This particular wedding was AWESOME!
Don’t get me wrong….all weddings are brilliant, unique and special in their own way. But Natalie & Paul’s was different….
The current trend for wedding DJs is to do everything “just so”. Brides and Grooms quite rightly expect the absolute best for their big day. The problem is, it means that all wedding discos now look the same. We all use the same looking setup, we all take massive playlists/do not play lists, do things in a certain way, carefully match the first-dance lighting to the colour scheme of the day…..
I’m just as guilty as every other wedding DJ on all of the above points.
However – this is where Natalie and Paul’s wedding was different. The story starts way back on a chilly Sunday afternoon in February in Starbucks. This was our planning meeting where normally we’d go through every aspect of what the bride and groom are expecting from the entertainment….things like the music styles, the colour schemes, the general “feel” of the evening.
My jaw dropped when Natalie said “we’d like to use the Retro Roadshow“.
Don’t misunderstand me – up to about 15 years ago, this is what a mobile disco looked like. It didn’t matter what the occasion was, the DJ turned up with a collection of wooden boxes full of lamps which flashed away uncontrolled to the beat of the music. There was no colour matching in those days (the bulbs were set colours and couldn’t be “mixed” like today’s LED fixtures, they were either on or off). There was no creating different lighting patterns or hearts on the dance-floor because the technology just didn’t exist.
Compared to the vast majority of weddings back then, weddings now take a LOT of work before I even arrive to set up the equipment.
However, whilst sipping on the Caramel Macchiato, it transpired that Paul himself was a mobile DJ back in the 90s. The Retro Roadshow is exactly the type of setup he used…..and that’s why they chose this option.
The conversation very quickly turned into a trip down memory lane that afternoon, and I left Starbucks looking forward to this particular wedding in a big way!
There was a large problem though. The Retro Roadshow is generally used for things like birthdays these days. Whilst birthdays are just as important to the host as a wedding….you tend to have another one next year so if a few lamps blow during the evening, it’s not normally a huge problem.
A wedding (usually) only ever happens the once…..so everything has to work.
The controllers and wiring on the Retro Roadshow left a lot to be desired (well, it is 30 years old!). It was blowing lamps every time it was used, the controllers kept misbehaving….it certainly wasn’t, in my opinion, up to the job of performing at something as important as a wedding reception.
So, a lot of re-wiring, new lamps, new perspex and some new controllers, and a heck of a lot of time and energy later, the Retro Roadshow was completely overhauled and ready for it’s first wedding disco in 22 years.
Seeing it lit up on the stage during the wedding was brilliant. It looked just like it would have done when it was brand new. The lights were vibrant (non blew!), the controllers worked an absolute treat – it worked and the guests loved it.
I received a lot of comments during the evening about how nice it was to see something “different” at a disco (see….even customers are getting bored of seeing the same generic setups these days!). That actually surprised me, because it’s always been a fairly well-known fact that only DJs really see the actual setup.
So there you have it – just another example of where I’ve been prepared to go the extra mile to provide exactly what a bride and groom have asked for on their most special of days.
It was hard work, but definitely worth the effort. The party itself…..absolutely amazing with a lot of dancing (the video above was the last song of the evening after a lot of the guests with children had gone home), lots of good music and most importantly….a happy bride and groom.
Comments are closed.