Our Music Man
February 2nd, 2007 @ 4:31 pm by Mrs. Kiwi
Mr. Kiwi was given a few jobs to do - music, officiant, and his suit. So far, I’ve made appointments to visit various officiants, and ripped out suit ideas. And as of yesterday, we kinda booked a music guy.
He is Mr. Kiwi’s (wait for it…) assistant coach. Who is still in college. And who doesn’t know a thing about actually MC’ing a wedding. Since I honestly don’t care about the music so much, I told Mr. Kiwi we can agree to it, but I get complete input on the playlist.
So, how did we manage to hire him? At their game last night, we were groaning about how hard this planning thing is, especially finding a DJ. Then Mr. Kiwi jokingly asked Brandon, “How about you do it?” Heh heh heh. Oh, how I laughed and laughed. Then Brandon said, “Why don’t you just use your ipod?” Which began a discussion of speakers, amps, mics, and those things. That led to Mr. Kiwi saying, “Dude, can you do it? We’ll use my ipod! I’ll give you a hundred bucks?” The smile on my face was replaced with my shocked open mouth.
Brandon seemed to contemplate this, and when he realized Mr. K was serious, said, “I don’t know anything about that! Wait, my buddy has some great amps and speakers! I’ll totally do it!” Mr. Kiwi was ecstatic at this bargain we were getting, and I was sitting there with my head in my hands. I give him three jobs, end up doing two, and this is how he does his one remaining job?
Oh well, Brandon is a very responsible 20 year old, and I know he would never willingly ruin our wedding. And I also know where he lives. So… I guess we’ll see.
Has anyone else done something risky with their wedding?
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8 Responses to “Our Music Man”
Hahaha, me too! So funny! And I’m sure it’ll work out fine, it can’t be that complicated! I find myself doing all the theoretical Mr. Bluebell things too, but now I might have to make that a matter of policy!
don’t do it miss kiwi!!! ack! are you sure you can’t find someone with more experience DJ’ing and MC’ing??
we’re DIYing our invites, um yeah, that’s as risky as i can get.
Actually there’s a strong chance we’ll be DIY’ing the music also. Just make sure it’s someone who has some sort of clue how to operate the equipment, but it’s nowhere near as complicated to play an iPod as it is to use all them fancy DJ tables and gadgets. I think the best thing is to bring a CD player as well and have separate, labelled CD’s (including a list of songs and what order they’re in) for first dance, father/daughter dance, and mother/son dance songs, another one for cake cutting, another one for background reception music, and then the iPod for when you start the dance party part! That way it’s all spelled out for him. Go through it with him and get him to explain to you what he’s going to play when (as though he were teaching you) so that you can be sure he gets it.
Haha that’s crazy. Just do, like, a trial run if you can? That way you at least know that he knows how everything works, how to time things, etc.
OMG…read step back adn read what you wrote. First of, music keeps the event going and keeps the energy up, and when people leave a wedding, they remember the food and the DJ/band….not the flowers, not the dresses, not the paper…the food and the dj. I compeltely understand not caring about the music and saving some money, but having an inexperienced DJ can seriously mess up a wedding. A DJ/band control the entire flow of the night, from the very first introduction until the last dance. If the DJ isn’t good he can totally mess up. What if your friend is nervous, what if people aren’t responding to the music on the iPod? DJs can read people and play the right things to get them up and dancing.
If your reception venus has a wedidng coordinator who can emcee everything, then I wouldn’t be AS worried, but please please please don’t rush into it. I’ve been to a wedding before with a horrible DJ and everyone left right after the cake cutting. It was sad : (
This is what we are turning into as well. My FI is running around trying to find friends to take the photos and going down to the local plant store to ask about flowers.
I had a my first wedding freak-out moment this week over the exact same issue. I have a short engagement (5 months total; 4 months left) and it’s gone without a hitch except for booking a DJ. I can’t find one for my date, and I started freaking out that the only ones left available will be terrible and cheesy. But my brother is a musician so I called and asked his advice. He said he can help out with renting the equipment so we can do it ourselves. Make sure this friend is willing to set it up early in the day and do all the soundchecks, and tear it down afterwards. Also I’d recommend using iTunes on a laptop instead of an iPod, b/c with iTunes it blends songs together so you won’t have that 2 second pause between songs. It’s also easier to navigate on a laptop; you can create different playlists for different portions of the evening (cocktail hour, dinner, special dances, general dancing). Script out the whole thing for him to follow along. This website has some good advice: http://www.wedaholic.com/archives/alanis_morissette_favours_an_ipod_over_a_wedding_dj_how_about_yourself.php
Hope this helps! I’m also really curious to hear anyone who has done this successfully!
Mrs. Kiwi, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation in 06: 27, Bookkeeper
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, P.E. Teach/Coach @ private schools in LA
Engagement Date: March 31, 2006
Wedding Date: November 3, 2007
Venue: Radisson Hotel
About Me: I'm a bookkeeper who failed high school algebra. I'm currently living in Los Angeles, literally a street over from where I grew up with Mr. Kiwi, my honey of three years. We have a jumbo mini-dachshund (seriously, he's huuuuge), and we're planning an autumn themed wedding on a shoestring, paid for by ourselves. The wedding date is my late grandma's birthday, I needed her there somehow, and that seemed like the best way for us. I can't believe I'm a Bee! I couldn't be more proud!
Miss Kiwi, I laughed out loud when I read
“I give him three jobs, end up doing two, and this is how he does his one remaining job?”
I feel you. That is me and my FI to the letter!