1st Djs would love to do every wedding on earth :) But really we can't we don't have the manpower to do it and sometimes the fit just isn't right.
Right off the bat:
If you're spending $100k on your wedding and you want us to show up and play dinner music all night long without dancing etc. We might not be the group for you. We like to have fun, more fun, we want your guests and yourselves leaving thinking you had the time of your life.
Some brides don't necessarily want that, which is fine. So what do we do, we have and will continue to network with other DJ companies of our size and caliber and be able to refer you to some of the other best djs in the area.
We pride ourselves on getting along with others not just photographers, caterers, cake bakers, and florists, but other dj's as well.
I've personally done thousands of events and been djing almost 20 years but I definitely don't know everything and I am learning so much by networking with other dj companies.
So don't be afraid to tell us or another company it doesn't fit, you'll be nervous enough already without worrying that you made any kind of mistake with your vendors
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Jewish Weddings
Jewish Weddings are a treat a Mitzvah of course! We love doing Jewish weddings as much as Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. Also, we really do Jewish Weddings and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. (all the pictures on our site and blog are of our events)
What do we mean by that, well although the party part is pretty much the same Jewish weddings typically call for a Motzi and a Kiddush (variety of spellings) which is the blessing over the bread, Challah, and Wine. Please please please don't confuse this blessing with "saying grace" Being Jewish myself I attended a cousins Bar Mitzvah where the dj said "Ok who's going to say grace"
Really? And you told my cousins mother you've done a Bar Mitzvah before. The same thing happened 2 weeks ago. I was at one of the nice Inner Harbor hotels waiting for my wedding to start and I looked in on a dj I actually know performing at a Jewish wedding reception, Keepah (yamaka) in tow this dj said "and now the father of the bride is going to say grace"
And of course, this wedding had a videographer.
At any rate If you're looking for a great Jewish Wedding DJ 1st Djs has 3 jewish wedding djs on staff, including that cousin of mine who had that Bar Mitzvah experience
Kip
Monday, November 23, 2009
So you want to hire a dj?
We hope that you make 1st Djs your last stop along the way to finding the DJ for your event, we don't care who you call 1st as long as you call 1st Djs last...
In the meantime how do you hire a dj? Sure you've seen the standard list of questions to ask so lets answer some of them:
Do you have insurance? Can you show me proof of liability?
Our answer: Absolutely to both. Why would a dj need insurance, here's a couple scenarios. Dj is loading equipment into your venue. Within the rental agreement for the venue you probably signed something that said you are liable for damage during the time you rent.
What if the DJ busts part of a window pane out with a speaker stand? Accidents happen. Are you eating that cost?
If your dj doesn't have insurance sure they may offer to pay it but really do you think the $200 dj on Craigslist is going to pay $300 for a window pane he/she broke? Probably not.
If your dj has insurance let their policy cover it?
That's just a small accident. What if your 7 year old nephew has been staking out the candy buffet all day long and is all sugared up, what if he decides he wants to dance with the speaker stand while the dj is not paying full attention?
Sure its an accident but that's what Insurance is for and any reputable full time DJ Entertainment company is going to have insurance.
More tips to come!
In the meantime how do you hire a dj? Sure you've seen the standard list of questions to ask so lets answer some of them:
Do you have insurance? Can you show me proof of liability?
Our answer: Absolutely to both. Why would a dj need insurance, here's a couple scenarios. Dj is loading equipment into your venue. Within the rental agreement for the venue you probably signed something that said you are liable for damage during the time you rent.
What if the DJ busts part of a window pane out with a speaker stand? Accidents happen. Are you eating that cost?
If your dj doesn't have insurance sure they may offer to pay it but really do you think the $200 dj on Craigslist is going to pay $300 for a window pane he/she broke? Probably not.
If your dj has insurance let their policy cover it?
That's just a small accident. What if your 7 year old nephew has been staking out the candy buffet all day long and is all sugared up, what if he decides he wants to dance with the speaker stand while the dj is not paying full attention?
Sure its an accident but that's what Insurance is for and any reputable full time DJ Entertainment company is going to have insurance.
More tips to come!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Twitter is like
Twitter is like a business after hours where interruption is expected. Oh come on if you're halfway the networker then you've been to a business after hours event for your leads group or chamber.
So you do the newbie hustle and you go back and forth from the food and kind of say hey but what do you notice, well just like most things, everyone is clicked up it's like these people go back 50 years, oh wait they're only 20 or 30 somethings, still the sentiment is there, we know each other, we don't know you go away. So you stand off to the distance and they say something that you happen to know a lot about, and not for an ego stroke but just to break into the conversation or give some good advice you jump in and feel all weird and stuff
(if youve read this far you've been there)
Well Twitter is just like that but interruptions arent just permitted they're encouraged, just jump in the conversation you'll never know who you might meet or what friends you might make.
It's really funny watching non-social people being non social on social media.
Oh and for a wedding tip: Our contract calls for food for the DJ and the DJs assistant. We point that out in every consultation and don't take jobs where the dj is not fed. At the end of the night if the dj hasnt been fed or tipped and you danced all night and had the best time of your life.. just remember that ok?
Kip
So you do the newbie hustle and you go back and forth from the food and kind of say hey but what do you notice, well just like most things, everyone is clicked up it's like these people go back 50 years, oh wait they're only 20 or 30 somethings, still the sentiment is there, we know each other, we don't know you go away. So you stand off to the distance and they say something that you happen to know a lot about, and not for an ego stroke but just to break into the conversation or give some good advice you jump in and feel all weird and stuff
(if youve read this far you've been there)
Well Twitter is just like that but interruptions arent just permitted they're encouraged, just jump in the conversation you'll never know who you might meet or what friends you might make.
It's really funny watching non-social people being non social on social media.
Oh and for a wedding tip: Our contract calls for food for the DJ and the DJs assistant. We point that out in every consultation and don't take jobs where the dj is not fed. At the end of the night if the dj hasnt been fed or tipped and you danced all night and had the best time of your life.. just remember that ok?
Kip
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tell it like it is?
We got an email the other day I had twittered that our blog tells it like it is, and while with a relatively new blog we haven't really said anything earth shattering, let me explain the basis for that.
1. The customer is always right or of course should always be treated as right however the Wedding Vendor, especially vendors with multiple events every week, must know a lot about what they do right? Just remember with most vendors you're hiring experience. If your Best Friend Kenny from college who used to dj really could handle your wedding you would have asked him right? There's a reason you hired us or the caterer, the planner etc. You may have great ideas that would work but you want someone to help someone with EXPERIENCE. And we have that.
The biggest place that this comes up is in music lists. Time and Time again we see someones "Sunday Drive" ipod list for wedding music.
That's great it really is if you want your guests to hear that and not "Dance" that's fine we will help you explain it really well
"Ladies and Gentleman as a token of their gratitude for attending this festive evening John & Mary had prepared tonights music playlist it's their Sunday Drive list from their ipod, and as such we are not taking requests.. enjoy"
A simple statement like that saves the DJ and also the bride and groom because most wedding guests have been trained for a wedding
-beautiful ceremony
-vows
-cocktails
-dinner
-dancing
when the music isnt conducive to the dancing part than a lot of guests are going to think that your wedding dj sucked or nobody danced.
So what should you do?
Why not take your best danceable songs off that ipod, then take the most danceable songs off your fiances ipod and roll with those
Or better yet 1st djs (http://www.1stdjs.com) offers all of their brides access to our award winning online planning system which has a portal where you can send a link to guests or put it on your wedding website and they can request songs for you. Imagine that actually adding to your wedding the songs your guests will dance to, that would be a great party.
There is a reason that time and time again we are booked for overtime and extra hours in leiu of an "after party" want to know why? This is part of that answer.
1. The customer is always right or of course should always be treated as right however the Wedding Vendor, especially vendors with multiple events every week, must know a lot about what they do right? Just remember with most vendors you're hiring experience. If your Best Friend Kenny from college who used to dj really could handle your wedding you would have asked him right? There's a reason you hired us or the caterer, the planner etc. You may have great ideas that would work but you want someone to help someone with EXPERIENCE. And we have that.
The biggest place that this comes up is in music lists. Time and Time again we see someones "Sunday Drive" ipod list for wedding music.
That's great it really is if you want your guests to hear that and not "Dance" that's fine we will help you explain it really well
"Ladies and Gentleman as a token of their gratitude for attending this festive evening John & Mary had prepared tonights music playlist it's their Sunday Drive list from their ipod, and as such we are not taking requests.. enjoy"
A simple statement like that saves the DJ and also the bride and groom because most wedding guests have been trained for a wedding
-beautiful ceremony
-vows
-cocktails
-dinner
-dancing
when the music isnt conducive to the dancing part than a lot of guests are going to think that your wedding dj sucked or nobody danced.
So what should you do?
Why not take your best danceable songs off that ipod, then take the most danceable songs off your fiances ipod and roll with those
Or better yet 1st djs (http://www.1stdjs.com) offers all of their brides access to our award winning online planning system which has a portal where you can send a link to guests or put it on your wedding website and they can request songs for you. Imagine that actually adding to your wedding the songs your guests will dance to, that would be a great party.
There is a reason that time and time again we are booked for overtime and extra hours in leiu of an "after party" want to know why? This is part of that answer.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Go Green we found a way
1st Djs was challenged at an event of wedding professionals as to how we could help go green for weddings. Granted we couldn't find a revolutionary new way to DJ through non powered equipment we did realize in a way we were already green.
We have a dj buddy of ours, a single op, he does a Great Great job at weddings. He is extremely thorough and its partially because of his 42 page planning packet, on paper. He copies this packet in triplicate for the wedding day. Not only is it a lot of paper but you need whiteout or pencil if the bride messes up in their planning stages.
We use an award winning online planner it's great because everything is kept in once place. We then print one hard copy, if need be and send soft copies to co-vendors on wedding days. Our djs also get a soft copy on their smartphones thus saving all that paper. Even better though Mom in Kentucky, MOH in Orlando and Bride in Old Towne can all look at the same planner online during the planning stages.
This is Great for Green Weddings in DC and for just about anywhere. Just another way 1st DJs is Simple Affordable Fun
Baltimore DJ, Washington DC DJ, Alexandria DJ, Delaware DJ
We have a dj buddy of ours, a single op, he does a Great Great job at weddings. He is extremely thorough and its partially because of his 42 page planning packet, on paper. He copies this packet in triplicate for the wedding day. Not only is it a lot of paper but you need whiteout or pencil if the bride messes up in their planning stages.
We use an award winning online planner it's great because everything is kept in once place. We then print one hard copy, if need be and send soft copies to co-vendors on wedding days. Our djs also get a soft copy on their smartphones thus saving all that paper. Even better though Mom in Kentucky, MOH in Orlando and Bride in Old Towne can all look at the same planner online during the planning stages.
This is Great for Green Weddings in DC and for just about anywhere. Just another way 1st DJs is Simple Affordable Fun
Baltimore DJ, Washington DC DJ, Alexandria DJ, Delaware DJ
Sunday, November 8, 2009
But I gave you a list of 100 songs why didn't anyone dance?
1st Djs does over 450 weddings every year here are some things we can definitely do
- We can make 200 people dance at a totally dry wedding where only ice tea and water are served, and we can keep the dancefloor going all night.
- We can make 200 people dance all night without ever hearing YMCA, Chicken Dance, Cha-Cha-Slide, Electric Slide and yes even the Cupid shuffle. Take away all the "cheesy " wedding songs and we can do it.
- We struggle though making them dance to a bunch of down tempo songs by The Muse, Neutral Milk Hotel and TV On The Radio.
Don't get me wrong if you went on my ipod right now you'd see everything TV On the Radio has ever done, I grew up with one of the guys, I even had the last Muse album and everything by Neutal Milk, but would I play them during "dancing time" at a wedding?
Chances are you're going to have a core group of friends that like the same artists as you but besides that youre going to actually have people who enjoy "poppier" music.
We will most certainly do what you want but be careful of what you ask for.
Think about it for a second, theres a good chance when you went to a tasting you never had, pecan crusted turkish talapia, but it was REALLY REALLY GOOD, and you put it on your menu, why because your caterer who caters 100s of weddings per year, suggested it, and it went over a lot better than.. Fish Sticks and Fries... right?
Think about trusting your wedding professionals.
- We can make 200 people dance at a totally dry wedding where only ice tea and water are served, and we can keep the dancefloor going all night.
- We can make 200 people dance all night without ever hearing YMCA, Chicken Dance, Cha-Cha-Slide, Electric Slide and yes even the Cupid shuffle. Take away all the "cheesy " wedding songs and we can do it.
- We struggle though making them dance to a bunch of down tempo songs by The Muse, Neutral Milk Hotel and TV On The Radio.
Don't get me wrong if you went on my ipod right now you'd see everything TV On the Radio has ever done, I grew up with one of the guys, I even had the last Muse album and everything by Neutal Milk, but would I play them during "dancing time" at a wedding?
Chances are you're going to have a core group of friends that like the same artists as you but besides that youre going to actually have people who enjoy "poppier" music.
We will most certainly do what you want but be careful of what you ask for.
Think about it for a second, theres a good chance when you went to a tasting you never had, pecan crusted turkish talapia, but it was REALLY REALLY GOOD, and you put it on your menu, why because your caterer who caters 100s of weddings per year, suggested it, and it went over a lot better than.. Fish Sticks and Fries... right?
Think about trusting your wedding professionals.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Timeline Tip
When should we do our 1st dances?
Well with 1st DJs it's entirely up to you. Based on own experience 1st Dances typically work better right after introductions for a couple of reasons
1. If the guests have been waiting a long time (45 minutes plus) for the bridal party to arrive from a post ceremony photo shoot they are ready to get on with the event, the grand introductions seem to signal the beginning to the rest of the wedding. Once the Bride and Groom are introduced they simply go right into their 1st dance and then if they'd like, father/daughter and mother/son or whatever variations of those dances that they have planned.
2. If either the bride or the groom are messy eaters you may want to get the 1st dances out of the way before enjoying that tomato basil sauce. You're paying big money for a photographer to capture your special day you don't want that special sauce on your beautiful white dress or tuxedo shirt.
3. A lot of brides and grooms are preferring to get all of the "formalities" out of the way quickly and then start to party.
4. If you didn't book your photographer for the duration of the event there is no telling what kind of scheduling fiasco can happen later in the evening. If the Bride and Groom took to long talking to Aunt Betty from Rhode Island they may have to pay the photographer an extra hour to capture those memorable moments
Of course there are benefits to having the 1st Dances after dinner. One of the big benefits is it can signal the beginning to the party. One scenario we really like is when we end the formalities with a mother/son dance and then invite all the mothers and fathers out at the end of the dance. That packs the floor in and the dj can easily pick one of your really danceable songs to start the flow of a great party.
Do you have advice on this topic email kip@1stdjs.com
We welcome interaction
visit us on twitter at http://www.twitter.cm/1stdjs
Well with 1st DJs it's entirely up to you. Based on own experience 1st Dances typically work better right after introductions for a couple of reasons
1. If the guests have been waiting a long time (45 minutes plus) for the bridal party to arrive from a post ceremony photo shoot they are ready to get on with the event, the grand introductions seem to signal the beginning to the rest of the wedding. Once the Bride and Groom are introduced they simply go right into their 1st dance and then if they'd like, father/daughter and mother/son or whatever variations of those dances that they have planned.
2. If either the bride or the groom are messy eaters you may want to get the 1st dances out of the way before enjoying that tomato basil sauce. You're paying big money for a photographer to capture your special day you don't want that special sauce on your beautiful white dress or tuxedo shirt.
3. A lot of brides and grooms are preferring to get all of the "formalities" out of the way quickly and then start to party.
4. If you didn't book your photographer for the duration of the event there is no telling what kind of scheduling fiasco can happen later in the evening. If the Bride and Groom took to long talking to Aunt Betty from Rhode Island they may have to pay the photographer an extra hour to capture those memorable moments
Of course there are benefits to having the 1st Dances after dinner. One of the big benefits is it can signal the beginning to the party. One scenario we really like is when we end the formalities with a mother/son dance and then invite all the mothers and fathers out at the end of the dance. That packs the floor in and the dj can easily pick one of your really danceable songs to start the flow of a great party.
Do you have advice on this topic email kip@1stdjs.com
We welcome interaction
visit us on twitter at http://www.twitter.cm/1stdjs
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