New York DJ

 
On July 24th, New York State’s law allowing same-sex marriages went into effect. Throughout the state, and in New York City, a huge number of couples waited to take their vows in the early morning hours at various marriage bureaus. From the start of the day it seemed every news report on television, the internet, and in newspapers that you came across all remarked strongly on the intense feeling of thrill, giddy disbelief, and often the joyful release of emotions long-held inside.

We feel great that same-sex couples have finally won these new rights, but also, for a company like us that loves to plan and spin at all kinds of unique weddings – be  it same-sex marriages or those “other” kind – and has been doing it for years, this is also exciting for us professionally as well. Recently, Dan and I were interviewed for UK radio, on BBC Radio 1 (and featured in their on-line article), in which we talk about our enthusiasm for same sex weddings. The interview is below, and you can read the article here.

We anticipate there will be a huge increase in same-sex couples wanting to marry, and just like the other couples who tend to be attracted to our approach, gay and lesbian couples are going to want it to be a wedding personalized to them, and not some generic, cookie-cutter party with tired music and over-long or obnoxious MC announcements. We’re excited to what the future will bring, and to get to know what each of these couples see as their vision or vibe for their special day. Whether a couple envisions a celebration that’s more traditional, or wants a large-scale bash at a huge space, or prefers an eccentric, low-key lounge vibe, or desires a cozy gathering at an old converted brownstone – whatever the case, this kind of customization is what has been our specialty for a long time. We’re looking forward to working with more same-sex couples in this way – while also looking forward to integrating new ceremony or reception moments for these couples that may emerge as being popular crowd-pleasers at same-sex weddings

As a DJ company that is already experienced in planning and spinning at same-sex weddings, it’s really going to be fun and special for us to take that experience and match it with the joy and enthusiasm that we know so many gay and lesbian couples will have for planning their wedding, now that they are, after a long wait, official.

BBC Radio 1 Interview with djnyc

Venues such as reception halls, country clubs, inns and the like are often a popular choice when looking for a place to hold your wedding celebration. These establishments are designed to host weddings and therefore, the thought goes, are more well-equipped and experienced when it comes to dealing with all of the planning, coordination, and often complicated execution that managing a successful wedding celebration involves. Also, "turn-key" venues like this can be cheaper than lofts, restaurants or more eclectic spaces.

Well, not so fast. We’ve DJ-ed for years at all kinds of these venues throughout the New York City metropolitan area. And while yes, having your wedding at a hall or a country club definitely takes much work out of the management of a wedding in that these venues can be a “one-stop shop” for major components of your celebration (the space, the food, a banquet manager) we’ve also found that sometimes – not all the time, but sometimes – the sheer “usualness” of the venue’s normal procedures can lead to inflexibility and a dull "assembly-line" mentality (see the extremely festive photo above of the "Party House") toward events that can get in the way of making your celebration as special as it could be.

Here's the three major ways in which we've found this often happens:

1) They Pack in Too Many Receptions

People sometimes refer cynically to halls and country clubs as “wedding factories” since they schedule many different weddings a day there, and often at the same time. Once, when performing a wedding at one of these venues, one of our DJs returned to the reception room thinking it was the wedding he was working, only to see a moment later that there was a DJ he didn’t recognize already behind the table – whoops, wrong wedding! His was the one next door.

This sounds ridiculous, but since weddings are huge business for these venues, some try to pack in the receptions as if they’re simply a more elaborate karaoke party. And what’s worse, the walls of the rooms in these venues can sometimes be fairly thin – sometimes we’ve even been able to hear the DJ and his booming bass booming in the reception room next to ours. This atmosphere all makes your reception seem not at all special and unique – on a day when that’s what many, if not all, couples want most for themselves and their guests.

So, if you’re set on a banquet hall or any venue that regularly holds weddings, make sure to ask how many other weddings will be around you and how close they will be. Ask to come in on a typical night to see how the venue arranges these weddings. Or, surprise them – just simply dress up a bit, go to one of these venues, and peek inside the place. You’ll quickly know if you like what you’re seeing – if the place keeps a certain amount of respectable distance between the location of the weddings, or if they intend on treating you like newlywed sardines.

2) Their Reception Timeline Might Not Be Best for Your Party

This is something we’ve often seen at venues that do a lot of weddings – the schedule or timeline of the reception is rigidly based on how the venue is used to serving the food courses. Many times, this means that, in order for the staff to more quickly put down courses and take them away, the banquet manager tells couples they need to have dancing sets at certain intervals. For some couples, this is fine. But for others – knowing their crowd won’t want to dance too early in the reception, a desire to have longer, more uninterrupted dancing sets, or simply wanting dancing to being a little later, when people have more drinks in them – these dance sets feel too unnatural or “forced.”

If a couple asks to “alter” the usual template of food service – say, to collapse the time between courses, so the flow of the dinner feels more like you’re at a restaurant – the venue will sometimes tell you that can’t be done. What they aren’t telling you is why they don’t want to do it, and that usually has to do with their convenience, not yours. For example, it’s easier for the staff to clear the tables when people are out on the dance floor. Again, if you don’t mind having two 20-minute dance sets before dinner, no problem – often these sets can be great fun.

However, if you want to plan things a bit more your way, make sure to have an alternate plan to suggest (a meeting with your DJ should be able to help you to plan a night that maximizes the mood you want; we do this regularly with clients), and, if you find the venue is reticent to it, ask why changing things would be difficult. Also, mention what you care about most. For example, you can explain that you don’t mind if people are at their seats when the food is put down and taken away since you’d rather have 10 minutes of sitting down in between courses than 20-minute dance sets after the appetizer and the salad. Sometimes the mangers of these venues, knowing what makes you happy, are very willing to change things around once they know your preferences, even though they're slightly different than what most couples at these venues do. Other times, to these venue managers, requests that mean going off their template are not met with much enthusiasm no matter what, and you might get the sense they don’t enjoy it or will simply ignore it, like when you ask McDonalds’ to make a cheeseburger with light ketchup and no onions.

3) Your Maitre'd Could Be a Hardass

Sorry to be a little harsh, but this is the most accurate way to put it. Unfortunately, we’ve run into this unfortunate situation at halls and country clubs more than a few times. Of course you want your maitre’d to run a tight ship, but not to be a robot or an inflexible jerk. Why would this be a big problem? Simple – because it can squelch great moments during the reception. For example, if the cake cutting is scheduled to happen at 10 p.m. and there’s a killer dance set going and guests are having an orgasmic time, the maitre’d or head waiter should give the DJ a song or two to let the moment breathe or to at least let the DJ finish the song. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve had many a maitre’d come over to us, and, seeing a full, high-energy dancefloor, tell us to cut the music and announce the cake cutting song. When we ask them if we can at least finish up the song, these party-deaf staffers simply huff away or tell us again, tersely, as if we spit in their face, to cut the music. It’s pretty astonishing, the ability to be that numb to a room of people enjoying themselves so throroughly.

To make sure you don’t get a maitre’d like this, ask to meet yours, and emphasize that you as a couple will be happy if the timeline is a little behind if it means a special moment can go a bit longer. If you can't meet the maitre’d beforehand, make this point with the head of the staff , banquet maanger, or whoever is in charge so the maitre’d is sure to get the request. Doing this may eliminate the problem of rigidity, if it’s coming from a place of wanting to make sure you’re happy. If it doesn’t solve the problem, and you still get soem sort of insistence on sticking to the timeline, you know the inflexibility is coming from another place, like a desire to simply want to sleepwalk though a shift. And that usually means it’s time to look for a different venue.

Last Thursday, a recent nationally-syndicated interview aired that we did for NPR’s “Marketplace.” In the interview, we discuss with reporter Jeremy Hobson what makes a great retro flashback song, and how a new generation is becoming just old enough to want to hear nostalgic tunes from their childhood at the clubs, bars and events they attend  – usually after several drinks, that is. Have a look and a listen:

American Marketplace – 03/25/10

Here’s the audio of the interview (It’s a podcast, our segment starts at 23:15 elapsed):

djnyc – NPR

No, this is not a cover of the Sheryl Crow tune about “the sun going down over Santa Monica Blvd.” or a version of the pop-country hit by Sugarland from a few years ago we’ve all heard in supermarkets with the semi-annoying “ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh” chorus . This “All I Wanna Do” is by a new-ish band from Wales named The School. But because the song’s sound and production is so evocative of orchestral girl groups of the mid-‘60s (think any band from that time which had a “-ette” suffix at the end of their name and you’ve got the idea), the tune at times seems like a long lost gem from 45 years ago.

The School isn’t exactly breaking new ground with their sound or lyrics, but in re-creating a sweet, innocent mood that isn’t heard by wide audiences anymore, this song seems quite fresh. But more important is simply that this group has both an ear for a great melody as well as great production choices that wring every last bit of adorableness they can out of this quick and simple slice of vintage-sounding pop. (The School’s other songs are pretty good as well; go here to check out their website. Another song of theirs, “I Want You Back,” made our “short list” of indie rock & pop favorites of 2009; go here to check out that post. And no, that song is not a cover of the Jackson 5 classic.)

Anyway, if you’re not the retro girl-group sound, “All I Wanna Do” might not be your thing. But the whole point of these “off the beaten track” first dance song posts is to bring you tunes for a first dance that you won’t find recommended anywhere else, regardless of the genre. So if you’ve here and read this far, you’re probably looking for something new – even if that new thing is a sound that harkens back to the days of girl groups performing in beehive hairdos and matching outfits on The Ed Sullivan Show.

So, why is “All I Wanna Do” a great first dance song, and a outstanding song overall? Well, first, with its innocent, teenager-in-love-like lyrics about needing to leave the world and its troubles behind for a while and escape to be with your sweetheart, it captures a sentiment that no doubt many couples who have a youthful spirit about their relationship and/or a lot of mid-century modern retro furniture in their apartments will love. Second, it’s,short and sweet – but not too short to be over just like that, and not too sweet to be cutesy.

But the best thing about the song is the vocal melody; it gives wings to, and makes memorable, a song with a sound and a subject done countless times before. If you’re at all into vintage-sounding pop, it’s quite hard to resist the airy, clean voice of singer Liz Hunt and the tune’s uplifting chorus, especially since each time it repeats it becomes more orchestral and lush, as layers of angelic vocal overdubs, gentle backing “aaahhs” and soaring strings are added in just the right amounts to build things to a big, exhilarated-sounding near-finale that will make couples feel like spinning each other around like goofy teenagers.

Okay, so you might not actually go that far in front of a reception of your guests, but if you’re a couple that tends to wear your giddiness on your sleeves, it certainly is nice to have a song that gives you the option.

The School – All I Wanna Do