What Phoenix DJ Billy James Does
DJ and Master of Ceremonies Services for Your Wedding
Photo: Tiffany Photography
Phoenix Wedding DJs ...
Not everyone everyone seems to understand exactly what a professional wedding disc jockey actually does. Recently I received a call from a bride looking to hire a DJ for her Phoenix wedding. She said that she and her fiance had already made a list of all the songs they wanted played at their reception. All they wanted me to do was play these songs in the order in which they were listed. The groom also mentioned that he wanted his uncle to introduce the wedding party.
I politely indicated to them that they really didn't need the services of a professional wedding DJ. Instead, they should just rent some equipment and get a friend to press the play button. Incidentally, they were planning to spend three times their DJ budget on chair covers!
This bride meant well. She was doing everything she could to insure that her wedding reception would be a success. However, her call indicated two things to me: first, she had no concept of what a professional wedding DJ really does and second, she believed she could not trust a DJ to deliver what she wanted without micro-managing his performance.
In this age of digital music and instant downloads, everyone seems to be walking around with 2,000 songs in their pocket or purse. Some of these people are even calling themselves wedding DJs, blissfully unaware that there's a lot more to being a professional wedding DJ than just showing up with a few thousand songs on an iPod.
In fact, the term "Wedding DJ" has taken on such negative connotations (How youse guys doin' tonite? ... Is that Maid of Honor hot or what? ... Now everybody scream!), that experienced wedding DJ's are now attempting to distance themselves from the wanna-be's and amateurs by calling themselves Event Coordinators or Entertainment Directors.
Performance ...
No matter how you refer to me, as your professional wedding DJ I have two significant responsibilities: hosting the events of your reception in a professional manner and programming the perfect music to complement each reception event. Hosting involves monitoring the pace and flow of your reception events while serving as your official Master of Ceremonies, representing you and your family to all of your invited guests.
Programming music is much different than just playing music. At a typical reception, there is time to play just 50 or 60 songs. Years of experience at hundreds of weddings will enable me to select just the right song at any given moment to complement each phase of your reception while, at the same time, being responsive to your music preferences and those of your guests.
For example, dinner music just before dancing will have more rhythm and energy than music at the start of dinner in order to motivate guests for the dancing that will soon follow. And when the dancing starts, the experienced DJ knows which songs are virtually guaranteed to get guests of all ages on the dance floor and keep them there.
Planning and Preparation ...
My performance, however, is only as good as my planning and preparation. At a pre-event planning session, I will listen to your wishes and requests and then suggest music options and the optimum sequencing of events. We will review my custom Reception Planner which presents the various reception options.
With your input, I will create a reception timeline of events which will be shared with your catering director and photographer. I will ask for your "must play" and "do not play" genres, songs and dances and then create a customized playlist which may be adjusted as the reception unfolds to maximize your guests' involvement.
Pronunciation of names in your wedding party will be clarified and then coupled with a high-energy backing track to produce a dynamic Grand Entrance. The style of my presentation will be both formal and fun. And hours before your guests arrive, high-end audio equipment and lighting will be setup and tested with backup equipment in place to insure a flawless performance. I'll file a certificate of insurance with your venue verifying I am covered by a $1 million liability policy, a condition of performance at many venues.
What I Do ...From our initial contact until the final piece of equipment is packed away, I will invest about 20 hours of time and call upon several decades of my experience to plan, prepare and personally perform at your wedding reception to insure that you and your guests have a fun-filled, smoooth-flowing, stress-free experience. You deserve nothing less on this very special day in your life. |
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Wedding DJ and Party DJ
in Phoenix, AZ valleywide
including Scottsdale, Carefree, Cave
Creek, Fountain Hills,
Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Peoria, Sun City,
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