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How far in advance?

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How far in advance should you book your Wedding entertainment?

A very good question, and one that’s asked in the latest edition of You & Your Wedding magazine. They have an interesting Grooms Special section with help on all kinds of topics including suits, stags and speeches, and they also address recruiting the band and/or DJ.

The basic conclusion is book early, most people book about a year in advance and if you leave it under 3 months you really are cutting it close! After some of the posts I’ve made in the last week it appears many people don’t have this information!

CLICK HERE to go to You & Your Wedding’s website for loads of tips. The September/October edition is in newsagents now priced at £4.99

All Change ~ oops!

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So here’s what’s happened …
The new website is up and looking great – thanks everyone for your feedback and support – so then I go and spend a lot of money to switch to the Pioneer play-out system, improve the sound with a new, more compact and less intrusive speaker system, and change the basic look of the show to be even more elegant and discrete … making many of the photo’s on the new website out of date – clever huh!

Seriously, I’ve been working on a more compact show for a while, and now that alternative is available, so you have a choice. I can now provide a set-up which takes up less space and looks less like a traditional disco set-up, or my original show which looks larger and more imposing.

Here’s the new set-up at the Royal Winchester Hotel

and here’s what we had before at the Moorhill House Hotel

It may not look an awful lot different, basically the new stand is about 2/3rd’s of the size and looses the overhead bar. You’ll get to see more in future posts, and over the coming weeks I’ll hopefully get some more professional photos for the website. Any questions ~ just get in touch.

Our new website …

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Our new website is now live ~ it’s unique, it’s elegant, and it’s fun!

Thank you to everyone who has helped with this project, for all the testimonials, pictures, and suggestions. Hopefully the site will evolve as we move on, so please keep your contributions coming.

I’d particularly like to thank Martin from VV Web Solutions for all his hard work – great job, thanks.

CLICK HERE to go the new Party DJ website
P.S. If you spot any problems please let me know.

Wedding Tips

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We are now well into the wedding season and I’ve had a very busy last couple of months. Seeing so many couples dreams becoming reality in such a short period of time is a real joy, it highlights so many great things but also occasionally throws up one or two issues that could have been addressed at the planning stage.

As I’ve said before, people don’t always talk to the DJ until after they’ve booked almost everything else. This is a shame because DJ’s see a lot of weddings and have lots of good advice to offer. I did a couple of tips videos – I will get some more done soon. If you are planning your wedding give me a call and book you free, no-obligation, chat and I’ll help you with far more than just the music.

Here are my two tips videos …

and number two on choosing your venue …

The Larmer Tree Gardens

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Just back from a site visit for Phil and Nancy’s wedding next month at the beautiful Larmer Tree Gardens on the Dorset / Wiltshire border.

We met with Gail, the wedding co-ordinator, who explained the layout and how the day will unfold. We’ll be playing in The Pavillion (pictured above) which was originally built in 1886.

It really is an enchanting venue and we look forward to being part of a fantastic day.

Cosmopolitan Bride

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I was flipping through the latest edition of Cosmopolitan Bride when I came across an artice by wedding planner Marine Kerivel-Brown of www.boutiquewedding.uk.com called “Oh What A Night”.

The main thrust of the piece is that you should give the evening the same level of attention and planning as you give to the rest of your wedding and continue to create special moments for you and your guests to remember. If you are inviting some guests to just the evening celebration, think about how you want them to feel and how you can make it special. It’s all too easy to think we’ll keep the numbers tight during the day and then just invite “the others” to the evening – but what message is that sending out to your “others”?


At the Party DJ we aim to provide opportunities to create memories throughout your wedding in a fun way – we don’t want to be stuffy, we strive to make things relaxed and yet still elegant. Many couples don’t think about planning their evening until the day is all sorted out – PLEASE don’t leave the last part of your big day to the last minute – plan ahead – give us a call to hear about some of the ideas we have to bring your big day to a perfect conclusion.

It’s a relatively short article but worth the £3.99 cover fee all on its own – there is plenty of food for thought. It’s in the June / July Issue.

Replay ~ Wedding Planning

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It’s all a bit mad here at the moment – weddings, meetings, Joe’s got exams, and we are currently in the process of building a whole new website for The Party DJ (well we’re not building it but we are contributing) and, to be honest, there are not enough hours in the day to everything we’d like. So anyway, I’m very aware that I haven’t done any new tips videos lately – sorry.

As maybe some of you haven’t scrolled back through the old pages I thought it might be a good idea to replay a couple of the older posts. So, in best Blue Peter style, here’s one I prepared earlier …

Disposable Wedding Cameras!

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Disposable cameras at weddings – what is that all about!

Who really needs a 400ASA 27-exposure film disposable camera with a personalised stand?

Have you ever taken a great photo on a disposable camera?
Yes it’s a nice idea to have cameras on every table for your guests to take snaps but how many of the pictures on each film will actually be worth printing?

We’d guess that at least 50% of your guests will either have a digital camera with them or a phone that takes pictures which will be much better than anything you’ll get on a disposable.

PLEASE – if you disagree with this let me know – especially if you are one of my couples who have already done this, please get in touch.

So why not ask your guests to use their own cameras and take as many pictures as they can on your behalf. For a bit of extra fun you can even incentivise this by offering prizes for the best pictures in various catagories, for example pictures of …
the Bride and Groom
the Parents
the Best Man
The Bridesmaids
The venue
the “gang from work”
the lads from the football team
Dancers
I’m sure you can come up with lots of ideas to suit your guests!

If you plan to do this make sure you let your family and friends know well in advance of your big day so that they come prepared. You can slip an extra sheet into their invitation pack with full details of the catagories and prizes.

Just get everyone to post them on facebook, email them to you, or put them on a disc or memory card. Then when you get back from your honeymoon you can judge them and maybe arrange a night at your local to give out the prizes! Hey, we could have another party!

What To Ask?

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In the latest edition of Wedding Magazine (www.weddingmagazine.co.uk) there’s an article in their “Planner” section on “What To Ask” your wedding suppliers to make sure they are the right ones for you. So I thought I’d take a few moments to give you my answers.

Your Entertainment

Does your DJ have a versatile play list?
Yes, yes and yes again! We want the soundtrack to your big day to be exactly what you want it to be. Because we sit down and plan together we will make sure the right music is played at the right time.

Does your band play recorded music between sets?
A good live band is an absolutely wonderful way of entertaining your guests but they won’t be able to provide continuous music throughout your day.
We love to work with bands when our clients want the best of both worlds. We always consult with your chosen artistes to make sure our selections compliment theirs to create an unforgettable event.

Can your band provide a demo CD?
We can provide recording from actual events to give you an exact representation of how your party will sound. We also have YouTube videos from previous events.

Do they need a meal on the day?
Please don’t worry about us – we’ll look after ourselves. We certainly don’t want you to incur unnecessary expense paying for a full meal – our focus will be on entertaining you and your guests. Incase you are wondering what we drink, we will only ever drink bottled water, cola, orange juice and lemonade, tea or coffee at any function.

Do they need a room to get changed before they perform?
Again, please don’t incur unnecessary expense paying for a special room for us to change. We will need to change but we are more than happy to use the public rest rooms. Most venues have somewhere they will be happy for us to use without you having to worry about it.

How long do they need to get set up?
We can have music on in around 20 minutes, it usually takes us about an hour to have the full show set up. If the room is available to us we are happy to set up earlier in the day, if the room has to be “turned around” after your wedding breakfast we’ll be ready to set up as soon as your function manager gives us the go-ahead.

CLICK HERE to go to the Wedding Magazine website

Help Me Find A Venue ~ Please

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Last week I did this YouTube video, it’s aimed at venues who want to book a DJ who really cares about delivering great service. I’ve emailed it to most of the venues local to me and it’s been watched a few times, but so far no response.

If you know someone who might be interested please forward it to them, thanks.