You want your wedding day to be perfect, not poor
or average!
Your Wedding Day is the most important day
of your life.You should consider all and more of the factors
below before deciding on your wedding date, and the services you will
retain. Consider these points even if you do not read any further:
- NEVER hire a person or service by price or looks alone.
- Contracts are a serious matter. They are legal &
binding, and you should treat them as such.
- Never assume you have a professional retained unless you
have a written contract.
-
Before deciding on the venue of your
ceremony: Find out these few things........
- How late you can have your wedding (catholic churches
will not perform wedding ceremonies after 2:00).
- The number of people the Church/Venue can hold.
- The Church/Venue's policy on flowers & decorations.
- The Officiant/Father/Pastor's fees for conducting ceremonies.
- The Church/Venue's policies on pre-marital counselling.
- The Church/Venue's policy on non members.
-
Decide on a florist: Find out...
- If the florist has a flourishing wedding business.
- Get references from people who have used them
- See a sample of their work at an upcoming wedding or
pictures of their work.
- If the florist uses a reputable flower distributor.
- If they have a written contract detailing their satisfaction
policies, performance promises, and the quality and type (silk
or live fresh) of flowers they intend to use.
-
Decide on a reception venue & catering: Find
out......
- Prices & Packages at each reception venue. If you
have an ideal reception venue, be flexible with your wedding date
to book the venue on an open date.
- Their contract & policies on minimum charges, beverage
prices, and hidden charges. (hidden charges are any charges beside
an acceptable base charge, plus extra charges for linens, service
for the head table, cake cutting, extra servers, etc etc)
- The quality of their food if they are your caterers.
It is best if you do a taste test, and find out what your obligations
are for minimum number of guests with each package.
- The capacity of the hall compared to the number of guests
you are inviting.
- The distance from the bar to the dance floor. In my opinion,
any well planned reception venue will have the bar close if not
adjacent to the dance floor. It is a true fact that in atleast
80% of wedding receptions, most people convene around the bar
and you will have most entertainers just waiting for your guests
to be under the influence, unless you have an excellent entertainer
who will work to get the people involved.
- The size of the dance floor, and the area where you will
have your entertainer setup his/her equipment. Here is the
explanation:
- A large hall seems nice, but if you do not fill it up
then you have your guests scattered all over the hall, and
that becomes less than intimate unless you have a lot of
guests.
- Your guests will feel detached in a large hall, and are
apt to leave sooner than if they would if the setting were
more intimate.
-
A large dance floor is an entertainer's nightmare. It
is harder to get people involved on a large dance floor
unless you have a sufficient number of guests to fill
the floor.
- Photographer/Videographer: Find
out.....
- Get a written contract stating your liabilities, and
their requirements.
- Their packages and specials if they have any.
- Their policy on staying longer than expected. Sometimes
(more often than not) things tend to take longer than scheduled
or expected.
- Their experience with the event you are hosting.
- The equipment they use, and the quality of
their equipment. It is better to educate yourself on
what good equipment is, rather than learn the hard way.
- View a sample of their work, and have them guarantee
you in writing that the product they are offering you is going
to be just as good as the samples they showed you. Beware
of the "menu syndrome" (thats where the food you
ordered does not look anything like it's picture on the menu)
- Their ability in being proactive, not reactive. A
professional photographer is proactive. He/she will lead you
to what should be done, unlike the reactive professional who
waits for your decision.
-
Disc Jockey / Entertainment: Most important........
- NEVER shop by price alone.
- Decide if you are looking for a band or a DJ first before
shopping.
- Make sure your entertainer specializes in the event you
are hosting. A bar/hobby DJ can play music but may not
know the etiquette and the music that is popular at wedding
receptions! Make sure your Disc Jockey company is a legitimate
business, and not some kid who has a home stereo system.
- Always see a DJ or the entertainment you are hiring in
person. Your entertainment is the most important part
of your reception, and accounts for atleast 80% of it's success.
It is better to have no entertainment than a bad entertainer
or DJ! I recommend you watch a promotional video of
the DJ company or atleast view pictures of events they have
done.
- Written references do not mean anything. A lot of
Disc Jockeys have friends and relatives provide them with
references. Get the opinion of your reception hall manager,
caterer, photographer etc.
- Always get a contract stating your liabilities and their
requirements.
- Make sure your DJ can Emcee (Master of Ceremonies)
your reception. Public Speaking is the second biggest fear
in the world (next to personal safety).
- Educate yourself on what a DJ or Band can do to make
your reception a success. Here are some pointers.....
- Hire a Band if.........
- You already have an Emcee for your reception and
are not going to depend on the band members to Emcee.
- You have an Emcee capable of announcing the formal
events of the evening, otherwise, it is recommended
to hire a professional Emcee.
- You have a short wedding reception (2 hours or so),
because most bands play two sets (about 45 minute
sets)
- You have some kind of activity that gets people
involved during the Band's intermission, otherwise,
you are going to have a thinning crowd.
- You do not mind a set list of songs with little
flexibility. Most bands have a repertoire of songs
they specialize in, and thats all you get.
- You do not need crowd interaction to get your guests
involved.
- You already have dinner music & a sound system
arranged for announcements & toasts before the
band starts.
- Hire a Disc Jockey if.......
- You have first witnessed or know of his/her ability
to entertain your crowd.
- You need a full package where the DJ is also your
Emcee, and he/she provides you with cordless microphones,
dinner music, and sound system during cocktail hour
& dinner.
- You are looking for a variety of music
- You are looking for crowd motivation & interaction.
- You are looking for someone to coordinate your reception
(Infinity-Lighthouse coordinates your entire reception
from the Grand Entrance to the last dance of the evening).
- You have limited space on the dance floor for the
entertainment to setup. (Although some Disc Jockeys
take up almost as much space as a band)
- You have seen his/her music selection and are satisfied
with it.
We are working on more topics and help
links.
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