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.

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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.

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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.

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