared and I didn’t really see many other walkers today, all the children were back at school. Talking of lunch, it was lovely to see Kath and Martyn and visit The Coach & Horses at Cadnam again where we had another great meal. CLICK HERE for the Coach & Horses FaceBook page.

It looks like the weather is going to follow a similar pattern over the next few days (my phone tells me 8 days!) so I’m going to have to “man up” if I’m to get back on track. PLEASE send me some good vibes.

Musically today was all about Shaun Escoffery’s “Evergreen” album which was originally released in September 2016.

It’s a great album and I recommend it to anyone who likes classic soul singers. Today I was particularly taken with “Live Your Life” but as I can’t find a video of that track here’s “When The Love Is Gone” from the album.

So that was Monday 5th March ~ Day 5 of the Walk All Over Cancer challenge. My knees are aching a bit but I’ve been very sure footed across these first five days with no major slips or trips despite the challenging weather, that’s probably down to my Dr Marten shoes – my main footwear of choice for about ten years now. Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow.

August Weddings

5th March 2018/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

What makes August Weddings so popular?

It’s summer and lots of people are taking holidays which can be a mixed blessing because some of your guests may already have plans. We got married on the August Bank Holiday at the end of the month so I’ve always thought of it as peak season.

Of course this is England so great weather still can’t be guaranteed, here are the headlines…

Temperatures ~ August daytime temperatures will generally reach highs of around 22°C (72°F). At night the average minimum temperature drops down to around 13°C (56°F). In recent times the highest recorded temperature in August has been 35°C (95°F), with the lowest recorded temperature 5°C (41°F).

Rain ~ the average monthly amount of precipitation has been recorded at around 38 mm, that’s 1 inches. Throughout the month you can expect to see rain or drizzle falling on 14 days of the month.

Sunshine ~ expect the sun to shine for an average of 7 hours per day.

Some couples steer clear of the summer months because they don’t want their plans to be ruined by rain, as always the important thing is to have a “Plan B”.

To get the full rundown on what myweather2.com think about the weather for August Weddings in the Hampshire and New-Forest area CLICK HERE

Because it school holiday month August Weddings probably need to be booked sooner so that everyone gets those important “Save The Date” cards. For some couples planning smaller celebrations it’s probably not such a big deal. There have never been more options for weddings than we have now – what is right for you is what is important.

The pictures in this blog were taken at August Weddings held at Winslowe House CLICK HERE, The Beaulieu Hotel CLICK HERE, Bartley Lodge CLICK HERE and Skylark CLICK HERE. All four are good venues, a couple of them are exceptional in my opinion – if you’d like to know more please get in touch ~ paul@thepartydj.co.uk

My Mission To Stamp Out Boring Weddings

26th February 2018/0 Comments/in Soap Box/by Paul

My Mission To Stamp Out Boring Weddings … I just want to help, it’s as simple as that.

Planning a wedding is not easy and you have probably never done it before. You have to find out what you need and what want and work out how it’s all going to happen – scary stuff! Speaking to your married friends and finding out about their experiences is one great way to start and so is finding suppliers you like and getting their advice is another. I’ve seen hundreds of weddings and have lots of experience and knowledge that I’m happy to share.

I originally made this video back in 2016 after I’d given my “I’m On A Mission To Stamp Out Boring Weddings” talk at Toastmasters. I found it again and re-edited to share again – it’s still just as relevant and I still feel just as passionately about it.

You’ll find lots of great advice on the bookcase page of my website CLICK HERE and also in this blog – there’s even a search function here so you can look for specific articles, or you can just drop me an email or call me! Obviously I’d love to be considered to provide the entertainment for your big day but if I can just help by telling you a few tips I’ll be happy too.

So that’s My Mission To Stamp Out Boring Weddings. As the song goes …

“Winter, Spring Summer or Fall, all you’ve got to do is call, and I’ll be there, yes I will. You’ve got a friend” 😉

Here’s one I prepared earlier … Mark and Rebecca Ferrell

19th January 2018/0 Comments/in Soap Box/by Paul

I was going through my files earlier this week and found this video I made a year ago, it’s about Mark and Rebecca Ferrell. Now I’ve decided to post it because the content is still relevant and, I’ll be honest, I’m too lazy to make it again!

So this post is really for DJs who might be considering training options and also for couples who want to find DJ’s who really want to give their clients more than just music.

I first became aware of Mark and Rebecca around 2009 when I started to look for training opportunities and people offering something more to their clients. I found their Marbecca website (CLICK HERE) and was very taken with their ideals, but they were based in the States and it was unlikely (for numerous reasons) that I would be able to travel to train with them.

A few years later when I was on my first training course with Derek Pengelly and I met Alan Marshall who told me all about his Marbecca experiences. Alan was then responsible for bringing Mark and Rebecca to the UK and so I got the opportunity to train and develop my skills using the Marbecca Method. They visited the UK twice and I was so lucky to train with them at five of their Marbecca workshops, as well as hear Mark speak to gatherings of DJs and just spend time with them.

I love working on my performance and Mark and Rebecca helped me enormously but my time with them has meant so much more to me. To have the opportunity to help couples create WOW Weddings is a real blessing and so much of what I do, how I do it and why I do it is down to Marbecca.

I see many people on social media criticising Mark and Rebecca Ferrell and questioning their motives and ability – I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart that these are two of the kindest and most honourable people I have ever met. I also see many arguments from DJ’s as to why this isn’t for them and that’s fine, BUT if you are a DJ looking to improve your skills I would 100% recommend you consider Marbecca, AND if you are a couple looking for a DJ I’d 100% recommend you look for one who has been trained by Mark and Rebecca Ferrell – and the more training they’ve done with them the better!

I’ve blogged about Mark and Rebecca several times before …
Mark Says (CLICK HERE)
Marbecca 2013 (CLICK HERE)
and Keeping Focused (CLICK HERE)

This is my video, as I say I made it a year ago. If you would like to find out more about them CLICK HERE or just give me a call.

Looking For Recommendations

5th January 2018/0 Comments/in Uncategorised, Wedding Tips/by Paul

Looking For Recommendations should be a staple element of early wedding planning ~ FACT

BUT how should you be looking for recommendations? The thing I want to highlight here is something that became more and more apparent in 2017, and that is the “Looking For Recommendations” facility on FaceBook – what a brilliant idea … NOT! Well “not” if you don’t use it correctly.

The thing is people are lazy, and that includes me. We ask for advice and …
1) we don’t really ask the right people and then …
2) we don’t follow it up properly

Let me explain. Somebody is getting married and they are looking for a great DJ to play at their wedding or a brilliant photographer to capture the memories of this once in a lifetime event. So, they go onto a FaceBook Group like Southampton or Hampshire Weddings and type in “Looking For Recommendations for a great wedding DJ”. This is seen by lots of DJ’s who the reply “Hi I’m a DJ please take a look at my site”. They are also seen by lots of other suppliers who have DJ friends who reply with “check out DJ so-and-so”, the post frequently attracts dozens, sometimes hundreds, of replies. Let’s be honest, it all looks a bit desperate and at that this point the original poster has a huge list to look at and they often haven’t said what date and venue they are holding their wedding so many of the DJ’s may already be booked.

They have recommendations, but from who? People who they know nothing about – so what use are these recommendations?

As I said right at the start, looking for recommendations should be a staple element of early wedding planning but get them from people you know – initially your family, your friends and then talk to the suppliers you’ve already chosen ask them. There’s a video on my last blog post that covers this topic so PLEASE CLICK HERE to see it.

So, when you go looking for recommendations make sure they are credible and relevant, ask the people you know who have real experience and can make real recommendations.

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