Laura Redhead Benson speaks with Wedding DJ Paudie Walsh. A full description is available on YouTube, alternatively a transcript of the discussions is available below. Additionally some clips from the main podcast and links to audio are below.
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Below is an automated transcript of the Podcast, there may be some errors but by in large you can infer the conversation:
I’m Laura Redhead Benson on today’s podcast, I’m talking to Paudie Walsh, the DJ Paudie is a full time professional wedding DJ and Paudie really has a good bit of fun. He’s great at interacting. He offers so much more to a wedding than what you would just from a DJ coming on after a band. We’ve talked everything from how DJs can cover from the Ceremony all the way through to the end of the night. Paudie is really a great personality. He completely catches me on the hop at the beginning of this podcast. And for those of you who don’t know party, he has won multiple awards. He’s well known by all the suppliers in the industry and without saying too much more about Paudie. Here’s today’s podcast.
So today we have Paudie Walsh, the Wedding DJ. Welcome. I’m excited.
Before we start.
Okay,
I have a bone to pick with you.
You’re so bold. I actually, I take this back. Can we get someone else?
I’m here now driven up here. This podcast is going live all the way from Limerick city. I have a bone to pick with you. Okay. I was halfway here. I end, I got a text from Benny. Okay. It was hi Benny here on Laura’s phone. Uh, she couldn’t remember whether she gave you the post code or not. So here it is. She’s too busy with hair and makeup and bits and pieces. When I agreed to do this, I taught, this was an inform of chat. I came in a shirt. I didn’t talk it in. I know I’m halfway here and there’s hair, there’s makeup and you look great. I looked, they’re all out there. Thank God that they didn’t make it.
I’ve heard that. I’ve just met the board. They get hair and makeup when you not, you came early. You date, you were here like 20 minutes before you were supposed to go out here. You were very early when you were writing. I had wet hair and no makeup on, so we’re doing quite well. But I did actually leave my phone at home and that was actually him on his, um, Oh, it was [inaudible]. It was all here. I was going to get here. I have a feeling today’s conversation is going to go in all sorts of tangents or you don’t know what. That’s okay.
Yeah, just take it out. But you are a DJ though. Absolutely. That’s good. Do you enjoy that? You like things DJ? I do actually. I worked for a long time. Full time. Yeah, and I hated it and I was deejaying and I said, you know what? Let’s take the phones and Google. Not meeting people, chatting to people, different people. So it kind of works because every night I go out everyday I go out and chatting with new people. Every year there’s more people getting married and I get to chat with more people. That’s true to fun. We’ve had strange, you know, if I’ve had more chats with you being a DJ, which is really unusual. I never got to chat to the DJ because you calm nice and early later.
No, but it’s really good because I’ve been like,
you know, they’ve been inside having dinner, you show up. We sat down and had loads of chats because you’re, they’re so wordy, which is really, it’s like it’s a good thing for setup cause that’s your approach isn’t it? To kind of be there for me end the call but you can be like, hi, remember me? You book me.
Yeah. It’s just, yeah
definitely something like it is something that a lot of suppliers tell me. It’s like what are you doing here? So early on it’s like I’m totally stress-free. I’m not racing down the road to get to a wedding for 11 o’clock their aid, half face ready to rock and roll when they’re finished your meal. Yeah. And I suppose then for like the band is had a totally great, if there is a band playing before you that you can actually chat to them when they’re setting off. They’ve got their little space.
You can set up your space. Yeah. And if it was a fight over the plug socket trying to come in and they’re in the middle of their, their last 14 minutes is usually like the best for two minutes of the band. They’re trying to, the first hour and 20 was just no good. Like yeah, definitely have to edit out. I said, I’m glad it’s up.
Yeah, no, I do arrive early. Um, just again, just to get in and get prepared. I think as you said there, you touched on it, the band’s appreciated. Um, for me when I’m going, I meet a cold, let’s say I’m here. Okay. Bride and groom’s peace of mind. They know, they know that you’re there. It’s like half eight. Okay. The band roved the DJ over. Okay. They’re not worrying later on cause this guy going to turn off or what
I did finish wasn’t there supposed to be a TJ rolling in the door? So yeah. No, but it’s good. It’s funny. Peace of mind for you as well.
Delayed in any way locally. And thankfully touch wood, I haven’t had any big unforeseens little punctures here and there, but again, you’re given yourself, even if I was an hour late, I’m probably still going to be there before the band start. You know if a band room and for half nine and I mean and for half A’s. If I did get to late, I still have an hour to get there because obviously you’ve got your equipment set up, but I know for you like actually spending some time in hair and makeup and getting dressed for your session,
three hours bodies. It beautified the card. I’ve always heard this before. My mom was ready to show me. You do have to look though.
I think a brand can look everything. Yeah, I know it’s, it’s like it’s, it’s always the thing. I am terrible. I am always trying to see what other people are doing and then I’m like, fine, I’m going to do the toilet lap of that.
I, I was like, I was hoping you wouldn’t say the dig to say about two years ago that everybody
DJ I knew wore a black shirt to a wedding. I said, you know what? I’m gonna wear a white one. Okay.
That’s exactly what happens. Yeah. That’s how transitioned like
that’s, that’s what I told them last. We like going against what everybody else does and making it your own. You’re not, you’re not, you’re not following the following the herd. You’re, you’re, you’re, you’re doing your own thing and your own style and whole food and people like it. They tend to, so absolutely. That’s the bright color. Just just to make sure everyone looks fucking sure this.
Yep. Can you do one us? I’ll take half because I spent a long time preparing myself so I can’t ruin the look now for the rest. I’m not. No, I’m just going to get you back before the end. But I mean for DJs as not like, so it’s good for you to be there. You got your set up because it’s not just like
plugging in a microphone, it’s not just putting in a few speakers. Like there was a whole setup as well to when you’ve got lights and you’ve got like a bigger setup as odd on teeny time as well to kind of get this race. Jimmy generally 40 minutes. Like I normally like Copans often asks me about times and we’d be just general chitchat and we’d maybe before they book or on the lead up and I would normally like my ideal time would be a meal to be finishing at half a quarter now. Yeah, a bind or if I’m starting at half nine quarter to 10 okay. We’re rock and roll until 12 o’clock with a band and I plan 12 to two. Um, so that that far that’s, I allow for two minutes to set up. I think a band or DJ or everything should be set up in, they should have a set hope that’s good enough quality, but then there’s not two hours of setup there.
It’s 40 45 minutes and then about 25 minutes. The rest of the running of the day as well. Like you kind of just be like right on here, I need two hours. Yeah, because from the time your meeting finishes may not necessarily have space to set up. It could be another 10 or 15 minutes for tables to be moved to stage to call Maine. There’s a lot to it. It’s like the under the venue. Do you have a lot of organizing to do, like around all the suppliers trying to get there, parked on and set open and everyone wants their own bit of time. And that’s the other reason for leaving already is because when the meeting was over, the peop, the hotel are moving the tables, they’re doing their thing, the entertainment, then it’s setting up. So the idea is by the time the first dance comes, if you’re having a band, a DJ, the room is cleared, it’s set up for the night and all of a sudden there’s been DJ there and there’s no more disruption later on in the night because sometimes it might just, we might need to move a table a couple of feet more just to make more space.
I’d step into and it’s done and it just looks seamless because a lot of people leave the function room after, uh, after [inaudible] actually clear out the function room. So it depends on the venue. Everyone does a different, I suppose it depends on the size and the space that they need space to turn it around. And the guests are there. Then maybe they may just move people out to a front bar where you have your drink reception and then they come back in and the room was completely turned around. So there’s lots of different things, but it’s what worked. Talking with the van, talk with myself, talking with the hotel and then just a timeline. If a hotel like sonar are finished really early, there no point in telling a band to turn up at nine o’clock if the hotel anticipate in eight o’clock me and finish, well if I don’t know if the [inaudible] clockwork, we’re usually going the band here like should we be really good about
I signed them, I’ve text him. I’m like, ah yeah I like the apartment today cause I wasn’t giving a first judge Joyce. It’s definitely something
that she should just be touching and touching base with everybody. Just have a little timeline for the day just to see exactly what happens. Cause with you, I know like everyone, I think when they think like bands, DJ weddings, but it’s not always Bannon, DJ, you know, sometimes it’s just you. You are the entertainment. Some people have two bands, but that’s true. We did a wedding once with her Fife five. Whoa, Whoa. It was cool.
Yeah, I can imagine. It’s definitely something [inaudible] never happen again. Yeah. Some people have,
well the most popular option probably would be a band to DJ, a band on forest for 200 to two and a half hours, TJ to follow up later on in the night. Um, then people love, as I said, two bands. Um, and then I do a lot of full night weddings where I would be the only entertainment from half nine. Again, I generally keep the same set times and most DJs would. Um, there’s no point starting earlier. Uh, but the very one probably won’t be ready for anywhere. Like you still need to let the running at the desktop. Yeah, absolutely. Just because there’s four less people setting up. Yeah. It’s still, you should let the day naturally run and if it’s a nice day outside and it’s the middle of July, let people go and get 20 minutes of fresh air. If you to have entertainment coming in like outside of musical entertainment that could be like
[inaudible]
the fire breather is our [inaudible]
can. All of that may be happening between the me and finishing the band, starting with the music, starting to leave the day. Ron, look, I always tell people don’t stress about the time. I have so many cobbles that are just like this is going to happen to, this is going to happen and what they do is lard. They set themselves up for a fall. This is it. We all have a say. So first time eight o’clock and we always got [inaudible] no, no. And then you explain this to them. Why is pro, unless you’re doing something way different to the normal before I’d even say no, I’d just ask them. Okay, tell me, go back a couple of hours. Even just have to ask, what time is your bell? How many of you having in the face say it’s half five we’re having 200 people. Then it’s just logistically until people, some people would say that I just don’t factor in the setup time for us after.
So they’ll think over, finish the meal at eight o’clock there for the first 10 [inaudible] I suppose. Do you ever set up then if there’s room, if you were doing the full days that you were doing from the first dance on, if there’s space for you to set up before these are, why the raising, would that be something you do or do you always kind of like keep the routine of letting me finish and then I think that 40 minutes after the meal is really valuable. It gives people their second wind. Um, I can, I can set up, if there’s a room that’s, you know, a really big room and there’s a stage there and there’s space and I’m not interfering with the [inaudible] the hotel, then I want to get away in the background.
And then if it’s a case that they are done, I’ve, I’ve set up and they’re Easter, they’re just finishing the meal. I say, look, let’s give it 20 minutes. Bit of background music. I play music. It won’t be dead music boss. It, it just won’t be from one to the other. People need time to digest. They’re freezing clear off the dance floor and just keep the tables, they just need to kind of do. But housekeeping before you move on to the next stage. Yeah. Which is important. And it was, so if we talk a bit more about like, so everyone’s, I think very familiar with bands, DJ comes on. Yeah. That’s kind of self explanatory I suppose in a sense. But when it comes to they’ve just hired you and this is something that is becoming, I’m seeing it more and more hugely by DJ [inaudible].
Like three, four years ago, I would’ve never, you might every now and again you’ll come across twice max and now there’s like 20, 30 a year. Okay. Would it be that much? It wouldn’t, yeah. Trends change. I get a lot of boutique, what I would call boutique weddings, which are smaller venues, maybe 60, 80 guests. You know, immediate families need to get a big band for 60 people. They suppose in some ways it can be done. There’s no, there’s no writing. There’s no right and wrong. You do, do whatever you feel is right for you. Um, as, as a couple, if you want a 10 piece band for 60 people or 260 people get it if you want. I’ve, I have done weddings of 200 people as a DJ, only in some of the biggest wedding venues in Southwest vice versa. Then I’ve done weddings in like small country houses where I have like I’m in against putting things up on like Chester drawers, you know, like moving lampshades out of my way to make space.
So it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s a mix of both, but yeah, know the DJ, the DJ one of the option is definitely something that cobbles are considering. There are a lot of pros and cons to boards as you’ve touched on it there. Space wise, um, a band coming in for 60 day two people could be a little bit all empowering. I’m not saying about the crowd, I think just like, yeah. So some people don’t want live music and that’s, that’s just, that’s, that’s their taste. That’s not their priority in the day. I suppose. It’s not their priority or they may just want something really particular in terms of music status. So they may not want the pen for two hours to come in and do a wedding band set. They may want to keep it more seventies eighties you know they might want a specific genre or I try and steer away from that. I still try because every Irish wedding it has your aunts and uncles, it has your cousins that are going to pop on later on in the night when you’re do like, like for me for like wedding actually comes down to just two hours extra because I [inaudible].
Yeah, exactly. And I’m just playing a little bit more. What I’m trying to do is, and what I try to tell the couples is when you’re booking a DJ for the whole night to get the idea of it’s a disco for the night out of your head. It is a party. But like the traditional like you know the typical DJ DJ’s has moved on massively. It’s not just one guy, one hand up to his ear. Like beer crates were a big thing back in the early, no, he’s there but so I grew up in a pub. That’s probably where I got the fair from you is again on the phone was seeing the one man bands coming in and you know all the mats of these to do and all of that and obviously you know, as you said, it’s all evolved a lot. It’s more, it’s, it’s you’re an entertainer. You try it. You wear it though because you’re not just standing there going, this is the sex. I can go into play tonight and I’m just going to move from song to song. There’s so much more to us because you are very interactive from what I’ve seen on your, because I don’t get to see you perform. No, I just get to have the chats beforehand.
What do we going to get this thing going? Everyone keeps saying this to me. I suddenly this off of the diva. This is, this is coming across that I’m into. I’m not at all trying to get the first den star. No, like, yeah, but you are entertaining though. That’s why I tried to be, yeah, like there’s the muse there. As you said, there’s a lot of, I’m not trying to make it out. The DJ is rocket science. Okay. It’s a lot about the personality of the [inaudible]. How’s the personality like we spoke before about like the technical things of detail. I’m not a technically good DJ, like I’m a blender, but I am like technically good DJ is someone who’s like on the Dixon there. They’re doing all of this. Really. They’re mixing in the moment like, yeah, they’re doing all of these really fancy things that you might even think is going on, but they’re, you know, they’re really, really into it.
Nothing wrong with it, but I don’t do that. I don’t think from what I’ve seen that that would work as as a, as a wedding set, because you kind of think I beat that. Don’t share clothes. People are, the guests are there to be entertained. The music is a smaller part of that. Wedding bands, wedding DJs, at least for the ones that I’ve seen or played the same music, they’re all, we’re all gonna to be here for certain things. Like you hear pro Mary coming on. Yeah. It doesn’t feel [inaudible] sinking in my chair though. There are certain songs where even if you’re in a bad mood or you’re just going to get all nervous, you’re like, yeah, let’s go. Yeah. And then because everyone plays the same music, you’re like, well what makes a good one over a bad one? It’s the execution. It’s the personality of the person that’s leading it.
And then that’s where the entertainment comes in. So the music is a smaller part, the look, the execution and um, I would be, no, I’m not constantly under Mike, which a man ever to stuffed up. Yeah, I’ve, I’ve been there and I’ve been like with this guy ever day, like anything, anything I’m doing on the mic, like everything I’m doing on the day or the night rider is the cobble. So it’s, it is me talking, but it’s about the cobble or you know, it’s there. If they are the focus for me, I’m just like, I always tell people exactly what I was just sick sit.
People say, Hey, we saw you at a wedding. We taught you agree at floors for God. Your grades are. This is not like, no, that’s the people. That’s the guest. I’m just there to facilitate the form. I just bring the speakers and the lights and I facilitate it. It’s up to you what you do with it, so the microphone was, yeah, I would be, I would encourage dancing. I wouldn’t Badger people into like [inaudible] and you can gauge a crowd. Normally I would say the first 20 minutes would probably be the most Mike heavy part and the last 20 minutes. The first 20 minutes is where I’m sitting out my stall. I’m like, I’m here. This is me. This is what’s happening. Okay. After that, the music runs a little bit here and there where it’s needed. Some nights you don’t have to say a word just got banged by me the last 20 minutes.
I’m trying to get the finish and I think some crazy have to work a little bit harder. I then, it just depends on the combination of people in the room. It depends on a combination of Lords of things. There are the actual venues up. Does that make a difference today? Hugely. Yeah. People, we spoke about different size weddings, you know, 60 people I’ve done smaller, 2025 the venue has to match the size of the wedding. So don’t put, don’t take a functional that holds 300 people and put 30 people into it. No vice versa. It is LRM the spring has got an atmosphere. I would prefer people to be squashed. It is a bit like, you know, because atmosphere wise people, if people have too far to travel, when you’ve got a massive dance floor and you’ve obviously, even if you’ve got to wonder, you’re probably 50 or that 200 or dancers, how many of them are in the smoking area?
Hung in the bathroom sitting down. So you do dilute it down. Um, so yeah, you do have to work a little bit harder at some weddings. Again, generally I’ll give out so much and then I’ll take back or I can only take it back. If I go into a wedding, I’ll make a Savage effort to get people going and feed off your energy. It’s all done exactly what they did. I give out the energy if I’m standing there like, Oh, you don’t want to be there then if that does her wedding. Exactly, and you can’t do that. That’s someone’s day. It’s, it is another wedding for me. I may have had one that I before. I may have one the night after or two the two people that have paid me a nice sum of money to me there, it’s their day. I’m there for them and they thought this true for years, years.
There are some people like would have me booked two, two and a half years out. That’s like you’re their DJ. Okay, so you’re there for them on the Nigeria to make an effort and perhaps to feed the energy. I’ll make the effort and then I’ll try and get as much of it back out to the guests as I can solve it. Yeah, you’d work a bit harder some nights it’s easy. Just go in, hit a, yeah, one of two things. Some weddings go straight through with a band. Then there’s a break for tea and coffee, so the band goes straight through spending all the time. They started out and stuff, I suppose, or some venues. That’s just the way they run and again, I did use it like this and then I do like it. I don’t mind. No. I think maybe back in a couple of years ago, I was using the comfort that the band would have the floor full for the last song. [inaudible]
it was my sole job to knock that. People leave the dance floor and the first three minutes, and if I got over the first 10 minutes, well that was me. I was planting things might in your face a smile. Anyway, that’s the energy. That’s the pot, like positive energy. It doesn’t matter if there’s no one dancing, it just means they’re not dancing yet. In case a patient of gating them back up, no negativity or this is run and left. It’s not, it’s fine, but to be out, yeah, that’d be great. Oh God. Stairs to get in here. It’s fine. Yeah. I knew about them before I got radio before. I don’t have to go sit you if you’re starting with an empty dance floor after a break. But the worry is when you’re playing background music and it’s like, you know, corporate moral tones, soil tracks that you’re dining music as us nearly maybe a little bit more uptempo, not leaving your diary completely.
But uptempo, Aretha Franklin, the temptations. Yeah. Just something that people know but and then they start dancing and it’s like, Oh no, they locus or they’re just really good cause you’re coming on. You’re like, I’m none of that later. Do I need to like re rethink this whole situation? So yeah, I didn’t really think about the background music too much that that’s just something to fill the air. The and then you just go straight back into us. No, we start off slow and builders, we’ll start off a couple of tracks, maybe a slow set. Um, it depends. Um, I suppose you get to, cause you’re there early as well. You probably get to watch people. I’ve been there people watching so you kind of get a real feel for the room cause he gives up a suit before like you know, like the band could be like, there could just be a couple of minutes where like the songs they’re playing for whatever reason, this crowd is just the mafia and they change it up and it’s like every single person’s side of their seat.
And that’s why I’d be like, it could be, it could be the right time at the wrong time. I’ve often Don songs when I set up the start of the night, I don’t leave, I don’t tend to go anywhere. Like I’m around the function room for for the two hours that the band plays for yourself in the corner. Absolutely. Don’t know how I’m done. I’m done, I’m enjoying myself. I’m done. Uh, but the, I get to see what the band are doing. Number one, it means I probably won’t repeat anything they’ve played. That’s actually really important as well though sometimes. But then the point I was going to make then was the songs they play earlier in the night might be the right time at the wrong time. I may redo a song, I better pack it up and they’re like, I know that you whisper it there. He just said [inaudible] playing a song that they have done and it’s like this guy, what’s he doing like and then and then it’s like the floor fits and it just might be a, we talked about benzene 90 sets.
A 90 set is brilliant. Feels the floor at 11 o’clock yeah, that’s true. A little bit more alcohol on board and that that real high energy of temple is better suited to one o’clock in the morning and you find the laser, it gets the younger, the crowd is on the dance floor. It doesn’t really matter. It appealed to everyone. Okay, okay. The way I don’t have a set in terms of the same songs, but what I will do is I do tend to have a structure which is the first kind of half hour. Say if it’s a two hour set, the first half all will be general party. I’m coming on after a band. I can’t go too mad. You have to keep it. Give them a minute. Give them some behinds. You would get a break after the band, so as soon as I’m finished you’re like, okay, come on, let’s get a drink and you might lose the crowd for 10 or 15 minutes, so you’re just panicking.
We’re not there to the back. I know this. I knew this was going to happen. They’re combing. Then you get them back out. Then the hour, let’s say 12 to two from half, 12 to half one that’s mentally, I suppose they get their second wind I’m building. I build it back up for that half are they forget about the band. Never. Never here. Yeah, I’m here now. Yeah. Then only remember me like you can have, if some people overlook a DJ at their wedding, what’s the last thing people remember from wedding? It is the DJ. You can have a great day. You can have a rock and band. It’s a long two hours for are kind of going home a bit tired and I might set my head to bed. Yeah. So build it up that mid Lauer half two and a half one that’s rocking. That can be that. I always tell people,
you know what the videos I put on Instagram and the promo videos and the YouTube and the Facebook. Yeah, that is, that’s where it’s like you just got to want to join in though. You’re watching them go on and off like glory. I’m always jumping around the place and he’s usually dragging me out like three or four songs and I’m like, he needs a partner and often I just do one more screen break. Right. Great crack. Yeah. And you’re just like all the way,
the way I play the music is very bang, bang bang moment. So I might play for two hours, but I might play three hours worth of music because I want like a 90 song could be six minutes long. I’ll get to the bread and butter in the middle that everyone loves and then I’d play it. And if you’ve got a bang, bang, bang, like in a 20 minute set, I could play like 15 songs. It doesn’t give people a chance to go after the song. It’s like sit down.
Oh I’m in the last half hour.
Goes back to some classics because what I’m trying to do is I’m not alienating the older crowd. I don’t want it at 12 o’clock I don’t want a band come on and play to the older crowd and then meet to come on and play to the new hold. I want the band, I want the band plays and turn music. I want the band to play some new stuff from the nineties keep it fresh and let, let the, let the older people get their dance at the younger people and then vice versa would meet, I don’t want a 12 o’clock or the waterproofing like right. Come on. He’s way too young for us. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, and I’ve had like, you’ve had it where at the end of night it’s like Brian grooms, mothers and fathers are like open people’s shoulders and you know,
sewing and children [inaudible] grandkids don’t know you. I found the [inaudible]. He’s supposed to be mined in the kid. She’s on the dance floor. Where is the babysitter? Yeah. I’m going to look another girl then at the end of the day looking for their jackets and their ties and where’s it gone? Requests. Do you ever get like, this does not happen to weddings to people ask for requests. They come up chin goals when you play. Yeah. I think the CD jungle ask him. Yeah. Look, I encourage it.
Okay. Boards. I don’t always follow through with my encouragement in the sense that like I take requests absolutely no problem. You’re more than welcome at any stage to come up to me. Yeah. It’s not a demo situation. You’re a veg. I generally, even if there’s a stage I won’t set up on the stage, I want to get up on the ground with them, make it very easy for people to come up chat either while I’m playing or even before I start. Uh, and it’s very accessible for them to do that. But like some people, like some of the requests you get or you’re like, you’re going to kill the room. You’re, it’s one o’clock in the morning and someone comes up and this actually happened. Would you play a van Morrison? And I’m like, you’re like, but will you dads?
It’s cause it’s nobody else. Yeah. And I’m like, great
song. Yeah, great guy, girl. You know, maybe three hours ago, four hours ago and middle of the road set. Okay. Kind of. Yeah. But nada was like, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I take requests off the bride and groom. So if there’s a big thing with me about like in advance or the night, so there’s planning forms that they fill in. There’s a big section on that about music. So I get songs from them. I’ll know my idea, Laura, is that, and people have said it to me after I am gone in for two hours and by the end of the two hours I want people to like me. Right? Someone who’s never met me before, I want them to make them feel like I’m their best friend. No, I’m not. I’m not like holding the Brighton girl’s hand for the two years that they have me booked in to have some, so report with them.
I have like 20 questions that I asked them about six or eight and about music. They’re really specific questions, general, like iconic songs that may crop up. Like if for example call when a County final in August or September and you’re getting married in October and the song that was put on the jukebox and the law department every 10 minutes because that’s, that song became synonymous with that final and then the whole team are there because someone is related to, they’re going to explode or it could be, it could be the randomness or some petty case. You’ve seen some centers that came up lately. That’s a song I’ve never played at a wedding. I never would have played it and if someone came up and requested it on the note, I wouldn’t have played it. It was on the book. It was on the planning farm in advance of the day.
So you’re going to go I think one, absolutely. I still ask the bride and groom or the way the culprit to look. Leave it to me. Yeah, like unless you’re [inaudible] it because you know best, don’t you. If there’s something you really, really want as in hell or high water. If there’s something that I have to play and I’ve drawn by T it’s your day, I’ll do it. But sometimes it might have a weird reaction in the room though because you’re suddenly get like our response to it that you weren’t expecting all any work for one particular song, uh, at a wedding. And I played it and place exploded and I played it the next night and the place exploded. I just decided to try it out and then the next three weddings had bombed. I said, right, okay. Type of pack or no, you’ll take about us maybe what I’m doing or where I’m putting this on the time of the night or what I thought it would work is wrong and it packet and think of something else. Um, but you do get it, you feed up. Like some of the best songs I play have come from guest requests or songs I’ve never taught cause they’ve heard it before somewhere. Yeah, they’ve heard of it. And it’s like a song everybody knows, but you’ve never heard it on the radio. You don’t hear it on the radio. I can play very sharp music, either wedding, unless someone really wants to chart set dance charts, I’ll do it. I can do, there’s no problem. But I think people are so sick of listening to [inaudible].
It’s odd. It’s odd. And it’s the same ones over and over. And I’m just saying, let’s go away from that. Yeah, leave, leave all of that at the door. The goodies like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And unfortunately the cheese works. That’s okay. And that’s okay. We all the cheese and our ladies, they’ll sometimes little later on in the night it goes down really well. And if you were doing the first dance, so like I know like right. The couple will tell you this is our first dance that you don’t have to worry about learning to play us because you’re playing it. But it’s not just playing the song though. Cause I know the first time that it’s very like, so you’re the first musical act to come on. You need the room to get out of their chairs. They just sat down at the last two and a half hours or a few courses, but like it’s not just like, right and we’re introducing a couple and they walk onto the dance floor and half the room know what’s happening and half the room are kind of switched off.
But you need everyone, like they’re just not used to the sound oblivious to it. They’re in their own little world at their table talking about something else and using some similar to the like a good badge that you will make the effort to like face is happening. If it takes 10 minutes before I start, when I start to tense your, there will be, there will be a circle or something like that. Yeah, it’s important. It’s, it’s a nice, it sets the night. It’s makes my job easier because I have everybody on the density second song. Then they just have to like there. Yeah. Yup. Absolutely. Yeah. Hit them with the hook. The second song R for reverse dance hook, if you can hope them. If I can get a solid 20 minutes after the first dance and realistically that’s what the photographer wants. That’s what the videographer wants to get to 20 minutes and sit down floor just for 20 minutes on a video. I’m the same way. It’s going to look between one and two [inaudible].
You have to get crowed up from an atmosphere point of view. You’ve invited these people to your wedding. Now it’s your first dance as a married couple. You want to be surrounded by your family and you’ve asked them to be there. You’re paying a hell of a lot of money to have them. They’re like, why not? Why would they be sitting down in the back for your first day? Like having a DJ post, having a band. It’s good peace of mind for people to know that like the likes of yourself that you will make the effort to do that. Like it’s not because because you don’t have a band, it’s not going to happen. Iffy cause you interact there. Absolutely. Yeah. Look some people’s request would be that you don’t have anyone oper that they want to be on the floor and they’re terrified that after they’d wanted to happen at all, we’ve had one or two where there was no first dance because they just, they just couldn’t. But that must be a little bit harder again though. Cause it does the first one’s kind of the four starting point isn’t it? It is, yeah. I do a lot of American weddings, us weddings and they actually do the first dance before the meal. Yes, that’s right. We’ve had, we’ve had that a couple of times. It’s quite nice. It’s nice for photography. [inaudible] I tend to, when it’s seven o’clock I, the speech is done the first dance and the father daughter does
but like at the same, but I think it’s when, you know when the couple you, cause you’re around already. So I’m like well you might not be there that early. But when they,
everyone has a seated and they’re making their entrance into their bank putting room and if like to music or applause or whatever. And everybody’s like, it’s like I haven’t seen them all day. It’s like, are these brand new people? I’m like everyone ropes into like the new combo and then to go straight into that first dance, like you do have everyone’s attention anyway. There’s, there’s no effort to it. So I’ve seen it a couple of times. But then if you don’t have a first dance, how do you approach just got straight into us. There’s a couple of things you can do. Um, what tough one to start with. Uh, what the does different ways you can wrap it up? I trying to think of the exact wording that I choose, but it would be like a couple stents. So Ryan groove opted not to have a first dance because they want to make, they want everyone included, they don’t want to disclude anybody.
So they want [inaudible] terrified. They want, they want everybody and their partners on the floor and they’re going to do a first dance with everybody. Yeah. Cause I know cause some people would go on and they have the first answer out of 10 seconds and they’ve like informed the band or the DJ, right. Literally gave us 10 seconds out there and then announce the bridal party to help us. Like normally we’ll try and get a couple to at least two far to 45 seconds, which is I tell them, just gives the photographer videographer a chance to get the shots you on your own. Give us 40 seconds. I promise. Like if they are willing to let me get the people the guests off, we’ll make a nice tight circle like the dance floor. It could be 40 by 40 let’s get them in writing just enough for you and whoever else cause these people’s expressions in those videos and photographs for that first and second. [inaudible] it is there. All these are on you. You know that’s, that’s in a, in a positive positive judgment. It’s not judgmental. You don’t know how to know. Have to know. Sorry, you don’t know what happened. My words are gone. You don’t need to know how to demo.
I was like, how long has he been talking about you don’t know how you don’t even know. You have to completely putting me off.
You don’t need to have to be dance professionals. You don’t need to know how to dance or you can just put your homes around each other. I’m swaying shuffle
and everybody would be like whew. Like best thing we’ve ever seen. Yeah.
I have nothing against them. Okay. Yeah cause we see the whole cardiographic. Yeah. We’ve got the full bridal party and everything involved to see is coming in to meet a bro to meet a groom especially who is sweating and just wants to get the first. It’s because they’re trying to remember all the steps and you see that you might see like a highlight clip after from a wedding and it’s like counting the steps and then like the worst of all and might be uh, only once ever had happened the bridegroom had a choreographed dance. Never told the band. Okay. The band invited all the guests farm like a minute. It ruined. They couldn’t do it
and cause it usually accelerates into lips twist a tangle step dip at the end thing,
six weeks of dense lessons down the drain because they didn’t tell the like no, no, no. Start to get to get the communication brings us back to communication. An email, I’ve gotten an email on that that I didn’t know. There’s a lot going on in a wedding and it can easily like go over your head. But these things are solid parks. They are, especially if you’re doing something like that. No. Again, priorities. I like we cha, we’ve chatted before like some people’s priorities are not anything to do with mean are put up for the videographer. The most important thing to some people are the cakes I be in fights are the shoes they’re wearing. So
my hair makeup, I’ve done it all. I could’ve birdie you after this. Anyway, moving onto the cake. I like cake.
Uh, they like different provoke cake. Different in my case. Yeah. I, I’ve, I’ve no trained myself to like not eat the afters food or the cake. [inaudible] watching this. Like I definitely saw him eating cake every now and then there’s like chocolate, this cake cake there. If I notes like if I’m doing maybe two or three weddings, I generally wouldn’t do more than two to three in a week. Like Thursday, Friday, Saturday is enough for the late hours that I’m doing. Actually at Christmas you could do bloody 12 in a row. I take time off for Christmas. I do even a July, like a July would be generally a towards the front. And that’s enough for me. I think then that would lead onto the question for what time you play. But if I’m feeling sorry for myself on a Saturday night after driving like two hours to a venue and I’m just, yeah, I just want the sugar rush and that, that actually just comes back to the timings. Like a lot of people are tiny as a website or, or which weddings. It runs a little bit late. I get it mixed up. There are a small bus.
He bought it back. Okay, I’m good. Um, but uh, they can run a bit late and we said that earlier, you know, not to worry, just leave it one generally time wise for me. Okay. It tends to run the same because I fear what every couple inside, I’m not playing to four o’clock in the morning on a Friday night. Do you want to do a wedding on a Sunday night? That wouldn’t be fair to the Saturday nights cause I’m being the foreigner even to be home. If, if anyone’s wondering what time a DJ gets home from a wedding, I would aim far for Chuck at four o’clock is good.
I just could never be that kind of like get my car and you’re having a nap. You’re probably getting old
for wedding some mornings and I ain’t going to bed. You know, I could be like, I hate staying away. And people often offer, Oh, you know, would bring up the country and then you stay away and it’s like, no, I’m going home. I want to be wake up this morning in my own bed, my own coffee. [inaudible] sometimes I do logistically why sometimes you’re playing up the country, you’re playing up there again the next night just to drive on my spot as I started to stay up, you could be just an hour from the next venue or something. If you’re doing say Dublin and Kildare you’ll stay in one or the other and then don’t,
cause I know like for well for you go away from timing like so it’s like they’ve got the set you’re used to hearing about the band, the DJ, there’s you coming down from the first sound but there’s also people and I know it’s, it’s very much the Americans would do this anyway but when it comes to like different cultures and like a full day as in you’re there and you’re playing something truth the man as well. And this, I think this is some people they do need cause they haven’t seen it. They don’t even relate to some option but it is there. Do you want to operate there? For me,
I would fluff it out for it. Yeah. Like the idea of having a DJ for the full day is a very American style wedding. No, a full day. It can be. It can be a lot of things. Okay. Some people would have you from the ceremony, some people would have you for drinks reception, some people would [inaudible] yes, absolutely. Yeah, that’s new to me. So what we would be doing is generally I’ve done ceremonies only actually where they’ve hired me in. Yeah. So what we would be doing, so just as a very, because you’ve asked about it, um, we’d be doing background music while the guests are arriving. So just a little bit of atmosphere. Uh, generally there’d be maybe three to four pieces of music. So I think the produce is the entrance. Then depending on what you’re doing, middle of the ceremony, some people may be doing a sensor on money, demote the signing of the register and it could be a ring warming. You might want bits and music for that. I have libraries and libraries of covers of music. So if anyone is thinking about doing it themselves, a Manila or vanilla strings on Spotify, the piano guys, all that sort of stuff. Um, I’ve always, when someone books me for a full deck, I always tell them the one thing is you can do all of this yourself. Just do it better.
Well, it’s traumatic and it takes it away from you. This isn’t, you don’t have to worry about getting it wrong with Spotify and streaming. And he’s trying to queue up to 34 seconds in the songs, getting that exact points that you want to open doors about
that entrance. So we do ceremony, we do the, we do the piece of music and then we do the, um, do the X, the exit from the play music track, the, the drink, just after we finish off the ceremony would a little bit of background music, just what I guess it a receiving line. Some people do it, some people don’t. It’s where the bride and groom, I really like this idea that they raise an awful kind of sense to like everyone’s very kind of excited at the end of the time because they’re greasing the breeding ground. You’ve gone out with a big song and you leave that play, but then it goes quiet because the song ends, doesn’t it? I know some musicians will play a little bit longer, but majority of the time it is directed song that’s back down to the home of people and the way, the way I work is that actually if you say for example, had me ceremony, drinks, reception, most teachers actually are the same.
It’s a separate setup. It’s already in place, so when you move from your ceremony, there’s music playing. You go to the drinks reception, the music is already playing in the, in your cocktail hour, you’re getting going. What I do is I work with Cabella to build a playlist, so there are certain genres of music that a couple will love but will not work later on in the night. Or there may be some people say a bride or groom or whoever. It may be from a different country, there may be Spanish, French, German, whatever it is. You can bring in those cultures early in the evening. Keep all the family happy. You moved in, you moved into your dinner and I know you said about like, you know guests are the bridegroom being invited into the room. Now imagine. That’s great. Imagine having a DJ do it that uses the, Mike does Costa Rica, we do ideas. The best man is usually like, what am I saying exactly now? Exactly. What do I say? No, what happened? I’ve done a wedding where we introduced 27 people to 16 different songs individually, individually.
They were the bridegroom, their six bridesmaids and groomsmen, parents, flower girls, everyone, everyone, everyone. And that’s not even, there was tons of people, but they all had a song. They all danced coming in, serious videographer. I was like, this video has gotta be like five hours long because it was just [inaudible]. They came in, they did their sag for their meal. Again, the playlist. So some of the, what I do is would have went with a meal a lot and again a lot of DJs will do it is loads of ideas for the meal so you can make it as interactive as our own interactive as you like loads of ideas of things that you can do if you want to do icebreakers, things like that. Cause I’ve seen this like kind of in between courses and stuff. Whatever you do, don’t want to drop the meal service because you don’t want to meet running on our leg cause this guy’s running around, they’re ready to bring you to the next course but they can’t because your mom’s like, yeah he’s gone.
Yeah, you could do it. The fun things like within the playlist, just even, you might even do it yourself. People are watching this build up and then you’re just like, I talk to you. I’ve always had to give something back because everybody hasn’t gone to book me. But like at least if they watched a podcast they say well he’s not available. But actually he gave us a tip. Build your own dinner music playlist. If you’re telling you on Spotify, give a table a song. If I give every table a song and they’d put that song into the Spotify playlists, sprinkle them around. And then at the start of the meal, the best man sends up and says, by the way, does a bottler champagne, 20 Euro, whatever it is, and went to your robot.
Hey, I’m five-star all the way. I don’t mind. I’m being conservative here. I’m like, it’s not worth the Africans. He tells them, right? Uh, tells him about the song. Best Tabor wins. You can do whatever you want. Dan, stand up the chairs, singers, whatever it is. Best table wins and you don’t know when your song is coming. There’s going to be other songs mixed in all two hours and it’s a bit of fun. So it’s not like one guy going, look at me now in between your meet and I’m going to talk to you like it’s just going to happen. I don’t want [inaudible] truth. The room that happens without me even opening my mouth. We do. You can give setting the seed. You can do, you can do speech bingo, speech finger, what speech?
Speech finger would be, where does it, bingo carrot. It has all these different words on it. Okay. Like, okay. Yeah, I’ll want you to do is you Mark them off when someone says it. So like bass man stands up and says thank you, thank you game thank you game. Or you know how many times the bride says, or the groom says something about the bride and they’re all marked out and there was a bout, I think the cards, I’d have to check exact numbers but there’s about 20 different variations of carrots. I can like this and someone that they get a line or they feel a card and they stand up in the middle of a speech or the bingo, I guess the first dance have a little card. Why did you try to do as the meal is the first time everybody’s going to be together?
Yeah. You don’t want to fill it with huge amounts of accuracy. Like that’s only three or four ideas of like talk to your farty that I, that you can do and you would do all this if you were to or as little guest the first tense. So a card would just guess the first dance on it. But mr and mrs games. Yeah, that’s a huge, yeah, that’s again. Yeah. And there’s different variations of that. Did you I’ve Barbie dolls, like a candida, like or like shoes, the shoes. And then you can have, so you might have like a Rover hammer, like signs made it with him or her. Yeah. Yeah. There’s that. The pearls of wisdom card. So you pass them out. I wrote one bit of advice that you’d give to the Brady room. Some of them are going to be funny, some of them are going to be really sentimental.
What I would do then is to break the ice before the speeches is read out five or six of them so that it’s like, okay, you know, the voice men best man stands up to do his speech and it’s like [inaudible] and it’s like, ah, to me, uh, that’s broken. You do the positivism you say, and I’m now going to pass you to the best man who’s going to introduce everybody for it’s good for him as well. But it kind of gives this a trip. That’s a very American thing. Like I cobbled, I do have Irish couples that are doing it and it’s funny when they do inquire, it’s like, what part, where are you from? And they’re like from Kilkee and it’s like, Oh yeah, we saw it, we saw it. Cause my cousin got married to an American woman out to the wedding and actually a housemate of mine came home and he’s like, he’s going out with a Canadian girl and they went to a wedding in Canada and he came home and he said, potty, I’ve got the one for you DJ true the meal.
I was like, yeah, I know that like, and he was like, no. I said it wasn’t a mental, I just don’t think, it doesn’t enter their mind. They just don’t see it as a possibility. And it’s right. You don’t want to be like, this is what you should do and gel down their chores. I don’t, but it worked to some really well as like in certain situations there’s [inaudible] listen to the last 10 minutes of me going on about what about the meal and they’re like, I would absolutely hate that. And that’s the one that people don’t like. I have to have this at my wedding, this is my table wedding. You can have it like you don’t even have to have a full day. I haven’t had it in situations where I’ve done the meal band come in and played and I’ve left or band come in and I’ve played after them so you don’t have to, it’s not a thing of the giraffe to have a circle, you know you can have this great.
So because the perception of a DJ is DJ playing late nights, there is so much more to a DJ. It’s even massively about, they must seen it winds up taking part in the back. Yeah, I know there is like there is, there’s a core to DJs and Arlen that have gone, like I traveled to the States a good bit and the UK, this is not a new and it’s a known spew and now was 10 years ago in the States, but we tend to be, I live on [inaudible] that we’re behind. We just have traditions and the thought of breaking with our tradition because that’s how you do things just to somebody. That’s the big thing. Like someone will see that and they’ll say, yeah, I read that and I would sit them down and I’m saying, if you’re not fully behind this then don’t do it.
Like if you’re like, I’ll need your participation as a bride and groom as in to be behind us and Caplin along and get kind of like no matter how much you telling me you want it, if I have a feeling that you, it’s not the app, then I would say, look, let’s not do it. It’s the same thing with like Sydney chefs and stuff. If you had told someone at six years ago, we’re going to get this man in around the desert and he’s going to get the whole room up, sing and dance. He be like, Oh, that sounds awfully corny, but it’s brilliant because you’ve never experienced it and now it’s one of the biggest trends at the moment it’s going on. Yeah, maybe not as much. No. Maybe 18 last year it was probably, it was a huge time for it. So yeah, that’s the full day and then it goes into a, your first dance and a full an idea if you want it.
Okay, so the meal, the meal is where you can, maybe it’s an icebreaker. As I said, the guests are all together. Some people might know each other at the table and that’s where you can do little things like the pearls of wisdom character where people are like, what did you write? What did you write? Yes. You’re giving them a conversation starter. They’re talking about us and you might come around to collect them after a while and things like that. Again, it just needs a little bit of organization. It’s not a massive amount. It generally means let’s do some sit downs. You’d have to meet twice for us to explain exactly what we can do or a go through it and then leading up to the wedding and see what gives you good feeling and what’s kind of like not, I can book an after band or I can book a full night without meeting the couple face to face.
I would generally try and get them on the phone or via email if people are abroad to get a real feel for the personalities. If you’re doing that, if you’re doing that and if I, if I, if they come on the phone and like this is going to be mega, this is going to be a rave, this is going to be great crack. I’m like, you’re the kind of couples that I want and I wouldn’t sell something to someone that I don’t think it’s bad for something else. I’m not going to force it and they’ll only, they might think it’s great but they won’t know them. They won’t know until I’m talking to them and I don’t want to come in and it’s a, maybe it’s a selfish thing to say, but I’ll feel yet there if they’re not involved or if they’re not intuitive, he is not going to get, if you’re refusing to get into it then you’re, you’re fighting that isn’t [inaudible] person who would go mad later on right after a couple of drinks.
But it’s just too early for me. I’m not there. I’m not there. And I suppose you’re behaving yourself in front of certain people then as well depending on the roof. Yeah. You don’t want to be like as a wedding supplier, I generally don’t know most of the people in the room when I’m there. But there probably is politics going on and things. It’s family there. I could have dead today. I don’t care cause I know like, so a lot of people when they booked a band they would have a DJ like affiliated with them. Sometimes you are a standalone, newer like party was the DJ. So if you’re searching for a DJ, you’re a couple and you’re decided writing on a book, a DJ, how would you like what’s the best way cause it’s, it’s I think with DJ is like you don’t know, you know they’re going to play music for you and you want to see what packages they’re offering all that. But like why should you kind of like look out for her? What’s the best way to start searching? Just to get more on that question is that if you, if you’re looking at the bands DJ or you’re looking at just like we don’t want the band CJ and you’re looking at something proper DJ,
I’ll have to go back my note when they got it. I believe that I’m actually, can we pay down a loop?
Right. Okay, perfect. Look it’s, it’s like it’s, it’s, it’s really no different to any other wedding supplier reviews, social media presence or website. If any wedding suppliers, they don’t have a website in 2020 like how serious are you? Cause it can be pretty basic. It have to be elaborate. I in that space, like I did it in college so I was just showing off this stuff. Uh, but you know like you can have as advanced a website, but if someone tells you what’s your website and they give you a Facebook page. Okay. For me it just, it’s, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with display, but it just doesn’t instill confidence that I’m booking something for 18 months down the road that my booking, the cost of booking me would actually cover the website. It told me like, yeah. And I suppose like on the content that you put on the website, you’re kind of looking for a date that they have.
They have good knowledge, recent recent reviews, the reviews go on and read any reviews of anyone and you would get a flavor because people are raising them and you, you, you’ll pick up trends, you’ll see things in reviews popping up all the time. You don’t want a three word review. He was great. No, that’s terrible. I go for a six star review, which is like above a five star if you can, if you can. Yeah. So if I could give him 10 stars, like Whoa, it’s fast. That’s usually a good start to the review and that’s the indication I get. As I said recently, just being active on social media. Again, not you know, sitting in the car, maybe going for a drive and tell everybody what to do and for the day, not blogging. You’re like login. Yeah, well events to wedding DJ or a DJ in general.
Yeah. You’re shown as you’re going on or if you’re going to add to someone’s website or you’re going onto a review site, a third party site, and the last review they got was in 2017 now they could be the busiest person in the world and they just have no time for admin. That’s not, that’s not good enough for me. If I’m emailing on a Monday to get an answer for, can you do my first dance or not? She’s responsiveness is thought like if you’re not straight away, it comes back to everybody. That comes back to how do I time to do reviews. Admin is super important. I spend most of my tie in. We all have a bit of admin. I love it.
Oh God. Here we go. And I told someone yesterday, I caught a cop of the books. Me, depending on how far in advance they book me, they would get between 13 and 20 emails between the time of booking in the day of the wedding, just like, hi, how’d you find the weather? It’s very wedding specific stuff. I am a big believer in checking in, checking. It’s again, it’s just if the fear there wasn’t it that you’ve given this a deposit and you’re hoping he’s going to show up at your wedding and you just haven’t heard from me six months, every six months and you probably want to get actively working in the BJ as well. I encourage people when they book me that I give them if they haven’t already, I give them all the social handles I’m already on. I’m not on Twitter, but Instagram and Facebook would be kind of the two places you’re grabbing your active on there so you can see what you’re up to. And I actually, it’s a personal face. Instagram, I should say a personal Facebook. It’s Facebook business page but it’s a person Instagram. So you’ll see photographs of meals with friends. I always tell people you’re me to your wedding, you should at least know a little bit about me cause you’re going to be at the party. [inaudible] yeah you’ll see a bit of my personality. And then people will often write to me couples like there’ll be Del DM or they’ll reply to a story and say love it. You know like, but it’s good cause
really gives them a feel for who you genuinely [inaudible]
yeah and I’m on that. I’m going to be at your wedding for two hours with your guests and you know you’re giving me a microphone in our loud PA system and you should at least get some feel for the personality.
Hello. I was like you know when you, you’re at the beginning of your planning and like so you’ve booked your venue and then people automatically think or I need to put my band, you put my photographer cause these are all things that automatically come into their mind that will book so far out. But like I know that you’ve got bookings well into terms and at 22,
which means she nearly, I think I should just over half a July 22 has gone right. Yeah. But that’s been good for people to know because they probably wouldn’t be think she’ll look a look. I’ll start the DJ at leisure. Definitely. Definitely should. If there again it comes back to the priority tape. I definitely think if you have someone in mind that you want DJ band, photographer, videographer, whatever it is, it might be two years away, but check out and check it out. There are the people getting married the day you’re getting married. That’s very true. You’re wedding twins. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
Yeah. But yeah, so there are people and there could I have turned on people for 2022 like for a Friday or a Saturday that has been booked. Cause you’re always going to have those popular decks, especially in the summer. You’ll always have it. There is, there’s, there’s an on peak and off peak. Um, so I would suggest if you’re, anyone in mind just make an inquiry. Are they available? Generally a deposit isn’t a massive figure. It’s going to be a percentage of the balance. And look it’s curing. Yeah. And I don’t hold dates provisionally. More, more suppliers want, I’ll give them, I’ll give them three days. If they say, look, we’d come back to you on Monday. I said, no problem, don’t worry about it. I probably generally my office hours are Monday to Friday anyway cause you’re a DJ. I’m full time at home and I’ll do Monday to Friday. If an email comes in over the weekend, absolutely. I’ll reply to it. If I’m not starting a wedding and it’s 11 o’clock on a Friday night and you email other replay to us and they’re on the website, no, you can check my availability. But I would emailing me, just put it in your days, hit check date and it’ll tell you where the date is for your niche. So at any hour of the day or night, you can put in your days and it’ll tell you
and when you’re sending on Siri or emailing you and you’re like, right, okay, I want to know if my date’s free. And I want to know a bit more like you’ve all, you’ve told me if one on one before, but like,
yeah. Big question. How much are you? 1,256 Euro are 87 cent. I tell you some of the responses you get to that mostly [inaudible].
It might be an often to say, okay, orchard is a big team that comes into, it used to be for the wedding, it’s just pastoring somewhere.
I’m more worried about working with couples who are more, I’m sorry, I want to work with corporates for worried about having a good night. If the cost is the first thing you want to know and look, it is an Irish thing. People come back to the car straight away. If the first thing is like without telling me anything about your wedding, how much do you charge or color? Do I respond? I have no venue.
I don’t even know if I’m fucking, do you like [inaudible]? No. That’s a rare case. It depends. Like sometimes you deal just have you done that though? Some people will say, some people will say it.
I’d politely respond to them and I’d tell them my phrasing, I’m very open. It’s no secret as to what I charge, but then I’ll reply to them and say, yeah, this is what I charge and cause they wouldn’t tell me what they want. So I’d say, look, this is where we start the two hour after banks where we start at four nights, blah blah blah. Oh that’s great. Yeah. We saw your friend’s wedding. We’d love to have your commitment going with you. What do you to get married, dah, dah, dah. I know from that available and know like all right,
yeah. If we stood it is a good thing to start with the date, the date and venue because you have to be able to like be free and get there and get, yeah, because you might be free but it could be in Spain but you get like once or twice a year you might get someone that’s like asking like yeah you do have to RNA or something like that. Yeah. That you got to get on a ferry or something to get that. Yeah.
If your book, someone that can only do one wedding per calendar date when you’re emailing them, your obviously your name, your email, and then the date and venue. Okay. Yeah, maybe a little bit of both.
I know if uncle calls email me, let me just tell you a bit about her. Yeah. I dread people who’ve emailed me and told me all about their weddings and then it comes to it and it’s like, this is how much a boy by the way we want, we want to book you. And I said, they haven’t even asked me how much your chair I’ve had is. I’ve had a case lately
January, so busy for book containing and I’ve realized I’ve sent people a book and link and they’ve never even asked them what should I cherish?
[inaudible]
they won’t be at somebody, but I’ve seen things. They’re like, I’m having that stuff that’s top that’s happening at my wedding. Yeah. I bought a house lately and I was, I was moving in and I was getting charged so much great value. Okay. I’m not the cheapest, but I’m great value. You don’t need to tell us. Please don’t have grid secrets. People have to email you later and ask when you put my private number. He loves that. I totally
lost it. I was going to say, what were we talking about when I was getting worked on, I was genuinely drawn to like, how much is this going to cost? It came back to, and I really can appreciate what a corporate are coming from and I don’t want ever to be smart like that. Would, you know, some people would have to rub you up the wrong way to to get like an answer like the right gave a minute ago. You know, I’ve had people, I would, I give them recommendations, but it’s like, I actually don’t know what questions to ask.
Well, the, and this is easy because they’ve never done it before, so what do you do? I was getting like insulation to the walls. I was like, do I need to be warm? What does this do you value? And the like the what? The bar raising of the house after and things like that. I don’t, I probably do. I should do. When you get these very lengthy emails after this podcast to be like, there’s no problem. Yeah, you’re going to get ass loads for full days. We want a parity through the meal. Yeah. Again, it’s like
it’s something that normal I’ve ever seen. We put out the crack box last night. I don’t know if you saw that crack crack box. It was something that I saw a good way to back and I put an Irish spin on it so it’s a treasure trunk. Okay.
Can we get a frog? It’s like, yeah, it’s a big enough [inaudible] on Spotify. He’s just making this like fake circuit or moat. The sky. Just imagine it yourself.
It’s, it’s, it’s a trunk and it’s locked and I put it out on the floor of Leon, the side door and it’s locked for both two hours keep out. And so it’s all this sort of stuff on it. It’s actually filled with all the props that you get and affordable hats, weeds, glasses, feather balls, blow up stuff. And it’s far to the dance floor. I know I’ve done a few of them at weddings explode. Absolutely.
People are so funny when you give them something to put in basements and like, not not Sandy Heights, but like federal bores, blow ups, like goggles and all this sort of stuff and it’s mental. That’s so funny. I haven’t seen that idea. Yeah, no, I just do a lot of research. I’m an implementer or an implementer I guess. Okay. Rob, other people’s ideas. I’m going to take, you know, things like that you can do.
Um, and you got to get loads of ideas. So when I talked to a copy of the do give me a lot of information, I could be like, there we go, get this. I thought it opposite. It’s like it’s there if you want it to be helpful to them.
I saw that and it’s the same nor will ever have seen that. It’s the only one in the country [inaudible] and someone else comes up. Please. Genuine. You mentioned so many things that I’ve never seen and I’ve been on hundreds of weddings, which is, but it’s great though because you need to keep things fresh because pizza, there’s just so many weddings and your wedding. You wanted to be any can you want it to be like it’s long. You had to be a circus. No. Everything. Everything you’ll do has a classy line
to us. A good way of doing. There’s a good way of doing that. You can be, you can be cheesy or you can be classy doing the same thing. It’s, it’s a funny line. It’s who’s implementing it, isn’t it? Maybe [inaudible] go there and he’s like going mental, like full circus. Anyone else is too much. Again, don’t if copper, like I’ve had copper tell me we want a rave call for a score for it. Just have it. I know what kind of energy I’m going to be given to that. If people want the nineties dance and they want this discourse of we’re the doers, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a rave, you would feed the [inaudible] beforehand. I was going to ask you that question. Why didn’t your action should you have, but you’ve covered that, so that’s perfect. Yeah, that’s good. But it was, cause we could talk, we probably could talk about this all day.
Could collect what we’re not going to say before we wrap it up, is there any hints and tips other than all of those hints and tips? So if you were to give one piece of advice to somebody that’s booking the DJ, what would you, what would you get? The one big thing that I, I need to tell him I get to chat with couples is if they’re gone with the band and DJ option. Okay. As in they’re having a bad first. They’re having a DJ after. If they’re looking, if they come to me and I’m not available or they look at the band doing the DJ as an option, do your research. Don’t just, don’t just say, yeah, that’s another box ticked. That’s theirs. There’s a couple of scenarios that end up with that. The forest is the band book someone on your behalf? Yeah.
No, a lot of people do that. A lot of bands will take the hassle out of booking the DJ for you. They’ll have the contact. Uh, generally, and I have done it, uh, where I have worked with bands. So bandit might be stock or you know, whatever note off and they’re like, can you do this? And I will of course, if I get like I can help someone out, generally I’d have no contact with the bride and groom or unless they really ask for us. So I may turn up to a wedding. Can you be in the brain and, or tell it eight o’clock on Friday. Yeah, you get paid this much. I don’t know the break rooms and I’m getting there. Okay. Now that again, look, they’re getting me it, they’re not going to get the DJ like they’re going to get some good quality DJ and that’s fine if you’re booking the bands, DJ, ask them, can we speak to the DJ beforehand?
It may be kind of wrapped up in that the DJs does important because, and I’m not going into priorities. It’s equally as important. If they’re going to be playing two hours, you have a good first half, you want a good second half check out. If the band are doing the Deezer themselves, some bands will actually play their bass players know the DJ. Yeah, absolutely. And then it comes down to what the priorities of the band are. Is it to do a really good DJ set or is it to pack up as much gear as we can so that when he finishes at two o’clock we can just five minutes. Yeah. No I’m not broad brushing does definitely know because there are, there are so fat fantastic bands out there that do a fantastic job with the DJ that would do a better job than separate DJs.
Culminate. Yeah, there are some bad, it’s not. You know what I think can be, it’s good. We all get to sit and he was like, trust me. It can be, there can be some bands that will just see it as an easy extra. That way we’re packing up the gear. If you’ve booked your bands DJ, okay. Send them an email. Who’s doing the DJ? Find out if it’s themselves. If it’s themselves, then go on their website. Have they any videos of the DJ set? Have they any photos? Have they any reviews that mentioned the DJ ordered than the fact in the FAQ is does it say, do you supply DJ? Yes, we supply DJ if that’s what it says. That to me says an awful lot about the value that they put on it. If a band had, like DJs had videos and they’re like mentioned in the reviews a good bit, but then apps, they’re giving it a bit of full direction.
They’re actually putting an effort in and if or if they’re booking someone’s separate, say, Hey, listen, your booklets on the separate I of who are they can I know for them or what are you going to put a lot of paths into your other suppliers because you’re booking them directly and you’re right. You could very easily overlook that. You could just say, Oh, that’s great and it’s, it’s super easy because it’s overwhelming. It’s one point of contact. That’s the like that’s the proposal book and the band, the kinds of book and me is that okay you haven’t been another deposit. You have to deal with another supplier but the end results it’s the pros are that you’d like actually know who you’re getting. You know that it’s me, you go on my website, it’s completely DJ focused. It’s when you book party wise it’s going to be you never, unless you’re an asshole. I’ve never been, never happened. Now relates to wedding but it’s very good to know that like you are the person. It’s not just a brand and you have people work for your brand, which is something they send out as well. You know, you know exactly who you’re getting and you know what you’re getting. Whereas you could. You just don’t know. It’s just like the DJs coming cause you mad. [inaudible]
love seeing me calming. They do that because the normal, well we can get started now and we can take care of after. Yeah. That’s the one thing. As I said, there’s pros and cons for everything. There’s no right and wrong way to go. It all comes down to doing your research and there are some foam fabulous bands out there, fantastic bands, and there’s some brilliant DJs. If you get a really good professional band and a good professional DJ for after, if that’s the combo you’re going for. If you’re having a smaller wedding in a venue that may be a bit small for a band and you want to look at maybe DJ option, then yeah, definitely get a good foot and I DJ. Yeah, the interaction is a big part of that. Anyone, someone who might be great on the mic. We’ll do an after band DJ because they have the security of the band to doing a lot of the formalities, but when you want someone to come in and do a first dance, maybe pair of densities, I call them spotlight densest. That’s another, that’s another, that’s another thing from the stage.
Yeah. Spotlight dance would be like your first dance would be classes as what led dance daughter dance, mother-daughter dance. I feel like I’ve been schooled here. No, not at all. They’re there. They’re just, they’re just terms you pickle from. Yeah. Just start using that note like, yeah, things are so much fun. They are just so into it and they’re so absorbed in the day and you flick a switch at nine o’clock Calum it’s dance and time and they’re like, okay, let’s go. It’s dance. It’s like, what’s happening to know you’re dancing. Oh yeah, yeah. They’re doing bits of advice in a DJ as a whole. Do check out the reviews, make sure their recent social media or website, um, maybe it has the hotel, Hey, come here. Replace your recommendations. They’re going to be there to witness what happens. Well, it looks the time. Yeah. Or did the duty manager might be the law of a bad experience. Like overall there’s somebody out there that that’s just, they’re not genuine like it, it’ll become apparent that they may recommend that house that they see cropping up. Those hotels. I’m in and out of every week there’s hotels. I’ve done weddings in three or four times a week. Okay. Hear me gaze back. Yeah. Yeah. [inaudible]
they’re like bopping along to the sun’s inside the counter and having the fun. And I love going into hotels. I walk in all the time. I love going to new hotels because it means they want to seen what I, what I do or you know, this new atmosphere, new space for you. So I just want to see some different, I made an effort knowing the last 12 months to go like exploring a venue when I get there cause I’ve been to so many nice venues in Ireland and it’s like it’s the banqueting room in the car with the Lord in the area. My mother would read me the next day, she’d say plots of Dara manner. Like I say, well I don’t know when I got there and I load it in and I load it [inaudible] it was lovely. I talked to a few other suppliers and I left.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So I made a conscious effort to go around and see places and come up dive. I’ve done weddings in hotels for years and I’d never been in reception. That’s fair enough though. You’re busy. I’m busy. You’re busy. Yeah, absolutely. Is there anything else that you’d like to add potty? I think you’ve, you’ve, you’ve spilled it all out. You left out a bit in your script for, you called me a whore. Oh yes. Sorry. This, this is okay. This is Benny actually wrote this whole sentence. Oh yeah. Okay. So the fourth thing on the page, then he wanted me to re dose, not once, not twice, but three times a wedding DJ here. Ah, okay. Right. Okay. Okay.
It was your read reading word for word. If they’ve watched it. This I read the end. I’m getting, I was getting to the red this. Yeah, but like, he wants to get off the point that you’re a complete awar. It’s whore. Yeah. We’re just going to unreal. Serious like this name.
You put awards. I have won awards. Lots of people don’t want to go to ward. Nice. I do.
I don’t. Yeah, it’s like, yeah.
Well it’s actually a good friend of mine, his DJ at the last few that I’ve been at. Uh, but uh, I forgot and I knows it’s great to meet people like suppliers that you don’t, you meet outside of a wedding setting. You just want to meet you read the sentence so we can talk about your awards. Uh, well it was the first line under my name in block catheter. Like it’s in bold. I have one where these are learning awards twice hopefully. And this year it what? It’s next month. Next month. Yeah. Jeans or something like that. So yeah, it’s great. Where are you going? I don’t think I can make it. There’s no tickets left apparently. Yeah, you’d probably, I got, I felt a friend of mine that sit on the floor next year. A friend of mine said if you couldn’t get a ticket you still going to go
[inaudible]
stream. So like if I can’t make it for the photographer or was it the year if you can just like get something live going and we’ll sit at home, we’ll get dressed up in a place. Everybody, we’re up there for it last year as I didn’t win though.
No, I do it an answer. No, I won the two years previous. The awards are nice recognition, especially the weddings online one because they are done on reviews. Yes. They are done on like they have kind of three or four judges who are impartial to um, weddings on, like they don’t work for weddings and like, um, so they are, in my opinion, the fairest awards that are done are going, it’s not just based on popularity contest. It’s not, it’s not click maintain. It’s not who’s paying the most. Can I pay for both? The teacher that wanted in 2019 didn’t advertise it weddings online. Everence so it is nice. It’s done in reviews. It’s done based on your website. Um, so it’s genuine. Yeah. Somebody needs to cold call. I had a call called once, I actually found out after that they were doing it. So they’d bring up as like a bride to be like a mystery shopper for and they’d just have a conversation with you.
I’m getting married this date and it would even be if you were booked weddings, I don’t even like potty. She say nothing. And there was an online submission and there’s all of that. So yeah, it’s fun. I like if you win them, they’re great again. Look, I’m happy enough to not win. And keep doing the weddings and having the form. I won’t yard for a good time. I like to enjoy. Your job isn’t a couple of weeks. I had a lot of weddings at the start of January and Christmas and I was, I was off last weekend and I’m off this weekend and back to year to February I think or not the sixth back to sixth whenever this school is and spoke. Two weeks ago
I forgot this job. I’d have been at a wedding by the time we get, we had two weekends off. We went and did one last Saturday. The two was woke up Sunday morning going like, Oh God, I can’t move aches and pains. We just get used to not carrying the equipment, but eight o’clock in the morning it’d be like, I’m so fresh. I went to the gym last Wednesday morning at seven o’clock I came out at 10 past eight and it was dark and it was a mind. I was like, I’m so fresh and everything and then it just takes, once I get back into the body, we’ll just adjust within a couple of weeks and it’ll be Liping patterns and it’d be like, look, I’m as bright, buzzy and pulled from all wedding. Actually you probably like me. Always excited to go back out. I was like, come on, get me back out at a wedding or even to wedding.
And they’re like, I’m a little tired right now. And then you get there and you feed the, you know, you get people, like people are having a great time there when they’re not drunk. When I arrive, usually when you [inaudible] sometimes 10 o’clock in the morning, a lot of hip flasks and then that translates into two o’clock in the morning and you know, tie on the head and shoes off. And then I’m coming home. I’m like, wow, that was a great wedding. Dammit. I’m 10 minutes from the venue, this should be great. And I’m sitting at home watching Netflix to try to calm down. He doesn’t tease. He’s one of those people that stays awake.
Yeah. But I haven’t even, it’s generally just calm down and go to bed, everything. So yeah.
So I think for now though, we’re going to wrap up this podcast and we’ll continue this conversation off camera. If anyone, if I come home delivered this evening and I have a lump on the back of my head cause I beat him off with the star two. They see, I’m going to wrap it up, but just don’t stop for calling. Would you like to, would you like to instead of, cause we’ve swapped roles, you’re kind of more, you’re leading this now, right? You go, you take us out of squad. Take a sec. You finish it. Go. So that is been, you know, if anyone wants to find me a body wash, TJ
party, watch a DJ on Facebook and party, watch music. [inaudible] uh, you’ll find me or you know, you’ll get your catch gay or all the socials. And it’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
Paudie Walsh the DJ, thanks for coming in. Let’s start the fight now.
