Archive for August, 2010

What Makes A Good Wedding DJ

August 9th, 2010 | Rss Feed

What Really Makes A Good Wedding DJ

After 13 years in the industry I’ve seen my share of good DJs and heard the horror stories. The question comes up: what separates a good wedding DJ from an average one and then the rest?

Let’s begin by defining what a makes a wedding DJ different from let’s say, a club DJ.

Basically a club DJ will DJ a club (or a dance floor at a club) with a certain “vibe”. Which means that he/she will play a particular genre/style of music and for a particular night won’t play anything else. The crowd that visits that club will party to the music and if they don’t like the music, ditch the club (or floor) and go to another party.

A wedding is different. You have a crowd of 50 to 150 guests ranging in age from 5 – 85 with music taste that range from 50’s jazz to modern day fidget. Now the wedding DJ’s job is to entertain all of these people at the same time,
and they can’t just up and leave (that’s usually considered rude. Now I use the word entertain, and not keep everyone on the dance floor for a reason.

Typically at a wedding you will have about 50% smokers (who will spend half the night outdoors smoking – due to our country’s strict smoking laws), some of these, along with another 15% of the crowd will hang out at the bar. This
leaves about 35% of the crowd. Of these about 10% will just want to hang out (they’re either too old, or haven’t seen each other in ages and just want to chill). This leaves you with about 25% who will want to spend the whole
night on the dancefloor. Of this 25%, 10% will dance to just about anything the DJ plays (which makes it easy, right?)

WRONG!

The art lies in entertaining 100% of the crowd. The old folk, the young folk. The ones who enjoys the electro?pop and the metalheads. All of them in one night.

So the question you should ask your wedding DJ is not “what kind of music do you play?”. The question you should ask your DJ is “why are you a wedding DJ?”

Being a wedding DJ is an art, and you have to love it. It’s like cooking a soufflé. Anyone can cook macaroni and cheese, but not everyone has mastered the art of baking a cheese soufflé. It takes time, patience, and a love of the art.

So there you have it, in a nutshell.

Of course there are all the other questions to ask, like equipment, is the DJ registered with SAMRO and SADJA. But a DJ that takes his art seriously will use production?grade equipment, always have backup equipment available, be registered with SAMRO (to legally perform publically), and be registered with SADJA because he is a professional and wants to be recognised as such.

About the Author: By Derek Jansen ? founder of DerekJay Entertainment. DerekJay Entertainment specializes in wedding DJs and DJ
Hire. For more information, visit www.djentertainment.co.za/dj?hire.html

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Posted in Articles for Planning a Wedding, Entertainment | 1 Comment »
 

Choosing A Wedding Venue – From A DJ’s Perspective

August 5th, 2010 | Rss Feed

Choosing A Wedding Venue – From A DJ’s Perspective

So, you’ve read the “how to choose the perfect wedding venue” articles posted on the web, published in the bridal magazines and you’re wondering what the heck it’s a DJ would know about the topic… Well consider this, who
attends more weddings in a year than your maid of honour, and who gets to leave the wedding venue with the last of the wedding guests (keeping in mind that the wedding photographer only stays until the bouquet and garter has
been thrown)?

In other words who really gets to know the ins and outs of choosing a wedding venue to have a decent party at?  There are loads of things to consider when choosing a wedding venue. First there are the obvious ones: How many guests can it accommodate; does it have sufficient parking; is it safe; what’s the food like; are there electrical outlets for the DJ’s, band; etc.

But what about the party? I mean the ceremony, while it is the essence of the wedding, only lasts 30 to 45 minutes, while the reception can keep going for anything between 4 to 8 hours, and it is in this time that your guests will want
to be entertained. And honestly, the jazz band only plays for so long! This is where I come in. You see, I’ve been a DJ for 13 years now. My speciality: weddings. And I’ve seen my share, trust me!

So what should you be looking at when you choose a wedding venue, to not only make sure that the wedding is unique, stunning, elegant, but also a wedding that your guests will talk about for years to come?

Let’s start with the basics: there’s a good chance that 50% of your guests will be smokers, so the venue must have a facility for smokers. Now usually this is done outside, which works fine, but what happens when it rains? Can they
cater for this, or will the smokers just leave early? I mean let’s face it, smokers don’t party unless they have a cigarette in hand…

Secondly, what do they have planned for the kids? I know that some couples specifically request their guests to not bring kids along, but hey, if that were you, would you want to leave your kids at home? How about booking a
smaller venue (or a room) for the kids and arranging alternative entertainment for them, together with a qualified child minder? Did you know that there are entertainment companies out there that provide these services?  This prevents anyone getting hurt on the dance floor and the kids will have a ball! Remember that weddings are a time for friends and family to get together…

Did you know that if you choose a venue in a residential area you’ll be restricted in terms of the music on the night?  So instead of the rocking party you expected, you’ll be having a toned down affair with guests nagging you (and your DJ) to turn up the tunes. Now you might not have thought about this, and the venue probably neglected to mention this, but as they are in a residential area, they are not allowed to play loud music, especially not after 22h00 at night.  And as a DJ we are obliged to stick to that rule, or we might be kicked out. Usually your party will also end strictly at 00h00, so no overtime here…

While a wedding in the country or in outlying areas are a better choice in terms of the music, you have to consider that your guests might have been drinking the whole evening and some of them will be driving home afterwards. A good idea might be to have the telephone numbers of cab companies handy for those guests who have had one drink too many, after all you wouldn’t want your guests to remember your wedding as the night they spent in jail…

Finally, always keep in mind that your entertainment for the evening will be one of the most important choices you’ll make. Should you decide to go with a DJ, always ensure that they are registered with both SAMRO and SADJA (the South African Music Rights Organisation and the South African DJ Association). This will prevent embarrassment during the evening and also ensure that you get quality entertainment – All Night Long! (For more on SAMRO and SADJA please visit their respective websites).

By Derek Jansen ? founder of DerekJay Entertainment. DerekJay Entertainment specializes in wedding DJs and DJ Hire. For more information, visit www.djentertainment.co.za/dj-hire.html

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Retro Bakery Review

August 1st, 2010 | Rss Feed

Retro Bakery Review

Rating: B
Neighborhood: North end of Las Vegas
Address: 7785 N Durango Drive #130 (near Durango & I-93/95)
Website: Retro Bakery

A big fad right now are cupcake wedding cakes.  Also popular are custom wedding cakes and custom groom cakes.  With shows on television such as Cake Boss, DC Cupcakes and Ace of Cakes, many bridal couples are willing to spend extra money to have a one-of-a-kind wedding “cake”.

The most popular cupcake at Retro Bakery is the Hop Scotch.  The Hop Scotch consists of vanilla cake topped with vanilla buttercream dipped in butterscotch ganache.  The store is open Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays.

Retro bakery can provide cake orders for weddings.  However, give them a minimum of 2 weeks for custom orders or special cupcake toppers.  Custom cupcakes start at $3 each or $36 per dozen.  Custom wedding cakes are also available.  Everyday cupcakes are $2.65 each.  Custom cake prices are determined by size and intricacy of design.

Cupcake towers are available for rent.  A 4-tier cupcake tower holds 70 cupcakes.  A 5-tier cupcake tower holds 120 cupcakes.  Either tower you can rent for a $40 fee.

The workers at Retro Bakery were very friendly and willing to answer any questions.  The downfall of the bakery was that they had no printed information about providing cakes for weddings.  We were instructed to go to their website.

Retro Bakery will deliver anywhere in the Las Vegas area, for an additional fee of $20.  Otherwise, Retro Bakery is about 25 minutes NW of the Las Vegas Strip.

If you like buttercream cupcakes, then Retro Bakery is the place for you!

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Posted in Las Vegas Reviews | 1 Comment »