Wedding Tips: Is Your DJ Prepared To Handle Unforeseen Emergencies?

Everyone knows the age old motto of the Boy Scouts of America: Be Prepared. Buy how many of us really are? More importantly on your wedding day is your DJ prepared? I have long carried an emergency kit in my DJ console. Redundancy and back up equipment is great for any of your own emergencies but what about the other vendors? If you are truly part of the team, then you should be able to come to the team's rescue if necessary. Many items that can solve big problems are really just small things. This photo is an example of backup audio connectors I bring to every event just in case your videographer needs a connection to record audio from my system or you discover the need for an adapter/cable for a surprise A/V presentation you've planned for your guests.

My "Just In Case" case has a wide variety of connectors and adapters.

Do I ever need my backup kit? Yes. For example, I once came to the rescue of a wedding photographer. We were working at a wedding reception at Ralston Hall Mansion and she was having problems with her slave flash. The slave is a remote flash that fires simultaneously with the on camera flash to fill and bounce extra light. Her slave was not firing regularly so she figured it was low on battery power. When she discovered that she had no more 9 volt batteries in her case she became concerned. She asked me if there was any chance I had a 9 volt and I said no problem. I carry plenty of extra 9 volt and AA batteries with me because I use them in my wireless mic systems. She was thrilled to have a fresh replacement but soon realized that the new battery was not solving the problem. Some quick troubleshooting on my part revealed that one of the two contacts that lead from the electronics to the snap on connector had weakened.

Standard 9 volt battery snap connector

The photo above is a replacement connector which is a common fix on any device powered by 9 volts because the wires are so tiny that they can fail with even the normal pressure exerted during battery replacement.

I also carry a small soldering iron and solder for just these kinds of problems. It took me no time to repair the solder connection on the contact and have her slave back working like new. The photographer was blown away by this unexpected on-site repair service. I was happy to be able to help. The client was never aware that there had been a problem and her photos came out great.

My soldering iron, solder and a smiliar connector that crippled her slave unit.

Sometimes you just never know what kind of connectors will be required to tap into a house sound system or feed an audio signal to the videographer. Sometimes you might get lucky if an open Radio Shack store is just around the corner from your event but why count on it? Other times you are on a bay cruise ship with no other options other than what you've brought on board yourself.

Here's a list of just a few things I bring along and never leave home without them.
1. Tape (Gaffers, Adhesive, Masking, Electrical)

2. Safety Pins of all sizes (saving many a dancing bridesmaids' dresses in distress)

3. Zip ties in a multitude of sizes

4. Batteries (9V, AA, AAA)

5. iPhone Charging Cable

6. Advil, Tylenol, Aspirin

7. Tool Kit (From tiny tweezers to lug wrenches)

8. First Aid Kit

9. Assorted Audio Video Connecting Cables and Adapters for many possible configurations.

10. Extension cords, Flashlights, Jumper Cables

Are you planning a slide shows or video presentations at your wedding reception? The absolute best sound you are going to get is through your DJ or band's system.  Discuss this presentation with them in advance of your reception. You should get their approval to plug into their system and make sure they have a spare line level input to make this audio playback possible in addition to all of the right connectors and cables. Another a good idea to assign one of your guests who you can trust to be in charge of the entire audio visual presentation. This person working with your DJ should have knowledge of the computer, application, projector and screen to insure your presentation is the best that it can be.

Even in this high tech world sometimes plain old hustle and low tech solutions do the trick like having the right tools to perform a simple soldering repair. Such was also the case in another recent one of my posts called Above and Beyond: Wedding DJ Customer Service. That story told of my diligence in finding an obscure song on a vinyl record for a special client request.

Above and Beyond: Wedding DJ Customer Service

Wedding and Special Event DJ's often feel like we're selling an intangible, if not, invisible service when prospective clients don't understand there are real differences among us. On the surface we can all appear similar to brides, grooms and event planners because we are offering mostly just a promise. That promise is to deliver a great entertainment experience. As the client you are really still taking a leap of faith when you believe in the promise.  I love this story because it is a tangible example of extraordinary customer service.  It all comes down to people pleasing. Keeping everyone happy at events is as important to me as it was finding this special song for my client's celebration.

I accomplished this feat of customer service using a little old fashion technology (vinyl records) to help Mother of the Bride, Cheryl, find an old song for her daughter Shelby's wedding day.  It was the song after which she had named her daughter. Finding special songs for clients has long been part of my services. In this case is was not for a dance or dedication but rather just something mom wanted played during the celebration because it had special meaning. Cheryl had exhausted every internet option before she called me. I actually love this challenge because it is a bit like a treasure hunt. I have found every elusive song on my own wish list so I love searching for others. I have many great sources for the absolute most obscure songs ever recorded.

Finding songs is a lot easier in this age of iTunes and digital music. However, as deep as the on-line music libraries have become they still don't have every song ever recorded. Such was the case with this song "Shelby" which was an album track from a rather obscure 1977 LP by Anthony Newley. This album titled "The Singer And His Songs" had long been out of print when Cheryl began her search.

Newley's 1977 album was not much of a commercial success

As soon as I got the call I knew my destination for this album was in Redwood City at The Record Man. This store sits right on the busy El Camino Real near the border of Menlo Park and has a fantastic selection of vinyl as well as CD's and video formats. It appears to be an old house with an upstairs annex you can only access from an outside staircase. Browsing is always an adventure because you must be able to read thousands of record jacket spines. They even have several six foot ladders laying on the floor in order for you to see the top rows.

The Record Man 1322 El Camino Real in Redwood City

The side staircase leading up to the annex with a plethora of old vinyl records

The Record Man claims to have over a million records in stock. Whether or not that's true they certainly had the one I needed and it wasn't the first find I made here. This place is a gold mine for the rare and hard-to-find.

I was the first on my block to be able to record compact discs long before before personal computers had the capability. I still cherish my Marantz CDR600 Professional Compact Disc Recorder. It is free standing and nicely transfers recordings from any analogue source like records or cassette tapes. The Anthony Newley album I found at The Record Man was still sealed so it yielded a nice clean copy. I  delivered a quality version of her song on CD to Cheryl just the day after she called.

When I tell this story I sometimes get blank stares or bewildered looks. The driving distance alone was nearly 150 miles and 3 hours to find this song for Cheryl. She had already hired me months ago for Shelby's wedding when she called for help finding the song. She also offered to pay me extra to solve their missing song mystery but I did it gladly without any additional charge. So you could say I went the extra mile for them. Or should I say the extra 150 miles.

What others may consider too big of a challenge I relished as a great opportunity to help personalize Shelby's reception. Some call this "above and beyond" and it occurred to me that I will now call my customer service posts that too. Stay tuned for my stories about how I love my clients and really love to exceed their expectations.

Your Wedding Colors Matter And My Ties Are There To Match

How far will your DJ go to fit into your color scheme? Does your DJ even know which primary colors you have chosen? Does it even matter? Color matching may seem like a little thing but all of those little things add up to a look that rocks and a DJ who looks like he belongs at your wedding.

Most couples agree that day–of wedding professionals should dress appropriately and not wear anything off color or obtrusive to their event. At a wedding visual presentation is everything. So it makes sense that my attire should match your favorite colors and flowers.

As a standard practice I have been matching my ties to my clients' wedding colors for years.  But it was at a recent dinner with wedding photographer, Elley Ho, and my web designer, Stacie Tamaki that this fun and original idea took form. Elley loved the fact that I care enough to match my tie color to the wedding colors and suggested creating a Wedding DJ Neck Tie Color Picker to add to my website. After all one of the most popular questions on my FAQ Page is "What Will You Wear?" That's when Stacie stepped in and brought Elley's idea to life.

Just a few of my favorite Jerry Garcia ties

For years I've always asked my brides and grooms to bring a color swatch to our final planning session in order to find the the closest match. One time I even brought a dozen ties to a meeting and spread them out on a table for the bride to pick. She was having as much fun with this decision as I was!

How can you be certain your DJ will dress to complement your wedding color board? Introducing the
first ever Wedding DJ Tie Color Picker brought to you exclusively by I MC Events. Why bother with what some people would consider a trivial detail? Because I know your wedding colors matter to you so your wedding colors matter to me. Here is just one sample from my brand new Color Tie Picker.

Blue, Purple and Green Sample Patterns

So when you begin your search for a talented wedding DJ/MC find one who cares enough about your colors to let you participate in decisions about their attire. I always encourage you to bring your color board in hand when we meet in person because it makes matching all the easier. If your color is missing from my collection, no problem. I will gladly search for a good match and purchase a complementing tie at no additional cost to you.

As a professional MC for events I focus on the big picture. But the big picture is always made up of little details and matching your colors is just one smaller example of how much I care about making your wedding day a huge success.