Hope all is well with my readers today. In this blog post I shall be discussing the uplighting service that I can provide for my clients.

For those that haven’t come across uplighting let me explain how it works. I use small lights facing upwards to project a preset colour up the wall. These lights are pretty small and take up a very small space on the floor so are hardly noticeable. They are also LED so use very little in the way of energy and don’t get hot like the older style units commonly found at most marquee events. This is a cost effective solution particularly when dealing with events with a strong colour theme as the examples below will show

Firstly here is some orange uplighting from a Wedding at the Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Campden.

Here is some green uplighting from a Wedding at the Barn In Berkeley.

Purple uplighting at the Manor House Hotel in Moreton-In-Marsh

Finally a shot of some red uplighting in a private barn back in spring 2011

If your really enjoying the photos then there are plenty more on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CheltenhamWeddingDJ

In all of the photos above the room are pretty “plain” in colour in either being a white or a very similar shade. These are perfect for uplighting because they reflect the chosen colour very well. With the two barn shots the stonework looks superb with uplighting and it is a service I strongly recommend if your holding an event in such a location.

Now you might be thinking, this looks expensive, well actually it might surprise you that I offer this service at just £10 per unit with most typical quotes being between 12-16. Most colours are achievable and if you really wanted to push the boat out you could even have them all changing colours during the evening, this however increases the price per unit to £20 because of the required cabling and controller required.

Please do contact me if you have any further questions. Happy 2012 folks!

Neil

www.cheltenhamweddingdj.co.uk

www.marqueedisco.com

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

Firstly can I just send out some well wishes for the impending new year.

So far with my blog posts I have talked all about the DJing side of what I do but did you know I offer so much more than that?

When I went full time back in 2010 I had a decision to make, do I just stick to providing just DJs or do I just do one event that I can concentrate on and provide more services. I went with the latter and looking back it was the right choice. Today I will just blog about the dancefloors however I will explain in the near future the other services such as uplighting and wireless PA systems.

When you book a function room with most venues they will provide you with a wooden plain dancefloor like this

I can however provide you with LED starlit floors in both black or white. I have enclosed some before and after shots to show you the difference it can make to a room.

Firstly this is the Manor House Hotel in Moreton In Marsh. This is the before shot…….

And after I’ve worked my magic… please note the uplighting is an extra service.

From the same angle

and from the front…

These shots were taken with all the led lights on static. During operation I will use various programs which will fade and twinkle the led lights. For the first dance I usually have the floor off until the bride and groom walk onto the floor and then I turn on the lights, giving a real “wow” effect.

If you like the floor but aren’t keen on the black I also provide the same floor in white……

These floors can be changed in shape and size to fit in with your requirements. Most floors  provided are between 12×12 & 16x16ft however you can change width or length in 2ft sections so you could have an 16×12 or 20×10 if you so wish.

If you are interested in hiring the dancefloor as a standalone service or with my mobile disco then please do get in touch.

Neil

www.cheltenhamweddingdj.co.uk

www.marqueedisco.com

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

I hope today finds you good spirits.

Today I wanted to share with you my experience of events. What has prompted this was a pre Christmas event for a charity. I just want to make clear here that this isn’t a “rant” of any sort and I respect the volunteers that run such events. It did get me thinking however that like most bride & grooms that they had little experience of organising such events and so I wanted to share some hints and tips.

First of all don’t forget that us humans are fairly simple creatures. We like food, booze and entertainment so its well worth budgeting a “decent” size of your post venue and dress budget on this. Entertainment is typically one of the last services to be booked and often its at this point that the budget has been exceeded some time ago and thus becomes a price based purchase despite the average performing time of four hours is not only a sizeable amount of time but also the end of what should be a perfect day. I lost count the amount of times I’ve heard people singing the last song of the evening while I’m packing down half an hour later.

Photography is another area that I have seen been skipped out on. Cameras have dropped in price over recent years and this has seen a massive increase in “photographers”, some good and some bad. Its easy to think that it is all about the camera. I will admit now a few years ago I offered “event photography” with my old roadie taking snaps and this was quickly withdrawn. Its from this I understand that the art and skill of a good photograph is not the camera but the person behind it. Knowing the right settings at the right time will make the difference between capturing the moment and getting a blurry mess of faces and arms. With so many brides and grooms mentioning how quickly the day goes by wouldn’t some nice photos be really useful?

Finally its important to have some sort of plan for the day, and plan for each event to overrun. Wedding planners are of course worth their weight in gold because not only do they keep everything running smoothly but they can keep an eye on the time. For example if you are wanting group shots outside during the room turnaround you need someone “neutral” to get everyone into position.I have had Weddings that I haven’t started until 10.30pm because of various parts of the day overrunning.  If you are going without a planner then I suggest assigning duties to your bridesmaids and groomsmen.

There is a saying, “failing to plan is planning to fail”. Those countless horror Wedding videos on youtube, the band I was playing with recently who turned up without half their equipment could of all been prevented with planning.

Happy planning folks.

Neil

www.deckstardeluxe.co.uk

www.marqueedisco.com

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

As its a popular time of year for guys to get down on one knee, pop out a ring and ask the most nerve wrecking question he will ever ask and awaiting for what will seem like a lifetime for an answer I thought I would discuss what questions you should be asking your DJ.

Firstly you will need to get the venue booked and then plan around that. Naturally using suppliers that have worked at your venue before does help to varying degrees however with entertainment it is a huge bonus. Not only keeping the venue happy with providing PLI/PAT documents, loading in the correct doors but also keeping within noise constraints.  Most venues have a limit of sorts however very few mention this, in fact your venue might even have a sound limiter which cuts the power off if the noise level exceeds the chosen limit. Without meaning to scare any of you I had two Weddings this year that this process “affected” the evening, one resulted in the evening being cut short to 11pm. I would like to stress that for years I’ve been very aware of the sound levels particularly as its a common complaint I hear about when doing Wedding fayres from potential couples who have been to a friends Wedding recently. Needless to say I refuse to perform at this venue again more for the fact they told me on the evening and hadn’t even mentioned it to their clients the bride and groom.

Thankfully I can be more positive about the rest of my post today. As I mentioned using a entertainment supplier who has performed at the venue before is a big bonus, hopefully this will also mean they are local. If your booking someone who is travelling 2+ hours away then they really should be travelling a day earlier, many things can happen such as road closures, flat tyres etc. I’ve had all sorts of panicked phone calls at 6/7pm asking if I am free because of this, so it really does happen.

Like any service, if you can find someone that comes with a personal recommendation then you should be half way there. That said most recommendations come in two categories I find, quality and price. I have no trouble in believing that you could find a “DJ” who would perform for beer tokens, or in fact someone who commands a far higher fee. Its an easy trap to fall into when booking a service you haven’t booked before to just go on price but I would urge you to consider the following.

*Have you met your DJ? Not only does this instill confidence it also allows you to gauge if you are a “good fit”. I offer a free meeting (within a reasonable travelling distance) because I want my bride and grooms to feel happy if they decide to book me. It also allows me to discuss finer details and get a feel for what their “ideal Wedding disco” to be.

*Please whatever you do, get a provider who issues a contract for your Wedding entertainment, and I’m not talking just about an email. That way you have in writing what service you are getting, at what times and the agreed price. I like to keep everything positive so I’m not going to mention what I have heard happen but its not unheard of that I get a booking a week before someones Wedding. Contracts also benefit the provider because it means if like me they are a solo operator that they can with confidence turn away enquires for the same date or if they are a multi operator then they can assign one of their DJs to your function.

*Presentation is often overlooked. I still to this day can not understand why someone would turn up in jeans and polo shirt (it happens) or can’t be bothered to tidy up a few cables here and there. I take huge pride in my work and that includes myself, and how my show is setup, for example I could be in the background for your first dance shot.

I think I will leave it there, I have mentioned the main points however I would like to stress the fact you should meet your DJ is the one thing I really wanted to push today.

Naturally if your a newly engaged couple congratulations and if you are getting married in the Cotswolds area don’t be afraid to contact me

dj@cheltenhamweddingdj.co.uk

www.cheltenhamweddingdj.co.uk

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

Thanks for reading folks,

Regards

Neil

Boxing day is here, hope you have enjoyed the festive period! As promised in my last blog post I will give you a write up for the Wedding of Dave & Katrina at the fantastic Greenway Hotel on the 16th of December.

Katrina contacted me back in the summer thanks to a recommendation by Jane Riddell from “Planned For Perfection”. After an exchange of emails we decided to have a meeting at the Greenway to discuss their requirements which as it turned out involved a winter wonderland theme. I was able to provide some ideas to how I can help make this idea come to life and we finally decided on snowflake image projection and blue uplighting.

To the day itself at the rather unique Greenway Hotel. For starters at no other venue do I DJ with the reception desk within touching distance.

The Greenway really does lend itself to small intimate Weddings however does suffer somewhat from having the bar in a separate room however I managed to engage with most of the guests despite this. The first dance was a particular highlight because of this and the chosen track JLS – Love You More was very well received. During the night it became clear that modern music was the order of the day so tunes such as Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger, Olly Murs – Dance With Me Tonight & Lady GaGa – Marry The Night really did work a treat.

I managed to get a few snaps during the night, please note that I’m by no means a pro however I might update these if I come across the professional shots.

Uplighting and image projection are only two of the extra services that I provide so please do get in touch if you haven’t seen the venue enhancement that you require.

Regards

Neil

www.deckstardeluxe.co.uk

www.marqueedisco.com

Firstly I’m sorry I haven’t blogged so much since last week. The Christmas period is always a busy one and thankfully this year hasn’t been any different despite the massive downturn in parties been held.

Thursday night saw me performing at “The Bridge” in Bidford http://www.thebridgeatbidford.com for a “Joiner” party. Naturally I started off with some background music for the meal and once I began it became very clear that 70′s & disco was  the clear winner so the classics such as The Jackson Five – Blame It On The Boogie, Beegess – Stayin Alive & Abba – Dancing Queen got an airing. This was one of the best events I’ve done this year because it was such a small and intimate venue it was very easy to engage with all of the guests. The highlight being at the end of the night one of the ladies mentioned to me how good the music was and that I clearly had looked at everyone and played to them which is how I approach all of my events.

Friday saw me at the Greenway Hotel for the Wedding of Katrina and Dave who have to be one of the nicest couples I’ve met. We had a meeting a few months ago at the venue to discuss their requirements and once Katrina had mentioned her “Winter Wonderland Theme” I mentioned a few options and so I also provided blue uplighting and snowflake projection. I shall blog about this event later this week however photos are already up on the “Cheltenham Wedding DJ” facebook page.

Saturday soon came around and so I was off to the most local Wedding and event venue to me which is the lovely Manor By The Lake. Charlotte was the birthday girl and invited a large group of her friends as well as many of her family members. I have to say the night just flew by and before I knew it midnight had come and gone. Musically I touched pretty much every genre known to man and woke up to a delightful email from Charlottes parents this morning which is as follows

“Hi Neil

Todays post is all about the first dance, its one of the areas that my bride and grooms have had vastly different ideas about. This year has seen some varied choices from the classics to the obscure and of course the custom one I created for a couple back in October that started off with Jack Johnson and then cut into Sir Mixalot – Baby Got Back and various other party tracks. While this is not everyones cup of tea I have to say it received a positive reaction from the guests and reflexed their personality.

Not all of my couples were happy with even having a first dance, let alone performing a dance routine. In fact two couples requested that they didn’t perform a first dance which of course is a decision I respect and am happy to work with.

When you think about it, having the eyes of your friends and family looking at you dancing for 3-4 minutes does sound quite nervy, particularly for the groom.Then you got everyone taking photos of you looking potentially nervous. With this in mind here are some tips.

1. Pick a song that holds special meaning to you. Don’t worry about picking a “cool” song or even one that has been released. Remember the first time that you met?, maybe a song that was playing when you realised your partner was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?

2. If your not confident about having a dance then pick a “slow” song. Most photographers will I’m sure be much happier to shoot a couple dancing slowly rather than being thrown around the room. Don’t be afraid to practice beforehand as this will build confidence and you don’t want to be “worrying” about it during your Wedding day.

3. Speak to your DJ. There are plenty of youtube videos about this going wrong however each could of been avoided. I can only speak for myself but I always have a copy of the first dance on my main playout and also on the IPAD. I have never had to use the backup but it really does give me peace of mind knowing that this is in place.

Your DJ will also need to know how you would like to be introduced. Most times I ask this question to my clients they mention they haven’t even thought about it. I would say 70% go for first name terms. Being able to give a good strong introduction to the first dance also helps gain a positive reaction from your guests from the initial round of applause and cheering to the collective “aaawwww” moment as soon as the song begins to play.

I previously mentioned the photographer and how he/she would like to shoot. Lighting plays a big part in this and so I also introduce myself to the Wedding photographer so we can have a quick chat about the lighting and anything that I can do it help set the ideal conditions. This sometimes comes as a pleasant surprise and I’ve heard a few horror stories about their previous experiences with DJs including one who refused to turn off a green laser light so each of the first dance photos had green dots all over the happy couples face.

I can see I’ve gone over my ideal word count already so will have to finish this topic at a later date but hopefully this blog post has been of benefit to you.

Regards

Neil

Cheltenham Wedding DJ

www.cheltenhamweddingdj.co.uk

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

I won’t go into my life story here but I got myself a cheap second hand pair of turntables back in 2002 and grabbed myself a few vinyl records (remember those large cd things that can be found in our parents attic?). This was a time when vinyl was very expensive and the store I used was based in Birmingham so each week I would spend between £10-£40 on some records I just couldn’t live without. Naturally this was a hobby that quickly turned into an obsession with recorded music and before I knew it I had spent thousands before I even earnt a penny! It was only when I did my first mobile event in 2007 that passion was put to use and enabled me to use my music to influence peoples behaviour and seeing people smiling and dancing gave me a buzz that no car, girl, booze or video game could provide.

That is the only thing that has remained the same since that day, in fact a moment that inspired this post happened on Friday night. I was DJing for a private school party and of course they are all about their modern music however it was right at the end when all the parents had arrived to collect their children (aged between 11-14). I had finished on a couple of Christmas songs, thanked them for being fantastic and got a huge applause at the end. This wasn’t a planned moment but I had the sudden urge to play another song so I said because they had been so good heres one last cheeky number and before you knew it Shakin Stevens – Merry Christmas was on. Parents and their children alike just exploded and started dancing with each other, forming a huge circle and two by two random parents, teachers and their children were dancing in the centre. It sent shivers down my spine seeing a group of people dancing and enjoying themselves like that and brought a huge smile to my face.

I can tell you now that moment wouldn’t of happened back in 2007. Reliable equipment plays its part in what I do but its the vast experience of events that has altered everything else that I do. I remember reading a book about DJing years ago that summed it up well “The DJ should have one foot in the booth and one foot on the dancefloor”. I could be looking down at the floor while bringing in a new tune and I would know if its working or not because I’ve developed a keen sense of feeling the energy of the room. I know this sounds somewhat “hippy” but it is true.

During the beginning of an event I might be appearing to play just any old songs without any thought, wrong!

Each song is a question, I’m putting it out there to gauge peoples reactions and body language. If I feel it is positive I’ll remember that for the rest of the night and likewise if it is negative. After a couple of hours I have narrowed down what is working for my crowd and use this information later on to get people dancing. I don’t go to any event with the mindset of “I feel like playing loads of xxx tonight”. In fact the only songs I know I’m going to play are the requests made beforehand and it is also why I suggest that my clients make at most 20 requests.

Having dealt with so many requests over the years two things have become clear. Firstly everyone thinks all their friends like the same music as they do and secondly everyone has vastly different musical tastes. This challenge is of course placed on a Wedding DJ with three or four generations of family members present and so a knowledge of different musical genres are important. I would say at 90% of my Weddings at some point I will play records that fall into any of the following genres

-Motown/Northern Soul

-Disco

-Rock/Indie

-Pop

-Dance

-RnB

-”Cheese”

-Funk/Soul

Of course you have genres that span many decades so not only is it important for say the rock genre to have the recent big hitters such as Kings Of Leon and The Killers but also to have tunes that go back to the 60′s/70′s such as Boston, Rolling Stones and The Kinks.

Thats a fair number of songs right? Having them is one thing but the real art is playing them at the right time and a question that enters my head when a song is “cued up” and ready to play is that the best possible choice for that moment. Even when moving from one genre to another there are musical elements that help “link” the songs together and help maintain a flow. Best example is Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up being a modern “pop” song however it has a heavy motown feel so would mix very nicely with something like the Isley Brothers – This Heart Of Mine.

In summing up as I said anyone can be a DJ but going into a room full of strangers, engaging with them and playing to them is a skill that takes time and experience. It doesn’t just stop at the gig you need to research all the different musical genres and learn what works and doesn’t, finding out what your client wants and of course presenting the service in a professional manner.

I hope that you have found this an interesting read and that you have a better understanding of my way of working.

Neil

www.deckstardeluxe.com

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

As you may of guessed this week in particular has been rather manic so I didn’t get to blog yesterday so todays shall cover the before and after thoughts of yesterdays Wedding.

James and Sarah decided to get married at a lovely venue called the Curradine Barn in Worcestershire http://www.curradinebarns.co.uk. It is the perfect blend between the classic barn look and feel with a modern twist (For example they had arcade machines by the bar area which didn’t look out of place).

In terms of what they wanted from myself was plain and simple, the perfect ending to what would be a perfect day. I had a few pointers to their musical preferences sent to me which included Reef, Kings Of Leon, Bon Jovi and Kanye West. The only songs I wasn’t allowed to play was anything by Wham.

The evening started off with the first dance (after some 45 minutes of background music). The track chosen by the happy couple was Louie Armstrong’s ”We Have All The Time In The World”. As with all my couples I do a quick introduction to the first dance and never fails to get a cheer from everyone. The photographer http://www.davidjperkins.com/ managed to get some great shots without interfering with James and Sarah (which can’t be said for all the photographers I’ve worked with sadly). Once the longest 3 and a half minutes of the grooms life was over I followed up with Jackie Wilson – Higher and Higher and officially opened the dancefloor for all the guests.

The evening in general was very good however like any venue with the bar area removed from the function room it makes it very difficult to engage with everyone. I always like to keep an eye on what people are doing and using that to help with the song selection. Body language is brilliant for working out if the style of music I am playing is working for that moment or a clue to maybe up the tempo. I actually went into the bar area later in the evening and you could not actually hear the music and with a sound limiter installed at the barn there was nothing I could do about it. I do have a service which could of been very useful in this situation where I place two speakers in the bar area and send the signal from my setup via a transmitter to these two speakers. They each have volume control on the speakers themselves so you can turn it up or down to your liking.

Despite that the last half an hour had everyone in the barn with myself dancing to some cheese, Christmas classics and the B&G’s choosing of “New York, New York” which saw everyone finish the evening on the funky LED dancefloor. If you want the floor or any of my services then please do contact me, details are on www.deckstardeluxe.co.uk

I did tweet some photos from the iphone during the evening so if your not following me already then please do look up “CheltenhamDJ”.

Neil

www.deckstardeluxe.co.uk

www.twitter.com/cheltenhamdj

It shall be a very brief post today and I will explain why.

Thursday (yesterday) had myself and Dan working on an event in London providing white drapes which resulted in a rather late night. Today has been no different with this morning being taken up with a dancefloor install in Coventry and shortly I shall be off to perform at an event down in Cirencester which thankfully finishes in the late evening so I can get down to London to de-rig the drapes at around about midnight. My bed shall be a welcome sight in the small hours of Saturday morning.

Christmas is always a manic period however I would be lying if I said I didn’t slightly enjoy the madness. It is always a challenge however I feel as the balance between workload and quality is spot on so very pleased about that.

Tomorrows post shall be posted in less haste as I have a Wedding in the evening so I will hopefully talk about that and how I like to approach Weddings in general.

Enjoy your weekend folks

Neil

www.deckstardeluxe.co.uk