From perfecting your hair and outfit in the morning through being whisked away as newlyweds at the end of your reception, your wedding day will flash by in the blink of an eye. All the anticipation that builds from hours of planning and dreaming about your moment make it critically important to take in and truly enjoy going through your once-in-a-lifetime experience.
According to the experts at NYX Entertainment & Events, confidence in your DJ is the number one indicator as to whether you can relax and be a guest at your own reception. Howard Teger, CEO, Certified Event Planner, and 30-year veteran master of ceremonies, points out that “All of your family and friends will want to stop you to pay respects and offer best wishes. And your photographer will periodically pull you aside to be sure they get the shots they need for the perfect photo album. You will not have time at your reception to make sure you’re staying on program so you get to enjoy all your traditions and formalities. You need a trusted professional in place looking out for your best interests so you can do your job of being a guest at your own event.”
Forbes.com reports that only 1 in 4 couples hire a professional wedding planner. While nothing can replace having a dedicated advocate whose only job is making sure the details of your wishes are flawlessly executed, there are ways to get some of those benefits without the extra expense. Experienced vendors can guide you around potential pitfalls they have encountered.
Here are 5 reasons past NYX Entertainment & Events clients are thankful their DJ was a certified event planner:
1) Leave No One Behind.
We believe your DJ’s job goes beyond staying on the timeline. Other professionals have jobs to do as well, and your DJ needs to make sure they are set up for success. Professionals make sure everyone who is needed for an activity is ready before launching into that activity. For example, we make sure the photographer is in the room before starting dances with the parents. We make sure the caterer has brought out the utensils before announcing cutting of the cake. We make sure champagne has been passed before starting the toasts. The delays caused by missing these details might be short, but paying attention to them makes the evening flow smoothly and makes all your vendors shine in their roles.
2) Moments of Clarity.
Top professionals take extra steps to accent the most important parts of your event to make sure all your guests are part of the perfect experience. Part one of this mantra is including all your guests. For example, we place lapel microphones on your officiant and couple so your guests can clearly hear the vows you’ve spent so much time perfecting. And we staff your event with professional audio engineers to scout your event space for areas of potential squealing microphone feedback. The second part of this philosophy is creating the perfect experience for your guests. Verify that your DJ uses top-of-the-line microphones and speakers.
3) Vendor teamwork.
We can’t tell you how many times the caterer is running behind on getting dinner out, or the skies open up right before the ceremony starts, forcing changes to the timeline or logistics. It’s essential that your DJ have the experience to know what priorities your other vendors have in time-sensitive situations. Whether we need to completely move a sound system that is already set up, or add another 20 minutes to a dance set, a slight inconvenience to one vendor could mean avoiding disaster for another.
4) Timeline Planning.
Crafting the perfect timeline requires the experience of knowing how long all of your activities will take while adding in just enough time for transition and preparation without any lull in the show flow. Another crucial part of timeline planning is setting the tone for your evening early. We always build in a short dance set before dinner to get your guests moving and establish that this will be a dancing party. It’s easy to overlook that detail and end up with comatose guests after dinner.
5) One-stop Resource.
Knowing that you’ll rely on our experience for advice in areas of your event outside of entertainment, we’ve assembled an intensive list of vetted top professional vendors in decor, flowers, catering, photography, videography, hair, makeup, wardrobe, and more. While reviews from clients’ experience working with vendors is important, those reviews don’t tell the whole story. Sometimes vendors are singularly focused, creating problems or making other vendors’ roles more difficult. Ask us about vendors you’re considering, and we’ll give our honest feedback on what it’s like to work with them.
Bonus) Executing surprises.
Almost every detail is planned-for meticulously at most weddings. With that level of scrutiny, pulling off a surprise is a unique challenge. Hire vendors you can trust to be discrete and only share details with mission-critical staff to lower the chances of the cat being let out of the bag. In addition to his role as CEO, Howard Teger also serves as Creative Director at NYX Entertainment & Events. “We love the opportunity to enhance a surprise! When one of our clients surprised his bride with performances by R&B superstars MAJOR and Regina Belle, we hid MAJOR among the guests so he could emerge from the crowd for his performance, and brought in Regina Belle’s touring drummer, saxophonist, and keyboardist who regularly perform with our band/DJ hybrid act NYX Live. We brought in indoor sparklers and our cloud dance to enhance the moment. The guests were blown away by NYX’s level of special effects and audio production, which was on par with a concert, and the bride was so surprised she was moved to tears. We are discussing a day you have imagined your whole life. You owe it to yourself to make sure each of your vendors treat it that way.”
