The DJ Network

Planning the perfect event is hard work,  
but finding the perfect music doesn’t have to be.  The DJ Network is a disc jockey referral service  that has access to over 30 top-rated professional disc jockeys-   all you have to do is click on our website.  
Tell us when, where, and what you like, 
and we’ll help you find the perfect entertainer for your event.

Serving the CT/MA/RI/NY Areas

Enjoy Our Informative Newsletter Articles:

Who said that you have to play solely Kenny G or instrumental music during cocktails and dinner? How about playing Spanish guitar or acoustic modern rock tunes instead? We have had couples choose to play lots of cheesy 80’s tunes or island style music. You can really set the mood of your wedding by avoiding the typical background elevator music that so many DJs tend to play. You can create a sophisticated atmosphere by opting for Diana Krall, Frank Sinatra or Michael Buble. Want to fit in some family favorites? You can request some Italian, Irish or other ethnic tunes. How about sing-along style music like Billy Joel, Elton John and Barry Manilow for a piano bar feel? Talk with your professional DJ and see what your options are for setting the tone of your wedding.

Gone are the days of police beacons, strobe lights and flashing colored light bulbs. Currently there are many high tech options for lighting your wedding reception. Is your reception under a tent? The ceiling of the tent works wonderfully with theatrical style lighting, such as subtle color changes, flowing water patterns, or a custom gobo displaying images of constellations and a delicate blue tint onto the ceiling. Want more of a club feel? Enter the era of high-tech club style lighting, with fast moving, color changing lights, and lights that create spinning patterns all over the dance floor and walls. Or, do you simply want a shifting color wash on the walls or columns in your banquet facility? A professional DJ can create this type of soft atmosphere within your facility. Ask us about the possibilities in club style or color scheme lighting.

Why such a concern? If you want everyone to hear the best man’s toast or the introductions and if you want something better than “boom box” sound at your wedding, then it becomes imperative that you educate yourself prior to hiring a DJ. Do not choose a DJ just because they supplied you with the cheapest quote. Quality comes at a cost.

Turn Your Wedding Into A Time Of Giving

Why not make your wedding a time for reaching out to others in need, a time for giving and sharing.  It is so easy to get lost in one’s own needs that finding ways to think of others can actually make your wedding planning less stressful! Here are a few ideas for you:

For those couples who have everything, ask your guests to donate to one (or several) of your or their favorite charities. At www.justgive.org there is a Wedding Registry, replete with an on line form and search engine to help even the most internet-challenged decide which, of over 850,000 charities to choose from! You can even submit a picture, biography of yourself and your groom, and any details about the wedding you wish to provide. When guests make donations, your name is mentioned. Wedding favors are lovely and cute but many don’t even make it home with the guests! Instead of a wedding favor, you can donate a set amount to a favorite charity in each guests name.

Are you and your spouse-to-be into protecting the environment? You can give a tiny tree to your wedding guests. At www.growatree.com , you can pick a tree that is customized for your state and they arrive in ‘attention grabbing display boxes’. Another option is www.treeinabox.com . They provide personalized wedding boxes with names, dates and pictures of wedding bells!

Not into ordering on the web? Go down to your local nursery – and have them package up small seedlings with a pretty bow for your day. Not only are these favors good for the environment, but your guests will have lasting memories from your special day!

You can bring happiness to the lives of others by donating your wedding flowers to a nursing home or a woman’s shelter, or any other organization that could use some brightening up.

You don’t have to stop giving when the wedding ends. Not all women can afford a beautiful wedding dress in which to get married. What a tremendous gift of love to donate your gown to an organization such as the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. At www.makingmemories.org they will instruct you on how to send your precious gift!

When all is said and done and you are blissfully happy with your new spouse, you can be thankful not only for what you have, but at peace with yourself for the kindness and love you will have brought to others. What a beautiful way to start your new life with your beloved!

Your banquet facility contact will be responsible for organizing the meal and clean up, but that is typically where their role ends and where your professional DJ will take over. Your DJ will make sure that your bridal party and parents know where to be, where to go, and what to do. They will line everyone up for introductions and will make your event flow smoothly from one event to the next. They will sense the energy level of the party and will react to keep things upbeat and festive and in tune to the directions that you have given them as to the feel that you want at your wedding, whether it be low-key or high energy interaction.

In the New England Area average pricing for a quality disc jockey ranges between $1,000 and $1,800. For a quality professional photographer, you should expect to spend at least $2,500 to $5,000. Videographers are approximately the same price as your photographer. They can be just as important in recording your wedding day.

The advent of computer based DJing has been revolutionary in the DJ industry. Laptop computers can hold more than 20,000 songs on them. But with this technology, comes a large responsibility. In the wedding industry, and specifically, at your wedding, there are no second chances. If the computer crashes, the DJ must rely on backup equipment. Professional DJs will always have a backup plan (CD’s or a 2nd computer) and will be fully prepared in any situation. We’ve witnessed an entry level DJ’s computer crash during a wedding couple’s first dance. Five minutes later, the couple and their guests were still waiting for the computer to reboot.

What a mess! If you dislike the idea of using your fingers to feed one another cake, there are other options to consider. Use forks in lieu of fingers to feed each other for a less messy endeavor. Ahead of time, make plans to have a plate and two forks set at the cake table. Be sure there will also be a linen napkin available, this makes for a quick cleanup and smooth transition to the next event at your reception. You can even opt not to feed each other cake at all. This is a perfect photo opportunity to capture the two of you cutting the cake.

Between each course in your sit-down meal, your DJ can play a selection of classic slow tunes, Motown or other music genres to entice your guests to mingle, dance, and keep the energy flowing at your event. By doing this, you not only create a more festive mood at your wedding, you can gain between 25-50 minutes of dance time at your wedding. Talk to your professional DJ and ask about the possibility of dancing between courses at your wedding reception.

If you were to be surveyed after your wedding, what percent of the wedding’s success would you place with your DJ? What about with your photographer? Or the banquet staff? Would you believe that in our survey containing these questions, we found that our clients place between 80% and 100% of the success of their wedding on the DJ. Your professional DJ will help coordinate your entire reception. They keep the flow of events moving and your guests entertained. Professional DJs pride themselves on going above and beyond the call of duty. Why do some DJs charge more than others? The simple answer is: because they are worth it. Would you trust your wedding to the cheapest DJ available? Think about that. If there’s one thing you want to do right, it’s the entertainment. Remember the importance of a successful event... We are responsible for over 80% of that.  Think you can cut corners?  READ THIS.

If you don’t want to do formal introductions, but still want some sort of grand entrance, then what can you do? We have had several couples in the past that wanted to do something unique. This is what we’ve come up with as a solution: the GRAND MARCH. We won’t introduce each member of the bridal party or your parents. We will simply find a song that you like, bring up the volume, and have all of you march in procession into the room. Typically we will bring the wedding couple right out onto the dance floor and into your first dance after the GRAND MARCH. Other times, we will do a BUTLER STYLE TOAST and have the banquet staff hand out champagne glasses on serving trays (instead of placing them at table settings). All your guests will circle the dance floor with their champagne glasses in hand. We will introduce you into the center of the dance floor with all your family and friends close by. Then the best man comes forward for the toast, which flows right into your first dance, with family and friends still circling nearby at the edge of the dance floor. It is a very unique and personal feel to the introductions and toast. Ask your professional DJ about these options at your wedding reception.

Wedding Costs

Wedding costs are a major concern for most, as well they should be. How much to spend for food, gown and tux's, location, photographer and, of course, entertainment. All of these expenses can be reduced, but which ones should be and why?

If you get your food from MacDonalds, you'll never hear the end of it, but if you provide steak and lobster, how many will remember? Quite a few, for no other reason than it's out of the ordinary. But if your having chicken, roast beef or fish (standard dinners) how many people will remember what they ate 6 months later?

If you buy the fanciest dress and the best Tuxedo's, you will look FABULOUS in all your pictures, but many people now rent not only the Tuxedo's, but also the gowns! It saves them money and, lets face it, it's unlikely that you will ever wear that gown again.

When it comes to photographers (and videographers), you will want to spend a large portion of your budget on getting one of the best! After all, those pictures (and video) will last a lifetime. If you don't have a great photographer, you're not going to get great pictures. So you don't really want to skimp too much there. That wedding album is something you will keep out on your coffee table for a long time and guests from your wedding will want to see those pictures of you and them.

Locations can have a wide variety of costs, ranging from free into the thousands. You need to balance this out also because saving money by having it outdoors at a park could also mean losing guests early on because of the weather and temperature. You don't want them to leave early do you?

Finally, we come to entertainment. It's almost always the last thing thought about and to many it's the place where couples try to find a bargain. There is just one problem with that theory: 80% of the success of your event will depend on the entertainment!

That's right. Think about it! If you don't have any entertainment, then most of your guests will leave right after they eat. Conversely, if you didn't have any food, but still had entertainment, most would probably stay for a while. You need both, but what kind of balance? Can your guests be happy with hors d'oeuvres and/or veggie platters? Actually most can! They will also be happy with just about any decent meal, which is why so often chicken is served at weddings. They won't care as much as you'd think what the meal is as long as it tastes good and is filling.

You and your guests are there to CELEBRATE your marriage, to participate in it, to share that special day with you. This is where entertainment plays a MAJOR role in providing you and your guests a happy, festive and fun time!  I have been to (and performed at) many weddings, and believe me, some have had some awful food, but with good entertainment they turned what could have been a bad meal into a fun time!

So why do so many couples want to spend such a small amount on entertainment? After all, that is what will ultimately make or break your event, right? We think nothing of spending $40-80 per person for food, but then we want to 'shop around' for the cheapest entertainment we can find, often spending less than 5% of the events costs.  Don't you think it's worth spending 10-20% on Entertainment if it makes up 80% of the time and, more importantly, the SUCCESS of your event? Of course it is.

Entertainment usually comes in two forms: Live bands or Disc Jockeys. Which should you choose? Well, that depends on you. Some people like the live sound, others prefer the sound of original artists (DJ music). There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  In either case, it's important to keep in mind that there are good bands and bad bands, and there are good DJ's and bad DJ's. We have all heard the horror stories of having a bad DJ/Band and nobody wants bad entertainment. But like food, the quality often depends on the price! You can spend lots of money (10-20%) to hire DJ 'Filet', or skimp (1-5%) and get DJ 'MickeyD'. But remember, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for most, and so you only get one chance.

So when trying to decide how much you can afford for entertainment, think about how much you can LOSE if your entertainment is poor or mediocre. Look for professionals and pay them what they are worth. After all, if you want the best, it will (and should) cost more, but in the long run, they will provide more than a mediocre entertainer would.  Remember: "They'll forget the food, but not the fun!"

www.thedjnetwork.com 
P.O. Box 330303
W. Hartford, CT 06133
1-866-862-0700
info@thedjnetwork.com