7 Questions You Need Answered Before Hiring a Wedding DJ

Your wedding day is fast approaching. Even if it's a year from now or later it comes faster than you realize.

It is also one of the most important and memorable days of your life.

As you lay out the plans for your wedding such as guests list, catering, photographers, floral arrangements, venue, etc., don't forget how the much the music is part of your wedding.

Generally, there are 2 musical types of weddings:

1) Live Music


a) bands (all types of genres)


b) ensembles such as duos trios, quartets, etc


c) solo musicians


2) DJs


We are only going to focus on DJs for this article.

Remember, this is YOUR wedding!! The type of DJ you choose should reflect first of all your individual musical tastes, but don't forget the guests. Your guests interests are important as well, especially if you want a "hopping" event

Let's get to the nuts and bolts!

1.) What type of DJ to choose?

For most weddings, we divide DJs into 2 types: Generalists and Specialists.

* Generalists

These DJs play a wide variety of music, ranging from classical to country to hip hop. They should be able to provide you enough music when you have guests with wide age ranges.

The danger here is a group may decide it's time to leave when certain genre is played too long. So may sure your DJ mixes it up.

* Specialists

Plays one or two types of music. They should have very deep knowledge of the genre of music you require.

2) What kind of personality you want in a DJ?

DJs come in varying forms of personalities.

Do you wish to have an outgoing DJ who can:

* emcee (mc) your event

* get the guest dancing

* interact and instruct the guests on dance routines on many of the line dances

-or-

* just play music from a list you prepared and provide a more laid back atmosphere

3) How much do you want to spend?

A side note: As the economy slows more weddings are having the DJ provide music for the ceremony as well as reception.

The price for a DJ varies upon the geographical area where you are having the event.

Other factors to consider are:

* Do they charge for consultation

* Do you want them become wedding planners

* What other services do they provide for an additional fee:

- karaoke

- lighting

- special effects such as fog machines

Caveat: If you intend to go the cheaper route, meaning well below market price, you may risk the danger of cancellation where DJ finds a higher paying gig.

4) What references to request?

There lots of reference sources. Most experienced DJs will have references from numerous people, such as:

* wedding brides and grooms

* wedding planners

* agencies

* other wedding professionals such as florists, caterers, photographers

Make sure they are not from what may appear to be mostly friends and relatives.

5) What samples are valid?

There have been DJs who have sent audio of their studio work. Others have sent club audio/video. Neither will suffice for a wedding.

The best samples are those which have the DJ in action and also show the satisfaction of the guests, bride and groom.

Sometimes the best DJ is one where you have seen his or her performance at another wedding.

6) Does the DJ have a feel for what you want?

Can he provide the goods you feel is necessary for a successful event? Does he offer constructive input?

By this time, you should have a feel for what type of wedding you are going to have. Is this DJ a match for your wedding?

7) Should You Meet the DJ in person?

If possible, yes. This is where you get a feel for his organization skills, mannerisms, and people skills.

It could be the DJ is too hyper or too laid back for your type of wedding. An over the top DJ is just as bad as a dull DJ.

There are many other factors such as licensing, insurance, contracts, etc to understand. If you are able to answer the above questions to your satisfaction, then you are on your way to a successful wedding.

Why Hire A Costumed Character

Over the past couple of years, the look-a-like costumes of your child's favorite character have become the hottest birthday party entertainment.

The popular look-a-likes of Dora, Elmo, Diego, Backyardigans, Spongebob, etc. have captured a large portion of the parties. That is why in every major city you see a growth in the number of performers carrying the costumes. In most cases, the demand for the costumes out-weigh the supply.

Why is this such a phenomena?

My guess is with the growth of all the accessories involving the purchase of everything from pillows to key chains, this was the next logical step. You can already find the plates, napkins, cups, tablecloths of your child's favorite character at your local party store.

Also, this is a little kid's driven industry. The average range of 2-5 years is the majority of kids at most costumed character parties.

While clowns and magicians still make up a large part of the party entertainment, their numbers have dwindle a bit for the little kids party scene. Clowns sometimes are very scary to young kids even adults. Most magic shows unless it's silly magic, tend to hold the attention of kids older than five.

Let's understand that a 6 foot big-headed character walking through your door with loud music can be very frightening as well. Usually kids 3 years old or less have this issue. The 4 and 5 year old kids tend to have requested the characters who perform at their parties.

The programs offered usually come in varying forms, but these are the two most popular:

1) A clown or "party leader/helper" starts off with some face painting or balloon twisting. Usually, after 30-40 minutes, the party leader leaves, comes back in the costume to theme music and performs a meet & greet, dancing, plays games, poses for photos.

-or-

2) Party leader and character are 2 separate performers and they do a combination of meet & greet, dancing/singing to theme music, games, posing for photos, and possibly slicing the cake.

Under both scenarios, most parties are usually one hour.

Usually, the characters do not speak, especially they are accompanied by a party leader.

There is an an exception to this rule, most superhero character impersonators of Spiderman, Batman, Darth Vader, Power Rangers, etc. speak and sometimes perform activities such as magic, balloon twisting, karate demos, and much more. The upper age range for these parties average around 8 or 9 years old.

Prices for this type of entertainment vary from $75 to $300 or more per hour.

The question I usually receive is, "Why can't I find the characters in my city?". The reason is the above mentioned characters and most of the costumed performers you see on television are copyrighted characters. There are various copyright infringement laws protect the rights of the license holder.

Most characters for birthday parties are look-a-likes or impersonators of the characters you see on tv.

The performers can be seen at birthday parties in gyms, homes, recreation centers, party rooms, outdoor parks, etc. Just about anywhere you can have a party. They are now more prevalent at grand openies, open houses, and festival and fairs.

In some cases, finding these performers takes much effort and determination.

You may need contact a company with a huge database of performers in your area and nationally.

How To Increase Traffic To Your Trade Show Booth

Whether you promote or sell a product or service, your trade show objective is to drive a many potential customers to your booth as possible.



The old sales adage, "see more people" also holds true for trade shows.



Here are 5 tips to increase the amount of traffic.



1) Tell existing clients about the event.

You can do this by mailers, telephone, or better yet, email.



Why existing clients? Well, they have already purchased your product and you can tell about upgrades or newer products you may have on display.



Moreover, think of the testimonial opportunity when you have a client at your booth telling your prospects how great your product is and how it helped them solve their problem.



2) Have a positive attitude.
No matter what's happening that day with your business, keep your attitude upbeat. It never hurts to have a smile on your face when greeting prospects.



3) Serve a freshly baked or cooked snack.

Here's where you say, "He has lost his mind". But seriously, studies show people purchase more when hungry. Plus a snack keeps them at your booth longer and gives you a chance to pitch your product or service.



Snacks such as freshly baked cookies in a convection oven or freshly popped corn will suffice. Make sure the venue allows you do this; otherwise, consider pre-packaged snacks.



Place them out one hour before lunch or dinner.



4) Provide Entertainment

A variety entertainer such as a magician, caricaturist, or perhaps a juggler may keep your visitors longer around your booth.



If you hire a caricaturist, there are usually prospects hanging around your booth waiting their turn or admiring the artist's work.



Either way, increased traffic is good thing.



Magicians doing close-up magic may wow your visitors and keep them around longer than usual. Another opportunity to spring into action.



You can also have a contest to guess how the magician pulled off his trick. Have all the participants place their name, email address, phone number, etc into a fishbowl. The winner will receive a prize related to your product or service.


The key here is to make the prize useful or something of value. Cheap trinkets will drive away traffic just as quickly as you gained it.




5) Provide Giveaways.

Since this article is on attracting traffic, I would suggest you market your giveaways in all pre-show literature. The giveaways must be added incentive for your prospect to visit your booth.

Make sure it's easily noticeable to the visitors.

There are many other methods of driving traffic to your booth, but these have been used effectively by many organizations over the years.