The WOW Wedding guy Archives - Page 3 of 5

Bouquets and Buttonholes ~ Countdown … 13

1st November 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

Today’s tip in the Countdown to my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening is about flowers, specifically on Bouquets and Buttonholes. There is now just two weeks to go until Tuesday 15th November – reserve your places today – details below.

Here are a couple of top tips from my friend and fellow Hampshire Wedding Group member Carole Stables, owner of the Flower Stables based In Chandlers Ford Eastleigh (CLICK HERE).

“Whenever I deliver bouquets to the brides home or venue I also go through how to hold the bouquets correctly. If you hold a hand tied bouquet tilted forward slightly the photographs will show the true beauty of the flower heads and not from the side angle showing half the bouquet and stalks, a simple touch but this top tip will make all the difference to your photographs !”

“Never pin a buttonhole into the hole in the lapel of a man’s suit. The material will pucker and look untidy. Pin buttonholes onto the fabric and ignore the hole in the lapel. I always help pin on buttonholes whenever possible.”

That’s Bouquets and Buttonholes, there will be more great advice here tomorrow – and if you haven’t seen these before scroll back to see my previous blog posts.

My “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening is on Tuesday 15th November at Ampfield Golf & Country Club. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30pm start. I will go through the typical wedding timeline sharing dozens of fabulous ideas to help create an unforgettable wedding full of love and fun that your friends and family will never forget. It is not a sales event for me and is open to all couples whether they have a DJ/MC booked or not – there is absolutely no pressure to book me.

Admission to the event is £10 per couple and you can also bring guests if you wish. All the admission money will go to The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity and there is also a full money-back guarantee where I will refund the £10 from my own pocket if anyone feels the evening wasn’t great value for money – the Charity will still get your £10 donation.

To reserve your seats today please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Wedding Insurance ~ Countdown … 14

31st October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

It’s Halloween – a day when we laugh about scary things – well here’s something scary that isn’t funny – sometimes things go wrong in the run-up to a wedding and that’s why I want to talk about Wedding Insurance today!

Over the weekend one of my friends from The Hampshire Wedding Group (CLICK HERE) told us about a horrendous situation regarding one of her clients. The Bride-to-be in question had just found out the hall she was holding her reception had been double-booked and she needed to find an alternative venue – her wedding is under a month away! All the invites have been sent out and she has to find a new venue that fit her requirements and make numerous new arrangements to get everything back on track … nightmare! Hopefully everything is getting sorted, certainly my friend from the Hampshire Wedding Group, Sue from Tie The Knot (CLICK HERE), was doing everything she could to help.

Now I have no idea if Wedding Insurance could have helped in this situation – I’m no expert in these matters – but it got me thinking so I turned to Google and Martin Lewis, The Money Saving Expert.

CLICK HERE for his/their excellent guide and the 10 need-to-knows
And guess what, Tip 2 … Insurance usually covers venue or supplier failure, key people falling ill, NOT cold feet!

So that’s todays tip about something I knew nothing about but knew where to look to find the answer. Unfortunately the Bride who has this nightmare doesn’t have insurance but at least she is working with a great supplier who was able to supple a list of alternative venues and a lot of great advice to help sort things out – remember what I’ve said numerous times already in these tips – get to know your suppliers and ask their advice, they can help in so many ways.

PLEASE REMEMBER … things don’t always go to plan in the run up to a wedding – make sure you’ve got good people around you AND insurance.

Don’t forget to reserve your tickets for my “Creating Your Wow Wedding” evening …

That Kiss ~ Creating Your WOW Wedding” Countdown ~ 16

29th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

“That Kiss” is todays tip for anyone planning their wedding. If you scroll back on this blog you’ll find I’ve been posting a tip everyday as I countdown to my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” event on Tuesday 15th November.

I think you are all going to like todays tip.

Your wedding is made up of many “firsts” and your first kiss is one of the most important. I did a video about this for Valentines Day in 2014 so I thought I’d share it with you again today.

Many of the kisses you share on your wedding day will be photographed, so make sure they look EPIC!

CLICK HERE to go to “Paul’s Bookcase” where you can find more great stuff. Whether you want to book me or not for your wedding I want you to benefit from the ideas I’ve developed, so please consider attending my event at Ampfield Golf Club on the evening of Tuesday 15th November. Tickets are just £10 per couple including up to 4 guests you want to bring – parents etc. If you don’t think the event was worth the £10 at the end I’ll give you a full refund. Doors open at 7pm for a 7:30 start – the evening will be split into two halves with a break in the middle and there will be plenty of time to ask me questions and we should be done by 10pm at the latest. You will also be able to chat with a few of my expert friends – more details about who will be attending soon. Your £10 will go to The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity and if you get a refund it will come from my own pocket – so the charity still benefits.

Remember, practise makes perfect so take some time to rehearse that kiss!

Charity … The Countdown … 17

28th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

So we come to 17 on the countdown to my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” event and today I want to talk about charity.

This one is very simple … consider making a donation to, and / or arrange a collection for your favourite charity.

One of the things that I’ve become more and more involved in is helping couples acknowledge friends or family who haven’t been able to attend their wedding. Sometimes these people are very sick but frequently that have already died and the couples want to say something about their loss. A great way to do this is by donating to a charity supporting work in that area.

There are many ways you can do this, here are just a few …
Arrange an element of the hen or stag weekend that raises funds – maybe a sponsored event.
Make a personal donation of the amount you would have spent having that person at your wedding from just the two of you.
Make a donation for every guest instead of providing wedding favours.

Here’s an interesting one linked to one of the charities I support, the Green Seed Company supply wedding seed favours on behalf of Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity. CLICK HERE

I’m sure you can think of many others, you could just have a collection tin on your presents table.

I’ve seen couples collect for Cancer Research, Leukaemia charities and one for a charity that helped children with eyesight problems – their daughter had benefited from the work the charity had done.

What a lovely thing to do as you start your new life together.

My”Creating Your WOW Wedding” event is supporting The Countess Mountbatten Hospice Charity CLICK HERE plus, the evening comes with a full money-back guarantee where the Hospice will still get your money and the refund comes out of my pocket! To book your places please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

18 … Centrepiece Tip

27th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

18 days to go until my “Creating Your WOW Wedding ” evening at Ampfield Golf & Country Club. Today I have a couple of thoughts on Centrepiece ‘s

I get to see so many amazing Centrepiece creations! Really, all sorts of things, not just the amazing floral arrangements I’ve been featuring in these blogs – all kinds of things! Sometimes couples use personal decorations that will end up in their home, but often they are created just for the wedding day. Sweets or cakes often feature, but it’s the flowers I really had in mind when I wrote this post.

I love wedding flowers. The people who create these amazing arrangements are very talented but, more than that, they also are passionate about creating something special for their clients. They often put in days of work, sometimes working through the night, to produce the Bride’s vision. These displays won’t last forever but they will often remain good for up to a week (depending on the blooms chosen by the Bride).

My tip is this …
… think about what will be available to take away at the end of the night and who would you like to have them.

These arrangements are often in vases or elements that are hired from the florist (like giant martini glasses) but the flowers can often be removed in the oasis (that green, foam block stuff the florists use to build their creations), so think about it and make a “plan” so that nothing is just thrown away that could have been enjoyed for a few days more. Delegate the responsibility to execute the “plan” to one of your trusted Bridesmaids or family member and your flowers will bring even more joy!

The Centrepiece giveaway isn’t just about flowers, if you have balloons or anything that will be left over at the end of the day (or even cleared away in between the meal and the party) you can give them away as prizes in a dance competition or just allocate them to people. By planning this in advance you can add something extra to the evening which might otherwise have been wasted.

By the way, if you’d like my recommendations of great florists to speak to just email me paul@thepartydj.co.uk
Here are two …
Carol ~ The Flower Stables
Kay ~ Pomp & Petals

p.s. for details about the event email me or scroll back through my blog posts x

After Party ~ Countdown … 19

26th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

I’m counting down to my next “Creating Your WOW Wedding event and there are now 19 days to go! Every day I’m posting a new tip that may help you plan your wedding and today I’m looking at an “After Party”!

The “After Party” idea is something I’ve been suggesting for about six years, I’m not sure where the idea came from but I think I was one of the first to offer it. It’s particularly useful if yours is going to be a long wedding day, or if your favourite genre of music is … shall we say, not everyones cup of tea. The idea is to end the “formal/traditional” reception at, say, 10:30pm with a “last dance” and the usual big cheer or an archway, then you can pop out and come back for your “after party” where you can let your hair down for an hour or two more with friends and family who want to stay.

With weddings often starting around noon it can be such a long day and not everyone has the stamina to party all night – this gives them a chance to stay to the end and take part in the big party ending and slip away before they collapse of exhaustion. It also means guests with children might stay to the end rather than excusing themselves early.

As I say if you want to party to the music you like but feel it’s not suitable for nana and the little ones, this also gives you a way around that problem.

If you’d like more tips please stay tuned – I’m posting another tip every day right up to 15th November when the event takes place at Ampfield.
PLEASE NOTE ~ This is not a sales event for me,you will be under no pressure to book me, the event is just great advice to help you understand how your wedding day may run and how you can use the principles on “Your WOW Wedding” to make it even better. Please reserve your places now, email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Rainy Days ~ Countdown Day 10

24th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

Into double figures with the countdown! Yesterday I was looking at the weather forecast for today and this song came into my head ~ Rainy days and Mondays.

What a miserable, rainy day! Rainy Day’s & Monday’s is a song from the early seventies by The Carpenters and, to be honest, it’s a bit sad … so not a great way to start the week but it reminded me of a video I did a few months back ~ “What If It Rains On Your Wedding Day?”. This year we’ve had quite a few damper days in the wedding season, or at least it seems that way to me. Living in the UK means it’s very hard to predict the weather so you always need to have a plan B. Here’s my video on the topic …

Plan B’s are always important – you need to have a plan for your whole day and have ideas about what you can do if things don’t go to that plan. For example … if the Bride doesn’t turn up is there anyone else who wants to marry the Bridegroom ~ not a great example, but I wanted to see who reads these posts – message me at paul@thepartydj.co.uk 😉

This daily series of posts are a countdown to the “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening I’m holding on 15th November at Ampfield Golf Club. Seats need to be reserved in advance and tickets are £10 per couple and their guests – all proceeds to The Countess Mountbatten Hospice charity and there is a full money back guarantee from me if you feel the evening wasn’t worth it! So if you, or anyone you know, are wedding planning this event is a must. Reserve your seats today by emailing paul@thepartydj.co.uk. If you haven’t seen the other tips scroll back down my blog.

Finally, for anybody who’s actually interested, here’s that Carpenters song

HELP! ~ WOW Countdown ~ Day Five

19th October 2016/0 Comments/in Wedding Tips/by Paul

It’s day five of my countdown to the “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening and today’s topic is … Help!

If you’ve been following this series from the beginning you’ll known I talk about getting others involved. Here are two videos from my ABC/123 series of wedding tips. The first is about getting help from your friends and family. Speak to the married ones and find out what they loved about their weddings and also about what they would do differently. You can also get people involved, some will be able to do things for you before the big day in planning and making things,

The second video is about choosing your suppliers. Working with suppliers you actually like, who understand exactly what you want, and really want to help you is the key to success when planning your wedding. Remember your suppliers have an incredible amount of knowledge through their experience. They will be able to make suggestions and recommend other suppliers. If you need help they are a very useful resource.

So, don’t try and do it all on your own, ask for help and get others involved in creating your WOW wedding.

For more details about the Creating You WOW Wedding event at Ampfield and to reserve your places please email paul@thepartydj.co.uk.

Why I Enter Wedding Awards Competitions!

19th October 2016/0 Comments/in Soap Box/by Paul

Why I enter Wedding Awards competitions … Well, for the last few years I’ve entered the National Wedding Industry Awards (WIA’s) and this year I’ve also entered the first Hampshire Wedding Supplier Awards and I know some people will wonder why.

I don’t believe I am the best wedding DJ in the World, or Great Britain, The South Of England, Hampshire or The New Forest. In fact for a while a few years back I may not even have been the best DJ in my house while Joe, my son, was learning the skills! I do, however, want to be the best DJ I possibly can be at every event I’m booked to play at.

Even with the depth of experience and knowledge that I have I continue to study, train and practice so that I can improve and move forwards. I wrote a post a while ago about personal development and training CLICK HERE. Entering these competitions means I have to review my work and I get genuine feedback from my previous couples.

Each award I’ve entered has been a genuine process where I believe the competition is fair. Obviously “you have to be in it to win it” and it may be possible to cheat, but what’s the point!

Once you’ve been nominated in The Wedding Industry Awards (WIA’s) you pay an entrance fee to register for the competition. Then you are asked to contact your clients and ask them to score you on various criteria and write a little about their wedding and your service. You start in a regional group, mine being South East (including London), and then the Regional finalists go through to the National Finals. I’ve been a Regional finalist for the last two years, in 2015 with Alan and Gary in The Party Hosts and last year in my own right. I’ve entered again this year and I’ll know in the next month if I’m going through to the National Finals.

This year the organisers of The Dorset Wedding Supplier Awards have started The Hampshire Wedding Supplier Awards. In this one I had to get testimonials from two couples and another supplier and I have blogged about that previously … click on the names to see the posts…
Hannah and Dan’s Beaulieuful Wedding
Gemma & Brian’s Wedding DJ Testimonial
Antony on me! A testimonial from a professional colleague
I also wrote another blog with full details of how the competition process worked in the Hampshire Wedding Supplier Awards ~ CLICK HERE

As I have been chosen as a Hampshire Wedding Supplier Awards Finalist in the ‘Musical Entertainment DJ’ category, I’ve also been entered into ‘Overall High Score’, ‘People’s Choice’, ‘Peer’s Choice’ and ‘Contribution to the Wedding Industry’ awards. The ‘People’s Choice’ award is one where you are supposed to ask your clients, friends and family to vote – which, to my mind, is just a ‘who knows the most people’ competition so I’ve decided not to promote myself in that category.

There’s one more BIG reason why I enter Wedding Awards competitions, I want future Brides and Bridegrooms, as well as everybody in the wedding industry, to know that there are DJ’s who offer more than just music.

So, that’s why I enter wedding awards competitions ~ wish me luck!

Back To Basics ~ Day Four ~ the WOW Countdown

18th October 2016/0 Comments/in Event, Wedding Tips/by Paul

The WOW Wedding Countdown is a tip a day that I hope will help you with your wedding planning and give you a flavour of how attending my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening might benefit you. Today let’s go back to basics.

It’s now 27 days until my “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening at Ampfield Gold Club, so this is day 4 in the series so make sure you scroll down to see the previous entries and bookmark this blog or follow my FaceBook page for more free advice. I thought I’d go back to basics and recycle a video I made a while ago for couples who had just got engaged.

I believe a great wedding can draw many comparisons with a great film – and most great movies have a fantastic soundtrack, especialy created to enhance the experience. To me, the most important piece of music at a wedding is what’s being played as the Bride enters the ceremony for her “processional” – it sets the tone for the whole day – there should be goose-bumps, tears of joy and lots of smiles. Music can really help with this and helping with moments like this are why I have become more and more involved in weddings over the years.

The “Creating Your WOW Wedding” evening takes you right back to basics and runs through the wedding day timeline and explains what will happen and how you can make the most of every precious moment. This isn’t event for just my clients, it’s for everyone who is planning their wedding – it comes with a full money-back guarantee, so you’ve got nothing to lose. If you want to know more about the event PLEASE CLICK HERE, or email paul@thepartydj.co.uk

I’m going to continue with the back to basics theme tomorrow, so please look out for tip 26 in the WOW Wedding Countdown!

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