How to Make Your Wedding a Party: 10 Tips From James Veal
Premier Disco are wedding professionals, and after years performing at weddings throughout the country every single week of every year, we know exactly what it takes to make your wedding a party your guests still talk about. We see what works and what doesn’t, and we’re there to make every party special by keeping the dance floor full. Your wedding day is special to you and it should be as you wish. We trust you wish it to be a day for everyone attending to remember fondly.
To help us out, you will find below a list of 10 things you really should know.
1. Give us your music request list.
Requests definitely make our job easier. We are well able to provide your soundtrack for your wedding day without any help but your list will let us know what you would like to hear. We limit the number of requests you make so we can use our experience, after all that is what you are paying for, to add variety.
By playing the right songs your party will be great but give us the flexibility to use your list to build the night and your night will be even better. Contrary to popular belief, we do actually structure your night to have a flow of music to best keep the dance floor full for the whole night.
We have many years of experience judging how a night will flow, so a scripted list of music to play at set times does not work in the flow — see The Wedding Secret’s step-by-step wedding music guide for a good overview of how the day’s music typically builds. Let us know what you would like and let us best decide when to play it.
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2. Don’t ask your guests for suggestions on your invitations.
We try to discourage our brides and grooms from asking guests for a music track they would like to hear when they send out the invitations. Guests will ask for all sorts: songs as a joke, tracks that just won’t fit your reception, or the occasional inappropriate suggestion.
As part of our service, your guests can ask for up to 5 songs each. On your planner site there is a link and password details you can send to some of your guests. We keep their requests separate from yours so we know exactly what you would like. This gives us a big list of music, but we also check it over properly to make sure anything we play is appropriate. Guest requests come second to yours, but we give them proper consideration. We don’t guarantee that every submitted request gets played.
3. Encourage your venue to have the bar and seating in the same room as the dance floor.
Our experience of venues where the bar and seating are in a separate room from the dance floor is that guests will go to the bar or for a seat and often not come back for a considerable time. It is more difficult for them to hear the music, so they are less likely to dance. The distance detaches them from the positive energy the DJ is generating, and nothing he does can inspire them to return to the dance floor.
A certain way to kill the party is to separate your guests from the entertainment.
4. Don’t stop the flow
Your DJ will have a plan for the development and structure of your night. This is very fluid and he can change his mind many times a minute. Be positive, make sure your formalities are over before your DJ begins his part of the night.
Asking to stop the music in the middle of a set so someone can make a speech or take a photo will immediately kill any energy already built up. It is then far more difficult for the DJ to get the audience motivated or back to the same level of energy before the interruption.
Don’t stop the DJ to let a guest sing, if you want a singer then let the DJ know at the start. Give him all the information about music and times so he can plan.
5. Consider your guests when allocating seating
Don’t put very young or older people in front of the speakers. Reserve these areas for your younger, party going or clubbing guests.
Don’t sit older people directly opposite the DJ.
Young and old do not like the music too loud or lights shining in their eyes. Position them appropriately at the sides of the room or as far away as possible.
The loudest area is right in front of the speakers, plan ahead so everyone can enjoy the night.
6. Wedding games?
We all want a busy dance floor. Having games in other parts of the room will detract from the dancing. Dancers are like magnets, the more dancers you have, the more people will want to dance. If your guests are busy playing casino at the other side of the room, nobody will want to dance.
If you have games, put them early in your night and well out of the way once the party gets started.
7. The Bride and Groom MUST dance!
Every last guest is there because you invited them. They are there to party. As the bride and groom you are the centre of attention. If you are on the dance floor then your guest will join you. If you are outside or at the bar then that is where your guests will also be.
8. Time for Dancing.
This is your day. This is the best day of your life up to this point. There are certain formalities and technicalities that need to take place so do your best to have them done properly and in good time.
There are many events on the day which can easily run over time. The photos, the speeches, the meal, the venue change over. Try to make sure everything happens when it is meant to.
Your DJ will have to set up equipment before your reception. This takes time, usually up to one hour, and no amount of pressure to speed it up because ‘the breakfast was late’ can make it happen any faster. Getting the timings right is one of the simplest ways to make your wedding a party rather than just an event running to a schedule.
Maybe this can be done before your wedding breakfast or maybe your DJ will provide a full day service. In these cases this is not a problem. If your wedding is due to start at 730pm but doesn’t start until 9pm, your evening party will be a lot shorter.
You will be glad you made sure everything runs as planned, maybe get your Best Man to take the responsibility of keeping to time, or as close as.
9. Plan in advance.
Your online planning page is a fantastic resource for providing information about timings, music and much more. Please make sure you use it to your advantage.
So we can get everything planned, or even rehearsed, your access to the planner closes 7 days before your wedding. Please do not ask for changes after this time.
Your DJ will be co-coordinating with venue staff, caterers, photographers and any other suppliers you have on your day. Any single, seemingly simple change can create confusion and miscommunication, a recipe for disaster.
Keep it simple, keep it planned, keep it right.
10. ENJOY YOURSELF
Simple as that, enjoy!
Ready to make your wedding a party your guests won’t stop talking about? Explore our full range of wedding entertainment.
