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Your guests are like your personal paparazzi on your wedding day. But what should you do if you don’t want your special and intimate moments to find their way onto social media?
Unfortunately, you can’t fully control the situation but there are steps you can take to make your wishes known and limit social media uploads. ● Mention It on Your Invite. If you will be creating a wedding website, mention your wishes there. Get specific though. Are you fine with guests snapping photos at the reception but not the ceremony? Would you prefer guests to wait until you and your partner have posted photos before they do? Tell them exactly what you do and don’t want – it is your day after all. Keep in mind that if you’re going to use a wedding hashtag, it might be confusing to also ask guests not to post photos. ● Include a Note on the Program. If you’re sending out printed invites, you may have to mention your no-photo rule on your programs. You could even include a small printed note with your invites if you have the extra budget. ● Announce It. Since you will have everyone’s attention at the start of the ceremony, get your officiant or master of ceremonies to announce your requests about photos and social media. ● Create a Sign. Another option is to create a sign that you can place at the entrance of your ceremony. This ensures that all guests see it. ● Alter Your Privacy Settings. If you don’t want to take any chances, you can always change your social media privacy settings. This way, you can’t be tagged in any photos you haven’t approved. Don’t feel guilty for asking your guests not to post your wedding photos on social media. By approaching it in a fair and even humorous way, it doesn’t have to be a big deal. As you get closer to your wedding day, you’re going to need to find someone to lead the ceremony. You will probably have quite a few questions for your officiant, but they will have a few for you too.
Here is some of the information you should prepare prior to meeting with your wedding officiant. 1. Details of the Day As you can imagine, your officiant will firstly want to know who you are as a couple, as well as when and where you plan to get married. This will help them determine availability and if they are willing to travel to your wedding venue. 2. The Vision for Your Ceremony Next, your officiant will want to know more about how you would like to remember your wedding ceremony. Be prepared to describe your ideal ceremony and how you want guests to remember the moment. You can also make a list of what you liked and didn’t like at other wedding ceremonies so that your officiant knows what to avoid. 3. Your Relationship To make your ceremony as relevant and personal as possible, your officiant will more than likely ask how you met and when you fell in love. You don’t have to provide every small detail – your officiant just wants to understand more about who you are as a couple. You can even provide the details of your engagement as this also offers valuable insights. 4. How You See Your Partner To help your officiant learn more about who you are as individuals, he or she might ask you to describe your partner. How are they similar and different to you? What traits do you love the most and why are you marrying them? 5. Your Wedding Party and Guests Since your officiant will also be in the same room as all your guests and your wedding party, they might want to know more about the people in your lives. How did you pick your wedding party and who is on your guest list? Is it more family, friends, or a combination of both? 6. Religion and Traditions Next, your officiant will want to know more about your religious beliefs and whether you want to include any prayers in your ceremony. If not, they may also ask if there are any particular readings you want to include. This could be anything from poetry to passages from your favorite book. If there are any specific traditions or rituals you want to include in your ceremony, this is a good time to discuss them. Choosing the right officiant for your wedding is important, so don’t rush the decision or feel that you have to go with the first officiant you meet. Choose someone who understands who you are, what you want, and someone you both connect with. Be A Little Selfish, It’s Your Wedding Day.11/23/2022 Choose what “brings out the best” in you!
Color plays a vital role in your wedding. Shades & hues can affect our thinking and our mood. It can irritate or soothe. Raise your pulse and even affect your appetite (who knew?). Needless to say, selecting your wedding palette is no small feat! So We have two words of advice for you: Be Selfish Don’t be afraid to consider your own desires when deciding on your wedding colors! It’s *your* day, after all. Choose colors you love. ● A pop of color in a tie or pocket square. ● Beautiful hues in your bouquet. ● Your Bridal Party dresses and accessories. ● Even your table settings should reflect colors that evoke the feelings & emotions that you want for your day. So go ahead and pick your palette intentionally (and of course, think about colors that bring out the best in your Bridesmaids skin tones & hair color, too. They’ll be standing next to you in all the photos, after all). With that in mind, you’ll look picture-perfect for all those frameable photos you’ll soon be putting on the walls! As a DJ, my service is designed to “bring out the best” in your special day, too! I'd love to hear what color palette you’ve chosen. And if you’re still looking for a Wedding DJ that compliments you as well as your color palette, let’s chat. “Tell me what you want, what you really really want!”
Even *if* the Spice Girls AREN’T on your wedding playlist, they nailed it with this song lyrics. We’re visual creatures, aren’t we? And one of the best ways to explain what you “really really want” for your Big Day, is to show me/us! No matter who you’re considering adding to your Wedding Vendor Dream Team, the best way to describe what you want is with pictures. How?? Create a Pinterest Board Pinterest is a fantastic way to draw inspiration about photography styles, colors, bouquet designs, even music that gets toes tappin’, and more for your special day. Save them all in a special Wedding Inspiration Pinterest board and share with the people who are creating your signature day! Setting up a Pinterest account is easy, I promise. And when you’re up and running, find DJ Matt Blake on Pinterest and follow us. I can’t WAIT to see what you’re planning! Your Guide to Day Of Wedding Stationery11/9/2022 When you think about wedding stationery, I bet that you automatically think about save the dates, invites and RSVP’s…. But wedding stationery is much more than that, much more indeed. There are lots of other elements of your wedding day that will require stationery that you probably haven’t even considered. Things like your place names, menus, ceremony schedule, parking signage to name a few. In this blog, I’m going to give you the low down of all the on the day wedding stationery you will ever need, From the ceremony to the reception and everything in between! Let’s go.
Ceremony It’s a really good idea to have this type of stationery. Having a ceremony schedule/program helps your guests know what you have planned. This may be in the form of a card or a small booklet. You will want to include that it is your wedding ceremony and the date and location. Then inside you will want to add what is planned during the ceremony. Whether there are speeches and if so, by whom. If you have chosen hymns, it’s a nice idea to include the words for these. Guests will be very grateful for that! It is also a nice item for guests to keep. Parking If the parking at your wedding venue and reception is not very clear, it may be an idea to put some signage up around the entrance to your venue/s to stop any confusion. Alternatively, a personal approach is to have an usher guiding guests to the car park. Welcome Sign Welcome signs at weddings are one of my favorite things. They come in so many shapes and forms. They really do make the entrance to your wedding ceremony and reception something special. If you’re a little unsure one way to do it is to add some beautiful signage to the entrance of your ceremony to welcome your guests. This may simply say 'welcome' or perhaps 'welcome to the marriage of....' and can be designed so it’s in keeping with the rest of your décor. Some couples add flowers to their signs while others opt for a copper frame. Take a Seat If you are having guests seat themselves on particular sides, you will want to make this clear to them as they arrive at your aisle. Alternatively, you may want to let guests know that they can sit wherever they like. Signs for this sometimes say, ‘Pick a seat, not a side’. Pinterest has some wonderful ideas for short poems and rhymes for this. If you are having ushers this would be the perfect role for them. Unplugged Wedding If you have decided to have an unplugged wedding, which I would recommend, then it is crucial that your guests are made aware of this. So, signage is key! Make it visible and have more than one, so that people can respect your wishes. From my experience, having an unplugged wedding means no unwanted, aisle photobombing relatives with phones in their hands on your wedding pictures, that’s the last thing you want. If you’d rather not have signs for this another way for you to get the word out is by having your officiant let your guests know prior to the ceremony starting. Wedding Hashtag Now this is a great one. Perhaps you are totally fine with social media and people taking photos at your wedding? I recommend saving this one for your reception. You may decide to have a wedding hashtag, to make it easier for you to discover everyone’s wedding pictures. You can display a sign or two on each reception table, so your guests know what to do. Not only does it get your guests involved in your big day it also means that all the pictures they take will sit in one place and you will get to see your wedding through the eyes of your guests, priceless. When you are thinking up your hashtag be sure to keep it simple to avoid typos etc. Timeline Of the Day Knowing what is happening when, puts people at ease. Especially when it comes to their tummies. If guests know what time the wedding breakfast is and when the dancing begins, they will likely relax into the day even more. So consider having a timeline of the day drawn up and putting this at the entrance for when guests arrive. So right from the word go, they know what is happening, when! Place Names Place names indicate where a guest should sit during the wedding breakfast. Without them, they will sit whoever they want on their designated table. Which is fine if that is the desired effect, and you are perhaps doing sharing boards. Table Names Each table is named, so that guests can find their way to their table a lot easier. It can be as simple as numbers 1- 10, or you may wish to call your tables within your wedding theme or something relevant to you as a couple. For example holiday destinations or even your favorite bands. Table Plan A table plan is how you display where your guests are sitting and at what table. They would look at the table plan, find their name and see what table they are supposed to be seated at. They can then easily make their way to said table and find their place name, to know which seat is theirs. Escort Cards Now this is one you may not have heard of! Escort cards are an alternative to a table plan. You would display what essentially looks similar to your place names, but on the back, it may say the table name or number where the guest would be seated. Each guest collects their escort cards, see's their table and then makes their way to their table finding their place name. Menus Menus are not essential, but can be a nice touch. You can have one per table, so guests know what they will be eating, or even one per guest or one between two. There are no rules. I have previously had a client have menus that were illustrated with drawings of the food, we then had them printed onto fabric and used them as a napkin for each guest as well as a menu. Even though you spent months planning your wedding day, there are still a few things that you’ll need to get done afterward. It may seem like this is a never-ending list but these are the final items that you should add to your to-do list.
The Un-Even Wedding Party10/29/2022 Life isn’t ALWAYS about balance!
Salads & fries Work days & weekends Hot summer days & winter wonderlands Life is all about BALANCE. But here’s one place that DOESN’T need to be *balanced* - your WEDDING PARTY! Don’t feel like you *have* to add someone to either the Bride’s or Groom’s side (or uninvite someone, either). Here are a couple of ways to deal with an uneven wedding party without batting an eyelid: ● Have men & ladies walk down the aisle in single file (all the men or all the women or alternate). ● Have the wedding party come from the sides (not down the aisle). ● Have one guy with a lady on each arm (or vice versa if there are more guys). All of this to say, your special day is exactly that - your special day. So you do you. Need ideas on how to make the wedding entertainment and music more you or how to personalize your special day? Give me a shout and see how we can help!!! 10+ Hidden Wedding Items To Budget For.10/26/2022 Don’t let these wedding costs take you by surprise!
No one likes to be nickel & dimed but the truth is there are a lot of “hidden costs” that come with planning your Dream Day. So if you’re sitting down to create a budget, here are a few of those hidden fees that you need to include:
Want to make sure you have *all* the deets, your i’s are dotted & t’s crossed? Book a call or request a quote today to find out how we can help! -----> REQUEST A QUOTE HERE <----- Weddings come in all shapes and sizes and the ceremony is one of the most unique and memorable moments throughout the day. Naturally, you want it to be as perfect as possible. To make sure your ceremony goes according to plan, there are a few common mistakes you should be aware of. 1. Failing to Communicate with Guests. Your wedding ceremony is going to have a start time, so remind your guests what time they need to be seated by. Encouraging guests to find seats ensures nobody is left standing for the entirety of the ceremony. It’s also important to remind guests to turn off their cell phones. The last thing you want is for some crazy ringtone to start playing as you say your vows. 2. Not Communicating with Your Officiant. All too many couples have a first kiss photo with an officiant in the background. Speak to your officiant ahead of time about moving out of the way during the first kiss, giving your photographer a clear shot of you and your partner. Another good reason to keep the lines of communication open with your officiant is to make the ceremony more meaningful. All too often, officiants don’t focus enough on the couple. Your guests want a deeper view of your connection and working with your officiant to shape what’s said during your ceremony can help with this. 3. Forgetting to Get the Rings Ready. Before you head down the aisle, make sure your rings are easily accessible and don’t need to be freed from any unnecessary packaging. This also includes removing any price tags. 4. Failing to Do a Mic Check. If you are planning to use a microphone during your ceremony, make sure it’s checked ahead of time. Technological issues can’t always be avoided but the risk of something going wrong during your ceremony (or before it even starts) can be reduced. 5. Not Looking at Each Other. When you’re wrapped up in what your officiant is saying, you may forget to look at each other. Make a point of looking at your partner as much as possible during the ceremony. Not only does it make the moment more special, but your photographer can get some romantic shots too. Planning your ceremony doesn’t need to be complicated, it just helps to be aware of a few small details. Being a lasting memory of the day and with so much investment – not only money but also time, you’ll want to ensure your wedding photos are everything you wanted and more. Not only will they be photographing you as a couple and documenting the day but they’ll also be capturing each little detail you’ve painstakingly put together over the past few months. There’s going to be no second chances getting these right so we’ve put together the photography tips that’ll help you get the best out of your photographs for years to come. Your Prep Your first set of images on the day will likely be of your wedding prep and whether you are getting ready at your venue, your house or your parents house cluttered images do not make for good photographs. So make sure you have a little tidy up and that the room is as clear of stuff as possible – removing all of the non essentials. This way your photographer can really concentrate on you and capturing the emotions during the wedding day build up. Aim to get ready with plenty of time so that there’s time for your photographer to capture some images of both of your wedding preparations. If you’ll be traveling to the venue from wherever it is that you’ve gotten ready, leave with time to spare so you can compose yourself, soak in the moment and have a few extra images just before you walk down the aisle. Unplug You may have heard of an ‘Unplugged’ ceremonies or weddings before but do you know what they mean? An unplugged ceremony is when you ask your guests to not take photos during the ceremony or other parts of the day. It enables them to really be in the moment for your special moments but also ensures that your photographer is able to get unblocked shots of those key moments for your wedding album too. These usually happen when you are both walking down the aisle and you have guests leaning into the aisle to get their own photographs. Unfortunately this sometimes means that the shot is blocked and there’s not really another opportunity to capture that particular moment again. It’s never nice but it does happen. Consider telling your guests that there’ll be opportunities to take their own photos at specific times, such as signing the register or after the I do’s. Some couples even ask their guests to not post any photos online until the day after their wedding – enabling their evening guests to enjoy all the moments of the wedding through fresh eyes too. Let your guests relax and be present in the day and your photographer produce their best work by considering an Unplugged Wedding. Couple Shots Schedule in some shots and capture those romantic moments by getting away just the two of you and enjoy some time together. Whether you schedule this to be just after your ceremony and on the way to the reception venue or whether you do this after your group formal photographs. It enables you to have some alone time as a newly married couple before all of the hustle and bustle of the day, enjoy some private moments and really let your commitment to one another sink in. It’s always a nice idea to go out together nearer the end of the day too as you’ll get some great photos with the sunset. You’ll likely feel more relaxed and be more used to your photographer too, and the light fading away makes for beautiful images. Group Shots If you are having group wedding day shots ensure you plan ahead and give your photographer a list so that nothing gets missed out. Many will ask you for your ‘must have pictures’ before the wedding day so have a think as to which group pictures you want and let your Ushers have a copy ahead of the wedding day too so they are able to help round up bodies. It’s much quicker for you to plan your bigger group shots early so that you can have more time for everything else. Another great tip is to have this part of the day scheduled and share this with everyone. Let them know who’s needed, when and where that way you’ll have more time to enjoy the pictures and also get to your reception much quicker! Trust Your Photographer You will have likely spent many hours searching through huge amounts of photographers and their work to find yours and you booked them ultimately because you liked them and love their work. So, trust their judgment! Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in wanting everything to be perfect on the day but trust their creativity, allow them to work in their own zone of genius and trust that the result will be beautiful images. You’ve seen their portfolio and what they can do and you’ve booked them for a reason. Listen to their instructions and although it may seem a bit unnatural for you to pose a certain way, the result on camera is likely to be beautiful and most probably your favorite image! DJ Matt BlakeWedding tips & Event recaps and stories! Need pricing for your upcoming event - Click here to get a quote!
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