Planning Tools for your Wedding

As you can understand, there is a ton of information that must be exchanged in order for me to perform as your wedding emcee/DJ. If you were to sit down now and try to answer all of the questions I have, you would quickly feel overwhelmed and realize just how many things you have yet to think about, let alone be able to make thoughtful decisions.

After taking a leading role in planning hundreds of wedding receptions, I have devised a series of worksheets and questionnaires designed to address nearly every area of your wedding day where you may want to involve my services. My forms allow you to begin the important decision-making process from the comfort of your own sofa, working at your own pace to methodically tackle, in order, each part of your wedding day that could benefit from the services I offer. These completed forms do not plan your wedding--they simply get the discussion going by organizing all of the information I'll need to begin to carefully plan my contribution to your wedding.

Just as you have begun planning your wedding well in advance, I'd like to do the same. Once you have marked my forms complete, I will begin to work with them to develop an idea of how you'd like your wedding day to go. How early you allow me to prepare is based on how early you complete your forms. This is how I learn your expectations of me, and how I can work to meet and exceed those expectations. At the absolute latest, the forms must be returned to me no later than 4 weeks before your wedding. 

In terms of music selection, the forms only ask you to specify the most important song choices you'll make (first dance, etc.). The role you play in choosing your music may range from very little involvement to heavily involved. If you wish to specify a lot of music, you should do so long before the 4 week deadline I impose for the written forms. As a DJ wrangling the music becomes a sizable task. Acquiring new tracks is easy, but becoming familiar with them is extremely important and time-consuming. Plus, in the 4 week lead up to your wedding, I'll be putting the finishing touched on another 3!

The planning process is anything but easy, and this is where I earn my money. I spend most of my time returning emails, answering questions and offering advice. When I do this for you, you'll feel at ease knowing your wedding day is in good hands. Undoubtedly, you're excited to get an idea of what the forms are like. The most involved form is the Wedding Reception Questionnaire. I also offer a Ceremony Music Worksheet, and my Ceremony Rehearsal Worksheet which you will find helpful when it comes time to think about your ceremony.

YOUR CLIENT PORTAL

All song lists, planning forms, worksheets and questionnaires are made available to you in your dedicated client portal. This is set up for you once you're officially booked. Prior to that, during the interview stage, you're provided abridged versions of these documents that allow you to get a full picture of what it will be like to have me work for you.

SAMPLE SONG LIST

Getting your crowd of people to dance and have a good time will be easy--that's what I do for a living after all--and I do it every weekend all year long. Your time is valuable, and I'll never require you to specify what I should play. Although I would appreciate it greatly if you would take a bit of time to check out a sample song list I provide. Not only can you use this list as way to check out my DJ style before you decide if you'd like to hire me, it also serves as a worksheet of sorts and just one tool I use to learn what your personal taste in music is. I view you and your partner as my bosses, and want to know that you loved the party--after all it's your wedding.

WEDDING RECEPTION QUESTIONNAIRE

This questionnaire is the main way I begin to learn what your event will be like. Using your responses I will formulate an Order of Events for your reception. You will have a chance to review, modify, and approve it before your wedding day. You will get to review this questionnaire as a part of my ususal booking process. While sooner is better, this questionnaire is due back no later than 4 weeks before your wedding day.

CEREMONY REHEARSAL WORKSHEET

When possible I will attend your ceremony rehearsal at no additional cost to you. Excessive travel and the need to perform at another event that day are the two reasons I may not attend your rehearsal. Whether I attend your rehearsal or not, if I am providing music or microphones for your ceremony you will receive my Ceremony Rehearsal Worksheet to be filled out and returned along with your other paperwork.

CEREMONY MUSIC WORKSHEET

Many years ago, when I was first asked to provide music for someone's wedding ceremony, I was not prepared to offer suggestions as to what music would work. Even now after having years of experience doing it, when asked for suggestions I still hesitate to suggest what would be "perfect." That's because just like every other part of your wedding planning, the music you'll include during your ceremony is a personal choice, and one that usually represents a compromise between what you want and what your partner wants (or between what you both want and what you "think" you should be picking).

In order to share with you what I've learned about selecting music for your wedding ceremony I have put together my Ceremony Music Worksheet. This describes the various parts of a wedding ceremony and the ways you can include music at different times. The dynamic version of the form you'll work with is a digital one, stored in your client portal. It comes complete with embedded music players that allow you to preview the music I suggest for each part as you work through it. Of course, I have A LOT more music to choose from for your ceremony; this is just a way to begin to learn what sound you are going for. You are also free to specify music choices from anywhere you like and are not limited to the music in my collection. Use this link to hear some samples of this and similar music and to learn more about selecting music for your ceremony.