October 25, 2023 • 27 mins
Ever imagined how crucial experienced professional DJs can be for your outdoor wedding ceremony set-up? Wonder no more! Today, we're giving you an exclusive backstage pass to the world of wedding planning from the DJ perspective. This episode features an enlightening chat with Doug Stempley, a seasoned pro from Upbeat DJs, and host Kathy Piech-Lukas, wedding planner with Your Dream Day. We share crucial tips on how to have a smooth processional, avoid potential hiccups, finding the right vendors based on references and reviews, and the importance of the rehearsal with the wedding party. You'll also learn why wireless microphones and unassuming speakers are your best friends for a safe and pleasing outdoor ceremony experience.
The excitement doesn't stop there. Doug highlights the pivotal role of a DJ, beyond just playing music. With four decades in the business, Doug knows his stuff. He'll enlighten us on how a DJ can help keep your reception's timeline moving smoothly, coordinate the buffet line, and even provide interactive entertainment to keep your guests amused. Prepare to be captivated and informed, as we journey together into the heart of wedding planning.
To listen to more episodes visit www.yourdreamday.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are making our own story as we go, as we go, as we
go.
Hopin', we are, hopin', thatwe'll go, so we'll be ever after
, ever after.
Hi, I'm Kathy Peach Lucas andwelcome to your Dream Day
(00:32):
podcast.
I am here today with Doug fromUpbeat DJs, and you have been
doing DJing for a long time.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I have been DJing for a number of years I usually
just state 20 plus years butactually started this month in
1984.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Oh my goodness.
So if you do, the math.
Wait a minute, that's a longtime.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
That's 40 years.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
So next year your Dream Day will be in the 20 plus
club, but I got a long ways togo to be in the 40 plus club.
But that's amazing and you'restill around to obviously you're
doing something right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, I enjoy doing it.
It started as a hobby right outof high school for the most
part, and I enjoy seeing peoplehave a good time, and I did it
back in the day for free beerthat was about it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Isn't it amazing what we did in our youth for pizza
and beer?
Not when I was 18.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
When I was 18, it was like hey, I'm at a party and
everybody's having a good timeand I'm playing the music for it
, so it's like that was the joyof it then.
And then you started.
People were like, hey, come andDJ our party, we'll give you a
free food and beer.
And I'm like, okay, sure.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
But that got you the experience to take it to the
next level, and that's like onething that you do see on
Facebook with vendors.
And we actually have anotherpodcast that will be scheduled
in the future.
It's going to talk aboutFacebook and finding your
vendors on Facebook, becausethere are some legitimate people
who are charging very, very,very, very little or next to
(02:15):
nothing because they don't haveany experience.
But there's also people outthere that are looking to take
advantage of you and scam you,take your money, ghost you and
then you never see them again.
Or hear from them again.
And then the next thing, youknow, you've got your wedding in
two weeks and you don't have aDJ because they've ghosted you.
And so I mean, it's just.
I can't stress enough.
It's so important to hireprofessionals this is what they
(02:38):
do that have experience, becauseyou do get what you pay for and
you pay for experience.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
And you look at references, feedback, reviews.
Are they insured, are they anLLC?
All kinds of different thingsto kind of validate your search
if you're wondering if thisperson is going to scam you or
not.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Oh, absolutely, absolutely Well, and we had a
wedding together last month andwe had an outdoor ceremony and
before we started recording,we're like you know it's not
just as easy as going into thewoods and pressing play.
There's a lot involved insetting up for an outdoor
ceremony.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, there's obviously planning a couple
months beforehand to get set forthe ceremony and the reception
celebration as well.
But the ceremony portion,getting ready for it,
understanding who all is part ofthe ceremony.
Who all is going to be, youknow, formally coming in.
(03:48):
Are they going to have asoundtrack for their entrance?
Is it going to be individualsoundtrack?
Is it going to be the samesoundtrack for everyone?
So there'll be music changesthroughout the ceremony as well
as having sound support, and allof our sound support is battery
powered, so there's no need fora generator or extension cables
(04:11):
.
That's a mile long.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And that's actually a big, that's huge.
That's bigger than you realizebecause I have had DJs who have
run 100, 200 foot extensioncords and guests can trip on
those.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And it takes away from the actual visual aesthetic
part of being outdoors.
You might see an orange cablerunning across the yard.
That's to me.
You're damaging photoopportunities.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
And generators.
Depending on the kind ofgenerator you have, they're loud
.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Oh yes.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
They're very loud.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Even the quiet ones you can still hear.
At a ceremony it's usually quietso, plus, we have wireless
microphones for the efficientlapels for the bride or the
groom or both, so everybody canhear what's being said.
A lot of times they'rerepeating their vows or they've
written their own vows and it'scool to let the guests hear what
(05:08):
they're saying, right?
So instead of just the frontrow, we like to keep the
speakers back and away from thephoto eye, so we kind of go into
the back outside part of theseating area so everybody can
hear but we're not seeing, and alot of times we try to hide
behind trees or some naturalcoverage and that way it's not.
(05:35):
The speakers aren't even in thesite.
So it's some planning and yougot to know your venue when you
get there, even though you maybe in the woods.
You know it's always good toshow up at the rehearsal, which
we do, and being there you'remore prepared for the wedding
day and you understand you getto meet everybody.
(05:57):
You get to meet the weddingparty instead of seeing them the
day of.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
It's funny you bring that up.
I tell my couples that at everyrehearsal I said I say I'm
allowed to make mistakes todaybecause I'm rehearsing tomorrow
as well.
I'm learning who goes with who.
And it's so true because whenyou have the little ones like
Flower Girls and Ring Bearers, Iwould say at least more than
(06:22):
half the time they're the childof somebody who's in the wedding
party, and so you have todesignate somebody for those
little ones to go to after theywalk down the aisle, and you
have to think in terms of athree-year-old for them to walk
down a long aisle.
Think of a cathedral.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
There's a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
To a three-year-old, that cathedral aisle is probably
like you and me going down afootball field.
It's long, it's scary, it'soverwhelming and it's important
to give them that mentalrehearsal so that they can build
the confidence for the next dayto get down the aisle without
crying, without that fear andgetting excited about it During
(07:08):
the rehearsal.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
you understand who the point person could be.
It could be mom, dad, grandma.
It's like go to them instead ofbecause sometimes that's the
longest gap out of ceremony isgetting the kids up front.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Absolutely Well what we do when we direct a rehearsal
.
We'll have them go down theaisle and then we have a
designated go-to person, Like itcan be grandma, it can be Aunt
Judy, it can be cousin Fred, itcould be whoever it is, but we
have them planted in an aisleseat, usually the third row, and
(07:47):
they walk down and if they'reunder the age of seven I'll tell
them if you want to go and sitwith grandma, that's totally
fine, you don't have to stand uphere, and every now and then
the girls usually just gostraight to grandma, but the
boys you could tell they want tobe one of the big, proud boys,
(08:09):
and so they try to be.
You know, stand up like I'm abig boy too, and then eventually
they're like my legs hurt.
I'm going to go sit withgrandma.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
But ceremonies are the reason why everybody gets
there.
It's the shortest formalityportion of the entire wedding
day.
It feels like and you look atthe overall entire day but
everything is kind of likemagnified.
And I tell the couple when Imeet with them.
(08:43):
I said if things mess up, noone knows that it's a mess up
because they don't know whatthey don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Exactly Unless you react to it.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Then they're like oh, something happened.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Well, and that's the thing.
There will be things thathappen on your wedding day.
They're not mistakes, they'rememories.
Those are the things that youwill talk about 20 years from
now and laugh at and Giggle at.
You know, you might be a littlemortified at the time.
It's happening, but it'sadorable.
Later on true story I had a Ringbearer who I think was three at
(09:21):
the time and then he had like aone-year-old sister who was a
flower girl and he was not goingto go down the aisle and so his
father had the daughter in onearm, had the ring bearer holding
his hand in the other.
The ring bearer has the pillowon his face the whole time he's
(09:41):
walking down the aisle and thenwhen he got to the altar he took
the pillow and threw it at thegroom.
It's precious because whenthey're that little, that's just
them being adorable, they'rejust being so sweet and so cute
and so so genuine.
And you know now, if you, ifyou tell, if you were to tell
(10:03):
that little boy who's probablylike 10 or 11, he'd probably be
like, oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve I did that.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He's like I don't want to see that but it's so
sweet to reflect back.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Oh, yes, I remember that that was so cute and so you
know they'll be.
They'll be things that happenon the wedding day and it's okay
.
I mean you just that's why youhave a good vendor team in place
.
That's what your vendors arethere for.
They're there to you know,pivot when they need to, and you
know they're there to cover foryou and Everything is seamless.
(10:32):
I mean it like you said.
The guest has no idea thatsomething wasn't supposed to
happen.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Then we covered it and it, just don't react to it,
just, you just keep going, youjust keep going and and keep
that confidence smile.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And because the ceremony is.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
It's supposed to be intimate, but yet you're sharing
it with everybody, right?
So right you know, don't, don'tbe worried, and you know, Tell
the groomsmen to shift theirlegs so they don't lock their
knees and pass out all kinds oflittle things like that.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yep, my big thing with with the wedding rehearsal
is I Tell the groomsmen I said Idon't care which one, but pick
one.
And I say at ease, which iswhere they, you know, stand with
their legs apart and arms atthe side, or what I refer to as
(11:24):
fig leaf, where it's one handover the other, you know, in
front of you, and they alwaysget a kick out of that because
they know exactly what I meanwhen I say that.
I would say 90% of the timethey go with option number two.
But the big thing is just thatconsistency and just making sure
that you know when they go downthe aisle, they know when to go
and you know ladies are alwayson the left.
(11:46):
So you know the bride is on theleft, the bride's maids are on
the left, the bride's family, atleast in the first couple rows,
is on the left and they justknow where to go because a lot
of people they don't know thethe overall wedding ceremony or
reception protocol.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You know they've not been married before.
Most of the time it's likethey're it's their first wedding
, right, so they lean on thevendors and planning and the end
of the ceremony.
We we like to do something alittle different where we
continue the support, becauseusually the guests are asked to
(12:26):
go back to the reception, thatarea for cocktail hour, happy
hour and the family and thecouple on the wedding party
usually stays.
Sometimes they'll release thewedding party but stays for
final photographs.
I gather a I'd say a half adozen Kind of up tempo songs
from the couple, but notdanceable but not sleepy songs,
(12:50):
to still continue to play in thebackground at the ceremony site
, just lightly playing, so it'snot super dead quiet as
Everyone's heading back to thecocktail hour.
Plus, you know me and my teamwill go back and we'll just let
the sound system run For thattime that they're out there so
it gives them a little bit moreSomething to add to the comfort.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Now Do you bring multiple sound systems to the
wedding day?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Usually three, because we'll have a cocktail
hour, we'll have a ceremony andthen we'll have the reception
Celebration sound system, whichis a bigger sound system for
dancing.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
That's a lot of equipment.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I, most of the team of, fits everything in their
vehicle.
No trailer.
I got one, one DJ, that doeshave a trailer.
Mm-hmm but I've got a ChevyTraverse.
Everything fits in the setChevy Traverse.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Wow, but that's that's gonna make it so much
easier on you because you whenyou arrive usually the DJ
arrives, what like two to threehours ahead of time and you set
up the ceremony site, get that,do the sound checks and make
sure everything is good to go inthere.
And then you set up thecocktail hour and the dinner
reception sound system, makesure everything is good to go
(14:05):
there right and it takes time toget all that set up and
sometimes it's Logistics gettinginto the spaces.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
You know it might not be an easy roll in.
You may have to go up a couplefloors, or you may be in a
different banquet room for Fordinner and then dancing is yet
in another area.
So then we have some remotespeakers and different rooms
which are wireless remote.
So again, no wires going fromone place to another, mm-hmm,
(14:35):
and then you've got lighting andeffects and special, special
items that we have.
That's our add-ons, you know,like the cloud dance or spark
boxes, or up lights, monograms,all kinds of different things.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So these are some cool.
Well, actually kind oftransition here into the
reception.
These are other neat elementsthat people can add to their
reception.
What is a cloud dance?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Oh, you've probably seen it where, like the first
dance, it's a low-laying cloudthat it mits out really quick.
It doesn't last very longbecause it's basically dry ice
and it's the effect of dry iceand hot water and it just Clouds
out of our machine.
Really, we direct it to whereit's focused on the dance floor,
(15:22):
and a lot of times We'll havean LED Light or one of our tube
lights to kind of like glow thecloud to make it Blue or magenta
or red or whatever color theywould like.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And that is not the same thing as a fog machine
Correct.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
It's completely different fog goes throughout
the whole air, and most venueshave banned fog machines because
of their fire detection system.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, that's good to know.
What are some other things thatyou find DJs will bring along
on the wedding day, as far as,like I hate to call them
accessories, but like we weretalking about the lighting and
and other things, up lights area really big.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
A lot of DJs have a variety of different up lights.
Usually they're the lightsaround the walls of the venue
and the good DJs will have themhooked to remotes and it will
dance to the music or they canchange the colors throughout the
celebration to to match themood or Set the mood or go along
(16:25):
with music, and then they maychange colors to the Speed of
the music around the whole roomand then in some DJs just have
static up lights where it's justone color the whole night.
Mm-hmm so it's differentvarieties.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Check with your vendor that you're working with
to see if you can get one orboth of those options and up
lights make a dramaticdifference in the room,
especially if you have lighterwalls, because you can Change
the atmosphere very dramaticallyjust with light and it
highlights like if you have acolumn in a In a venue there may
(17:04):
be multiple columns and you canhighlight those columns with
the up lights and bring, Bringthat out.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That's in the room already right, right.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Well, and with, as far as like, the timeline goes
on for the dinner reception.
What do you find are the keycomponents that you consistently
see in timelines?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
like the formalities there there are.
There are a lot of formalitiesin a reception, I would say.
There's like 13 or 14 that youcan pretty much have plugged
into your celebration.
That's a lot of moving partsand you want to keep.
You want to keep things moving,so you don't want to have 14.
(17:51):
Formalities to drag your gueststhrough right, you know, maybe
five, six or seven, but some ofthe most popular ones, the
traditional ones, are like thecake cutting the first dance,
the toast.
Those three are really like thestable Formalities for any
(18:14):
couple.
You know, I would see Some ofthese formalities, such as the
garter toss.
We haven't done the garter toss, I haven't been seeing that.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I haven't been seeing less and less.
I've been seeing the gartertoss.
Okay, I still see the bouquettoss but it's teetering a little
bit.
Yes, yes.
I actually just had a tie-downmeeting yesterday with for a
wedding that we have in a fewweeks and they're debating
whether or not to have a bouquetand garter.
Still, I think they're going todecide that night.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
What a lot of DJs and couples are doing now and event
planners are suggesting is,after the formal introduction of
the couple or maybe even thewedding party, go right into
your first dance.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
That's what we always recommend, because you've got a
captive audience.
It's so classy.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Everybody's looking at you.
Anyway, it's a cool segue afterthe introduction to slow it
down, get everybody calm andthen kind of move into a welcome
or maybe a prayer before themain course is served.
Then you can trickle into yourother formalities, like your
toasting afterwards, cakecutting.
(19:25):
I've even seen the cake cuttingmove to right after the first
dance.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Then they really can get all the formalities out of
the way.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Yeah the catering staff can take care of the cake
and have it ready and served orplated somewhere right after
dinner.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Well, and the advantage too is when you put
all the formalities up front.
Because you put all theformalities up front, your
photographer doesn't have tostay as long, because all those
formalities are done already.
After you do your fatherdaughter dance and your mother
son dance, and if you decide todo the bouquet and garter after
(20:01):
that, your photographer can takeoff because you're not waiting
on that additional first dance.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
That could be $500 savings.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
It's huge, it's huge.
We just gave you a tip.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
The big thing with doing some of the formalities
early.
You've got to consider theguests have been waiting a while
for dinner.
They're hungry.
You want to balance it out tosave some for after dinner, so
you're not delaying the meal foreveryone.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
No, that makes perfect sense.
That makes perfect sense.
Then a couple has a buffet.
How does the DJ participate inreleasing tables to the buffet?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
That is an option on our itinerary builder, on our
website, that there's a coupledifferent options.
Option one the caterer prettymuch does a captain's call and
they've got a captain andthey'll go around.
Or a major D and they'll goaround and dismiss tables to the
buffet If they choose not to.
(21:07):
Or the catering staff a shortstaff the DJ is kind of like a
default.
Or an event coordinator mightstep in.
Or maybe the coordinator saidwill you help us out?
We all work together as a team,all the vendors.
The second thing is the DJwould be the major D and walk
(21:29):
around at the dismiss tables.
Or there's some interactivethings that we've done before
and it's on our itinerary.
We've got a list of differentfun activities to play.
This is one where we'll do youhave to sing a love song to the
bride and groom to have yourtable dismissed?
Oh boy, it can just be thechorus of the song.
(21:53):
We're not going to accompany itwith any music, but think of a
love song that you know andthere could be eight or 10
people at the table.
Between those, they can come upwith a chorus of a song.
So they're raising their handsand I'll run over with the
microphone and have them singand then they're dismissed and
then I'll get ready for the nexttable once the buffet is ready
(22:18):
and I'll ask.
I said who has a song next andyou know I have two or three
tables raising their hand quickand I'll have to make a decision
.
So it's a fun, interactive way,or we'll do music trivia or
name that song.
We'll play a song and the firstperson to raise their hand
guesses the song.
You know it's kind of like namethat tune.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Ah yeah, so they're like icebreakers basically.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
It's something fun and it's choices that the couple
can decide, you know, do wewant to be, you know, more
classy, more elegant, a littlebit more cheesy, more fun, more
interactive, all kinds ofdifferent flavors.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
And those are the things that you talk about with
your DJ at your final planningmeeting.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
And we start 60 days out from the wedding to begin
planning and we have a detaileditinerary that has a timeline.
Down the left side it hasbullet items with basically what
we're going to say.
So they get an expectation onhow we're going to represent
them throughout the celebration.
(23:21):
Not that we're going to read itverbatim, but it gives them an
expectation and it shows all theother vendors, because we'll
share this after our finalmeeting with all the other
vendors and email them a copy sothey see what we're going to be
doing.
And sometimes the vendors useour copy to follow along so they
(23:42):
know when they're going to docertain things.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Well, I know, as a planner, like what I'll do when
I work with DJs is I'll go tothat final planning meeting just
to kind of be that ear ofconsistency, because you don't
necessarily get to go to thecatering walkthrough or the
meeting with the photographerand there may be some things
that we discussed with thosevendors that you would have.
You would not be privy to that.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I highly encourage that.
There's a couple venues thatthey have day of coordinators at
the venue and I know some ofthe venues coordinators and I
invite them.
So when I know some of thevendors or the coordinators or
event planners, I invite them tothe final meeting because we'll
(24:27):
do a Zoom call and do it likeon a Monday or Tuesday of that
wedding week and then finalizeeverything, make sure
everything's set in stone andwe're good to go and we're set
for that weekend.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Oh, perfect, Perfect.
Now the other thing I've beenseeing a lot is a private last
dance.
Have you been seeing that a lottoo?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
There's a couple formalities that are probably a
year, maybe two years old, butthe private.
We call it the private solodance and we clear everyone out
of the ballroom space or thereception space and no one's in
there.
We even step out.
As a DJ, we'll step out and letthem have that special moment
(25:09):
all by themselves at the end ofthe night and a lot of times
it's a good opportunity, ifyou're going to have a sparkler
or some kind of special exit, toget everybody out there in
preparation for that and then acouple can have that
three-minute dance and then comeout to their exit with all the
guests.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
And that's actually a special moment for them too,
because they don't.
As a couple, you will not get alot of private time on your
wedding day, because everybodywants a piece of you.
They're so excited for you andthey want you to pose for
pictures and they want you tosmile and they want you to hug.
They want a hug and you don'tget much downtime.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And you got to introduce one to the other
because they might not know yourfiance or your wife or your
husband.
They're like this is my UncleBob.
For the first time I'mintroducing you.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
And that's all those things Right, and it's nice to
just have that three minutes oftime.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
It's at the end of the night and you can kind of
reflect on everything that'shappened and just kind of look
at your wife or husband and,like we actually did it.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Well, we did it here today with this podcast
interview.
How can people find you, Doug?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
There's multiple ways Facebook you can see us on
Facebook at UpbeatsDJ.
You can find us on the web atupbeats-djcom, and you can.
All of our contact informationis there and, yeah, socials are
pretty easy.
Ig is at UpbeatsDJ, so easy tofind.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, wonderful it's.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Upbeats, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Well, I'm Upbeat, are you Upbeat?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Always.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
All right, doug, thank you so much for coming on
today.
Thank you for tuning in to yourDream Day podcast.
You can visit yourdreamdaycomto review past episodes and we
look forward to you listening toour upcoming episodes.
This is Kathy Peach Lucas.
Happy planning.
We are making our own story as we go, as we go, as we
go.
Hopin', we are, hopin', thatwe'll go, so we'll be ever after
, ever after.
Hi, I'm Kathy Peach Lucas andwelcome to your Dream Day
(00:32):
podcast.
I am here today with Doug fromUpbeat DJs, and you have been
doing DJing for a long time.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
I have been DJing for a number of years I usually
just state 20 plus years butactually started this month in
1984.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Oh my goodness.
So if you do, the math.
Wait a minute, that's a longtime.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
That's 40 years.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
So next year your Dream Day will be in the 20 plus
club, but I got a long ways togo to be in the 40 plus club.
But that's amazing and you'restill around to obviously you're
doing something right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, I enjoy doing it.
It started as a hobby right outof high school for the most
part, and I enjoy seeing peoplehave a good time, and I did it
back in the day for free beerthat was about it.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Isn't it amazing what we did in our youth for pizza
and beer?
Not when I was 18.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
When I was 18, it was like hey, I'm at a party and
everybody's having a good timeand I'm playing the music for it
, so it's like that was the joyof it then.
And then you started.
People were like, hey, come andDJ our party, we'll give you a
free food and beer.
And I'm like, okay, sure.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
But that got you the experience to take it to the
next level, and that's like onething that you do see on
Facebook with vendors.
And we actually have anotherpodcast that will be scheduled
in the future.
It's going to talk aboutFacebook and finding your
vendors on Facebook, becausethere are some legitimate people
who are charging very, very,very, very little or next to
(02:15):
nothing because they don't haveany experience.
But there's also people outthere that are looking to take
advantage of you and scam you,take your money, ghost you and
then you never see them again.
Or hear from them again.
And then the next thing, youknow, you've got your wedding in
two weeks and you don't have aDJ because they've ghosted you.
And so I mean, it's just.
I can't stress enough.
It's so important to hireprofessionals this is what they
(02:38):
do that have experience, becauseyou do get what you pay for and
you pay for experience.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
And you look at references, feedback, reviews.
Are they insured, are they anLLC?
All kinds of different thingsto kind of validate your search
if you're wondering if thisperson is going to scam you or
not.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Oh, absolutely, absolutely Well, and we had a
wedding together last month andwe had an outdoor ceremony and
before we started recording,we're like you know it's not
just as easy as going into thewoods and pressing play.
There's a lot involved insetting up for an outdoor
ceremony.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Yeah, there's obviously planning a couple
months beforehand to get set forthe ceremony and the reception
celebration as well.
But the ceremony portion,getting ready for it,
understanding who all is part ofthe ceremony.
Who all is going to be, youknow, formally coming in.
(03:48):
Are they going to have asoundtrack for their entrance?
Is it going to be individualsoundtrack?
Is it going to be the samesoundtrack for everyone?
So there'll be music changesthroughout the ceremony as well
as having sound support, and allof our sound support is battery
powered, so there's no need fora generator or extension cables
(04:11):
.
That's a mile long.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
And that's actually a big, that's huge.
That's bigger than you realizebecause I have had DJs who have
run 100, 200 foot extensioncords and guests can trip on
those.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And it takes away from the actual visual aesthetic
part of being outdoors.
You might see an orange cablerunning across the yard.
That's to me.
You're damaging photoopportunities.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
And generators.
Depending on the kind ofgenerator you have, they're loud
.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Oh yes.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
They're very loud.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Even the quiet ones you can still hear.
At a ceremony it's usually quietso, plus, we have wireless
microphones for the efficientlapels for the bride or the
groom or both, so everybody canhear what's being said.
A lot of times they'rerepeating their vows or they've
written their own vows and it'scool to let the guests hear what
(05:08):
they're saying, right?
So instead of just the frontrow, we like to keep the
speakers back and away from thephoto eye, so we kind of go into
the back outside part of theseating area so everybody can
hear but we're not seeing, and alot of times we try to hide
behind trees or some naturalcoverage and that way it's not.
(05:35):
The speakers aren't even in thesite.
So it's some planning and yougot to know your venue when you
get there, even though you maybe in the woods.
You know it's always good toshow up at the rehearsal, which
we do, and being there you'remore prepared for the wedding
day and you understand you getto meet everybody.
(05:57):
You get to meet the weddingparty instead of seeing them the
day of.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
It's funny you bring that up.
I tell my couples that at everyrehearsal I said I say I'm
allowed to make mistakes todaybecause I'm rehearsing tomorrow
as well.
I'm learning who goes with who.
And it's so true because whenyou have the little ones like
Flower Girls and Ring Bearers, Iwould say at least more than
(06:22):
half the time they're the childof somebody who's in the wedding
party, and so you have todesignate somebody for those
little ones to go to after theywalk down the aisle, and you
have to think in terms of athree-year-old for them to walk
down a long aisle.
Think of a cathedral.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
There's a lot of people.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
To a three-year-old, that cathedral aisle is probably
like you and me going down afootball field.
It's long, it's scary, it'soverwhelming and it's important
to give them that mentalrehearsal so that they can build
the confidence for the next dayto get down the aisle without
crying, without that fear andgetting excited about it During
(07:08):
the rehearsal.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
you understand who the point person could be.
It could be mom, dad, grandma.
It's like go to them instead ofbecause sometimes that's the
longest gap out of ceremony isgetting the kids up front.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Absolutely Well what we do when we direct a rehearsal
.
We'll have them go down theaisle and then we have a
designated go-to person, Like itcan be grandma, it can be Aunt
Judy, it can be cousin Fred, itcould be whoever it is, but we
have them planted in an aisleseat, usually the third row, and
(07:47):
they walk down and if they'reunder the age of seven I'll tell
them if you want to go and sitwith grandma, that's totally
fine, you don't have to stand uphere, and every now and then
the girls usually just gostraight to grandma, but the
boys you could tell they want tobe one of the big, proud boys,
(08:09):
and so they try to be.
You know, stand up like I'm abig boy too, and then eventually
they're like my legs hurt.
I'm going to go sit withgrandma.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
But ceremonies are the reason why everybody gets
there.
It's the shortest formalityportion of the entire wedding
day.
It feels like and you look atthe overall entire day but
everything is kind of likemagnified.
And I tell the couple when Imeet with them.
(08:43):
I said if things mess up, noone knows that it's a mess up
because they don't know whatthey don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Exactly Unless you react to it.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Then they're like oh, something happened.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Well, and that's the thing.
There will be things thathappen on your wedding day.
They're not mistakes, they'rememories.
Those are the things that youwill talk about 20 years from
now and laugh at and Giggle at.
You know, you might be a littlemortified at the time.
It's happening, but it'sadorable.
Later on true story I had a Ringbearer who I think was three at
(09:21):
the time and then he had like aone-year-old sister who was a
flower girl and he was not goingto go down the aisle and so his
father had the daughter in onearm, had the ring bearer holding
his hand in the other.
The ring bearer has the pillowon his face the whole time he's
(09:41):
walking down the aisle and thenwhen he got to the altar he took
the pillow and threw it at thegroom.
It's precious because whenthey're that little, that's just
them being adorable, they'rejust being so sweet and so cute
and so so genuine.
And you know now, if you, ifyou tell, if you were to tell
(10:03):
that little boy who's probablylike 10 or 11, he'd probably be
like, oh my gosh, I can'tbelieve I did that.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
He's like I don't want to see that but it's so
sweet to reflect back.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Oh, yes, I remember that that was so cute and so you
know they'll be.
They'll be things that happenon the wedding day and it's okay
.
I mean you just that's why youhave a good vendor team in place
.
That's what your vendors arethere for.
They're there to you know,pivot when they need to, and you
know they're there to cover foryou and Everything is seamless.
(10:32):
I mean it like you said.
The guest has no idea thatsomething wasn't supposed to
happen.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Then we covered it and it, just don't react to it,
just, you just keep going, youjust keep going and and keep
that confidence smile.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
And because the ceremony is.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
It's supposed to be intimate, but yet you're sharing
it with everybody, right?
So right you know, don't, don'tbe worried, and you know, Tell
the groomsmen to shift theirlegs so they don't lock their
knees and pass out all kinds oflittle things like that.
Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yep, my big thing with with the wedding rehearsal
is I Tell the groomsmen I said Idon't care which one, but pick
one.
And I say at ease, which iswhere they, you know, stand with
their legs apart and arms atthe side, or what I refer to as
(11:24):
fig leaf, where it's one handover the other, you know, in
front of you, and they alwaysget a kick out of that because
they know exactly what I meanwhen I say that.
I would say 90% of the timethey go with option number two.
But the big thing is just thatconsistency and just making sure
that you know when they go downthe aisle, they know when to go
and you know ladies are alwayson the left.
(11:46):
So you know the bride is on theleft, the bride's maids are on
the left, the bride's family, atleast in the first couple rows,
is on the left and they justknow where to go because a lot
of people they don't know thethe overall wedding ceremony or
reception protocol.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
You know they've not been married before.
Most of the time it's likethey're it's their first wedding
, right, so they lean on thevendors and planning and the end
of the ceremony.
We we like to do something alittle different where we
continue the support, becauseusually the guests are asked to
(12:26):
go back to the reception, thatarea for cocktail hour, happy
hour and the family and thecouple on the wedding party
usually stays.
Sometimes they'll release thewedding party but stays for
final photographs.
I gather a I'd say a half adozen Kind of up tempo songs
from the couple, but notdanceable but not sleepy songs,
(12:50):
to still continue to play in thebackground at the ceremony site
, just lightly playing, so it'snot super dead quiet as
Everyone's heading back to thecocktail hour.
Plus, you know me and my teamwill go back and we'll just let
the sound system run For thattime that they're out there so
it gives them a little bit moreSomething to add to the comfort.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Now Do you bring multiple sound systems to the
wedding day?
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Usually three, because we'll have a cocktail
hour, we'll have a ceremony andthen we'll have the reception
Celebration sound system, whichis a bigger sound system for
dancing.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
That's a lot of equipment.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
I, most of the team of, fits everything in their
vehicle.
No trailer.
I got one, one DJ, that doeshave a trailer.
Mm-hmm but I've got a ChevyTraverse.
Everything fits in the setChevy Traverse.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Wow, but that's that's gonna make it so much
easier on you because you whenyou arrive usually the DJ
arrives, what like two to threehours ahead of time and you set
up the ceremony site, get that,do the sound checks and make
sure everything is good to go inthere.
And then you set up thecocktail hour and the dinner
reception sound system, makesure everything is good to go
(14:05):
there right and it takes time toget all that set up and
sometimes it's Logistics gettinginto the spaces.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
You know it might not be an easy roll in.
You may have to go up a couplefloors, or you may be in a
different banquet room for Fordinner and then dancing is yet
in another area.
So then we have some remotespeakers and different rooms
which are wireless remote.
So again, no wires going fromone place to another, mm-hmm,
(14:35):
and then you've got lighting andeffects and special, special
items that we have.
That's our add-ons, you know,like the cloud dance or spark
boxes, or up lights, monograms,all kinds of different things.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
So these are some cool.
Well, actually kind oftransition here into the
reception.
These are other neat elementsthat people can add to their
reception.
What is a cloud dance?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Oh, you've probably seen it where, like the first
dance, it's a low-laying cloudthat it mits out really quick.
It doesn't last very longbecause it's basically dry ice
and it's the effect of dry iceand hot water and it just Clouds
out of our machine.
Really, we direct it to whereit's focused on the dance floor,
(15:22):
and a lot of times We'll havean LED Light or one of our tube
lights to kind of like glow thecloud to make it Blue or magenta
or red or whatever color theywould like.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
And that is not the same thing as a fog machine
Correct.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
It's completely different fog goes throughout
the whole air, and most venueshave banned fog machines because
of their fire detection system.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Okay, that's good to know.
What are some other things thatyou find DJs will bring along
on the wedding day, as far as,like I hate to call them
accessories, but like we weretalking about the lighting and
and other things, up lights area really big.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
A lot of DJs have a variety of different up lights.
Usually they're the lightsaround the walls of the venue
and the good DJs will have themhooked to remotes and it will
dance to the music or they canchange the colors throughout the
celebration to to match themood or Set the mood or go along
(16:25):
with music, and then they maychange colors to the Speed of
the music around the whole roomand then in some DJs just have
static up lights where it's justone color the whole night.
Mm-hmm so it's differentvarieties.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Check with your vendor that you're working with
to see if you can get one orboth of those options and up
lights make a dramaticdifference in the room,
especially if you have lighterwalls, because you can Change
the atmosphere very dramaticallyjust with light and it
highlights like if you have acolumn in a In a venue there may
(17:04):
be multiple columns and you canhighlight those columns with
the up lights and bring, Bringthat out.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
That's in the room already right, right.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Well, and with, as far as like, the timeline goes
on for the dinner reception.
What do you find are the keycomponents that you consistently
see in timelines?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
like the formalities there there are.
There are a lot of formalitiesin a reception, I would say.
There's like 13 or 14 that youcan pretty much have plugged
into your celebration.
That's a lot of moving partsand you want to keep.
You want to keep things moving,so you don't want to have 14.
(17:51):
Formalities to drag your gueststhrough right, you know, maybe
five, six or seven, but some ofthe most popular ones, the
traditional ones, are like thecake cutting the first dance,
the toast.
Those three are really like thestable Formalities for any
(18:14):
couple.
You know, I would see Some ofthese formalities, such as the
garter toss.
We haven't done the garter toss, I haven't been seeing that.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
I haven't been seeing less and less.
I've been seeing the gartertoss.
Okay, I still see the bouquettoss but it's teetering a little
bit.
Yes, yes.
I actually just had a tie-downmeeting yesterday with for a
wedding that we have in a fewweeks and they're debating
whether or not to have a bouquetand garter.
Still, I think they're going todecide that night.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
What a lot of DJs and couples are doing now and event
planners are suggesting is,after the formal introduction of
the couple or maybe even thewedding party, go right into
your first dance.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
That's what we always recommend, because you've got a
captive audience.
It's so classy.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Everybody's looking at you.
Anyway, it's a cool segue afterthe introduction to slow it
down, get everybody calm andthen kind of move into a welcome
or maybe a prayer before themain course is served.
Then you can trickle into yourother formalities, like your
toasting afterwards, cakecutting.
(19:25):
I've even seen the cake cuttingmove to right after the first
dance.
Speaker 1 (19:31):
Then they really can get all the formalities out of
the way.
Speaker 2 (19:33):
Yeah the catering staff can take care of the cake
and have it ready and served orplated somewhere right after
dinner.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Well, and the advantage too is when you put
all the formalities up front.
Because you put all theformalities up front, your
photographer doesn't have tostay as long, because all those
formalities are done already.
After you do your fatherdaughter dance and your mother
son dance, and if you decide todo the bouquet and garter after
(20:01):
that, your photographer can takeoff because you're not waiting
on that additional first dance.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
That could be $500 savings.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
It's huge, it's huge.
We just gave you a tip.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
The big thing with doing some of the formalities
early.
You've got to consider theguests have been waiting a while
for dinner.
They're hungry.
You want to balance it out tosave some for after dinner, so
you're not delaying the meal foreveryone.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
No, that makes perfect sense.
That makes perfect sense.
Then a couple has a buffet.
How does the DJ participate inreleasing tables to the buffet?
Speaker 2 (20:47):
That is an option on our itinerary builder, on our
website, that there's a coupledifferent options.
Option one the caterer prettymuch does a captain's call and
they've got a captain andthey'll go around.
Or a major D and they'll goaround and dismiss tables to the
buffet If they choose not to.
(21:07):
Or the catering staff a shortstaff the DJ is kind of like a
default.
Or an event coordinator mightstep in.
Or maybe the coordinator saidwill you help us out?
We all work together as a team,all the vendors.
The second thing is the DJwould be the major D and walk
(21:29):
around at the dismiss tables.
Or there's some interactivethings that we've done before
and it's on our itinerary.
We've got a list of differentfun activities to play.
This is one where we'll do youhave to sing a love song to the
bride and groom to have yourtable dismissed?
Oh boy, it can just be thechorus of the song.
(21:53):
We're not going to accompany itwith any music, but think of a
love song that you know andthere could be eight or 10
people at the table.
Between those, they can come upwith a chorus of a song.
So they're raising their handsand I'll run over with the
microphone and have them singand then they're dismissed and
then I'll get ready for the nexttable once the buffet is ready
(22:18):
and I'll ask.
I said who has a song next andyou know I have two or three
tables raising their hand quickand I'll have to make a decision
.
So it's a fun, interactive way,or we'll do music trivia or
name that song.
We'll play a song and the firstperson to raise their hand
guesses the song.
You know it's kind of like namethat tune.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Ah yeah, so they're like icebreakers basically.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
It's something fun and it's choices that the couple
can decide, you know, do wewant to be, you know, more
classy, more elegant, a littlebit more cheesy, more fun, more
interactive, all kinds ofdifferent flavors.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
And those are the things that you talk about with
your DJ at your final planningmeeting.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
And we start 60 days out from the wedding to begin
planning and we have a detaileditinerary that has a timeline.
Down the left side it hasbullet items with basically what
we're going to say.
So they get an expectation onhow we're going to represent
them throughout the celebration.
(23:21):
Not that we're going to read itverbatim, but it gives them an
expectation and it shows all theother vendors, because we'll
share this after our finalmeeting with all the other
vendors and email them a copy sothey see what we're going to be
doing.
And sometimes the vendors useour copy to follow along so they
(23:42):
know when they're going to docertain things.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Well, I know, as a planner, like what I'll do when
I work with DJs is I'll go tothat final planning meeting just
to kind of be that ear ofconsistency, because you don't
necessarily get to go to thecatering walkthrough or the
meeting with the photographerand there may be some things
that we discussed with thosevendors that you would have.
You would not be privy to that.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I highly encourage that.
There's a couple venues thatthey have day of coordinators at
the venue and I know some ofthe venues coordinators and I
invite them.
So when I know some of thevendors or the coordinators or
event planners, I invite them tothe final meeting because we'll
(24:27):
do a Zoom call and do it likeon a Monday or Tuesday of that
wedding week and then finalizeeverything, make sure
everything's set in stone andwe're good to go and we're set
for that weekend.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Oh, perfect, Perfect.
Now the other thing I've beenseeing a lot is a private last
dance.
Have you been seeing that a lottoo?
Speaker 2 (24:47):
There's a couple formalities that are probably a
year, maybe two years old, butthe private.
We call it the private solodance and we clear everyone out
of the ballroom space or thereception space and no one's in
there.
We even step out.
As a DJ, we'll step out and letthem have that special moment
(25:09):
all by themselves at the end ofthe night and a lot of times
it's a good opportunity, ifyou're going to have a sparkler
or some kind of special exit, toget everybody out there in
preparation for that and then acouple can have that
three-minute dance and then comeout to their exit with all the
guests.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
And that's actually a special moment for them too,
because they don't.
As a couple, you will not get alot of private time on your
wedding day, because everybodywants a piece of you.
They're so excited for you andthey want you to pose for
pictures and they want you tosmile and they want you to hug.
They want a hug and you don'tget much downtime.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
And you got to introduce one to the other
because they might not know yourfiance or your wife or your
husband.
They're like this is my UncleBob.
For the first time I'mintroducing you.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
And that's all those things Right, and it's nice to
just have that three minutes oftime.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
It's at the end of the night and you can kind of
reflect on everything that'shappened and just kind of look
at your wife or husband and,like we actually did it.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Well, we did it here today with this podcast
interview.
How can people find you, Doug?
Speaker 2 (26:24):
There's multiple ways Facebook you can see us on
Facebook at UpbeatsDJ.
You can find us on the web atupbeats-djcom, and you can.
All of our contact informationis there and, yeah, socials are
pretty easy.
Ig is at UpbeatsDJ, so easy tofind.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
Yeah, wonderful it's.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
Upbeats, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Well, I'm Upbeat, are you Upbeat?
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Always.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
All right, doug, thank you so much for coming on
today.
Thank you for tuning in to yourDream Day podcast.
You can visit yourdreamdaycomto review past episodes and we
look forward to you listening toour upcoming episodes.
This is Kathy Peach Lucas.
Happy planning.
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