This blog was inspired by a post I did on Facebook a few days ago. I have done a lot……I mean A LOT of weddings and I have seen and heard many things, and sometimes in my head I say to myself….ARE YOU FRICKEN KIDDING ME?!
First of all, there was a comment I made the other day on Facebook that inspired this blog. Do not and I repeat DO NOT come over to the DJ booth and tell the DJ that the bride or groom want you to play…………..(fill in the blank).
In most cases they didn’t. We know that. It’s a line that guests use thinking that by saying the bride or groom requested it, that it will be guaranteed to get played and right away.
Please let’s not forget that we have had extensive conversations prior to the wedding about the type of music they want to hear. They may have even provided a list of DO NOT PLAY SONGS. If the bride or groom really want to hear a specific song, they normally come over to the booth themselves. I’m not sure who you think you’re fooling by insisting the bride and groom are requesting a particular song to be played, because trust me, they’re not!!! And, If your song request is way off the guidelines that I had discussed with them or if it’s on their DO NOT PLAY list, I’m going to check with them before I play it and be sure to point you out. LOL
I always make exceptions for parents of the bride and groom but other than that, just enjoy yourself and at least be honest when you come over and make a request.
Let me just say that I'm a huge fan of taking requests from guests and will always do my very best to play as many as i can as long as it fits within the bride and grooms guidelines.
Another thing guests should really avoid is coming over to whoever, the planner, photographer, caterer, DJ, whoever, and tell us this is what they do for a living and you would do it this way. There are exceptions but normally the bride or groom will tell us in advance that this particular person is going to help out and be his or hers eyes and ears. Please, if you could’ve done it any better, then you would’ve been hired for the job and not the person actually getting paid and working the event.
I remember at a recent wedding this young lady came up to the photographer who was standing next to me and said, “I own a photography company and I would really be shooting this or shooting that”. This very same girl also turned around to me and said, “I also own a DJ company and I would be playing this”. At this point I made believe I was impressed with her resume and asked politely, “OMG, you seem so talented, why didn’t the bride hire you to do all this?”. As you can imagine, that was the end of that conversation. Again, LOL
Again, there are exceptions when the bride really does have a friend who is in the wedding business and she will normally tell us who it is and asks if she could help. We will always bend over backwards to do whatever the bride and groom asks, but if they didn’t ask you to help, just do us all a favor and stay in your lane.
One last comment about this, there was another young lady at another wedding and this girl was very bossy. I know she was telling the wedding planner what to do, and kept telling me that I was playing crappy music and I should take this song off immediately and play this. At the end of the evening the bride came over to give me a hug and kiss and thank me for a wonderful job and she said, “everybody just loved you”. I laughed and said everybody except one person. She started to laugh and said, “was it her?” She said don’t worry about her. She was only invited because she was family. Nobody likes her. Once again, LOL Ok, I’ll stop that. I promise.
When it comes to the ceremony, put that phone away. First of all you came to see the bride and groom begin their life together, not to sit around on facebook seeing what everyone else you know is up to, or to take a snapchat with the overrated and overused puppy filter. Second of all, the bride and groom don’t want it ringing during the most important 15 minutes of their life. Turn off your friggin phone. Don’t worry about taking pictures. You’re never going to look at them again anyway. OK, maybe once but after that, there’s no way. The bride and groom have hired a professional photographer so they will have plenty of pictures. They won’t need your iphone 7 plus portrait quality pictures. At the reception, no problem. Take as many as you want, but at the ceremony, be in the moment. Watch the ceremony live, not through the screen on the back of your phone.
So, this is a good time to remind everyone that the bride and groom are the stars of the evening. I know sometimes it’s hard to realize that the world does not always revolve around you, but give the spotlight to someone else, and please…. don’t ever try to upstage the bride or groom. This is their night, not yours. They were nice enough to invite you to celebrate their special day with them so let’s consider ourselves lucky and make sure that it’s all about them.
So now let’s talk about how drunk do you really want to get. Keep in mind, just because it’s an open bar doesn’t mean you should keep drinking until you throw up. First of all that isn’t cute and second of all it’s always a mess for the people around you. Keep in mind that the bride and groom’s parents, grandparents, and even their boss may be there. Don’t be “that guy or girl” that will live in infamy by making a fool of yourself, throwing up in the bushes, or passing out at the table. You may do that at home in the privacy of your friends, but tonight you are also with family. Go ahead, have a good time, drink to your hearts content, but know your limit.
OK, now the fun begins. Let’s keep our clothes on at a wedding. Many of the weddings I do are beach side weddings. It’s hot and it’s humid. And it would be so nice to strip off your clothes and feels the breeze cooling off your body, but grandma or the brides boss don’t need to see that. This falls under decorum. I will say however, if the groom is in his underwear, then all bets are off. Yup, I had a groom down to his boxers shortly after the grand introductions. Thank God he had on boxers. I guess what I’m really trying to say is that if the bride & groom still have their clothes on, you should too!!!
And last on my list is NEVER EVER bring a first date to a wedding. First, you don’t really know each other. You discover your likes and dislikes by going out on dates. A wedding is a more social setting with a side of family and you never know what may happen.
How many first dates have we all gone on and never ever saw them again. Don’t expose your friends to what may be a complete lunatic.
True Story that happen to me. It wasn’t a wedding but a company Holiday Party. I have been doing this company party for many years. I know the owner of both the company that was throwing the party as well as the owner and manager of the venue. So, one of the company employees decides to bring a girl, on their first date to the party. I knew this girl was trouble as soon as she said hello to me. To make a long story short, I went to check on something and came back to the booth and I felt someone grab my crotch. I looked down and this girl had crawled underneath my console, breasts exposed, and telling me what she was going to do to me. If I wasn’t a little freaked out it would have been hysterical, but I was in a venue that I like and respected the owners and management, and the Holiday Party was a regular gig that I enjoyed doing and didn’t want to lose. I quickly motioned to the guy that brought her to please remove his girlfriend from my console and with that the company owner came over and immediately told the employee to take his date home and that they would talk on Monday. I swear that is a true story and therefore you don’t make a wedding or corporate function a place to bring a first date.
One final thing. These were all humorous things I have seen go down at weddings. There is always that one guy or girl. I’m not telling anyone not to have a good time, but respect the bride and groom. Have respect for the family who’s paying for your good time. At the end of the night, when the DJ calls everyone to have a final salute to the bride and groom, tear yourself away from the bar for a minute. Get off your cell phone or stop texting, and go over to the friggin dance floor to have a final salute to the people who invited you. Many times, this last salute is being photographed and it would be nice if the bride and groom saw you in the picture.
There is so much more i could say on this topic but maybe another time.
I think that about wraps up tonight’s blog but never fear, I’ll be back very soon with some more useful and humorous STUFF.