A cracking night for Andy and Bryony celebrating their wedding party in the Tepee at Woodhill Hall.

It was a pleasure working alongside Blistering Molly who did a cracking rock set as part of the wedding celebration and also provided the music and vocals for the first dance their own version of Bon Jovi''s Living on a Prayer.

Some highlights included Bryony's mams vocal accompaniment to Indeep's Last Night a DJ Saved My Life and absolutely nailed the rap.

A joint parents dance later on in the night to Journey's Who's Crying Night.

A multiple end of the night with chants of one more song winning through extending the party by another thirty minutes or so.

Congratulations to the brand new Mr and Mrs Moffat absolutely top nigh who are off to enjoy a Honeymoon in New York.

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#WoodhillHall #WeddingDJ #DJ #Northumberland #NorthEast #Otterburn #Wedding

Simon and Dominique chose High House Brewery as the venue for their wedding and after party.

They had always dreamed of holding their small intimate wedding under the stars in the open barn.
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The day started with black clouds and lots of rain but by the evening the clouds has dissipated and the sun came out meaning that the evening wedding reception party could take place as planned in the open barn.

Some different music with a distinctively rock and metal theme.

A first dance to The Used and Smother Me and finishing the night on Queen with Don't Stop Me Now.
Lots of rock and metal throughout the evening with some clubland and an odd spattering of 80's and pop.

The night featured Linkin Park, Disturbed, Korn, Soil, Papa Roach, Slipknott, Nickleback and many more beside.

The night featured flying kids too ha ha.

Super venue with really friendly and helpful staff.

A nice night and pleased I brought my coat as it chilled off a little but a great night all round.

Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Minnis.

As a professional Wedding DJ with over 20 years experience I thought I would provide you with a tip of the day to make sure you have a fantastic wedding.I’ve presided over hundreds of weddings over the years and I was reflecting on how things have changed.
There are now lots more different types of venues available from castles to country manors, from barns and marquees from hotels to specific functions suites and many in between, all of varying shapes and sizes.
In line with the choice of venues there are now more things on offer to keep your guests entertained throughout the wedding from photo booths to roulette wheels, from caricaturists to table magic, from candy carts to chocolate fountains and many more besides.
Now whilst I’m sure all of these have their place, there is also a danger that these water down the main event and rather than enhance the day actually act as a distraction to it.
If you want a packed dance floor you need to focus your guests attention in the room where the music is.
If you are offering a range of other activities it will take your guests away from the room where you want to focus your party.
Consider how the venue is configured, what additional entertainment you really want and where this is located. Think about where the bar is located compared to the room where the music and dancing takes place. If the bar and entertainment is elsewhere it will mean your guests will gravitate towards it and away from the party.
The day is all about two people, it’s about the Bride and Groom, if you want your guests to be on the dance floor, then if that’s where the Bride and Groom can be found, then it will come as no surprise that that's where your guests will be too.

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought I would provide you with a tip of the day to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

There are lots of DJ's out there and the prices vary significantly.

If you believe that all DJ's are the same and that the only difference is the price then let me enlighten you ... this is not true.

If you want a quality DJ for your Wedding Day it's unlikely that you will be able to secure their service for the lowest price.

DJ's are no different to most things in life, if you want quality it is likely that you will have to pay for it.
Don't just employ a DJ on the basis of their price.

And don't be fooled by the claims a DJ makes on their marketing materials.

I spotted this one recently. A DJ claimed that he was "the number 1 Wedding and Party DJ" and low and behold two weeks later he declared he had done his "First ever party".

So be wary.

Meet with the DJ first before you book them.

Quiz them about their experience, their approach, ask to see feedback from previous customers and find out how their involvement will enhance your wedding day.

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life.

If you're looking to book a DJ focus on quality and not the lowest price.

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.This is the ninth in my series of bite sized tips which will look carefully at the music you choose for your wedding ceremony.

The wedding ceremony music is normally made up of three distinct parts:

• Processional music to walk up the aisle too. Normally quite a calm piece of music that is elegant and contains a message of lasting love.
• Background music while signing the register. Often this is where the other tunes you considered as your processional music can be played. Again these are usually quite calm with messages of love.
• Recessional music to walk back out too as a married couple. This is normally upbeat and celebratory to reflect the occasion.

When choosing your music think carefully about songs that carry an appropriate message and importantly are songs that have some significance to you both as a couple.

Listen carefully to the songs you select as it is important to remember particularly with the processional and recessional songs that it is extremely unlikely that the whole song will be played.
Make sure you are clear on which version of the song you would like as there are often many versions of the same song.

The best you might hope for would be around a minute or so of the song.

Think about your venue and the time you have and how the music you have chosen fits so the right part of song is played at the right time.

Songs with a long introduction before the melody and lyrics kick in might need to be edited so that the right part of the song is played e.g. whilst walking up the aisle.

In terms of the recessional song it is likely that you will want this to kick in immediately at the first chorus and again some editing may be required.

A professional DJ can cue your songs at the right part in a live environment and ensure the song is played at the right time and even if the DJ isn’t going to be present during the ceremony ask if they can edit the music for you.

Finally if you aren't engaging a Professional DJ or musician for your ceremony music double check you have the music in the right format for the venues play out system, make sure you know who is going to press the button to start and stop the music and finally make sure they know their cue.

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

This is the eighth in my series of bite sized tips.

The music that’s played at your wedding can have a massive impact upon whether you and your guests enjoy the day.

A quality wedding DJ can be a source of great advice when putting together an overall plan of the music for your whole wedding celebration creating a unique and changing vibe throughout your wedding day.

A typical wedding day can be broken up into a number of parts which can be accentuated by the style and genre of music chosen for example:

1. The prelude i.e. the music playing for the arrival of your guests prior to the wedding ceremony.
2. The ceremony music usually comprising the processional music, music to be played during the signing of the register and then the recessional music.
3. Music playing during the initial reception for the wedding breakfast.
4. Background music during the wedding breakfast.
5. The evening celebration incorporating any specific music selections for key events e.g. The First Dance.

You can take your guests on a musical journey that helps define the key moments in your wedding and is just right for you and your guests.

A quality wedding DJ has to have a broad musical knowledge of all styles of music including classical music as well as party music so they can offer advice on the various options available.

When it come to the evening celebration find out what the DJ’s approach is to building the DJ set.

Many DJ’s believe they know what you and your guests will enjoy and dance to better than you. Their approach reflects this trotting out the same tired play-list week in and week out.

There is no doubt that the DJ has some valuable insight into music that is generally popular but they cannot possibly know the songs and styles of music that resonate with you and your guests and bring back memories of key times and events in your life.

So make sure the DJ welcomes song suggestions from you and your guests and find out what their overall approach is to the wedding set list.

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

This is the sixth in my series of bite sized tips
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You should have a reasonable expectation that the DJ you employ for your wedding has a range of skills to show that he is dedicated and proficient in their chosen line of work.

A basic skill that any Professional DJ should possess is the ability to move from one song to the next smoothly usually through a process called beat matching.

This is known as mixing.

Ask your DJ whether they are able to seamlessly mix the songs to create a smooth transition from one song to the next.

Without this basic skill the DJs transition between songs is likely to be erratic, the beat and rhythm between the two songs will clash or they will have to fade one song out and fade the new song in.

The energy on your dance floor will undoubtedly suffer as a result.

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

This is the fifth in my series of bite sized tips.

The sound quality from the disco can have a real impact on the overall enjoyment of your wedding disco.

Is the music too harsh, too muffled or distorted.

A little bit technical but three things are important here to ask the potential DJ about:

1. The quality of their music files ideally they should be in a lossless format such as WAV (highest quality but are very large files) or a lossy format such as MP3 are encoded at a minimum of 320kbps (High quality and less storage space required as they are compressed).

2. The DJ should use a good quality audio interface. Most DJ controllers have one built in so they will most likely be fine. A DJ who uses the headphone socket plugged into the mixer is unlikely to sufficiently concerned about sound quality.

3. The quality of the speakers. There are a vast range of speakers available from a few hundred to thousands of pounds. A quality DJ will invest adequately in their speaker systems. Ask about the make and model and check online.

www.icon-entertainments.co.uk

My Top Tips for Booking a DJ for Your Wedding

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

This is the fourth in my series of bite sized tips.

What kind of lighting effects does the DJ have?

Why is this important?

Well there are broadly two main types of lighting effect:

First there are lights that provide sharp beams of colour these can be a solid beam of light, a gobo (coloured shapes or lettering) and be static, a scanner (a rotating mirror which shines the light in different directions) or a moving head.

Secondly there are "wash" lights these provide a wash of colour and illuminate the dancefloor or room and these can be either static or a moving head.

If you want high quality photographs of your first dance etc you might find that a DJ who only has sharp beam lighting effects which cant be turned off without descending the room into darkness, could end up ruining your photo's as they create a coloured dot effect.

Wash lights are much less likely to have any detrimental effect on your photo's.

See below the 1st photograph typically shows the dots caused by sharp beam lights and the 2nd photograph has been taken under wash lights.

www.icon-entertainments.co.uk

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

This is the third in my series of bite sized tips.

How do you know whether the DJ your are thinking about booking is running a professional and legitimate business.

Well there are three main things you could ask about and seek evidence that they operate their business legally and safely.

1. Does the DJ hold Public Liability Insurance?

Public liability insurance cover a business if a customer or member of the public suffers a loss or injury as a result of its business activities. Even when a business does everything right there is always the chance of an accident happening e.g. a speaker falling over. With the right insurance cover, you know that should the worst happen, your guests property could be repaired, their possessions replaced and their medical costs paid for.

In the absence of the right insurance you could be held liable as the event host or organiser.

Some venues will insist on sight of the DJ's Public Liability Insurance before they allow the DJ to work in the venue. Imagine booking a DJ without Public Liability Insurance and the venue refusing to allow then to perform.

2. Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

To be safe, it is recommended that DJ's should have all items of electrical equipment e.g. their lighting, speakers and DJ decks tested regularly.

The absence of a valid PAT certificate potentially puts the health and safety of your guests at risk. Additionally a venue has every right to cancel a performance if the equipment is not deemed safe.

3. Registered with HMRC for tax purposes

All businesses even if they are sole traders are legally required to register their business with the HMRC.

www.icon-entertainments.co.uk

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

This is the second in a series of tips.
Many DJ's businesses operate as sole traders but other DJ or entertainment businesses are multi operators.

A multi operator acts as an agent for other DJ's or employs other DJ’s to work for them.
The multi operators typically take a share of the fee you pay and employee other DJ's to actually undertake the DJing.

Tip Number 2

Check whether the DJ or Entertainment Company is a sole trader or a multi operator employing or passing work onto other DJ's

There is nothing wrong with a multi operator DJ or entertainment business.

As I identified in Tip 1 it is extremely important that you meet directly with the DJ who will be attending and DJing at your wedding to ensure you have confidence in them and are comfortable with what they can offer.

Meeting the owner of the business may not give you an accurate picture of the DJ that may turn up for your wedding.

When considering any reviews or recommendations make sure they relate to the DJ you are considering employing and not other DJ's working for the same multi-operator.

www.icon-entertainments.co.uk

As a professional DJ with over 20 years experience I thought it might be helpful if I offered a few tips to help you get the right DJ for your wedding.

Your wedding is one of the most important days of your life.

When you start looking for a DJ for your wedding you will quickly find that there are lots to choose from.

Anyone can set themselves up as a DJ, there are no entry qualifications and as a result there is a vast difference in the experience and quality of DJ’s available.

So how do you find the right one?

Tip Number 1.

Do not book a Wedding DJ without first meeting with them.

Any professional DJ would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss your requirements before any payment or deposit is made.

In a face to face meeting you will quickly be able to assess whether the DJ is right for you.

Ask about their experience, their approach and service they can offer you and how they will add value to your special day.

http://icon-entertainments.co.uk/index.html

I'd met with Liam and Ashleigh several weeks before their wedding and confirmed our discussion in writing so they had the opportunity to review the overall plan for the evening, reflect on it and change anything they weren't happy with.

The evening celebration was due to start at 7pm and finish at 12am. I arrived at the venue at 4.45pm and this gave me sufficient time to set up, check everything was working correctly and get changed after the set up.

On checking the audio playout on their song chosen for the first dance I noticed that around 2 minutes in the right hand audio disappeared. After and initial check on the speakers and audio settings I quickly realised that the track itself was faulty. I downloaded a new version of the song and checked the audio and it was fine. Note to self listen to the first dance and any other specifically chosen tracks in full before the day.

Cutting the Cake selected Maroon 5 and Sugar which was planned at around 7.55pm. I had to make sure the knife was in place for the cutting of the cake and discussed the arrangements with the photographer.
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First Dance - they chose the Goo Goo Dolls and Come To Me as the song for their first dance.

Just after the buffet  Ashleigh arranged to have a specific dance with her step dad Garry. He is a big Madness fan and the song she chose was his favourite Madness song – Baggy Trousers. He had no prior warning that this would happen.

Prior to the wedding night I discused the potential wedding set with Liam and Ashleigh to make sure the music reflected what they wanted.

They generally wanted  a broad mix of music although they both had a bias towards rock music. Some of the specific songs and genre’s we talked about that you would possibly like to include were:

• 80’s Rock: Bon Jovi – Livin on a Prayer, Journey – Don’t stop believing, AC/DC – Highway to Hell and You shook me all night long, Guns n Roses – Sweet Child O Mine, ZZ Top – Gimme All Your Lovin, Van Halen – Jump, Bryan Adams – Summer of 69, Run to You, Everything You Do, Queen – Don’t stop me now, Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy little thing, Nickelback – Rockstar, Meatloaf
• Indie: Killers – Mr Brightside, Human, Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire, Fratelis – Chelsea Dagger, Goo Goo Dolls – Iris, Oasis – Wondewall, Don’t Look Back in Anger
• 90’s Pop – Steps, Five, S Club 7, B*Witched, Backstreet Boys, Robbie Williams etc
• Cheesey Dances – Tina Tuner – Proud Mary, Original Time warp
• Modern Dance Hits – Justin Bieber, Flo-Rida, Maroon 5 – Move like Jagger, Pharrell Williams – Happy, Rihanna, Calvin Harris, Justin Timberlake, Swedish House Mafia, Pitbull, Lady Gaga – Pokerface, Bad Romance
• Other stuff: Pink – Get the party started etc Madness, Monkees – I’m a believer, Daydream Believer, Bad Manners, Jam, Specials
• R&B – Beyonce – Crazy in Love, Single Ladies, Kanye West – Gold Digger, Blackstreet – No Diggity
• 90’s Dance classics – Not your favourite genre but no issues playing songs if they are requested.

Only one do not play song – Proclaimers – 500 Miles as this was the funeral song of a close relative and some people may find this upsetting.

During the night a hen and stag dance were incorporated the former featuring the Shania Twain song "Man I feel like a woman" and for the guys it was the Village People and YMCA.

A great night was had by all and some great compliments were received from the Bride and Groom who were delighted with how the night had gone and everything that had gone into making it a success.

I was boooked to provided the evening disco for Amy and Rachel for their wedding celebration at Eshott Hall.

I met with Amy and Rachel a few months ago for our initial consultation and a discussion about the music they liked, what they didn't like, the music they required for the key parts of their evening and also to discuss the access arrangements for the venue.

Since this time we had been in touch with each other several times by email to make sure that all aspects of the evening celebration were absolutely clear.

I visited the venue the day before the wedding to ensure that I was clear on the access arrangements, location of power sockets and the available space for my disco set up.

Access to the venue was excellent and there was adequate space for the set up I had in mind.

My white wedding set up was chosen and very much in keeping with the classy feel of the venue.

I would have around 60 minutes to set up and sound check my equipment from around 5.30pm till 6.30pm as it happens I was impressed that the wedding was running ahead of schedule and got access slightly earlier than originally planned.

I spoke with Lauren the wedding planner at the venue so I was clear on the timings for the key parts of the night. It was pretty straight forward with an early start to the night with the bouquet toss, followed straight after by the cutting of the cake and the first dance with the evening buffet at 9pm/

I double checked with Amy and Rachel that they were happy for their guests to join them after the first chorus for their first dance.

Everything went like clockwork.

I encouraged all of the ladies who wanted to try and catch the bouquet to come forward which they duly obliged.

I invited all of the guests to come forward for photographs for the cake cutting after the official photographer had taken his shots.

For the first dance I got all of the guests to form a circle around the dancefloor so everyone had a good view of their firstdance together as a married couple and of course this would be easier to get them involved in the first dance as they were already where they needed to be.

From the off this crowd knew how to party and this turned into and absolutely outstanding and thoroughly awesome celebration for Amy and Rachel on their wedding day.

I even organised an improptu drinking competition between the Hockey Girls versus the Guys from the Grey Horse who were well beaten on the night.

Lots of requests from the guests on the night with Bonnie Tyler Total Eclipse of the Heart a classic from Amy's hen night in Marbella being appreciated by everyone.

"Ian, A huge thanks from Rachel and I for making our day so special, it truly was amazing. We will certainly be leaving you a review, you were awesome, thank you so much. And also thanks very much for the videos, they were a lovely surprise. As you could see, everyone loved the choice of music, I don’t think we left the dance floor for more than 5 mins!! Thank you so much. As the venue said, it was one of the “liveliest wedding party’s they’d seen for years!” Amy and Rachel, Eshott Hall, Morpeth,Northumberland.

Brilliant wedding for a brilliant couple!

Request list as below:

• I will wait/Mumford and sons
• Holding onto heaven/Foxes
• This is what you came for/Calvin Harris & ,Rhianna
• Break free/Ariana Grande
• Without u/Usher & David Guetta
• Say you do / Sigala
• We found love/Rhianna
• Spice up your life - spice girls
• Rock your body/ Justin Timberlake
• Everybody/Backstreet Boys
• What do you mean/Justin Bieber
• The girl is mine/ 99souls &Brandy
• Changing/Sigma  ft Paloma Faith
• The wolf/Mumford and sons
• You and me/Wannadies
• A little respect/Wheatus
• Empty Threat/Chvrches
• Crazy in Love/Beyonce
• Radioactive/Rita Ora
• Mr Brightside/The Killers
• Sex on Fire/ Kings Of Leon
• Sweet Nothing/ Calvin Harris
• Last night/The strokes
• Hold my hand/Jess Glynne
• Summer of 69 / Bryan Adams
• Could you be loved/ Bob Marley
• Locomotion/Kylie
• Single ladies - Beyonce
• Don’t stop believing/Journey
• I gotta feeling/Black eyed peas
• Reach/ S club7
• Valerie/Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson
• Town called Malice/The Jam
• All night long/Lionel Ritchie
• Party rock anthem / LMFAO
• Pompeii/Bastille
• One more time/Daft Punk
• You've got the Love / The Source Ft Candi Staton
• I bet that you look good on the dancefloor / Arctic Monkeys
• Never Forget/Take That
• Clarity/Zedd ft Foxes

 

• While evening buffet is on, I played upbeat tunes

 

• First Dance – Youth (album version) Foxes
• Song immediately after first dance- Feel the love /Rudimental
• Cutting the cake – Greatest Day/Take That
• Penultimate song – Strong/London Grammar
• Last song – Outro (4min version)/M83

 

• No Michael Jackson, One hit wonders like “come on eileen, build me up buttercup”, Bruno Mars, absolutely NO Chav songs like “children of the night, pretty green eyes”.

I've never seen Blyth Comrades Club looking so good.

A tremendous effort from the event dressers to transform an ordinary social club concert room into a fairytale wedding venue.

The wedding disco dressed in white to match the venue dressing and sparkling dance floor, uplit podiums in matching colours providing the platform for my moving heads which provided a tremendous sweeping effect across the whole room bouncing of the ceiling and walls.

Love Letters, an Illuminated Heart, a Photo Booth, Sparkling White Dancefloor, a magician to entertain the guests and a photographer to capture every moment.

First dance Nathan Sykes -Over and Over Again and the cake cutting song Luther Vandross and his version of Always and Forever.

Text the DJ proving to be very popular with a mix of requests coming in including:

• Sia - Cheap Thrills
• Coldplay - Sky Full of Stars
• Coldplay - Charlie Brown
• Lukas Graham - 7 Years
• Tinie Tempah & Zara Larsson - Girls Like
• Jam - Town Called Malice
• Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
• Brian Adams - Summer of 69
• Abba - Dancing Queen
• Queen - Don't stop me now
• UB40 - Kingstown Down
• DNCE - Cake by the Ocean
• Jacob Satorius - Sweatshirt

A few no no's on the request front "The United States of Whatever" by Liam Lynch and the "North East Belters" ... apparently "everyone would have loved them", sometimes you just have to use your better judgement as a DJ.

Night got off to a bit of a slow start with the first dance not taking place till 9.30pm and the music being kept low until then so that the guests could hear the magician's patter to help him work his table magic.

The night picked up after speeches with the evening coming to a close at 11.45pm and finishing on a high.

What a fantastic night for a super couple and I love it when a plan comes together.

We had an earlier planning meeting to discuss John and Kathryn's requirements. I had already provided them with two CD's containing edited versions of the music to be used for their ceremony.

I was booked from 6pm and in order to keep any disruption to the guests and celebration to a minimum I decided to set up earlier that day.

As everything was set I was happy to provide John and Kathryn with the use of my radio mics for their speeches and playout system for background music via my ipad. I even provided an instructional video so that the music could be set to play and adjusted to the right volume when they arrived.

During the evening the plan and timings of the cake cutting, first dance and surprise father daughter dance were adjusted to take account of changing circumstances, taking time to ensure that the Bride and Groom were happy with everything.

Guests were provided with "Text the DJ" slips which worked a treat and saved the guests from clambering onto the stage.

A comedy moment came from the Photobooth whose touch sensitive screen was being set off by the booming bass from my subs, obligingly I turned the bass down a little and the photobooth owner did running beer mat repair to reduce the "rattle".

A good mix of music was provided with some of the younger guests getting their own way with some of the music played earlier in the evening. We had the party hits, music from the charts, EDM, Dance Classics, Rock, Alternative and a special UB40 request "I can't help falling in Love" with the accompaniment of a relative who I'd let MC over a couple of the dance tracks much to the amusement of the guests.

A great night all round and great feedback from one happy Bride.

Amazing DJ would recommend to anyone! Ian is fantastic and went out of his way to help us with other aspects of our wedding too! Thank you! X - Kathryn Tweddle