Steve Hoffman - GOOD NOTE DJs's Blog – January 2010 Archive (8)

September 11 falls on a Saturday this year, 2010. That's the second time since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that "9/11" has fallen on a Saturday. The first time was 2004. Nobody in 2004 wanted to get married on 9/11 -- the horrific memories of 2001 were too raw.



Now, it is nine years later. It will be interesting to see if "9/11" is still a date wedding couples avoid. My guess is that most wedding couples still prefer that their anniversary… Continue

Consider cutting and serving your wedding cake during a break in dancing, NOT right after dinner. Let’s say you have a 5:00 ceremony and a 6 to 10:00 reception (cocktails at 6:00, dinner at 7:00, dancing at 8:00). A good time for cake-cutting would be 9:00 – after about one hour of dancing.



Here's why.



What I call "energy flow" is a key to your reception's success. By the end of dinner, your guests have spent three hours watching your ceremony, standing around for… Continue

By tradition, when the guests loudly clink their glasses together at a reception, the newlywed couple must kiss. In recent years, this ritual has fallen out of favor, but it's still common. It can be fun, but some brides and grooms prefer not to be put on the spot repeatedly, and some simply tire of all that clinking.



Here's a fun alternative: If a group of guests at a table want the bride and groom to kiss, they must stand and sing a snippet from a love song. It can be any kind of… Continue

It's easy to have your heart set on an outdoor wedding. Perhaps you envision your ceremony outdoors in a garden, in a grove, at a vineyard, on a mountainside, by a lake, or on a pleasant patio. Perhaps you envision your guests mingling outdoors during cocktails. Perhaps your reception site even offers a pleasant outdoor setting for dinner or dancing, or both.



If your dream wedding involves the outdoors, do give careful thought to your "plan B" in case of rain or other inclement… Continue

Most wedding couples tell DJs "We're looking for someone who will keep the dance floor filled!" Favorable reviews of DJs often say "He kept the dance floor full all night long!"



Yet, sometimes during the dance period, the DJ is requested to interrupt the music and invite guests to leave the dance floor for group photographs. Things like: "Will all members of the extended Smith family please step outside on the patio for a group photo" or "All University of Virginia alumni, please… Continue

Even though I work as a DJ, I would never criticize anyone's decision to hire live musicians to perform at their ceremony. Live music sounds wonderful and adds an elegant touch to a ceremony. Besides, many of my best friends are live musicians!



However, if you are having your ceremony at the same site as your reception, there are some advantages to having your DJ provide the ceremony music.



(1) You'll save money. Your DJ may charge a bit extra for the additional time,… Continue

You might not think of cake-cutting as a musical moment, but music can enhance it. Especially if it's the right song -- a song that somehow relates to that moment. The DJ plays the song in the background just after he announces the cake-cutting.



Some examples:



* "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You." A great choice, because it connects the sweetness of cake to the sweetness of love, and it's a song everyone recognizes. You can use the Motown original by Marvin Gaye or the… Continue

There's an old saying that the 3 secrets of real estate are location, location, and location.



There's a lot more to DJ'ing than location, but the location of the DJ relative to the dance floor and the dining tables is a crucial, and often overlooked, element in a successful wedding reception.



If your grandmother is seated at a table three feet from my speakers, the music is going to sound too loud to her – EVEN during dinner, when I’m playing SOFT background… Continue