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The first tick in the win column of 2026
Well, after the very long year that was January, last night saw me out on the road.
I've got to admit - this year at the moment looks abolutely terrifying in terms of bookings and turnover. I know many others are in the same boat but that doesn't make it any easier.....
So last night, a whole year in the making. I'd been booked by a good friend to provide a surprise party for her husband's (also a very good friend) 50th birthday with disco and selfie-pod. Know what, it really was a surprise, and his face was absolutely priceless! That made things worthwhile for a start.
I don't do birthdays anymore, so this was sort of a turning point as the last one on the books. Everything else is wedding only (and my Gawd this mile deep, inch wide niching down malarky is both hard work and terrifying at times).
This was never going to be a mega-dancy affair. Lots of friends from university days were in attendance, and I was always going to be more about background music than full on arms-held-aloft-sweaty-body dance floor action. Yes, dancing happened, yes there were sweaty bodies (mainly due to the fact the hotel had the heating on full blast :mad:). Most of the dance floor action actually took place during the final 30 minutes.
It was absolutely brilliant to be out again after I don't know how many weekends at home.
But, it gave me a chance to test out the new lighting setup and give it a good shakedown. The photo's not brilliant but I now rock with 2 x Citronic Cosmopars, 2 x Fusion 100 spots, a two very reasonably priced lights from U-King (and those REALLY surprised me!). I was also on the Maui 5's because that's more than enough for this particular venue.
I also have the option of adding a glitter ball behind me (the spots are programmed to point at that for the slow dances).
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The hardest part of this one - using the family Zafira instead of the van (the sign written van in the car park would have given the game away as he arrived.....the things I do for customers). All I'll say is that I have total respect for those that do this job in a car instead of a van. My Tetris achievement last night was beyond compare!
So that's February done. Other than a wedding fair in March, that's it until June. What the heck is going on in the wedding world at the moment?
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What a difference a day makes.....
Last night, one I'd been looking forward to for a long while.
Lovely couple, very relaxed about literally EVERYTHING, what's not to like?
The venue is only 20 miles away, but takes me from Cambridgeshire, through Suffolk and into Norfolk (does that make me an international DJ? :rofl:). Sadly, they're some of the worst Fen roads imaginable and anything over 40mph is going to take the suspension out/bounce you off the road into a very deep drain/lose a battle of wills with a tree or overshoot a 100° bend.
I've been here many times since it became a wedding venue. The owner is a decent chap who listens to us DJs. Originally getting in was so bad (long, narrow, unlit gravel path) that people refused to take bookings. He's since opened a hole in the wall behind the marquee and load in/out is a doddle, so long as you don't run over the peacocks.
Add to this that because some of our ilk are complete idiots and take gigawatt sound systems, he's placated the neighbours and the licensing authority by installing his own sound system. I was dreading a sound ceiling, what I actually got was four LD Stingers flown above the dance floor. Yup, VERY happy with that. Apparently it's completely cut neighbour complaints so all's good.
There also used to be Gawd knows how many different lighting fixtures scattered around the marquee including for some reason, a digital countdown timer. They've been replaced with an array of Abstract pixel mapped tubes behind where I stand, and the effect is brilliant.
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Oh, there's now an infinity dance floor as well. All in all, this venue has come on in leaps and bounds since Covid and it's a real treat to work there.
So, the actual gig. Nice and easy. Bride's into Abba (my favourite group of all time), Groom's into Fleetwood Mac (more brownie points), the playlist has been made up of guest invites, this was always going to be a winner.
However, the venue was hot, and it was a small contingent of guests (around 50). So until 10pm we went through a cycle of full dance floor for 30 mins, then an empty one whilst they re-hydrated and cooled down. I sort of expected that. When they WERE on the floor though, they lapped absolutely everything up.
For the last hour, the bride asks for recent clubby stuff from the 2010's to current. Well young lady, let me have a little look-see in my DJBeats folders. Seamless club style mixing and a full floor of singing, sweaty bodies. Last song of the night was actually a request (bride had no idea what she wanted). One of the guests came up at ten minutes before the end and asked for Super Trouper as a tribute to the bride.
What they got was the Mamma Mia soundtrack version (fitted perfectly with the very strict end time) - full dance floor, VERY happy couple and very happy DJ who spent the entire night with a big, beaming grin on his chops and came home with the same expression.
Next week, it's just the booth and the playout - the venue do the sound and lighting.
