I’m currently enjoying a very restful Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. The DIY around the house has been sorted this morning, so it’s time to kick back and relax after a full-on all day wedding yesterday. If you think that DJs just turn up at 6pm to party, let me put you straight!
On behalf of a DJ colleague, I was hired to host the music for a whole wedding day at the beautiful Essex wedding venue, Houchins. Situated just off the main road near Coggeshall, Houchins is a dedicated wedding location, using converted farm buildings and gorgeous landscaped gardens to create a first class space in which to get married and celebrate afterwards. The whole place looked fresh, very clean and stylishly decorated, particularly the main dance room with its dark tones and subtle lighting.
I arrived at 11.30am to begin my day. With the wedding ceremony due to take place in the marquee outside at 2pm, I gave myself plenty of time to set up the three sound systems required…one for the ceremony music, one for the background music at the wedding breakfast, and of course the bigger kit for the evening disco.
As you can see from the image above, it’s just a small battery-driven but mightily powerful speaker, positioned away from the wedding congregation, unimposing but loud enough for the Bride’s entrance music, Register Signing music and of course the Bridal Couple’s exit song. All the music is controlled by me with perfect timing! The invention of such powerful professional battery speakers has been a real game-changer for outside events, and I’m lucky enough to own a couple of these excellent units.
Following the wedding ceremony, I then headed into the main dining area to check on the Wedding Breakfast system, which includes radio microphones for the Speeches. This particular day, the speeches took place prior to the meal which is often the case if the people standing up to talk are nervous. The Speeches were very well received, although I was quietly annoyed when the Best Man refused to use the microphone and everyone subsequently struggled to hear him! As soon as the Speeches were done, I kicked off the low level background music (chosen by the Bride & Groom in this case) and went for a chill in the gardens before the evening festivities began.
Finally at 8pm, the assembled guests made their way in the main room for the traditional First Dance. I try not to post too many ‘rig’ pictures of DJ equipment because it’s not ordinarily interesting to anyone other than fellow DJs, but I thought this particular set-up looked perfect against the dark colours of the panelled walls. I never ‘over-egg’ the light shows or wheel in speakers that resemble wardrobes if the venue doesn’t need it. Classy is the best word I can think of!
At 11.30pm I played the last tune of the day to a truly fantastic crowd, and by 12.15am I was fully packed in the van and saying my goodbyes to the happy couple and their guests. Phew! A twelve-and-a-half hour day of sound engineering, hosting and DJing! And that’s the life of an All-Day Wedding DJ!
