NH wedding DJs | Boston wedding DJs | Maine wedding DJs

New Hampshire wedding djs and the “say no to bad DJs” guarantee!

May 4, 2014 By Ryan Parker

New Hampshire Wedding DJs | Maine Wedding DJs | Boston Wedding DJs

Hopefully my current web site shows that I am one of those NH wedding DJs for discerning clients, but just in case…I had this banner made to make sure everyone understands! Here’s my guarantee to you:

No Cheese

I’m not cheesy. I don’t talk cheesy. I actually don’t even eat cheese!

No Tux

Again, tuxes on DJs are cheesy and make it look like he or she should be serving you a surf and turf rather than someone who is supposed to be hip and fun.

No line dancing

You WILL NOT get line dances from me, unless you specifically ask for some. BUT, once in a while I’ll recognize that a crowd is really going to go for the “Cupid Shuffle” if I play it. And then it works (some crowds actually enjoy certain songs like..it’s my job to know which ones). That’s my job; to know when to play something and when to hit the delete button.

No air guitars/blow up props

Do I need to comment…

No disco balls

I have great LED lights. Your wedding will NOT feel like an 8th grade dance.

Wedding DJ. What do I do?

May 2, 2015 By Ryan Parker

What my possible clients think I do: Bring some speakers and play music. Most want me to avoid line dances and country music. Total time they think they are hiring me for….approximately 6 hours. Also, do you provide a cordless mic? Yes, I do. But here is what I actually do. A minimum of 14 hours, and sometimes up to 24 hours total:

1. Spend approximately 1-2 hours trying to answer any questions through emails and phone calls

2. Drive to an in-person meeting, sometimes in the Seacoast area of NH, sometimes at the event site where the wedding will take place. Approximate time spent, 1-2 hours.

3. Type up a contract, email to client. 10 minutes.

4. Send client what they will need to provide to me at their final meeting, update an excel song list filled with tons of songs that will help them get ideas, and send that file. 10 minutes.

5. Answer any emails or phone calls until the final meeting.

6. Sometimes, create a custom edit for a 1st dance song (for instance)…for example “Ryan, we want the 1st 2 minutes of the song, but then we want the next verse taken out, and then the song to continue at 3:05”. This can’t be done unless you are skilled audio engineer (someone who also records music for a living), which I am thankful I am. 20 minutes.

7. Call up the event site and talk with the wedding coordinator about load-in times and anything else that seems appropriate. 15 minutes.

8. Make sure my equipment is always in top shape, cables are in order, lights are all working, order new equipment, computer is running great and software is up to date.

9. Schedule a final meeting, over the phone or in-person.

10. Have a final meeting. 30 minutes to 1.5 hours

11. Work on making sure I have all needed special song requests and that their file is in order, usually a few days before the wedding. 30 min to 1 hour

12. Make sure up lights are fully charged

13. Pack car. 15 minutes

14. Drive. Anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours

15. Unload. 15 minutes

16. Set up ceremony if needed. 30 minutes

17. Set up reception equipment. 45 minutes

18. Talk with the wedding coordinator and meet all other vendors including the photo booth vendor, photographer, videographer, etc, and discuss the time-line

19. Work the contract hours, usually between 5-7 hours

20. Have the best dance party anyone has ever been to. Priceless.

21. Be kind to guests, even the ones not being kind to me. Be kind to the wedding coordinators, even the ones not being kind to me.

22. Pack up. 45 minutes

23. Load car and drive home. 10-minutes to 3 hours

24. Send a thank you

Why I have no DJ “awards”!

March 26, 2015 By Ryan Parker

New Hampshire Wedding DJ and Boston DJ “awards”

Ever see other wedding DJ web-sites and they are littered with sayings and logos such as:

“Best of The Knot Weddings 3 years in a row”

“Wedding wire – Best of in NH Wedding DJ category”, “Bride’s choice” awards

And so on and so on…

Well, here is the secret. They are all a rouse. I have been in the wedding industry for over 10 years now, after owning a large planning and design firm, so I am intimately familiar with advertising within. Advertisers will do anything to win over a vendors advertising dollar, and many times hand out “awards” such as these, when really the DJ or wedding vendor may have just gotten a certain number of reviews (positive or negative) on the advertisers web-site so they then reach out them with this ploy of giving them an “award” and then asking for dollars soon thereafter. Don’t be sucked in to these awards when making your decision on who to call, as they say nothing really about the person or company that is being awarded it.

Picking a DJ or band should be based on your communication with them, an in-person or over the phone meeting, their overall professionalism within these communications, and maybe a recommendation from another vendor, event site, or past client.

I actually do zero advertising and still work all year round. I do this by being great at what I do, acting professional, having competitive pricing, and keeping positive relationships with event sites and vendors.

Reach out and email me! I tend to book up quickly for the months of April through November, usually 6-12 months in advance.

New Hampshire Wedding DJ at Turner Hill Country Club

March 24, 2015 By Ryan Parker

New Hampshire Wedding DJ | Boston Wedding DJ

One of my favorite places to work is the Turner Hill Country Club. The wedding coordinator, Carol, is great to work with and is easy-going. And the catering staff is always friendly and helpful. And even though I’m a New Hampshire Wedding DJ, I always get treated with open arms.

This wedding took place on March 21, 2015. Like most weddings there, this one was non-stop dancing from 9:15 until 11:30pm!!!

I actually performed piano for their ceremony and took care of their special requests by playing “Married Life” and “Such Great Heights”. The ceremony room is really stunning in this old 20th century mansion.

They also rented my up-lighting package, which really gives this room a beautiful feel.

Here’s a few pics to show you! Small space and small dance floor equals people dancing close and lots of fun!

Hiring a NH wedding dj and having a jazz based cocktail hour

May 4, 2014 By Ryan Parker

NH Wedding DJs | Maine Wedding DJs | Boston Wedding DJs

As one of the most experienced NH wedding djs around, most of my couples don’t care too much about what music gets played during cocktail hour, but the ones that do usually ask for background jazz of some kind. Feel free to email me a specific song list, or if you are interested in seeing what sounds best (in my opinion!) read some of the artists below.

(With Vocals)

Diana Krall
Michael Buble
Jamie Cullum
Tony Bennett
Frank Sinatra
Dean Martin
Sammy Davis Jr
Ella Fitzgerald
Ray Charles

(Without Vocals)

Oscar Peterson
Miles Davis/John Coltrane
Dave Brubeck
Stan Getz

When hiring a Boston wedding dj and you need to make your first dance song shorter

May 4, 2014 By Ryan Parker

Boston Wedding DJ | NH Wedding DJ

I get asked this question a lot…”We’ve picked our first dance, but we think it’s too long. Can you shorten it or fade out at a certain time?” The answer is yes, of course! Most first dances for my weddings average between 2 minutes 30 seconds and 4 minutes long. If you are uncomfortable with it being the length of your particular song just tell me when you want me to fade it out. No one will be the wiser! A good thing to keep in mind is fading it out at the end of a verse or, better yet, a chorus of the song as it will sound more naturally like an ending.

As a versatile Boston wedding dj for years, I’ve also been asked to cut out a portion of a song, in the middle let’s say, because of something that the couple didn’t like. Maybe it was a big instrumental feature and they didn’t want it. I can do that as well using my recording software as an audio engineer. Just let me know the time of the song you want cut and I’ll make it happen.

NH Wedding DJs gets asked to customize your songlist for international wedding couples

May 4, 2014 By Ryan Parker

NH Wedding DJs | Maine Wedding DJs | Boston Wedding DJs

As one of the leading NH wedding djs, I wanted to answer a commonly asked question. It usually goes like this…”My fiance is from the country of ____, and we want some specific songs from that style/region. If we give you the titles can you play them for us at the time we want them?”
The short answer; yes. The longer answer; it depends on the songs. If i don’t already have them in my collection, can’t find them from the DJ community, can’t find them on iTunes or Amazon then I will ask the client if they have the songs in their collection. If they do, they can provide them to me by email, CD, or memory stick, whichever is easiest. Once I have them they are then loaded into my software and we are good to go.

It’s that simple!