Music:
Weddings are quite simple, so keeping things simple will make things work better.
It's all about people/guest management, so if you want your guest to do something don't over plan/complicate things.
1. Start of your disco: We generally play some warmup music before your first dance so your evening guests can say hello/mingle etc.
2. First Dance: Having a first dance is perfect, some couples ask guests to join them half alway through & this is the perfect start. If you don't want the attention of a first dance why not choose an "everybody dance" as everyone on the dance floor & play a chosen "floor filler for all ages" song.
Over complicating the start of your night can have a negative knock on effect to the rest of your night e.g. you want 2 songs mashed together, so a slow romantic song then it jumps into a "floor filler for all" so your guests join, Be very carful doing this as the second song must start were all your guests know what the song is otherwise they just stand around looking confused working out what that song is so not joining you? Also think about the transition between the two songs as there might be a massive speed difference or musical key change? if this transition sounds bad or "BANG!" its the next song your guests will think its an unprofessional Dj as ruined your first dance, so they will take longer before they hit the dance floor... Be very carful if you do any first dance mashups.
We do charge extra for doing mashups because the "Wedding Dj" is booked to play songs, not spending hours doing music production creating a version unique for you, & giving you the best "musical" option of the songs chosen.
3. After your First Dance its best to have a "floor filler for all" so everyone can celebrate with you, if you choose to do a series of set dances e.g. father daughter, mother son, & children dance this can confuse your guests as asked to dance then asked to leave the dance floor, then back to dance again, so it might be better to do all these dances before your first dance? then your celebration party starts properly.
4. After your First Dance, we ask for a 15-25 song playlist because every wedding is different as different people & music likings? the playlist should contain music from young people to old people because you want everyone to celebrate with you, & include the "must have" songs so we defiantly have them (we haven't got every song made).
We generally start with the older music because older generations do tire early, so you have had a dance with them, then later we look at your playlist leading the music to "peak-time" music on your playlist.
5. Songs you don't like.
We all have songs/genres we don't like, but always think "if you want everybody to dance/celebrate with you, play music they all will dance to"... The is a bit of a compromise e.g. myself & Ally don't like ABBA, Macarena e.t.c. but know some guests would expect this to be played at a wedding as they will dance to it, so we would say to the Dj "we are not keen on this, but if it relights the party play the odd one if needed, then move back to the playlist" = This means everyone can celebrate so keeping the dance floor busy. If you have a song that takes you back to a bad time in your life Ban it, as we don't want to see you upset. Its up to you what music you ban, but we have all been to weddings when the Dj only plays songs you won't dance to, so you go home early... Also, what people say they will dance to, & what the actually will dance to can be very different? And alcohol does change what you don't like sober, & what you want to dance to after a few drinks...
6. Summer weddings its too hot in the disco room so your guests will go outside in the sunshine until it gets colder, don't worry we shall play some fitting music for people outside socialising, & they can dance to. People will be in the disco room dancing later.
7. End of the night.
You can choose two ways, we suggest finishing with your first dance as all your guests know its your special song or a slower sing along song. Some couples choose ending the night on a high eg. Killers Mr Brightside, but then it hypes everyone up so they want to carry on dancing, but the venue licence will not allow this so it leaves couples asking there guests to calmly go home or to bed (why we prefer the first option).
Some couples have there last dance 15 minuets before the music is due to finish, as this gives 15 mins of background music & you can thank your guess for coming.
8. If you have any Non U.K. guests & want Non U.K. music played at your wedding we usually ask for you to send us the songs WAV, we cannot legally use streaming services & e.g. If a guests want music from Italy the version available in the U.K. might be slightly different as changed to make it more appealing for the U.K. person to listen to.
9. Do your playlist 4 weeks before your wedding, so don't start doing it earlier as you will keep on changing it = gives you more work. Its best to just list your songs on an email e.g. First Dance, then 15-25 floor fillers for all/ artist & song name. Its always best not to ask your guests for songs on invites as they will usually put songs they would like to hear/not dance to, or other couples first dance songs, then your guests will insist on your night the Dj must play, eg. a slow jam at 11pm peak party time. It's great to have your guests input but please let them know not every song will make your final playlist.
Weddings are just about people/guest management making things flow so no surprises that might confuse them.
We don't care what music you choose as you might want a "cheesy party or cutting edge cool music", we just want everyone to celebrate with you. We shall always do/play as you ask, but if you go against our advice your guests might go home early or not want to celebrate with you/dance, the choice is always yours?
Social Media etc.
Today we do find some couples look at wedding & festival Dj's on shoal media, so want what they have seen at their wedding, in almost all cases what they have seen is "staged" to get that shot, or fake. To stage a shot/video it takes lots of preparation work & make sure everything /one does what they should to get that video/shot.
We can do the "festival style" but do charge allot more for prep-work, & we use Native Instruments (Not Pioneer), as you can see exactly what we are doing & have done in prepping your music choices (some festival Dj's use the software we use & transfer what they have programmed to Pioneer so you cannot clearly see what is being done live & what is pre-programmed, as all about the "looking cool Dj", we always have show people what we are actually dong & have done eg. in the late 90's we Dj'ed a nightclub (The Malthouse, Union St . Plymouth), & there was a camera showing the 3 record turntables & mixer so people could see on screens what I was doing (no fake knob turning), & hear me doing it (at the time 3 deck mixing was popular, & required a very high skill level/we still do this mainly using STEMS at weddings for smoother transitions). This is the same for lighting shows, as couples book a "wedding disco", we do have higher specification options but charge extra for this as our "premium services shows" as were always designed as the "nightclub/festival" comes to your venue room, & still looking in keeping with your venue.
Please Note:
If you have booked "Dj Darren Jewell" from a different company so its not a djdarrenjewel.com contract, the company you have booked sends couples advice on the best way of making a great celebration/party & the "do not do's", if we get clients that ignore or go against the advice we class this as a "high risk" wedding & the couples that go against tried & tested advice will not allow a "back-up or Plan B" so if plan "A" fails we can salvage the nigh for the couple.
This has a negative effect on Darren's own company & the company the couple/client originally booked, so as of 2025 Darren will hand back any money paid by other companies clients & hand the booking back to the company the client originally booked, this includes couples demanding work or equipment hired outside the contract times they have stated as we can't work extra hours for fee, or pay for extra costs involved, or couples trying to drive there guests home early as there is 2 of you & 100+ guests.