How to get a groom involved in wedding planning…

 

Cabel Sasser got married. His wife, Nicole, gave him a little room to run on invitations and theme.

 

Words will not do it justice. Check out his blog post.

http://www.cabel.name/2008/10/on-wedding-design.html

He doesn’t spend anytime raving about how great his DJ was, but they did some really cool things.

Letterpress printed their own invitations.

Here is a detail from the letterpress invites.

A photobooth. (old school style).

Cabel – Congrats! and thanks for sharing your experience. Now I have to go buy a Mac.

More than words.

Bill Herman’s eyebrows are funnier than Dat Phan and Jay Mohr trapped in a burlap sack with an rabid, angry badger.

So I was at Kipp Bros. on Saturday.

I love Kipp Brothers Novelty here in Indianapolis.

I remember looking through the catalog when I was a kid. Nowadays, I need party supplies occassionally, beads, bubbles, etc. They have some really great toys too!

They have great flying toys and wood toys. My kids and my nieces think I am a genius!

So I was in there on Saturday morning and they had a hat. A hill billy hat…

Complete with Corn Cob Pipe!

It was too good to pass up… My friend Robbie Britton has put together a one day conference for Mobile DJs in Greenville Tennessee. It’s coming up on June 23rd.

He has a monster line up of presenters to enhance, improve and motivate DJs. If you a DJ within a thousand miles, you should be there.

If you considering hiring a DJ, you should ask the question…

“When was the last time you learned anything new?”

This industry is dominated by a “professionals” who are putting on the same act they did the day they started. Macarena anybody? In DJing, a commitment to the client involves a commitment to improving your skills.

Many professions REQUIRE continuing education to maintain certification or accreditation. There is no such thing in mobile entertainment. The individual commitment to improving their craft is a great indication of a DJs talent and ability to deliver the results you desire, deserve and should demand.
Which kind of explains this…

In my community of DJ friends, everything south of I-70 is the rural south, unless you are north of I-80.

I did three takes totally improvised. (who says rehearsal isn’t important?)

The music skipped a beat.

Here is a really great first dance bit of mis-direction.

The groom is Mike Anderson of  Creative Memories Entertainment in Antelope, California. (I think that is near Sacramento)

Mike – Congrats and well done!

Things you should never say to a DJ

So my friend and former DJ partner Jak got this from Rusty (aka Mudkids aka Bird Men of Alcatraz) and sent it to me. Are you following me so far? good.

I haven’t DJ’d in a club for a long time, but I can see where this is coming from. Nowadays, when I sit down with a client, I want to find out exactly what they want, then make it work over the course of an evening.. I just have to make it work. It’s a different sort of challenge compared to selling drinks and keeping people on the dance floor. I love it.

I remember once upon a time, a Tri Delt came up with a tape of a song she thought Jak & I had never heard before. A little game of stump the DJ, maybe. We threw it in the tape deck and laughed, because we had the original 12″. It got played next. And the Tri Delts go wild!

********************************************
What NOT to say to a DJ…

Even a trained monkey can be a DJ!

I have seen everything now.

It’s actually pretty cool. Capuchin monkeys have been trained to put a CD in a CD player and hit play. They are actually trained to assist people with paraplegia, so they can do a lot of simple things.

So the question in my mind is simple.

What is your DJ going to do that a trained monkey can’t or won’t. (Monkeys are notoriously fickle).

The answer is simple for me.

• You probably could use some help planing the flow of the ceremony and reception.
• You might like great quality source music. Monkeys hang out with pirates.
• You might want music and a master of ceremonies that can act as your voice through the course of the evening. Monkeys tell bad jokes and fling poo.
• You might want someone to setup and control all the equipment required to make things sound nice. Monkeys like it LOUD! and need assistants to setup the sound system.
• You might want to relax and enjoy your reception with an experienced MC keeping the evening on track. Monkeys can’t be trusted around an open bar.
• You would probably like a good value. Trained Monkeys get about $3000 a day, and take a lot of breaks.

When they teach Capuchins to use iPods all bets are off.

We have reached the tipping point.

We have reached the tipping point. I was at a wedding last weekend with more cameras; disposable, digital, regular 35mm than people.

Skip the disposable cameras

Do the math and show your work!

(cost of the disposable camera) X (Number of Cameras)

plus

(Number of Cameras) X (developing cost per Camera)

It follows…

20 Cameras X $5 = $100.00
20 Cameras X $5 for Developing = $100
__________________

Total $200

What if you took that $200 dollars and bought a cute fun digital camera that was easy to use?

You could spend a $150 on a camera. Get a card reader to get copies of everybody else’s pictures who comes to your wedding and brings a camera.

It’ll be the next hottest thing. The Card Reader Attendant!

I have actually helped a bride or two with this when it comes up. It’s very simple and the payoff is HUGE.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate cameras. I LOVE pictures. I adore great photographers. But the odds are you’re guests are bringing better quality cameras than the disposables and taking better pictures than you can get from a disposable.

And you could be taking better quality pictures with a camera that will survive the Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties, the showers, the rehearsal, the wedding, the honeymoon, the new house, the first born. (In which ever order you choose)

And don’t forget the extra memory card!

I have a tiny Sony Cybershot which I have used for all the pictures on my web pages. It is really simple to use. Simple to carry and convenient. If I ever see Bigfoot, odds on I will have a camera handy. The best part is that is has a fixed lens. So there is very little lag time between sliding open the cover and taking a picture.

The Mystery is Solved

The bride and groom from the Best First Dance Ever have been found!

They were on Ellen today. http://ellen.warnerbros.com/2007/12/newlyweds_got_back.php

There names? Michelle and John Brubaker!

How much easier would this have been if the MC had said. “John and Michelle’s first Dance” or “Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker’s first dance”?

Not that hard… Much easier to remember in a once in a lifetime moment.

Best First Dance Ever

I can’t believe how much traction this video is getting. If you don’t know what I am talking about click here.

The first dance mis-direction magic.

With the right tools, putting together the music is pretty simple, but doing it poorly will ruin it for everyone who comes after you. Get a good DJ who can mix the music.

Even Better -

Get a great DJ who knows your name when he introduces you. I swear this is the first thing I heard. “Ladies and Gentleman, our bride and groom and their very special first dance as husband and wife.”

This is the Master of Ceremonies equivalent of “And um, yeah well, um, you see, uhhhhhhh”.

I am guessing the DJ came from his day job. “Your order comes to $5.30, please pull to the first window.” It’s all words you say when you don’t know what to really say.

Maybe that is a little harsh, but seriously this bride and groom (whose are unknown at present, the search continues) have real names. Think about how much easier it would be if the DJ had bothered to learn their names and used them.

Merry Christmas, Bozo

 

Bozo is the pet of Mark & Rebecca, owners of DiscJockeyAmerica, the Web’s best place for mobile DJ’s to network. Giving disc jockeys a free and open forum to discuss industry issues has been the passion of the Ferrells for nearly 10 years.

This year, the Ferrells were on the road again, educating, inspiring and training DJs across the country. Essentially, putting their time and effort into delivering on their passion.

Their dear sweet budgie has suffered a significant emotional hit doing so. He was deprived of their love and support.

Among other the other hardships that any family having such extended separation, despite the accolades of appreciative attendees, being away from the only family he knows has resulted in the reality that their little budgie, might not have a very bright Christmas.

If you’ve ever been thankful for the opportunity to have a forum like DiscJockeyAmerica to speak your mind about the DJ industry … if you support the Ferrells mission to enhance the respect, skills and talent of disc jockeys around the world through DiscJockeyAmerica … I ask that you make a selfless contribution so his little budgie can have a bountiful Christmas.

Don’t know about Bozo? Here’s an anecdote Mark posted recently about his bird:

“Everytime the phone rings, he starts making noise. A few years ago, we took him to the vet. Bozo was diagnosed with cancer of the buttocks. In an traumatic, and life threatening surgery, Bozo had his tail feathers removed.”

Bozo will never again shake his tailfeathers. Mark and Rebecca’s eyes well up with emotion every time “Shake Your Tailfeather” or “Shake  Ya Taifeather” or “Shake It” or “Shake that Money Maker” comes on the Victrola.

Would you help the Ferrells replenish their savings and give Bozo a bright Christmas? Maybe a nice tasty cuttlefish or a mirror, budgies are nuts for mirrors. Just send me some money in an envelope. By the way, Mark and Rebecca have no involvement with this effort, nor did they have advance knowledge of me posting this on the web.

It’s simple, send me some money. I haven’t really put any thought into this, but I wouldn’t want this to be traceable or be bothered with transaction fees. I’m getting the donations rolling with a significant donation that has at least two 00s after the decimal place. Please join me in expressing our appreciation for the Ferrells and what they have done for our industry.

Have a Happy Holiday, and thank you for reading.