THE DJ GUIDE
Hi, I’m Joe Terrell - your DJ. I am so excited to DJ your wedding! A wedding DJ is much more than a breathing iPod. It’s my job to also control the flow of the evening by emceeing the reception - making sure the evening stays on schedule and letting the guests know what events are coming up next. Equally as important, I keep wedding guests entertained - encouraging them to get onto the dance floor, crafting a fun vibe, and switching musical genres when necessary. And of course, if the venue allows it, we will make it rain bubbles and confetti. I am like a human pandora, and I play the music that fits into your vibe, but will also be good for multi-generational crowds. We will go over all that during our music consultation.
The hour-long consultation session is when we’ll shape your reception dreams into reality. We provide a music template, and I will go over all those details from the template on the phone with you. We will go through each section of your wedding, I’ll share advice and suggestions, you can ask as many questions as you want, and then the completed music template will need to be returned to us seven days before your wedding day. As I mentioned, I am a human pandora, so this music template is how we will craft an incredible musical soundtrack for your wedding day.
We’ve DJed hundreds of weddings and events, and the expertise we bring to the DJ booth means you won’t have to worry about faulty equipments, awkward silences, or inappropriate song cues. With lasers, fog, confetti cannons, glow sticks, and stellar remixes, we’ll ensure you wedding will be an experience your guests will never forget.
THE TIMELINE
6 months before wedding // Start thinking of songs like first dances, walking down aisle, etc.
5 months before wedding // Reach out to us if you have any timeline questions for the reception.
3 months before wedding // Secure your reception layout. Keep reading to see our DJ suggestions.
6 weeks before wedding // You will be emailed about setting up your DJ consultation along with the Music Template Sheet and Song Suggestion List
4 weeks before wedding // DJ Consultation
7 days before wedding // Your completed Music Template will need to be returned to us for preparation.
2 days before wedding // Last chance to make any changes on the music template.
WEDDING DAY — LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
WEDDING DJ TIPS
A DJ can make or break your reception. As your DJ, I'll call events throughout the evening to keep the timeline intentional with your guests. Guests are more likely to stay for the exit when they know when the events are and the exit time.
Put the DJ booth on the dance floor (or as close to the dance floor as possible) for the best dance floor experience. If there are tables between my booth and the dance floor, the people sitting at those tables will not enjoy their evening as the music will be too loud and distance makes it difficult for me to engage with guests.
The bride and groom set the mood for the reception! If you want a party, be prepared to get out there on the dance floor to sing and dance! Your bridal party should be prepared to to get the party started too!
Another way to maximize the photos and reception fun is to divide up the dancing portions of the night with cake cutting, the Shoe Game, and the bouquet/garter toss.
You will not get an inappropriate song, awkward jokes, or equipment failure from us. My music selections will are edited unless the bride and groom request the explicit version. With this in mind, we tend to play classic songs (70s/80s/90s) first that all generations will enjoy, and then we move to more current hits as the night goes on.
IDEAL RECEPTION LAYOUTS
The images below are mere examples of how we believe your wedding could be laid out to maximize the door floor potential, as well as serving the needs of reception food, dessert, and general conversation.
IDEAS FOR WEDDING ENHANCEMENTS
We wanted to share a list of items that could enhance your grant entrance, reception, and grand exit, and these are not included in your booked services. Simply put, we want you to have a great experience and these are some ideas for your wedding. Some of these ideas and items will not be permitted at your venue, or they might ask for modifications.
I have more specific tips with some of these items below to make your reception experience incredible!
For example, venues might not allow confetti, but they will allow flower petals to be thrown in the air instead. Many venues don’t allow sparklers anymore, but the silver streamer poppers are a mess free alternative.
We only provide glow sticks and laser lights, and venue permitting - confetti!
We do not provide anything additional to what is listed in your quote and contract.
The list below are our suggestions for you, and we hope you find something that fits your vision.
DANCEFLOOR
GRAND EXIT (or entrance?!)
Confetti Wands
(we saw the confetti wands used by guests for the first kiss during a ceremony - it was amazing!)
You can view almost all these items on my Wedding Reception Amazon list I made below,
or you can try finding these on Etsy, Save-on-Crafts, etc.
STREAMERS FOR THE WIN
Something we have seen and photographed recently are silver metallic popper streamers that are attached to the popper. This makes cleanup really easy, because all you have to do is grab the streamers and pull them back to you when you’re done. Our tip (from experience) is making sure to pop the popper pretty high (“Up, not out!”) so that the streamers fall on the couple!
TIP: If your venue does not allow confetti cannons, this is an excellent option on the dance floor to have that epic look without any mess! Most venues don’t allow confetti because of the mess it creates, so this is an amazing option to celebrate without any mess on the ground - imagine your friends and family circled around you on the dance floor and then they pop these streamers as the beat drops!
If your venue is still on the fence, feel free to share this photo with them as proof, or even the link so they can read about these streamers! (https://amzn.to/33gjVoT)
TIPS FOR BUBBLES
If you are going to use bubbles for any portion of your wedding, please please please buy “bubble guns.”
We understand that bubbles are extremely affordable in those cute tiny bottles, but when there are bubble exits and all your guests are blowing bubbles, guess what they aren’t doing - cheering! It is silent as the couple celebrates their marriage and their guests are trying to blow bubbles. There will be music of course that I will play, but all you will hear is the music and Shannon/your photographer cheering behind the camera.
We would recommend buying bubble guns instead, so that your guests can simply hold the trigger and still cheer you on! Our tip would be to have maybe 12-15 bubble guns placed at different points along your ‘exit aisle’ so there will always be wedding in the foreground and background. All the other guests can either, move their glow sticks or light batons around, throw flower petals, etc. You can have more than one items for your exit!
LAST CALL FOR HELPFUL TIPS
Hire a professional day - of - coordinator! That is the best advice I can give anyone! Your wedding day will be so much more relaxing and stress-free, and it is better for all of the vendors who are working at your wedding. You will not regret the investment!
Day - of - coordinators will do everything from rehearsal dinner planning, vendor management, decor set-up, cake cutting, dress fanning, bridal party and family portrait organizing, and so much more. They are the glue to every wedding.
If there's no coordinator to bring your wedding day vision to life, that responsibility of organizing everything will fall upon either a parent (who would rather enjoy your wedding too) or one of the vendors who already has their own job to do, like the photographer or DJ.
I 'd also not recommend asking a relative to coordinate, because there is little/no experience or understanding of the flow of the day, ceremony situations, potential problems and solutions to them, etc.
If you have questions on this, I would love to explain more of the benefits. If you need recommendations for coordinators, I have coordinators that can fit every budget.
THANK YOU!
If you have any questions about DJing, ceremony and reception advice, or anything else, just send us an email.
centurytreeco@gmail.com
We can't wait to party with you!
