Thus far The Intended and I have acquired or arranged for the the following:a place to get married, a place to celebrate getting married, a photographer to take pictures of the wedding, and a dress for Herself to wear.
The one remaining big decision to make (there are still many small ones to come) is to find and hire a DJ. This is critical, as both The Intended and I are damn fussy about our tunes. We do not want a DJ who plans to express himself musically at our wedding. We want a DJ who will play – or not play* – the songs we want. We want a DJ who can read the crowd and act appropriately i.e. understand the if folks aren’t dancing you need to play more 80s music. Plus the dude (or dudette as the case may be) has to be a decent announcer as well.
This may just be the toughest decision yet.
*Songs you will not hear at our wedding:
The Chicken Dance, The Funky Chicken, or any other dance and song combo involving livestock.
The Macarena, YMCA or anything else that smacks of line dancing.
Anying by Jimmy Buffet or Bob Seger.
You Shook Me or any other flipper-head songs.
This list will no doubt expand as The Intended and I get down to brass tacks.
DJ’s can be a very serious and cranky bit to work out.
Make List, Review items not to be played, have him be nice to old peeps requesting such items but, completely and utterly not allow – or they will play anyway. Really got to find someone that actually listens to you and takes you seriously – and you have to make the point very clear. No BS allowed – know what I mean?
You’ll figure it out, I am sure.
Best of Luck with that.
Teh Smitten and I attended a wedding out in San Jose in June where the couple decided a DJ wasn’t safe enough. They devised their ideal playlist based on their reception schedule and got a big iPod amp. Of course, their wedding was quite small (30 people) and the reception was only about 2.5 hours. They just sent us a CD of the songs (to include a B-side) – it made a nice memento.
Overheard at our wedding:
Jean Thomas: Jennifer, I asked the deejay to play the electric slide and he said no! He said you specifically forbade him to play any line dances!
Jennifer: That’s true!
Jean: But we want to do the Electric Slide!
Jennifer: But I hate it!
Jean: But I’m OLD!
Jennifer: But I’m the bride!
Our deejays had people dancing through the entire reception and were extremely helpful and knowledgeable, AND they fulfilled our numerous and (some might say) strange musical requests. If you want the info, I’m happy to send it your way.
Please do.