Let's Get This Party Started ... If Only There Was an Emcee

So, when you hire a professional DJ or Band for your wedding, one of the elements of their job that I always ask about is who is the emcee for the evening? An emcee is the person is the designated driver for the night. They make the appropriate announcements, they keep the order of events happening, basically they run the show from the entertainment perspective. And most wedding related DJ's and Bands have a person whose role is not only to play awesome music to also make sure that everything happens on the timeline. This means that they invited Father Bob up to make the toast, the invite the Brides Father George up for their speech, they invite the crowd to join Groom Billy and his mother Ethel on the dancefloor. Basically, the emcee is the one who guides the roles of honor up to the spotlight.

From the point of a wedding planner, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not having an emcee. {And keep in mind, the emcee doesn't need to be from the entertainment, they can be appointed by the Bride and Groom}. We had a couple this year who opted to have their amazingly talented DJ friend spin at the wedding. And seriously, this woman played awesome music, to the point where I wished I had an iphone and Shazam since I am so terrible with song names, but I digress. The DJ had the whole turntables thing down. She rocked. BUT, she was not an emcee. An element of the wedding day that I believe is crucial. She apparently told my bride and groom that she had "it covered" which really meant she had a microphone for someone else. Who that someone else was, I am still waitng to meet them. As the bridal party entered the room I asked the DJ if she was announcing them into the room {as an aside, when I created the timeline with the bride and groom, I was told that said DJ had the emcee'ing thing down} she looked at me as if I had asked her to eat fire. The response I got was "I spin tunes, not speak". Hmmmm, okay. So your truly emcee'd the wedding that night.

If you want the evening to flow well, you need someone to guide it. You need someone to announce things, plain and simple. Its very hard for your guests to know its your first dance if no one actually tells them. Its hard to tell 200+ people you are cutting the cake if someone with a microphone doesn't let them in on what is happening. So please, before you sign the dotted line with your choice entertainment, please make sure they have a designated speaker for the party. Otherwise, you may as well not have any special moments throughout to share with your guests since they'll miss them anyways.

Notes On Hiring a DJ or Band for Your Wedding

Firstly, let's dispel a myth. Wedding Bands aren't necessarily more expensive than Wedding DJs. I've seen fantastic DJs that cost lots more than a Band. So, before the pricing scares you from one end of the entertainment spectrum to another, decide which appeals to you more. Do you prefer live music or do you prefer hearing the actual artist singing? Do you want an Emcee for the evening? Once you've narrowed down those factors, get pricing from both sides. Also, talk to your venue about what sounds better in the space - some acoustics work better for bands not DJs and vice versa. Whomever you hire, you obviously want them to sound incredible.

When interviewing your entertainment, ask the following:

What is their speciality?
If you have specific songs, will they play them?
Do they allow guests to make requests or not? (also, is this something you want?)
Can you give them must play and do not play lists?

You want to hire entertainment that you enjoy and that plays great music ... whatever the form.



(courtesy of beatlesagain.com)

This post was originally published on June 10th, 2009

Day 10: Entertaining Elements: Wedding Bands & Wedding DJ's

Day 10: 30 Days: A Guide to Stress Free Wedding Planning

Firstly, let's dispel a myth. Wedding Bands aren't necessarily more expensive than Wedding DJs. I've seen fantastic DJs that cost lots more than a Band. So, before the pricing scares you from one end of the entertainment spectrum to another, decide which appeals to you more. Do you prefer live music or do you prefer hearing the actual artist singing? Do you want an Emcee for the evening? Once you've narrowed down those factors, get pricing from both sides. Also, talk to your venue about what sounds better in the space - some acoustics work better for bands not DJs and vice versa. Whomever you hire, you obviously want them to sound incredible.

When interviewing your entertainment, ask the following:

What is their speciality?
If you have specific songs, will they play them?
Do they allow guests to make requests or not? (also, is this something you want?)
Can you give them must play and do not play lists?

You want to hire entertainment that you enjoy and that plays great music ... whatever the form.



(courtesy of beatlesagain.com)