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January, February and March Wedding Fairs

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Here are the current dates for our Spring 2012 tour – maybe I should get t-shirts printed with the dates on the back 😉

Click on any venue for a link to the organisers website

Thursday 12th January Southampton Guildhall (see previous post below for FREE entry)

Sunday 22nd January Winchester Guildhall

Sunday 29th January Salisbury Racecourse

Sunday 26th February Botleigh Grange

Sunday 4th March Fleming Park Eastleigh

Sunday 11th March New Place, Shirrell Heath ~ to be confirmed

Any questions just give me a call or an email.

Southampton Guildhall Wedding Fair

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Email me on paul@thepartydj.co.uk for your free entry pass 😉

Getting Married in 2012?

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Well you’re in the right place if you are looking for an entertainer who really cares. Weddings are what I do!

Here’s a link that popped up in my inbox today from Brides Magazine

CLICK HERE for 100 things you should know before you get married!

I have a couple of PDF’s on wedding planning that you are welcome to, just send me an email request to paul@thepartydj.co.uk

Thank you Nancy!

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Back in July I was proud to DJ for Phil and Nancy’s wedding at the fabulous Larmer Tree Gardens. You can see my post on my pre-event visit to the Larmer Tree Gardens HERE.

Nancy has just posted this review on Google …

“Paul the Wedding Party DJ made our wedding experience all the more gratifying. The bespoke service he provided leading up to the wedding, and on the day itself, was over and above everything we could have wished for. It’s easy to pick a DJ but we were so fortunate that we found Paul due to the unique service he provides. We knew nothing about Paul beforehand and found him via Google, then enjoyed watching his blogs at the weekends and decided to make contact with him.

We met Paul twice in the run up to the wedding. Off his own back Paul visited our venue to get a feel for the place and how he would set up on the day itself. He offered a service for our guests to submit song choices to him during the lead up to the day. Paul also ran through a few ideas he had for reacting to lack of activity on the dance floor e.g to get people engaged if the atmosphere was lacking. I really liked this as usually a DJ will just play the songs regardless of the audience’s interest. Most of our guests never left the dance floor all night.

Paul also familiarised himself with the names of our wedding party beforehand so that he could personalise the special songs we had requested e.g. the dance with my Dad. Finally, after our last song, Paul played a cheeky number which was a surprise to us, and was relative to our ceremony earlier in the day. The whole room joined hands and sang along. I will be eternally grateful to Paul for doing that. It was just brilliant!

Oh yes… and Paul was away on holiday the week before our wedding, but had lined up a friend who was to step into his shoes should another ash cloud have prevented him from returning to the UK!

So, if you are looking for a disco for your wedding reception – look no further. Paul really cares about your day and comes up with loads of ideas for different scenarios. He is not at all cheesy. Had we not proceeded with the disco theme – we certainly would have had him there
as a guest – he’s great!

I cannot justify enough, in words, Paul the Wedding Party and the service he provides!”

Nancy

Thank you so much Nancy, your kind words blew me away!

To see my Google review page CLICK HERE

Kirsten & Matt’s Wedding

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Yesterday was Kirsten and Matt’s wedding at the Woodland’s Lodge Hotel just down the road from my house. Despite the fact the Woodland’s Lodge is that close to my home I’ve never performed there before. It is a really lovely venue and they provided excellent service for the happy couple, their families and guests.

For more information about weddings at the Woodlands Lodge CLICK HERE

I was booked for the evening party and when I met with Kirsten and Matt earlier in the week they were still undecided on a first dance … actually they were still undecided at 8:30pm! Kirsten made the decision and we went with Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without U”

The party was great fun, I got to mix up all kinds of stuff including many tracks we’d talked about in our planning meeting. The evening ended with a packed dance-floor and AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”.

Things I hear at Wedding Fairs ~ Number 1 in a series

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As regular readers will know, I’ve done quite a few wedding fairs over recent months and will be doing more in the New Year. I’ve decided to do a couple of blog posts on some of the things couples say as they make their way past my table – please don’t take this as sour grapes, I’m just trying to help couples make sure their reception is everything they want it to be.

So, I frequently hear “We’ve got a DJ in our package” and/ or “We’re using the resident D.J.”

First please let me point out that there is nothing wrong with DJ’s that work with/for venues – I’ve done it in the past myself. Obviously if you are working on a strict budget this can seem very appealing and many resident DJ’s are excellent. However I’d recommend that you ask to meet the DJ before you confirm you want that part of the package. Find out if there is actually a resident DJ or are they just using anyone of several DJ’s that an agent might supply?

If you are booking with a hotel in the previous calendar year perhaps they will supply you with a discounted table at one of their Christmas functions so that you can have a look at their recommended entertainer and check out the food and service. If you don’t want to use their DJ they should be able to reduce the cost of the package or substitute something else, for example soft drinks on the tables, to balance the price of the package. Getting to know the team at your chosen venue can only be a good thing and, if it is a hotel and open to the public, I’d always recommend having at least a couple of meals in the restaurant to get a real feel for what you can expect on your big day.

I feel awkward about writing this next bit but I really need to share this with you, some venues will charge you, or allocate from their package price, £400 or £500 to the entertainment and actually only pay the DJ between £200 and £250. That is not to say that every venue does this, or that the DJ they are supplying isn’t worth the full fee they are charging, but I do believe it’s not an uncommon practice.

If you are booking direct with the venue it will also mean you will have to pay V.A.T. on the fee, resulting in an additional 20% to your total.

In conclusion, a DJ supplied by a venue may well be excellent but you really need to be happy that he’s the right person for the job. The DJ at your wedding is the last piece in the production of your greatest day, you need to be really comfortable that he understands exactly what you want so that you can relax and enjoy it. Please remember a DJ is a service not a product, not all DJ’s are the same and it’s worth taking time to find the right one for you and not just accepting what’s offered.

Sammie & James @ Ten Acres

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Sammie and James wanted a totally relaxed, fun day. They were married just across the road in a church ceremony and I compered their reception and supplied the music. Ten Acres is actually the home of Eastleigh Football Club. The function room is very nice and venue manager Ronnie and her team did a great job.

After the church ceremony the guests walked across the road to the Acres Suite for a Bucks Fizz reception while Sammie and James had more photo’s taken. Once they joined us at the venue, I staged a Grand Entrance – introducing the parents and the rest of the wedding party to the friends and family in the room. Sammie and James had written the introductions, and selected music, to accompany their entrances. For example both sets of parents came in to the track they had as the first dance at their weddings. Finally I introduced the Bride and Groom who entered to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered”.

Again the speeches were given before the food was served so that everyone could relax and enjoy their meal – and what a meal! Sammie and James opted for a chip van supplied by FISH & CHIP CATERING. Guests had already chosen a fish or sausage meal, and there were also onion rings, mushy peas and bread and butter available. To say the food was excellent is an understatement, and I’m an expert in this particular delicacy! I invited the guests , table by table, to collect their food from the van which was parked just outside, the Top Table insisted on being served last – a nice touch. If you are looking for something different for your wedding breakfast or evening buffet I can recommend Fish & Chip Catering CLICK HERE for more information.

The colour scheme for the wedding was blue and we set the room up with blue uplighters. For the evening reception, Sammie’s bridesmaids had arranged for us to also supply our photomontage screen service and we had lots of old family pictures to display along with some taken during the day.

The Bride and Groom’s first dance was “Love You More” by JLS and I have to say they looked so happy and so in love! This was followed by a special dance for Sammie and her Dad, Trevor. The song Sammie chose, “Daddy’s Little Angel” is by an American artist called T Carter, and I had recorded Sammie giving a special message to Trev and edited it into the song – the effect was absolutely tremendous!

After a couple more dances it was time for the evening food, a hog roast. I can’t tell you how it tasted (I was too full from the fish and chips) but it looked and smelt great. Then, to restart the dancefloor, we played the “Getting To Know You” game.

Then it was party time with lots of great tunes and plenty of cheesy tracks selected by the Bridesmaids. Finally Sammie and James had a last dance to Charlene Soria’s version of “Wherever You Will Go” surrounded by their guests who then waved the happy couple off to their mystery hotel.

The next day FaceBook was awash with pictures and comments. Thank you everybody for your kind words and for giving Sammie and James a day to remember forever.

I’ll try to get some more photo’s and, hopefully, a video up before Christmas!

For more details about functions at Eastleigh Football Club CLICK HERE

Back to Saturday’s Wedding

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Here are some more pictures from Saturday’s wedding of Kirsty and Jason.

After the ceremony the guests made their way out onto the terrace and lawns for photo’s and drinks.

The weather forecast had been terrible during the week but, in the end, was much nicer than expected.

To be continued …

Fleming Park Fashion Show

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You may remember I provided the music for the Fleming Park Wedding Fair a few weeks back, well here’s a video of the fashion show.

The show was put together by Valerie from VA Productions and featured dresses from Mojgan Bridal Wear in Bournemouth.

The video was shot by Video 4 a Day

Sunday Update x 2!

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Two more things with regards to Sunday’s wedding exhibition at Fleming Park …

First up, I’m supplying the music and mic’s for the fashion show … OK, I know it’s not earth shattering news 😉

More importantly, and I thought I’d already posted this, if you email me I can send you a free admission invitation for the event. No obligation to book your entertainment with me, I have an email from the organisers, Wedding Daze, I’ll simply forward it to you.

Email paul@thepartydj.co.uk