ALBANY NY WEDDING DJ WORKSHEET IS A MUST – TOP 4 REASONS
Whenever planning an big event with many people in charge of different aspects, you really should map everything out on paper so expectations are clearly understood. When hiring a wedding professional DJ, photographer, or caterer, always ask for their own custom worksheet. This will help, overall, in the communication department, and lead to the planning of your successful event.
Albany NY Skyline in yellow – DJ Kenny Casanova
Though there are many disc jockey and photographer planning forms out there on the internet, most wedding professionals provide their own custom document to help you prepared for wedding day activities and at the same time, get organized for themselves. Using a wedding professional’s own worksheet will help you better understand how they see a traditional wedding (and many non-traditional ones) will unfold. It also helps you communicate to the DJ what they need to know in a simple recognizable format, collecting everything onto a few familiar pages for the vendor.
Albany, NY Wedding DJ Kenny Casanova’s worksheet helps you get prepared for your wedding day activities. Our wedding DJ worksheet, as well as a photographer worksheet, will help you make sure that you do not forget anything on the hectic, special day when you get married. There are FOUR aspects that you will want to keep in mind when filling out your worksheet:
1) ATMOSPHERE – Some people want classy and elegant. Others are hoping to have an all out party celebration. Some people want somewhere in between. Checking off on the sheet and key songs/activities, plus the overall tone you are looking for will help us to better understand what you are looking for.
2) MUSIC PLAYLIST – Anything goes as far as options are concerned, so getting some ideas out onto paper will help customize the feel you are looking for. It is your special day so you decide how you want to plan the music for it. You can either create an involved hands-on playlist, or leave it up to us. While you do not need to write every song down that you would like to hear, writing down 10-20 might give the DJ a better idea of what you are looking for.
3) DO NOT PLAY LIST – Make sure to write down the songs you absolutely do not wish to hear, so that there are no surprises. We hate playing The Chicken Dance, for example, and would not play it, unless you asked. However, some DJ’s love it! If you didn’t put this song down on your plan sheet as a “DO NOT PLAY,” you may end up thinking your DJ clucked everything up, watching grandma flapping her wings. You can control this! 🙂
4) ACTIVITY OPTIONS – There are so many activities that you can engage in. Our worksheet has many of them listed and you can simply cross off or circle the ones you like.
If you would like to check out our latest worksheet draft, email me a request at ken@theDJservice.com and we will send it right over!
With so many old first dance songs out there, it is easy to grab up one people have heard before and seen used at a wedding somewhere. Therefore, if you really want to stand out, you really should consider it important to choose a first dance song that is both important and different.
I’m don’t know you’ve heard this one yet, but there’s a super new track option out there that you may want to look at. As a Wedding song option, and an alternative ceremony song, some people are starting to look at this new tune that is climbing the charts.
Runner Runner‘s new song, “I Can’t Hardly Wait,” is about a groom who is anxious to finally get married to his bride. The lead singer, Ryan Ogren, has explained in interviews and on stage before performing this song live that he wrote this song for his own fiancé, and their wedding.
Runner Runner, a punk band from California, is finding great success from this ballad, an unusually different sound for their norm. The band’s name originated from their love of poker. The card term ‘runner runner’ means to beat the odds and pull a winning hand in the very last possible moment.
My wife and I took a gamble and chose to wait and see what was out there before we selected this unfamiliar song for our first dance. We picked it only a week after it hit the charts. From the reaction, it looks like by holding out until the last possible minute, we too picked a winner.
Here are the lyrics for “I Can’t Wait” Lyrics, by Ryan Ogren
The way you curse while we are in traffic, A million flavors of your chapstick,
The way you keep my heart captive… The Journey concert in A.Z., Do you remember we sang faithfully?
I’ve still got that old hotel room key… This is the way I feel.
Cause I can’t wait for you, to be my wife, To live this life, together.
And I won’t let you go, I need you to know, that you are my heart, forever.
And on, and on, and on…
The way you like to sing my songs,
you always know when something’s wrong.
The way you say you miss me when I’m gone.
The things you do that show you care,
you are always down for truth or dare.
Freeze this moment, let me stop and stare.
Nothing before was real. This is the way I feel
And I can’t wait for you, to be my wife, to live this life together.
And I won’t let you go, I need you to know, that you are my heart, forever.
And on and on and on… And we’ll go on and on and on
For better or for worse, no matter how it hurts
You’ve got me to hold you hand.
I promise you the world, in your wedding dress
We’ll dance till no one’s left.
Don’t wanna blink my eyes. I Don’t wanna miss a thing
I can’t wait for you, to be my wife.
To live this life together.
And I won’t let you go, and I need you to know
That you are my heart, forever.
And on and on and on… And we’ll go on and on and on.
Petersburg Memorial Hall; a decent place for a wedding with a budget, about 30 minutes from Troy.
LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE WEDDING HALL IN YOUR AREA?
If you are looking for a nice event hall for a small-to-medium sized wedding that allows outside catering, you probably know that your choices are limited. Many places today, have in-house catering, as this is a big money maker for the venues.
If you live in the Troy area, or nearby, and are working with a budget as many of us are, Petersburg might work for you.
LOCATION – “Petersburg, NY? Where the heck is that?” It’s funny. I’ve been a disc jockey for a number of years now and never heard of Petersburg Memorial Hall before, either.
I live in Wynantskill, off of Pawling. This is between Troy and Albany and I asked the same question. After I initially talked with the bride and groom about providing music for their special day, I had to run a Google map search to familiarize myself with a town that was less than 25 minutes away from me. (In case you are like me and are wondering, Petersburg is the next town down Grafton State Park.)
The reception I DJ’ed for was at a cute little place called “Petersburg Memorial Hall,” located conveniently on 71 Main Street. The venue is located right before the Petersburg Town Library. The hall provides plenty of parking and does work out to be a great little place for a great little wedding to take place.
AFFORDABILITY – Someone looking for a smaller wedding with the potential to meet affordability restraints can benefit considering this venue. While many halls in and around the Capital District that house wedding receptions also provide their own dinning packages, at the Memorial Hall, this is not the case. Here, you can book any catering service that you like and also make provisions to set up your own bar. This means an incredible amount of savings, as these two expenses are quite often the largest for any wedding.
SPECIFICS – The Memorial Hall can seat 80-100 people fairly comfortably. It has two side access doors to allow easy access for vendors and also any decorating purposes you may have. It has plenty of chairs and tables and a decent linen selection resource, along with seat covers. The hall also has very high ceilings and also a great little stage with draw curtains that could easily be used for your DJ or even a small live band.
There are a few little facility points to note. There is a decent kitchen, but it is not very large. It is probably, however, suitable for your outside caterer to make due with for what the hall can comfortably occupy. Also, it is import to note that there is only one shared bathroom. It is, however, handicap accessible, I believe.
On a technology note, the town of Petersburg is out in a rural area. It does not provide any Sprint cell phone coverage, but it does have Verizon cell phone coverage. Internet access is also provided to the hall through a wi-fi hub in the town library, nearby.
I would give it a three out of four stars for a good affordable wedding venue/hall option.
In planning your wedding, you’ll find yourself describing what you want to a lot of people (the wedding planner, the florist, the venue, your friends, your Mom, etc.) Sometimes people just can’t see it. They might go in a direction you weren’t expecting because they thought that’s what you wanted.
One neat tool to be able to explore the possibilities, and then make a visual representation of what you want the overall wedding theme to be ispolyvore.
This online tool is is a great resource to help you get your ideas out to wedding vendors and people helping you plan your special day.
Polyvore lets you make a collage of products and images. It is most often used for fashion collages, but wedding collages are popular as well. On polyvore, you can set up the ideal feel of the wedding. You don’t have to put in the exact items you have or will purchase. Set your budget aside, and create the dream wedding on polyvore. Then look to reproduce that look and feel for your own event.
Over the weekend, I had the pleasure of working with the good people at The Inn at Saratoga, right off of Broadway Street.
The Inn is a nice little place and I thought I would chime in about it for those of you who may be planning a small wedding celebration soon in the Saratoga area.
While a huge guest list event probably won’t work well there, if you are planning a laid back smaller wedding of 80-90 people or less in this area, The Inn at Saratoga m
ight be right for you. Their accommodations were comfortable for about this many friends and family, in my estimation.
Tent Ceremony in Courtyard
CEREMONY – The Inn at Saratoga has a nice little courtyard with a tent, suitable for smaller outdoor weddings safe from the elements. (On this past Saturday in particular, the tent turned out to be a useful option for the bride and groom, due to the drizzle and wind.)
COCKTAIL HOUR – This faciltiy also has an inside dining hall with an outside porch leading into it from the bricked courtyard. Both the porch and the inside area have bars and room for cocktail hour goodies and snacks, however, my estimation is that the outside bar on the porch by the tent would be the best bet, when weather allows. Outside there is more room for cocktails and appetizers. The inside bar option feels more like a hallway between the restaurant and the wedding dinning hall.
The Inn also has a complete public bar in the front, to compliment its actual restaurant. The public bar serves for a great hiding place for the bride and groom before their grand introduction into the dining hall, while the people are seated and waiting.
Banquet Hall
THE BANQUET HALL – The dinning hall, again, is a venue not made for guest lists of 100 +, however, it is a comfy and fun place at around 80 people or less. There is a small dance floor and enough space to fit eight people comfortably at about ten round tables. They have a little fireplace, as well as a huge victorian-like decorative mirror by the doors that lead to the courtyard.
FOOD – I had the prime rib. It was a pretty tasty hunk ‘o beef, garnished with wild rice and a mixed veggie blend of peppers, green beans, and broccoli. (A little over-cooked for me personally, perhaps, but then again, I like my cow still mooing and running.)
PARKING – Is a little cramped there, as it is many places on Broadway in Saratoga. The Inn makes up for it, however, in that they do provide a free valet service that parks your care and retrieves it upon exit.
HOTEL ROOMS – It also helps that it is an actual functioning Inn and that guests can stay right there, if you they choose to do so. The hotel is located in a very convenient place, right near the nightlife of the city. Nearby is Canfield Casino and Congress Park and the hotel provides free wireless Internet to everyone. Being the DJ for the event, I had no problem downloading an oddball music request. (It’s great when you don’t need a wifi password.)
All in all, this hall is not a bad option if you are looking for 8o-90 people as your guests, at most.
WEDDING THEME IDEAS – A list of different themes to pick from to liven your wedding or event
As a wedding DJ, I have seen a lot of traditional weddings. I have noticed, however, that something makes it hard for me to remember which wedding was which. If you have attended a lot of weddings yourself, did you ever notice that later on they all seem to blend together in your memory?
DARE TO BE DIFFERENT- If you really want your special day to be different and memorable, you have to take a risk and break the norm. Think about it, the traditional wedding with tuxedos and the big white dress and the huge cake is a theme now, in itself. But everyone does the traditional wedding thing, or at least some elements of it. So, do you want to stand out and have your wedding really be remembered? Do you dare to be different? There are many many ways to make your wedding stand out and be different from the rest. One sure way to do that is to add a fun theme to your special day.
PICK A THEME AND CREATE A REAL MEMORY!
KEEPING THE CLASS – Don’t get me wrong. You can keep traditions, but tradition doesn’t have to happen to the point of nausea, anymore. Keep the ceremony sacred, keep the white dress, and keep whatever you want from the traditional guidelines. But remember, guidelines are just that… GUIDELINES. When you add a theme to your wedding, the whole game changes, but you can still make it fancy and elegant, and not just a theme party.
When I got married, my wife kept the white dress so it still felt like a wedding, but the groomsmen rented high-end pirate costumes, rather than tuxes. Since it was a pirate theme, we chose to go for the movie prop look, rather than the easy cartoon-like party decorations that you could get just anywhere. That way, the pirate feel was authentic and not just a silly halloween party.
LIST OF WEDDING / PARTY THEME OPTIONS WITH “HOW-TO” HYPERLINKS FOR MORE INFO:
(A few wedding theme options on the above list are hyperlinks. For more wedding theme ideas, check out our other blogs at www.thedjservice.com/blog )
A Star Wars Wedding is just one of the many themes you could pick!
THEMES REALLY CREATE PARTICIPATION – Adding a fun theme where people actually dress the role or can participate in some fun and different way, makes everyone feel connected. Everything is united under one common idea. This idea fosters creativity and participation at the sime time. People come together and want to help you plan and even decorate. And brides, I have even noticed that when an interesting theme has been added, creative grooms buy into the planning even more. (See my not-yet written future blog here: My Pirate Wedding)
We have become one of the area’s number one choices for theme weddings when selecting a disc jockey. With my past experience in the entertainment field, as well as being a fiction writer, it only makes sense that my creative side does well with theme weddings as a DJ.
