The Alcoholic’s Guide to Weddings
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice, wedding tips
Did I get your attention with the title? I should begin by saying, I don’t mean to offend anyone by using the term Alcoholic lightly. I take alcoholism very seriously and have been personally affected by many problem drinkers who I care about. But I am seeing a lot of problem drinking at Weddings these days. There hasn’t been one specific incident that caused me to write this article, but rather a collaboration of numerous occasions where binge drinking at a wedding struck a personal chord with me and compelled me to write about it.
I don’t want you to think I’m a prude, believe me, I am nothing of the kind. However, as someone who has been a part of so many weddings and celebrations, I can tell you that over drinking never turns out well for anyone, no matter what. Even the slightest “overindulging” can really effect the outcome of one of the most special days in a person’s life. As a Wedding DJ in Los Angeles and Southern California, you can imagine I see a lot, especially over the course of a decade and almost 500 Weddings. But the one thing I see over and over again, is the “mistake” of over drinking at a wedding.
When I’m DJing a wedding, I’m stone cold sober, watching everything that happens with eyes wide open. My role as Wedding DJ is to help the people party, but not to “party” with the people. That’s our policy at Elegant Event Entertainment, No Drinking On The Job!
My biggest observation in recent years: It seems that a lot of people don’t know how to simply enjoy a few drinks, and rather, feel the need to binge drink when they’re celebrating.
I’ve seen Groom’s pass out in the stall of a bathroom before the 1st Dance, Father of the Bride falling down stairs, a Bridesmaid attacking another female guest, a Bride throwing up in the planter in front of a nice country club as all the guests were stepping over her to leave, an uncle trying to attack me and my assistant! The number one most common thing that happens at weddings is someone who is drunk will make an inappropriate speech or comment during a toast, which is sometimes funny but most of the time in bad taste. I heard about a photographer who got drunk and passed out in their car while photographing the wedding rings, and the Bride and Groom were sure she’d run off with their rings. I saw a groomsman kick out someone’s windshield. I once had a Groomsman tell me he was having his last hooray as he was knocking back shots, he was heading to rehab on Monday. I was actually happy for him, but also concerned that he wasn’t going to make it to Monday! In all my experiences, Never have I seen something go drastically wrong at a wedding where alcohol wasn’t involved, or wasn’t the Main culprit.
So what can you do as a Bride or Groom or as someone helping to plan a wedding, to limit the possibility of having your event marred by alcohol? Below is a list of things I think you should keep in mind, regarding alcohol, as you plan your most special day.
1. Do not encourage Binge Drinking at your wedding: This isn’t your bachelor or Frat party! Don’t start drinking heavily with your friends before you even arrive at your wedding. It’s tacky, and it’s setting you up for a failed wedding. This is one night where you need to pace yourself and limit your intake. In most cases, your friends and family will follow your lead and will also limit their intake.
2. If one of your Bridesmaids or Groomsmen brings a bottle of liquor or a flask, ask them kindly to leave it behind. This isn’t the time to have a hard liquor drinking competition. Utilize the drinks at the bar, there’s plenty enough there without needing to conceal bottles of liquor.
Read the rest of this entry »
How to Keep Kids Busy at Your Wedding
Posted by Jason | Filed under wedding tips
SO, you’re having a wedding soon and you’ve just realized that about 25 of your guests are under the age of 12. What can you do to include the kids in the celebration without babysitting or being worried about them on your biggest day? Although we generally recommend hosting an “adult” reception, we understand that large families might have no other option than to bring children, especially when family members with lots of kids have to travel a great distance to attend your wedding…there are no kennels for kids, yet! But seriously, if you have several children attending your Wedding, you’ll want to have some activities for them, and you need to plan this in advance. There’s nothing worse than 20 screaming, bored, confused children running around disrupting the special moments of your wedding.
In our everlasting search for great wedding planning resources, we found a terrific article on The Knot.com to help anyone who is planning a wedding where lots of children will be attending. The article focuses on 15 different ideas to occupy and entertain kids at a wedding. Click Here to read the article on the knot.com
Credit to Wendy Paris for writing this great article.
Credit to Photography by Charise Proctor for the photo in this post
A Wedding Day Emergency Kit Made Easy. Don’t Forget These Items!
Posted by Jason | Filed under wedding tips
A Wedding Day Emergency Kit Made Easy. Don’t Forget These Items!
As you are getting ready for your wedding day, there are essential items that you most likely do not think about bringing with you on your BIG day. We’ve talked to many recent brides who said there were some items that they completely forgot to take with them. There were a few instances during their wedding where they wished they had a list like this to remind them to bring a Wedding Day Emergency Kit. Here is a list we complied that would be handy to put in a kit and take with you on the day of your wedding, or ask your Maid of Honor to keep track of it for you, that way you can just relax and enjoy your day, knowing everything is taken care of!
If you want it to be really easy, just purchase a ready made Wedding Emergency Kit on Amazon for $99.00, like this one. Click here
-Band Aids
-Safety Pins
-Small sewing kit
-Gum
-Mints
-Tooth Brush & Toothpaste
-Nail Polish
-Chapstick/lip gloss/ lipstick
-Bobby Pins
-Tide Stain sticks
-Nail File
-AA batteries
-Tyenol or Ibuprofin
-Dental Floss
-Pads/pantie liner/tampons
-Clear nail polish
-Body glue
-Tape
-Hair Spray
-Deodorant
-Tissues
-Hair Brush
-Contact Solution
-Lotion
-Moisturizer
-Q-Tips
-Scissors
-White Chalk
-Black permanent marker
-Hair Dryer
-Tweezers
-Make-up
-Granola Bar/Crackers
-Hem tape/masking tape
-Extra earrings
-Extra corsage pins
-Extra cufflinks
-Hand sanitizer/towelettes
-Eye Drops
-Mirror
Skype for weddings: Broadcast your wedding “live” for friends and family who can’t be there!
Posted by Jason | Filed under wedding tips
Imagine planning the wedding of your dreams only to find out, just before the wedding, that your mom wouldn’t be able to attend.
That is exactly what happened to one of our clients. Our Bride’s mother was stuck in the very unfortunate situation of not being able to obtain a visa for travel from the Philippines to the US for her daughter’s wedding. After doing everything possible to get a visa, it became clear that it just wasn’t going to happen in time. I was extremely moved by the situation, especially by the fact that friends and family who were in attendance put their heads together and chipped in to provide some type of solution so the mother could be “present” to experience the joy of this great day.
The solution? Use some off the shelf software (Skype), a video camera, and a laptop to stream the wedding live over the Internet. In the corner of the ballroom at the Woodland Hills Marriott was a table, on which sat a Macbook Pro laptop, a small HD Video camera on a tripod connected to the laptop. The laptop was connected wirelessly to the Internet. One of the groomsmen helped set it all up and the results were worth it; The bride’s mother was able to watch everything as it happened from her home computer in the Philippines with other friends and family by her side. Mom even made a video of her “toast/speech” beforehand which was shown during a presentation just after dinner.
It’s a good example of technology making things better for everyone involved.
Here’s how to broadcast your next event live using Skype:
- You’ll need to make sure your Wedding venue has wireless internet access and that you have permission to use it. Test it early and on the day of the wedding. Wireless cell cards like the Verizon broadband card also make good backup plans in areas where there is no wifi or the wifi network is spotty.
- You’ll need a computer with wireless capability.
- You’ll need a video camera with someone assigned to occasionally operate the camera (to take it close to the action).
- You’ll connect the video camera to the laptop with a USB cable and have Skype use the external camera for the feed – have a techy friend help you set it up.
- And don’t forget, the party watching over the Internet needs a computer with an internet connection, Skype, and webcam or video camera as well.
- Test everything ahead of time!
I’m sure there are companies out there in the world that offer this as a package service, but the above setup is a quick way to do it at low cost. You may not have relatives overseas who can’t obtain a travel visa, but many people do have friends and family across the country, in the military, with an illness, or other reason they cannot attend your special day. Skype and an Internet connection can come to your rescue in these situations.
Planning your First Dance; our recent songs list
Posted by Jason | Filed under wedding tips
The Bride and Groom First Dance is one of the happiest moments of the entire Wedding Reception. As you plan your wedding, it’s one of the many little decisions you’ll make along the way.
The placement of the First Dance in the schedule is a personal choice. In most cases the First Dance follows the Grand Entrance into the reception room pretty much immediately. When this is done, the meal usually follows and open dancing is scheduled later, this can allow the Bride and Groom to have their special moment as soon as they enter, with all eyes on them, and it also relieves the stress for the rest of the evening because the hard part is over, now it’s time to let loose and have fun. You can break that pattern if you need to and we’ve seen the first dance influenced by the logistics of the event location and the style of the event. Some Weddings are very non-traditional, or have longer receptions, and it’s often appropriate to hold the First Dance after the meal.
Even if you do not like to be in the spotlight, our suggestion is to keep in mind that this is one moment your guests will want to see and it is one of the most memorable moments of your wedding. We suggest taking a few dance lessons to ease the pressure and loosen up for the dance. If you aren’t the dancing type, don’t try to choreograph a complex Sir Mix-A-Lot surprise dance routine, it will seem too arranged. But dance lessons can definitely help you to look and feel as natural as possible for your First Dance.
But what song to use! Read the rest of this entry »
A Tasty Way To Make Every Penny Work Double-Time
Posted by Chris | Filed under wedding tips
This blog caught my attention. A clever idea!!!! Photo by: Forever Photography by Kylene
A tasty way to make every penny work double-time
Los Angeles Weddings : What’s Your Budget?
Posted by Chris | Filed under wedding tips
A wonderful blog we found about Wedding Budgets. Why Having A Wedding Budget Is Necessary?.
“All of us at Elegant Event Entertainment understand what’s going on with the economy and the cost of a wedding. We can make sure you stay within your budget with our event planning team by creating the right package for your entertainment and budget needs. Hiring a Los Angeles DJ can be expensive, but we want to ease your concerns and prove that our services can be affordable to most clients. We believe clients will find a great value for our experience and highly respected reputation.”
Save A Buck Or Two!!
Posted by Chris | Filed under wedding tips
As I was searching through blogs I came across this. Brides and Grooms are putting money back in to their pockets. The Wedding Lens developed a list of 75 Cheap Wedding Tips that cover all kinds of areas of planning.
“You want your wedding to be classy, smart, and just how you imagined. We’ve created this list of cheap wedding tips to save you money without sacrificing style and grace.”
If you are an experienced wedding DJ who loves working to serve the needs of your clients, 