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Posted by admin on February 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment
When Should the Groom See the Bride?
by Kara Schultz of Kara Schultz Storyteller
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One of the biggest debates among my couples is usually whether or not to do a first look. The first look is not for everyone. This post is going to talk about the ups and downs of the first looks. From a photography standpoint, the first look is all ups because often I don’t get the best vantage point during the ceremony when you both first see each other and I’m restricted by the areas at the church. Read more
Posted by admin on February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment
MDM Entertainment
Even though I am a wedding entertainer I believe an iPod is okay for certain types of wedding receptions. This may cause a lot of other wedding professionals to shake their heads in disbelief but the simple matter of fact is some weddings would be okay without a DJ or band. Most weddings would be okay without the typical cheesy wedding DJ but that is another article…..
An iPod would be suitable entertainment if:
1. You were having a small intimate wedding celebration for a few hours where dancing isn’t a concern and you just need background music.
2. None of your family or friends dance.
3. You did not want to do any traditional reception activities such as introduction of the wedding party, cake cutting toasts, first dance, etc.
If however you are having a wedding were you will be doing many of the traditional reception activities and you do you want your guests to spend the entire evening celebrating with you I would consider hiring PROFESSIONAL entertainment.
Not just music
Many brides and grooms initially do not understand that a professional wedding entertainer does so much more than just press play. If this were the case they probably could be replaced by an iPod. A professional wedding entertainer is the Master of Ceremonies who will host and coordinate your reception. A good DJ or band leader is the next best thing to a day of coordinator for handling the organization of the reception. In addition to their duties as emcee your entertainer will be programming the music for the evening to get your guests out of their seats and onto the dance floor. An experienced DJ or band leader will know what to play and when in order to keep a full dance floor.
I have listed some of the common reasons for having an iPod wedding and then some of the reasons against it so you will be able to make an informed decision.
Professional DJ’s and bands charge too much!
You must take into consideration that the DJ or band is not only spending 10 to 12 hours on the day of your wedding working for you (don’t forget driving, setup and take down) but they have also spent hours upon hours preparing, rehearsing, assembling music and coordinating. When all is said and done a professional DJ or band will spend 20 or more hours on one wedding. You are also paying for experience and talent with a professional.
In addition to the entertainer you are also paying for professional audio equipment and microphones. I have seen banquet halls promise that couples could hook an iPod up to their in house “sound system” and “it will be fine”. Most banquet hall sound systems are barely able to handle a microphone for the speeches let alone dance music at any volume. Most of the time it will sound horrible. You could always rent professional equipment and have the rental company come and set it up but by the time you have paid for that you are half way to having the DJ or band paid for. If you do rent professional audio equipment who is going to operate the equipment throughout the night and what if something breaks?
When you look at the cost of hiring a professional it is usually a small percentage of the overall budget yet it probably has the most impact on the success of the event. If you hire cheap poor quality entertainment and your guests leave early you have wasted all the money you have spent on the entire day. Consider quality entertainment an investment in the success of your wedding.
We get to choose the music!
At first this seems like a great idea but then you have to ask yourself how many public events you have actually entertained for? Do you know how to read a crowd and play the variety of music necessary to ensure that everyone at your wedding enjoys themselves. I have seen far too many brides and grooms assume that because they like a certain artist that all of there guests will enjoy them as much as they do. You may load your iPod up with all your favorites and then be surprised when no one is on the dance floor. A good DJ or band will certainly play your requests and tailor the music to your tastes but they will program the music for the evening in a way that will keep your guests dancing.
Perhaps one of the most important skills of entertaining at a wedding is music programming, knowing what to play when in order to keep the energy level on the dance floor. You can load an iPod up with some great music but if it is not played in the right order at the right time you will have a lackluster dance floor. A good DJ or band can take the same list and have a packed dance floor all night. You can’t go from big band to 50 Cent for the next song and expect people to keep dancing. The music must have a “flow” and logical progression from one song to the next without any “dead air” or breaks in between songs. You may be able to get someone to program a good set list for an iPod but a dance floor is a fluid entity and you need to be able to judge what is working with the crowd and what is not and flow with it. This is where experience and music knowledge pays off.
We have a friend/relative who will take care of it for us!
If your friend doesn’t mind spending their entire night working at your wedding that is a great friend indeed. Will they want to dance or socialize at all or spend the entire evening manning the iPod? If you want any emceeing does the person have experience? Will they know how to operate the audio equipment? Do they know how to coordinate a wedding reception and everything that it entails?
Check out this REAL video of an iPod wedding. It pretty much demonstrates a lot of these points. Then imagine how you would feel if it was your wedding day.
Your wedding day is a once in a lifetime experience. Shouldn’t it be the best day possible?
By Mike Dodson of MDM Entertainment
info@mdmentertainment.com
Even though I am a wedding entertainer I believe an iPod is okay for certain types of wedding receptions. This may cause a lot of other wedding professionals to shake their heads in disbelief but the simple matter of fact is some weddings would be okay without a DJ or band. Most weddings would be okay without the typical cheesy wedding DJ but that is another article…..
Read more
Filed under Wedding Advice, Wedding Entertainment · Tagged with Chicago, Chicago wedding, Chicago wedding vendors, iPod Wedding, Wedding, Wedding Advice, Wedding Entertainment, Wedding Planning, wedding professionals, Wedding Tips
Posted by admin on February 4, 2010 · 1 Comment
By Mike Dodson of MDM Entertainment
info@mdmentertainment.com
Choosing the Right Music for Your Wedding Reception – The Do’s and Don’ts
Being a wedding entertainer I see first hand on a weekly basis how much impact the music has on the success of a wedding reception. The following article will help you plan out the perfect mix of music for your Chicago wedding reception.
First and foremost, the music for your wedding is the soundtrack to one of the most important days of your life! You should put some thought into it. The music should be memorable and reflect your personal taste and style while at the same time creating an enjoyable atmosphere for you and all of your guests.
Even though your wedding day is probably still months away you should start making up your request list now.
Here are some do’s and don’ts for selecting music for your wedding reception:
DO
§ Have a frank discussion with your potential entertainer about the music. They should listen to your input; it is your wedding. You should listen to their input; they do this for a living.
§ Keep a pad of paper handy at your desk and in the car and jot down song ideas when they pop into your head. They will be gone by the time you get home if you don’t write them down right away.
§ Play songs that you would like to hear but that aren’t great dancing songs during cocktail hour or dinner.
§ Try to remember songs that were meaningful to you and your family and friends. List songs that you use to sing along to with everyone when going out for the night or hold special memories for you and your fiancée. Dedicate these songs to your friends and family at the reception!
§ Make sure the entertainer is aware of the significance of your dedications and the appropriate people are present when the song is played.
§ Keep the number of requests at a reasonable amount! For an average wedding reception you will be lucky to get 3 hours of full dancing time. This is about 45 songs in total or 15 per hour. If you have a talented DJ or band they will be able to mix the songs together so they flow seamlessly from one to the other and instead of playing the full version you will hear maybe half or three fourths of the song before it blends into the next one. This will allow more songs to be played throughout the evening. At MDM Entertainment we structure our music request system in a way that allows the bride and groom to have their favorites played while still allowing the entertainer some flexibility in programming and for guest requests, if that is okay with you. Contact us for more information on how we handle wedding music request lists.
§ Pick songs that you like from different genres of music that will appeal to the different age ranges of your guests. You should want everyone to dance and have a great time at your wedding.
§ Play to the older guests early. A good rule of music programming is to play more for the older guests at the beginning then progress into the newer styles later on in the evening. Everyone likes the older styles of music (Sinatra, Big Band, 50’s and 60’s, Motown, etc) to some extent. If you get the older guests dancing and having a good time they will be much more likely to stay the whole evening and by the end of the night they will be dancing to everything. If you break out the hottest current dance music too early in the night it will probably discourage them and they might even leave early.
§ Allow guest requests. You may not have a good handle on what the majority of your guests do or do not want to dance to. By allowing the DJ or band to take requests they are able to get direct input from the crowd. A good wedding entertainer will of course filter these requests and won’t play anything inappropriate, songs on your “Do Not Play” list or songs that won’t fit in with your own personal preferences.
§ Remember that everyone may not share your taste is music. If you hire a professional band or disk jockey they should be available to help you plan out the music for your reception and incorporate your style into the day while still playing a good mix to keep all of your guests happy and on the dance floor. That is one of the true benchmarks of a great wedding entertainer, understanding and being able to incorporate the bride and groom’s more eclectic musical tastes into the day while at the same time keeping all of the guests entertained.
§ Submit your music lists at least two weeks prior to the wedding if you are using a DJ, this will allow them plenty of time to compile the music and acquire any songs that they do not have in their library. If you are using a band you will have to get your requests in months ahead of time to allow them ample time to learn and practice new songs that they may not have in their repertoire.
DON’T
§ Hand the entertainer a list of 100 songs and demand that they all be played and in that order. Don’t laugh, it happens. Of course you should be involved in the selection of the music for your wedding day but if you do this you are severely limiting the entertainers ability to “read” the crowd and play the right song at the right time. A good entertainer will understand your musical tastes and incorporate that throughout the event in a way that will still keep your guests happy and on the dance floor. On those few occasions where a bride has held fast to her list and her order, they have always come up to me half way through the event and realized their mistake and end up giving me free reign. You are hiring professional entertainment for a reason; trust their experience and skill.
§ Say I want all this type of music and nothing else. Some brides and grooms tell me they love Hip Hop and that is what they want to hear all night. Take into consideration your guests enjoyment of the evening as well. Don’t you want them to have a wonderful time too? Grandma and Grandpa just might not like Hip Hop. Ultimately it is your night and the entertainer should do exactly what you ask of them but take into consideration the wide range of age ranges and musical tastes of your guests when making up your play list.
§ Run up to the entertainer and say I want this song next! Again, it is your wedding and they should do what you ask but the entertainer has put a lot of thought into the selection of songs to get to this point in the evening. If your song fits in with the current genres being played NEXT is probably a great idea. If you are requesting a techno track be played next and the dance floor is full of grandparents dancing to swing maybe you could ask that the song be played soon so the DJ has time to progress into that genre instead of scaring the living daylights out of the older folks on the dance floor.
If you follow these do’s and don’ts and hire professional wedding entertainment your reception will be an evening of dancing and socializing that all of your guests will thoroughly enjoy and talk about for years to come!
Being a wedding entertainer I see first hand on a weekly basis how much impact the music has on the success of a wedding reception. The following article will help you plan out the perfect mix of music for your Chicago wedding reception.
Read more
Filed under Wedding Advice, Wedding Entertainment · Tagged with Chicago, Chicago wedding, Chicago Wedding Band, Chicago Wedding DJ, Chicago Wedding Entertainment, Chicago wedding vendors, DJ Entertainment, Wedding, Wedding Advice, Wedding Entertainment, Wedding Music, wedding newsletter, Wedding Planning, wedding professionals, Wedding Tips
Posted by Patti on February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment
By Patti Herioux
With Love, Event Planner
1. Church – The obvious choice would be the church you attend. If you are not an active member of a congregation, your parents’ church could potentially be an alternative. Chicagoland provides many options, from grand cathedrals to bible chapels.
Read more
Filed under Wedding Advice, Wedding Ceremony, Wedding Tips · Tagged with Chicago, Chicago wedding, Chicago Wedding Ceremony, Chicago Wedding Planner, Chicago wedding vendors, Wedding, Wedding Advice, Wedding Ceremony, wedding newsletter, Wedding Planning, wedding professionals, Wedding Tips
Posted by admin on February 4, 2010 · Leave a Comment
By Cynthia Rensink
Everlasting Elegant Wedding
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10. We save you time! Your time is valuable. On average a wedding takes at least 1200 hours to plan start to finish. How many hours do you and your fiancé have left in your day after working your full-time job? With a planner, your wedding becomes their full-time job, dedicated to making your day special.
9. We offer advice and guidance! There are many vendors who offer many different options with their packages. Since this is the planner’s job, we will look at the whole picture of your “wedding day” to make sure that the right vendor and the right package are selected.
8. We save you money! We have established relationships with many different vendors who will “work with us” to ensure you stay on budget. Some will even offer you a discount because of our referral.
7. We organize your entire event! From choosing your save-the-date cards and invitations to the bridal gown, church and reception (venue). We are with you every step of the way.
6. We take your dream and make it a reality! With countless options available for your decorations and style, your planner can help you narrow down an option that will be cost-effective and fit within your budget while still giving you your dream wedding.
5. We bond your puzzle pieces (vendors) together! With the countless hours and money that is spent in planning a wedding, we will make sure that every puzzle piece will fit together smoothly. We make sure there are no missing pieces. On your wedding day, we make sure that all of your puzzle pieces (vendors) will stay on track and in place to make you your beautiful wedding day picture.
4. We manage the manners! There are many ways to plan a wedding, but one thing that is a factor in every wedding is etiquette. Wedding planners have experience and knowledge necessary to advise bride and their family on how to invite guests, on how to deal with difficult family issues, on how to create a processional order at the ceremony, to assign seats at the reception, and when to send thank-you notes, and so on.
3. We provide you with security! Hiring a wedding planner means less risk of something to go wrong or be forgotten. We will make sure that all your bases are covered.
2. We remove the stress! When you have a planner, it is like having a life insurance policy. You can sit back and enjoy the planning of your wedding day knowing that every detail will be covered without disturbing your joy.
1. We provide you with peace-of-mind! We become your wedding day investment broker. Your wedding day is a huge investment in you. There is nothing better than knowing that the investment you made in your wedding day was well worth every hour and dollar spent. We will make sure that your investment will give you many years of joy and happiness so that when you look back at your memories, you will remember that you were not stressed and enjoyed your wedding day to the fullest.
Filed under Wedding Advice, Wedding Planners, Wedding Tips · Tagged with Chicago, Chicago wedding, Chicago Wedding Planner, Chicago wedding vendors, Wedding, Wedding Advice, wedding budget, Wedding Budgeting, wedding checklist, wedding newsletter, Wedding Planning, wedding professionals, Wedding Tips
