Karaoke at your wedding can be fun, but it can also be dangerous! As some of you true-believer people may recall, Spiderman once said, “with great power comes resposibility.” If you are considering adding a little karaoke to your wedding for a fun activity, realize that you really should also set some guidelines so things don’t get out of hand.
Voice is power. Handing a microphone over at your wedding to anyone is giving someone the power on your special day. If you lose power at your own wedding, it may not turn out in the end exactly as you had planned.
Therefore, with that being said and not trying to come off as a total buzzkill, know that you can have karaoke at your wedding, but it really works best when you spoon-feed the audience only in little bits. If you are going the karaoke route for your wedding, just keep in mind that you need to control it, and just do a little bit here and there, or it could spin out of hand and become, “Uncle Jimmy’s Drunken Karaoke Concert,” rather than what you had dreamed of for your wedding night.
To avoid giving away your entire wedding reception to karaoke-hungry mic-hogging people who want to sing “Love Shack” and “Paradise By The Dashboard Light,” create a few simple rules that you can live by and everything should be alright.
I dj’ed a karaoke marathon wedding once at The Franklin Terrace in Troy, NY, and also went to one in Albany at The Elks that had a few karaoke mishaps because the bride said, “anything goes.” Since then, I make sure to mention the following guidelines to anyone I hear is thinking about having karaoke at their wedding.
1) SET A TIME LIMIT – Let the DJ know you only want karaoke at the very end, maybe the last hour perhaps, so that it doesn’t scare away guests who do not like it, and it doesn’t overpower the whole night.
2) ONE SONG ONLY – If you have a load of people who want to sing but only limited time, you can control the onslaught of karaoke requests from taking over the whole night, maybe by making a “fairness rule” that a person can only sing once.
3) NO DIRTY SONGS – A wedding typically has people of all moral walks in attendence. Therefore, don’t allow your DJ to accept songs with suggestive lyrics, and you won’t upset certain other people at your party. Grandma my not want to hear, “Shake That @$$!”
4) THE BANNING OF CERTAIN GUESTS – This idea would be good, but it usually doesn’t work without hurting someone’s feelings, and the last thing you want to do is to offend a person who may have a few drinks in them. If you really don’t want certain people to sing, you may not want to do karaoke at your wedding. It is very difficult and seemingly unfair to turn someone down who would like to join in on the fun.
5) FLIP THE KILL SWTCH – If it is starting to suck, end it right away. Limit young children who can’t read fast enough, or drunk people who drone on out of tune by having the DJ switch right back to dancing at the end of a terrible vomit-inducing track. This will keep the guests around who put in earplugs.
Stay strong, home boy. Following a few simple rules like these could allow for just enough karaoke flavor to your wedding to actually add something to your special night, rather than to take away from it. Good luck!!!
Always your wedding around a chance of rain!Avoid Wedding Disasters Top 10 List
There are many little things that can throw your wedding off and perhaps classify it under a “Wedding Disaster” category. However, a number of these things can be avoided with no cost at all to the bride and groom. Here is a list of things to remember when you are planning your wedding, to avoid your own wedding disaster.
1) Avoid placing your wedding date on a holiday – selecting a holiday or special day for your wedding date creates a built in competition quandary for many guests. When brides and grooms choose these type of dates, they often find from their attendance that their top priority, their wedding, is not also everyone’s #1 priority, at the same time. Making your guest choose between your special day and their special traditions does not always work out in your favor.
2) Give plenty of time for the invitation – Some people see that up to 6 months before the event is a good heads up time to RSVP. Others say even more time is essential to the success of your guest list attendance.
3) Don’t force your lifestyle on your guests – If you are vegetarian or vegan, it may not be a good idea to only offer these dishes at your wedding. A good host tries to accomodate their guests desires in order to make them happy, not force something on them. This goes for food as well as music selection.
4) Try and always plan for Saturday Night Weddings – Fridays people sometimes have to work and Sundays people have no day to recover/travel.
5) Keep the invite list numbers as low as possible – Don’t invite just anyone. Your biggest expense is usually your venue/catering. Keeping your numbers down can save hundreds of dollars with only a handful of guests.
6) Seat older people away from the DJ – Even if Grandma has a hearing aid and can’t hear well, she sure will hear the DJ if she is placed right by the speakers. She will also want the music turned down to practically nothing.
7) Have Back Up Plan for outside weddings – whether it is the ceremony or the reception, have a back up plan in case it rains.
8 ) Be careful of allowing your photographer to overshoot – While you may like many photos as possible, shooting too many is pointless and will only make you miss your reception. Signs of Overshooting could include running longer than 45 minutes during cocktail hour, or being pulled out during the dance time of your reception.
9) Create a “Do Not Playlist” for your DJ – This will ensure there are no surprises.
10) Do “The Cake Cutting” as late as possible – While the hall may push for the cake cutting immediately after dinner, remember, many people leave right after the cake. The cake cutting also can slow down the flow, when you are trying to get people to dance.
Many couples spend big bucks on decorations and flowers for their wedding and it is always the attitude that letting it all go waste would be a shame. My guess is that the bride and groom certainly do not want to take home a dozen huge floral arrangements that will only just be dead by the time they get back from their honeymoon.
Therefore, because you asked for it, we have decided to add the wedding centerpiece to our popular “TOP TEN LIST” articles. Here at TheDJservice.com, we have painstakingly put together our favorite centerpiece giveaway ideas that that will keep the guests happy after the last song.
1) FIND THE PENNY
Ask someone to hide a penny either under a plate or coffee mug at the table, or underneath one actual chair at each table. The person who finds the lucky penny gets to take hope the centerpiece. You can switch the penny up, if you like, to maybe a poker chip or something else that may go along with the theme of your wedding.
2) DONATION
Want to save some money? Those centerpieces became a tax deductible write off! If you are not all about the cash, it is also nice to know that you could be brightening the day of some people at an elderly home, or hospital, perhaps.
3) REWARD THE FIRST RSVPS
With this centerpiece giveaway, you reward your most prompt RSVP responders. As your RSVPs come in, simply keep track of the order. Then when you make your seating charts, you can put a sticker inside the place card of the people who sent in their RSVPs first., or just have the DJ read a list.
4) FIGHT CLUB
If you don’t want to really bother figuring out how give away your centerpieces, you can always have the DJ announce it is a free-for-all, at the end of the night. Then let your family and friends engage in a brawl.
5) ON THE DOWN LOW
If you want to play favorites, then this is the option for you. When you visit the tables, tell whomever it is you want to take the centerpiece that they can have it. This action will let you give them to specially chosen people, without having to make an announcement that might offend someone who is eyeballing the goods.
6) HOT POTATO
Have each table pass get ready to pass around an object like a napkin, dollar bill or anything. Announce that they will pass the item hot potato style around the table. Have the DJ play music and stop it randomly. When the music stops, whoever is still holding the passable object is the winner. They get to take home the centerpiece.
7) LOTTO TICKETS
Some people today like to give lotto tickets as party favors. If this idea works for you, whoever wins the highest dollar figure at the table, also wins the centerpiece.
8 ) ANNIVERSARY MATCH
Have the DJ announce that you would like to give the centerpiece to the person to the couple whose birthday is closest to today’s date.
9) TRIVIA QUESTIONS
You could always have the DJ read off a few questions and have the guests at each table compete for the centerpiece. He or she who writes down the most correct answers, wins!
10) BIRTHDAY
Let the guests know that the centerpiece will be awarded to the person at each table whose birthday is closest to the bride’s birthday.
Pick one, or leave the flowers for the janitor! Good luck!
The whole idea of having a wedding cake tradition with music and couple feeding really has been around forever, though it has transformed more into what we know it as today in recent times.
During the ancient Roman Empire, the groom would cbreak up a bread-like cake and sprinkle the crumbs all over his bride’s head. In the 17th century, a large decorated wedding pie was uhe dessert of choice, with one main ingredient: a glass ring hidden inside to symbolize that the finder was the next to be married. After the 19th century came about, we really started to see the big frosting giants with multi-layering.
No matter which way you cut it, everyone tends to agree that music makes things better, so somewhere along the line music was added to the mix.
Having a mood-setting wedding cake theme song is a great way to put the people into the mindset of the bride and groom. However, how do you pick the right song?
The best thing to think about when choosing your wedding cake theme song is to think about what kind of atmosphere you would like to set during the actual cake cutting activity. If you want “fun,” I wouldn’t go with classical music or jazz. If you want classy, I also wouldn’t pick Def Leppard. Happy, party, fun, serious, nostalgic, classy, and romantic are a bunch of moods that you could set. Remember to always pick a suitable song that goes along with the feeling you would like to convey.
Partially from an earlier blog, here is a good updated list of songs that you may want to use for your wedding reception cake cutting activity:
wedding cake song list
Ain’t That a Kick in the Head – Dean Martin
All My Life – KC & JoJo
Better Be Good To Me – Tina Turner
Better Together – Jack Johnson
Cut the Cake – Average White Band
Cuts Like A Knife – Bryan Adams
Eat It – Weird Al Yankovic
Happy Together – The Turtles
Hit Me With Your Best Shot – Pat Benatar
How Sweet It Is – James Taylor
I Do – Colbie Calliet
I Got You Babe – Sonny Bono & Cher
I Wanna Grow Old With You – Adam Sandler
Ice Cream – Sarah McLachlan
If I had A Million Dollars – Bare Naked ladies
It Had to be You – Harry Connick Jr.
It’s your Love – Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
Love and Marriage – Frank Sinatra
Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin
Marry Me – Train
Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leppard
Recipe for Love – Harry Connick Jr
So This Is Love – Cinderella Theme
Sugar, Sugar – The Archies
That’s Amore – Dean Martin
Theme From ‘Jaws’ – Jaws Soundtrack
This Could Be The Start of Something Big – Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme
This Guy’s In Love With You – Herb Albert
When I’m 64 – Beatles
Whenever I see something cool at a wedding that I am the disc jockey for, I feel the need to share. Are you looking for a fresh idea to dress up your tables at your wedding? Why not try jazzing things up with table sashes?
This new trend is an affordable way to really bring some color to your wedding reception.
I was the disc jockey at a wedding last week at The Franklin Terrace in Troy, NY and they had some really great sashes going on for their guest list of about 180 people.
Over black table clothes with dark pink napkin accents, their white table scarfs had black Oriental print running right down the center. This idea can really make your colors pop!
A great speech can happen with a little preparation.
As a DJ in the Albany, NY area, I have seen some great best man speeches and some ones that really tank. As a high school English teacher, as well, it is immediately obvious for me to identify which person has done their homework before setting down their glass.
Writing a great best man or maid of honor toast requires creativity, patience, hard work, and innovation. However, do not be afraid. The bride or groom thought enough of you to ask you to be their best man. Therefore, have faith in yourself and your ability to say the right thing. You can do it, especially if you follow the one most important and often-overlooked part of the writing process.
PRE-WRITE!
Before you actually start writing, jot down some ideas that answer the BIG QUESTIONS that people might want to know. Write down questions you think people would ask you about the bride and groom, if they could. Here is a collection of questions that best comes to mind.
1. How do you know the bride and groom?
2. Why did they choose you as best man?
3. What are the first five adjectives that describe the bride or groom?
4. How has the groom changed since meeting the bride?
5. How did the couple meet? How did the groom tell you about her?
6. What is some good marriage advice you’ve received or witnessed?
7. What is a good story that illustrates the personality of the bride and/or groom is?
Once you have the above questions figured out, the hard part is done. The next step is putting the answers into some kind of order that makes sense. Aristotle once said that when writing you need, “a beginning, a middle, and an end.” …Therefore, here are a few ideas to bring all your pre-writing thoughts together with organization in mind:
WRITE
1. The Beginning – Start with some kind of introduction. Get your audience’s attention and let them know who you are. Because everyone loves humor, it is often great to start with something that will make everyone laugh. This is also a great way to build up the courage to speak well in public.
2. The Middle – This is where the questions that you worked on before will really help. As the best man, you may know the groom better, so it is easy to talk about just the groom. However, a great toast will be evenly balanced, speaking about both of them. Avoid ex-girlfriend stories. Keep it appropriate for the parents and older folks in the room!
3. The End – It is best to wrap up your toast with some kind of wish of happy future for your bride and groom. Then finally, raise your glass in tradition to close with, “congratulations”, “cheers”, or “salud”, and don’t forget to drink from your own glass!
DELIVERY
The very last thing you want to do before actually creating your final draft is to think about DELIVERY. Having good public speaking skills comes with time and practice, however, a few simple tips will get the inexperienced by without any problems.
1. Keep your toast relatively quick. Probably more than half of the people there do not really know you. Nobody really came to hear your speech so, if you go on forever, you may actually annoy some people if you have too much to say.
2. Eye contact. Do it.
3. Create distrations. Don’t do it. That means saying “Umm” or “Ahhh” … fiddleing with papers … swaying back and forth. Things like these make people look at you instead of listen to what you have to say.
4. Try not to read everything word from word from your notes. Only write down phrases that need to be read word for word. It is actually best to write up a detailed outline of what you are going to say so that you do not simply read to your audience. You tell it from your heart.
5. Try and involve different emotions in your speech.
6. Once you are done and do not forget to raise your glass and get everyone to do the same. If you forget to drink from your own glass, people often are not sure if you are done.
