I’m not really sure what to make of the new marriage licencing laws, which basically means that you can now be officially married at any time of the day or night. It would certainly be quite novel to start a wedding reception at, say, 4am in the morning following the ceremony! As a resident DJ at Orsett Hall hotel, I wonder whether we’ll now get some quirky start & finish times…..although I seriously doubt too many people will stray from the more acceptable daylight hours.
On the subject of differing hours, I’ve noticed a lot of wedding couples lately have requested extended hours (i.e. 1am or 2am finishes), flying in the face of the recession and a marked downtown in alcohol sales generally throughout the UK. Despite creating more work for us, we DJs do enjoy extending the celebrations into the wee small hours……but it does come with a cautionary note for all prospective brides and grooms (and other party organisers)…….sometimes the extra hour or two can be a total wash-out due to diminishing guest numbers. The mindset in the UK is still very much based upon a midnight finish to most parties…..and even the most hardcore revellers are flagging badly when we head towards 1 o’clock, basically because they’ve been drinking/eating/celebrating since the wedding began at 1pm…. a twelve hour shift! So if you are thinking of applying for a later licence for your bar and DJ, please take into account all of the above, so that you don’t end up with just one drunken mate dancing on his own at 12.45am whilst everyone else has gone to bed!
