That was a very long day.....but also AWESOME!
'twas to be an all-day (ceremony to carriages) wedding for me. New venue (only opened last year) and it's a "blank canvas" jobby....basically you hire the paddocks, lakes, glamping tents and the like and then have either a marquee or a tipi installed.
My couple went for a marquee that Mary Chipperfield would have been envious of....it's certainly the biggest I've ever worked in (and yes....it even had flags on top).
I was also more than a little nervous. I'd not met the couple until the day before (they live in London and were too busy to schedule anything), so everything had been done by email. They'd also furnished me with a couple of playlists:
12 hours for the day/afternoon as background
18 hours for the evening
Now before anyone cuts in and bemoans this, I actually WELCOME these sized lists. I look at it from the point of view that every song they've taken the time to choose has a meaning to them, so I can't go far wrong picking and choosing from said lists. Today was absolutely no exception (in fact I was being complemented by the guests left, right and centre on the background music which I'd actually let VDJ autoplay whilst I assisted with other things).
So, to the day itself. The venue's in the middle of the flatlands of Cambridgeshire (literally 10 minutes from my front door with my lockup conveniently between home and the venue on the same road)....what's not to like?
Well, the 75mph gusts of wind for a start!
I found out yesterday that the celebrant was bringing her own PA system for the talky bits, whilst I was rocking up with a newly acquired Maui5 GO and an iPad for that part. Lucky I did - her QTX Busker failed just as she was starting the ceremony. Also lucky I had a completely wireless mic solution with me. Not so lucky, I haven't got any windshields for that mic yet so it was a little noisy to say the least. It got us out of the doo doo though and worked better than expected.
So, to the afternoon. Background music for a couple of hours whilst the guests enjoyed the outside (and bless them, they actually DID stay outside drinking in the gale force winds). I set about helping the venue with things like setting up the chairs in the marquee (which had been in use elsewhere on the site for the ceremony) and trying to herd people about for photos.....not easy when the sound from your portable PA is being blown in the opposite direction but we got there.
Onto the meal and speeches. Boy did they go on a while (I timed the best man at a little under 40 minutes). One of the speeches involved a carefully planned Karaoke session as well (which got the assembled guests dancing around!)
So....onto the evening.
Rustic booth with two new lights provided by the very efficient Mr Neen (a brace of ADJ Dotz Matrix). By 'eck they're bright, but seeing the size of the tent, actually perfectly matched. I feel most gigs are only going to require one of the beasts mounted on a pole behind me but for this one....they worked.
I also dumped LightRider (it's let me down far too many times now with wireless dropouts) and went back to LightKeyApp (it's £100 pa for the license but it just works and does so flawlessly...I'm happy to pay their license for that sort of reliability.
The first dance was different - don't stop me now by Queen with a coordinated confetti launch (organised by the Groomsmen) after the slow bit just as the beat drops on "I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky" . AWESOME! No embarrassing wobbling around on the dance floor for this one....the drop and the confetti launch was the invitation for the guests to join in....and they didn't disappoint.
The playlist was already provided with a LOT of music from the 1970s, and just a smattering of 80s/90s/current. Only the 70s really worked (no complaints from me). It was a full (and I mean RAMMED) floor from beginning to end with a very early dummy finish meaning two more "one more song DJ" chants which I was happy to go with (the venue had already seen how things were going and OK'd the plan).
So all in all, a very long, very tiring, very challenging day, but the sort of day I live for!
Even better, I'm now a recommended supplier for the venue. How did that happen?
Simple!
I obeyed the rules (including the 11pm turn-everything-down)
I helped them out with stuff during the day rather than sit on my hands
I provided a party (in fact the entertainment for the whole thing) which they're happy to recommend.
Needless to say, I'm going to be on their website and in their 2020 brochure as soon as I get my logo over to them
Oh, and to answer the question about the Rustic booth - see below. It's going out more than any of my other rigs at the moment (I'm doing a LOT of marquee and barn weddings this year). It's even more popular than my Retro Roadshow (eek!)