If you want great photos of your Wedding Reception and all of your guests, you better hire a Great Wedding Photographer…but even the best photographers cannot fake or digitally enhance the smiles, dancing, and bliss that exist in photos taken from weddings that hire a great DJ/MC. I want to discuss the importance of the interrelationship between the quality of the photos and the quality of the Wedding DJ.
To put it simply, a wedding is one of the most special, memorable, fun, and important days in a couple’s and all of their family and friend’s lives. It isn’t 100% necessary to have a big wedding, but the truth is, most people with the means to do so, will have a Wedding Ceremony and Reception of some sort. It can be done on a budget, no doubt. But I often advise clients that there are really no 2 more important wedding vendors to the success of your Wedding than a Great DJ and a Great Photographer. Now, I’m sure my caterer friends, or venue managers, or florists or cake bakers or Wedding Coordinators will all hate me now, but let me explain my position. We all know that most Brides and Grooms will in fact, choose a wedding venue and good food and beautiful flowers and they will most likely hire some type of day of or month of Wedding Coordinator, or in some cases the venue will provide that service…but what takes a wedding from “pretty and nice” to “Amazing and Unforgettable” (notwithstanding some of the very extravagant and expensive decor at a handful of high end weddings) is usually The DJ …and not just any DJ, but a DJ who is also a great MC…and if he’s not, you need to be sure the DJ Service you hire provides one of each! Our DJs are also great MCs, but many services hire out a DJ and an MC separately for a wedding…just make sure you have your bases covered on this issue. A great Wedding DJ plays all the right music at all the right moments, makes no mistakes (or negligible ones at best) has top of the line sound gear and lots of backups for it, is fully engaged in the music and the event from start to finish and most importantly, when it’s time to dance, the DJ keeps the floor packed and wears the people out! Of course, the MC, whether a separate person or one in the same, has the job of organizing things behind the scenes, much like a coordinator would do…the MC makes sure important people are where they are supposed to be for key highlight moments such as the Grand Entrance, the First Dance, the Toasts, the Cake Cutting, et al. The MC is in charge of letting guests know when something is happening or going to happen and must do so in a fun and professional way so that everyone pays attention and follows his/her lead. And mostly, the MC has to have a presence or stature that people can relate to and will respond to in a favourable way. If the DJ should be cool, the MC should be lovable, and if it’s one person acting in both roles, all the better for him.
So what does this have to do with Wedding Photography? Well…a lot. If you hire a great wedding photographer, they will work tirelessly, using all of their creative and technical skills to get the best shots of the Bride and Groom and the guests and all of the details of the event…but, and here it is…If people aren’t having a good time, aren’t smiling and laughing, aren’t dancing, aren’t jumping around like a bunch of crazy people…the photos will suffer. And if this happens, it’s nearly always the fault of the DJ! Now, if you’re spending a fair chunk of change on your venue and food and alcohol and floral then it’s a safe bet you want people to enjoy themselves, therefore, the entertainment should be HIGH on the list of your budgetary items. And of course, if you want to preserve those memories in a timeless, classic and flawless way, you better get yourself a greatly respected and very likable photographer. And truly, at the end of the day, the relationship you have with your vendors is most important. I have heard of DJ Services that charge £1500 for a wedding, yet the DJ is a jerk…Um, excuse me? Not on My Wedding Day!! You want a Wedding DJ and MC who make you and your guests feel comfortable. Same with any of the vendors, especially the Photographer and Coordinator if you have one, because you’ll be interacting with them a lot! I can’t tell you how many of my past clients are now personal friends of mine, not to mention all of the compliments I get at weddings from guests who say I helped develop the wedding into a finely tuned event where everyone was comfortable and had fun all day and night. When that happens, when that energy is present and led by the DJ, the Photos will look better! And furthermore, the entire event looks and feels better. People will more likely remark how beautiful the flowers were and how good the food was if their experience was amazing. If you hired a great DJ/MC, you can bet, when the lights go off and the speakers are packed away, your guests will be talking about your wedding for a very long time…and if you hired a great photographer, you’ll always have a record of what a Magical day it was.
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