Yesterday was the wedding open day for the lovely Leixlip House Hotel. We had our fairylight backdrop on display behind the top table to provide a beautiful setting for the room. The day proved to be a huge success with everyone commenting on how our fairy lights complimented the decor and we took numerous bookings for future weddings.
Busy Times……..
another busy halloween weekend with parties over. We had a wedding in the westgrove on Friday night. Well done Gordon and Sinead! We had weddings to dj at in Killashee house with uplighting
on Saturday (Elaine and Trevor) and a trip to The Village @ Lyons for Olivia and Philip’s wedding and we also had the wedding of Esme and Kevin in the K Club and a halloween party in Carton House. Kildare has been the hub of activity all weekend! Then on Sunday it was off to Ashford Castle in Mayo for Linda and Daniel’s big day where we worked with Peter Kelly from weddings by franc. Time to rest before another hectic weekend.
Wedding in Westgrove Hotel
Karen and Eamon’s wedding took place in the Westgrove Hotel on Sunday 24th April. There was a massive setup operation for this one as Karen had booked in a Fairylight Backdrop, 20 Led Uplights in Lilac and I was to play music for the whole day and for the meal also. To ensure I was really kept on my toes, We had to do a seperate setup for the first dance which was to take place in the rooftop terrace of the hotel before moving inside again to the main room for the rest of the dancing. Needless to say I love a challenge and drafted in a trusted helper for the day to ensure we could have our setup done in prompt time.
The lilac uplighting and backdrop (see above) really added a beautiful touch to the room. Pictures don’t really do this justice but give an idea of the effect. 20 moodlights were needed as the room is large and to ensure that we were able to cover right the way around, It was an ideal number.
We have a large gang from cork at the wedding so Karen asked for the “banks of my own lovely lee” to be played along with a first for me, a polka set dance which is a dance that originates from north Cork. You learn something new every day!
Test
Test post from office
Party in Bridge Bar and Grill
Friday night saw us head into town for a corparte event for Jones Engineering in the fantastic Bridge Bar and Grill just off the Grand Canal. Now I had never set foot in the premises before anf had no idea what to expect. When I arrived I was delighted to find a beautiful venue tucked away from the main thoroughfare with a very easy load-in of equipment (essential as any dj will tell you!) and parking available on the street. What more could you ask for!
The party was booked by Martina, manager at the venue having seen us in action previously at another event before christmas. I arrived at 9pm as agreed to setup and hence creating the minimum of disruption and fuss to other guests. Setup was compact as space was at a premium and I tucked myself neatly in ready for commencement at 10.30pm. We had a thirty and forty-something crowd to play to and managed to throw in a number of classics that I wouldnt normally get to play!
Once the party got into full flow it ended up being a cracking night and one which I really enjoyed. The party finished at 2am with the crowd crying out for more, finishing off with the real mc coy’s classic another night. Indeed it was.
10 Steps to creating your playlist
1. Click on Launch music database here.
2. To get started type in an artist name or song name in the assigned search box (AC/DC for example). A list of songs from that artist will appear below the search box. There will be 3 coloured boxes to the right of each song
“Green: Must play ““Amber: Play if possible”.” Red: Do not play”
3. You will be allowed a maximum of 100 songs in each one of these categories
4. When you have selected the songs you will see that they have been put into their selected categories and that each gives you how many songs have been selected so far and an estimated running time for all the tracks selected.
5. When you are happy with your playlist click the “save my list” button.
You will be then ask to enter your “Name”, the “Date of your wedding” and your “email address”
6. To help you along with you music choice there is a “most requested” option which gives you a list of 200 of the most requested songs on the system.
7. Also if there is a song that is not on the system it can be added as a custom song by pressing the”custom song” button. Fill in the artist name and song title and click on “add song”
8.On the list there is also an option for a footnote to accompany the song just click the note icon on the right of the song on the list and you can add a note for the Dj (ie First dance song)
9. You can log back in at any time to edit your playlist by clicking load my list. Enter your wedding date and email address and you can add or take away from the list.
10. Once you have completed the list and are happy with it you must click “SUBMIT MY LIST” if you do not click this the playlist will not be forwarded to our office for your Dj to be able to view.
That’s it enjoy creating your playlist and remember don’t forget to click on the submit button
Choosing your wedding playlist
“Can we choose the playlist for our DJ?” is a question we get asked a lot. It’s a tricky one because it’s your wedding day and of course you want everything to be perfect! The idea of couples’ picking the music began to come about around 8 or 9 years ago. Prior to this, as djs, we showed up at the event or function and played our usual mix of cheesy tunes to get everyone up on the floor. The same oldies got played every time and if someone got a request in and it could be found by the dj and played, in many cases it was seen as a brilliant bonus to whoever requested the song given that expectations and demands were different then! How times have changed!
The period post 90s co-incided with the availability of music through download and meant that endless possibilities were opened up to djs who had the flexibility to play almost any song known to man without having to scour record shops looking for them for days on end. Initially from my perspective there was a certain amount of worry and trepidation about letting go of control of the music. As a dj, it’s a natural instinct that you feel you know what is best for the crowd given the fact that we are the one’s playing the parties night in, night out and seeing what is working with our own eyes. Being told or instructed what to do and play comes as a shock! I mean, you don’t go to your dentist and tell him you don’t think he put enough filling in your tooth. 
With djs, originally there was that feeling of being dictated to on what you thought you knew best. Well since this revolution we now rarely do a wedding, party or function without being given a playlist of some sort to work from. My present day view is this. I am all for playlists as they give a fantastic insight into the tastes of the bride and groom (who are the most important people to keep happy on the night). It is impossible to know what a bride and groom would like to hear without having a consultation or playlist beforehand. Having a good playlist is crucial to the success of the night and should be given due thought and consideration. The following is some advice to couples on creating and choosing their wedding playlist
Advice on choosing your playlist
1. Make sure you choose music to suit your crowd
2. Have a range of music to cover all genres
3. Make sure your songs are dancable
4. Don’t send a list of hundreds of requests, try to keep under 100
5. Let the dj know how flexible you are to the dj deviating off the list or are they to stick to it rigidly
6. Send your playlist to the dj around 2 – 3 weeks before date so you can include the most curent chart songs also
7. Your do not play list is just as important as your playlist if you have some definite no nos
8. Try not to prescribe an order to how your list is to be played. Use your djs experience here to know what works when.
9. Remember to add comments to your playlist to inform the dj of songs of special significance
Best of luck with your wedding playlist and feel free to comment below with your experiences and suggestions.
Playlist for recent wedding
Ailbhe and David got married in Summerhill House Hotel yesterday and booked us for their wedding dj. They gave this great playlist for their wedding which I thought was one of the most practical and floor filling we had received in a long time.
Abba – Dancing Queen
Abba – Mamma Mia
Adams, Bryan – Summer Of ’69
Beatles – Twist And Shout
Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive
Bega, Lou – Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…)
Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway
Checker, Chubby – Let’s Twist Again
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
Heartland – I Loved Her First
Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing
Houston, Whitney – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Idol, Billy – White Wedding
Jackson, Michael – Beat It
Jackson, Michael – Billie Jean
John, Elton – Can You Feel The Love Tonight
Katrina And The Waves – Walking On Sunshine
Kool & The Gang – Celebration
Loggins, Kenny – Footloose
Los Del Rio – Macarena
Martin, Dean – That’s Amore
McLean, Don – American Pie
Medley, Bill & Jennifer Warnes – (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life
Miller Band, Steve – The Joker
Minogue, Kylie – Spinning Around
Orbison, Roy – Oh, Pretty Woman
Presley, Elvis – Blue Suede Shoes
Presley, Elvis – Jailhouse Rock
Queen – Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
Smith, Will – Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It
Springfield, Dusty – Son-Of-A Preacher Man
Timbaland Feat. Keri Hilson – The Way I Are
Train – Hey Soul Sister
Travolta, John & Olivia Newton-John – Grease Megamix
Valli, Frankie – Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
Village People – Y.M.C.A.
White, Barry – Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe
Williams, Robbie – Angel
PLAY IF POSSIBLE:
B-52′s – Love Shack
Beatles – With A Little Help From My Friends
Bee Gees – Jive Talkin’
Cascada – Evacuate The Dancefloor
Cash, Johnny – Ring Of Fire
Champs – Tequila
Connick, Jr., Harry – It Had To Be You
Diamond, Neil – Sweet Caroline (Good Times Never Seemed So Good)
Dion – Runaround Sue
Foundations – Build Me Up Buttercup
Franklin, Aretha – Respect
Gaynor, Gloria – I Will Survive
Haley, Bill & His Comets – (We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock
Heavy D. & The Boyz – Now That We Found Love
Idol, Billy – Mony Mony
Jackson, Michael – The Way You Make Me Feel
Jackson, Michael – Thriller
John, Elton – Your Song
Lauper, Cyndi – Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
Pink – Get The Party Started
Pretenders – I’ll Stand By You
Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Right Said Fred – I’m Too Sexy
Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
Simon & Garfunkel – Cecilia
Simon, Paul – Father And Daughter
Simon, Paul – You Can Call Me Al
Sparro, Sam – Black And Gold
Springfield, Rick – Jessie’s Girl
Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men
CUSTOM:
Boy Meets Girl – Waiting for a star to fall
Dr Alban – Sing Hallelujah
Dr Hook – When you’re in love with a beautiful woman
Fine Young Cannibals – You drive me crazy
George Michael – Fast Love
Haddaway – What is love
Hues Corporation – Rock the Boat
Londonbeat – I’ve been thinking about you
Sophie Ellis Bextor – Murder on the Dancefloor
The Blues Brothers – Everybody
Thin Lizzy – Sarah
Tight Fit – Lion Sleeps Tonight
Whigfield – Saturday Night
New Year’s Eve
It was off to the beautiful Middleton Parl House www.mph.ie located in Castletown Geoghegan in Westmeath for our new years eve wedding 2010. it was co-incidental that we happened to play at another new years’ eve wedding 2 years prior to this in the same venue given that it is not a venue we play regularly. The load-in of equipment is slighting awkward given the steps leading up to the entrance but I was not unduly troubled by this. Billy and Karen, our bride and groom, opted for the dj only package which consisted of a set from 9pm – 2am in the morning. Our playlist was very simple, plenty of oldies for the older crowd, of which there were quite a lot and we kicked off the dancing at around 9.30pm with our first dance of the night with one of my favourite songs from a wonderful artist, harvest moon by Neil Young. This song has been asked as a first dance on another occasion previously and I think its ideal…. wonderful recording. I added in some extra uplighting in the main dancing area near the staircase and also in the hallway leading into the main room. This gave a nice effect. Given the night that was in it we had our standard countdown to midnight when we brought in 2011. I must give a special mention to the manager, john, whom i found very friendly and obliging. Our night finished up at 2am with our bride and groom very happy with their night. I shall be looking forward to returning
Bewleys Hotel
Well to say the weather conditions to get to this one were slightly challenging would be an understatement! Tales of journeys lasting 5 hours to go 20 miles got relayed and the fact I left two hours before I was due to start suddenly seemed inadequate! The fact I made it there in 1hr 30 mins was a feat in itself and the bride and groom were relieved to see I had made it given the blizzard outside.