Wedding Reception Services for Post-Lockdown – (The Four Most Important)
With the current situation, many of us have had to put our events on hold, re-schedule the date or re-arrange the nature of the event entirely. There is no doubt that the current climate will impact what sort of services people will need at weddings, so we’ve put together a guide of the 4 most important services (not including food or drink) that you might want to consider booking for your Wedding in 2021, 2022, or even late 2020.
Mobile DJ
On the face of it this may seem an obvious choice – but you will really want to find a Great DJ for your event. People are going through a lot at the moment, and having fantastic entertainment is no better way than to lift their spirits once things improve. Now I have listed DJ’s specifically, as whilst Bands put on a performance of value on their own, they are typically considerably more expensive. A 4 piece band for instance, is usually around 5-6 times more expensive than a DJ. All things considered, it might be better to go for the more cost effective option, all things considered.
When booking a DJ however, you need to put a lot more time in to finding the right person for the job. I have worked with 100s of DJ’s in my career, and I can tell you that the range of professionalism varies pretty drastically. But there are a few things you can do to make sure they’re the right match for your event:
Ask if they play requests, and if you can send them a track list in advance.
With this question, you aren’t necessarily trying to find out exactly how many songs of yours they will play, but really you’re trying to find out what their attitude towards this is. If the DJ says that he knows best and will only play what he wants, then that’s a great sign to look elsewhere. Having said that – you do require their expertise to figure out what’s working and what isn’t. In an ideal world, we would suggest submitting up to 20 songs that you consider as “must plays” on the night, and then any other tracks to be taken as considerations for the DJ if he / she thinks they’re the right fit on the night.
Check their online reviews
This is really crucial. Now first of all, you need to check the quantity of reviews. If one DJ as a 5 star rating, but only has 5 reviews, whilst another has a 4.8 star rating, but over 100, then the chances are you’ll want to consider the latter. But what’s really important is to read the negative reviews.
Now, a few words of caution on this. What you’re looking for is not the bad reviews themselves, but really the response to them from the DJ. Now of course, if they didn’t turn up (or something similar), then that’s pretty awful and they might not be the best fit. But if it’s something minor or moderate, you really want to take a look at their customer service. So how did they respond? If they responded negatively, in defensive manner, and perhaps even aggressively (it does happen), this says a huge deal about their personality. These people should be avoided at all costs.
But what if they responded positively? This may read in the following way:
“I’m sorry to hear you weren’t totally satisfied with my performance on Saturday. I felt I did my best given the circumstances, and would be more than happy to discuss this further with you. Please contact me on ******”.
This is a great response. Ultimately, people leave bad reviews because they feel their concerns haven’t been heard. So if the DJ has consistently reacted in a positive manner, you may even find that the issue is resolved, and the review is later removed. But this is why you need to check the quantity of reviews as well. It’s very easy for anyone to run a good business for 3 weeks. But 5, 10, 15 years? That’s where real class shines through.
General Price Range: £350 – £1000.00 depending on your area, hours and equipment booked.
360 Photo Booths
With personal hygiene being at the very top of people’s lists at the moment, you are certainly not going to have people sharing funny hats, glasses or wigs. So, at least for the short term, props are out. It’s very likely that enclosures will become less popular too, as people won’t like the idea of being stuck in a tight space if they’re worried about germs being transmitted.
This is where the 360 Photo Booth comes in. These have been growing in popularity very quickly over the past year, having been featured at both the most recent Grammy’s and Oscars, where multiple celebrities were seen posing on these wonderful machines! The premise of the 360 booth is simple. You simply have up to 4 people stand on the circular platform, ready for recording to begin. The camera then circles the guests, producing a slow motion video, ready to upload to social media.
Now not only does this booth not require props, but it’s also the only kind of photo booth that guests can pose on by themselves, and still have fun. Magic Mirrors and traditional Photo Booths generally require you to be posing with a friend. But with the 360, you can still produce great results by pulling funny poses as the camera records you in the act!
General Price Range: £550-£1000 for 3 hours service. These usually include 2 operators, as you will need an additional to manage the queues and keep people out of the way of the camera that circles the platform.
Venue Uplighting / Wireless Uplights
Venue uplights are simply a hugely transformative service, and should not be overlooked. These lights are fully wireless, meaning there are no long cables that your guests need to worry about tripping over. They also are fully battery powered, which means that they can be lit for up to 16 hours where required.
As you can see above, these lights can make a huge difference to the décor of a room. They’re quick to set up, and can be controlled by a remote, should you wish to change the lighting colour at any point. Sometimes, brides & grooms like to have a certain colour for the Wedding Ceremony, before switching over to something less bright before the Reception. They may even choose to have them flashing in time with the music!
As they are purely an aesthetic service that is very cheap to hire – we see these becoming a top hit in 2021. If your venue has any columns, pillars or similar features – this is where these lights will really come into their own.
General Price Range – £17-£24 per lighting unit. Most businesses do discounts when you book more lights. Consider a figuration of either 6, 12, 18 or 24 lights – depending on the size of your room.
Magician
There’s no hiding it, magicians are a lot of fun. And that’s really what your event needs to be about – people having a great time. Magicians are a great way of doing this without having people being too squashed together, or putting their hygiene at risk (Chocolate Fountains are not a great idea for this reason unfortunately).
The best time to have a Magician at an event is without doubt during the Dinner portion of the evening. Even better – don’t tell guests that one is coming! You will love the pleasant surprises on their faces. Whilst you can also book a Magician that performs on stage of course, this often means they require a range of props and items that makes it harder to facilitate. It’s also a little more dated, and lacks that personal touch that you get with table service. The right magician will be interacting with your guests, making them think, and ultimately catching them out in ways they didn’t see coming!
In Summary
The events scene is going to be changing in many ways, some that we are probably not even able to predict at this point in time. But what we do know is that the 4 services listed in this article are likely to have a hugely positive impact on your event. Also consider the points we made in the DJ section about finding the right performer – and be sure to put these questions to each supplier you discuss your event with. Remember to check the number of their reviews (both on Google and Facebook), the overall score, and for any bad reviews. Most importantly, check their response to the bad reviews.
We hope this article has been of use to you. Planning a wedding is stressful, and there’s no doubt that the older-style Photo Booths and Chocolate Fountains might dip in popularity for a little while. If you have any questions on this article, please leave us a comment below or visit us at https://boothsbylux.co.uk/
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