Why Has The Wedding Buisness Dried Up

[JB THE DJ 0]

imo the dj wedding buisness is been strangled by the wedding band.as they are booked for the first part of the evening a quite word with the b&g,why bother with a dj sure we have the gear already set up,and the drummers son owns 4 cds (in their opion anyone can dj)the cute one before they made their move waited until the resident dj did his set ,they observed watched what got the floor filled and any original though the dj put into the evening they noted it and then copied.Its got to the stage where people come up to me at the end of the night and suggest ive copied a badn they heard last week

[spinner 0]

Plenty of people don't have a band.

 

The problem is a downturn in the number of weddings taking place.

[fester 0]

I tend to agree with spinner, i've noticed a definite decrease in enquiries for weddings over the last few months.

 

I know where you are coming from regarding bands but I think that's been an issue that's been around for a long time. I went to a friends retirement party about 8 years ago where they didn't bother with a disco in-between the bands' sets but get this - the band had a portable cd player and they propped a mic against the speaker and played a Now CD.

The best bit is that nobody moaned, complained or seemed at all bothered (except me of course) about the awful tinny distorted music and they carried on dancing and enjoying themselves.

It sometimes makes me wonder why I have invested so much money, time and effort into making my setup look and sound as good as I can when most people don't seem to give a monkeys and it seems would be perfectly happy dancing to a few old par cans and an ear splitting compilation CD.

[vokf 0]

I've got a wedding this coming weekend. It was originally 6-midnight and charged accordingly.

The client paid in full, direct into my bank shortly after our pre-booking meeting.

 

I spoke to them yesterday, and the times have changed.... their family has booked a singer, who will end at 9pm.. and I need to stop music at 11:30, so basically 1/2 my agreed time.

 

No comment about reducing my fee, I've offered to allow the singer use of my PA providing we can talk in the next day or so.

So, nice client - I'm trying to help them by return.. I could sit on my ass until 8pm, but will probably work to make the night run smoother (but not as hard as DJing from 6pm!)

 

 

The number of weddings have been steadily falling since 1971 (since I was born!);

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=322

 

Looking at the published trends (2 years out of date), I would expect this to bottom out for religious/social reasons - not everone wants to get married, but couples from many backgrounds will still contine to get married.

If it bottoms out at 1000 weddings/year, or 150K/200K its hard to tell. With Divorce in the continual increase, there is more opportunity for a 2nd/3rd wedding than there was 20 years ago.

 

It would be interesting to know the time vs budget for Wedding Budget. This could help evaluate the size of the UK market over time, hopefully adjusted for inflation. Any qualified stats expects here?

 

 

Once they have decided to get married, they then have lots of options regarding their evening entertainment, no entertainment (at very least one couple on Hitched are doing this), a DIY disco, Cheapo DJ, Expensive DJ or Band... or even a Jukebox hire.

 

These decisions are mainly out of our control unless they contact us for a quote and we're able to show a professional service.

I've been in the "hitched" forums for the last few months. Many brides are worried about the "Peter Kaye" factor, and the DJ playing music they don't want to hear (one comment was they would "slap the DJ if he played Take That"! -there was an LOL at the end, so I hope she was joking!)

 

These are real concerns, and whilst its possible to explain that most DJ's really want to listen to their needs, there will always be a couple that get a DJ who meets the "Peter Kaye" profile :hurt:

 

 

 

[MintyDave 0]

I hate following bands as they can be such a hard act to follow. I did a friends wedding last september and he had a fantastic soul band playing, even i was ripping up the dance floor big style

 

i felt embarrased to even try recapture half the atmosphere created by the band

 

half the problem was they took the prime spot with me out of sight behind a pillar with my lights practically ineffective - cant shine round corners.

 

many cant afford both and many bands are buying up a few bits and bobs to do the job themselves - rightly so after all its fair game out there - a good band will wear everybody out so do they really need a proper DJ to attempt fill the floor again

 

i have recently teamed up with a fantastic female vocalist and have done a couple of small gigs with her. I'm thinking of asking her if she wants to do some serious duet work and offer that service as well as the disco stuff.

 

if you cant beat em.......

 

oh yes and not all business sectors are suffering as recently suggested in another post, 40 minutes to get a chinese on sunday night.

Edited March 21, 2011 by MintyDave

[Daley Bee 0]

JB is from Ireland - In Ireland its VERY common to have a band at a wedding

[Dukesy 0]

in their opion anyone can dj

 

Sadly its also an opinion shared by some clients and members of the public. Its also an opinion sometimes shared by venue managers when they decide to get 'Jack' the Barman to double as a DJ in order to save some money on hiring in their normal resident.

 

Its also an opinion shared by some Newbie Dj's who buy their first set of equipment and think that they are fully fledged, fully experienced Wedding Dj's or think they can host a Karaoke night, when in essence they haven't yet got the experience to do either, nor have they gone out to seek it.

 

In some cases the phrase 'Anybody can DJ' is completely accurate and honest, because its true. A person could get made redundant from a non related position on Friday, Buy some cheap gear from Ebay on Saturday, get a booking on Sunday and go out and do it on Monday, and call himself a DJ.

 

Sadly, to become a DJ, does not require acceptance to a College or University, followed by some years of living in digs in a strange location, eating baked beans and running up a huge student debt all in order to show dedication to your chosen career and study your chosen profession. Neither does it need you to sit an exam at the end of the course in order to assess your skills and get a certificate which allows you to call yourself a DJ and are 'qualified' to provide a service to a certain level.

 

And this is what some members of the public will see, essentially unskilled people playing music in the corner either at their 40th Birthday or down the pub. In their eyes, even passing a theory driving test requires more input, more study and a final exam to assess the skills you have learned, than becoming a DJ and, at a public level, they would be correct.

 

To convince those members of the public, and those venue owners that there is more to being a DJ than just playing music and plugging in our pretty flashing lights is down to us, or you can just let them learn the hard way that there is a vast difference between 'Being a DJ' and 'being an experienced DJ'

 

In reference to Bands, of course the public are going to respect them more than us. Playing an instrument or having a good singing voice is either a skill or a gift and people see musicians as talented. This is usually why they get first refusal of the stage, and waited on hand and foot, whilst we get overlooked in the corner . Well, in most cases its true!.

 

Personally, I put down the reduction in bookings, to the slow collapse of the leisure industry, and down to the fact that couples are finding it harder to qualify for and get mortgages, and so live with parents and put off getting married for far longer than they perhaps would a few years ago.

 

Its all around, Several Wedding Venues have closed in Derbyshire, others have relatively empty diaries and are now seemingly starting a 'package' price war with each other. I know of a key Wedding Venue in Cheshire which is up for sale, and this Venue had 3 function rooms, and would often have 2 or 3 Weddings on at any given Saturday night during mid-summer, now its empty, boarded up and no longer trading, thats not indicitive of a healthy, growing industry.

[gadget 0]

I hate following bands as they can be such a hard act to follow. I did a friends wedding last september and he had a fantastic soul band playing, even i was ripping up the dance floor big style

 

i felt embarrased to even try recapture half the atmosphere created by the band

 

Agreed. It's also a really hard act to follow a magician!

 

Cheers,

 

David

[DJMickeyk 0]

JB is from Ireland - In Ireland its VERY common to have a band at a wedding

Yep, DJ only weddings are rare in Ireland, most weddings have a band as the main act and a DJ follows with a 2-3 hour set to finish off the night. The DJ has traditionally been a seperate supplier who came in with his own equipment, but more and more bands see it as easy money to do the Disco themselves. The effort and professionalism put into this varies enormously from band to band, from a roadie plugging in a laptop and playing an i-mix to a really good Disco that would match any of us on here. Of course a specialist wedding DJ isn't going to like it but thats life, the band are going after extra business and as Minty said it's fair game. Looking at the wedding chatrooms here it seems that many couple prefer the all in one package as they prefer dealing with one supplier, and there is also a false perception that there will be a long break in the music if you book a seperate band and DJ (there won't as any proper DJ will be ready to start instantly when the band finish). One way around this would be to team up with a wedding band that aren't interested in doing the Disco themselves to offer a package, or specialise in DJ only weddings which do happen in Ireland but not on the same scale as in the UK. Personally my wedding bookings are way back on five years ago so I have taken a residency and do far more general party work, still do between 10-20 weddings a year but I expect this to fall off further rather than increase in the future

[sweetie 0]

Yep, DJ only weddings are rare in Ireland, most weddings have a band as the main act and a DJ follows with a 2-3 hour set to finish off the night. The DJ has traditionally been a seperate supplier who came in with his own equipment, but more and more bands see it as easy money to do the Disco themselves. The effort and professionalism put into this varies enormously from band to band, from a roadie plugging in a laptop and playing an i-mix to a really good Disco that would match any of us on here. Of course a specialist wedding DJ isn't going to like it but thats life, the band are going after extra business and as Minty said it's fair game. Looking at the wedding chatrooms here it seems that many couple prefer the all in one package as they prefer dealing with one supplier, and there is also a false perception that there will be a long break in the music if you book a seperate band and DJ (there won't as any proper DJ will be ready to start instantly when the band finish). One way around this would be to team up with a wedding band that aren't interested in doing the Disco themselves to offer a package, or specialise in DJ only weddings which do happen in Ireland but not on the same scale as in the UK. Personally my wedding bookings are way back on five years ago so I have taken a residency and do far more general party work, still do between 10-20 weddings a year but I expect this to fall off further rather than increase in the future

 

I'm one of those djs offered by a band and it accounts for 80% of my bookings. I was lucky that I

was in the right place at the right time when I met them. Funnily enough on four occasions in the last year clients have turned down the dj option of the band and contacted me seperately due to seeing me at other weddings and referrals like these are starting to gain more gigs for me too. I guess what i'm trying to say is once you get your foot in the door and you provide a good service, things get easier!

[DJMickeyk 0]

I'm one of those djs offered by a band and it accounts for 80% of my bookings. I was lucky that I

was in the right place at the right time when I met them. Funnily enough on four occasions in the last year clients have turned down the dj option of the band and contacted me seperately due to seeing me at other weddings and referrals like these are starting to gain more gigs for me too. I guess what i'm trying to say is once you get your foot in the door and you provide a good service, things get easier!

Of course it's easier once you have experience and have built your reputation, I'm a recommended supplier in a couple of venues and am on good terms with all of them but have definately seen bands taking over the DJ bookings, this is also the feedback I've been getting from the venues. I know the events coordinator in one hotel very well and asked her why my bookings have all but dried up and she said that most bands now offer Disco as well and couples are generally happy to go with that. I'm not having a moan here btw. I'm charging almost as much for a party as I'd get for a wedding now anyway since I added video and photo display so not too bothered about getting back into the wedding scene at the moment, enquiries for parties also tend to be close to the events so I can pick and choose which to take, with a busy day job and kids etc this can be handy.

[JB THE DJ 0]

dj micky from Ireland talks sense.Its almost a tradition in Ireland for a band to play at a wedding.They are usually steeped in c&w and old time waltzs catering for auntie jean etc.Come 10.30.pm they are usaully out the door like a bat out of hell to play at the local pub which is another tradition,so the evening was left to the dj.trust me some of those bands are not a hard act to follow,and the ones that are good ( why listen to a wannabe when the dj can play the orginal .

Advice give to me many years ago by a far seeing club owner pay peanuts you get monkeys

[DJMickeyk 0]

dj micky from Ireland talks sense.Its almost a tradition in Ireland for a band to play at a wedding.They are usually steeped in c&w and old time waltzs catering for auntie jean etc.Come 10.30.pm they are usaully out the door like a bat out of hell to play at the local pub which is another tradition,so the evening was left to the dj.trust me some of those bands are not a hard act to follow,and the ones that are good ( why listen to a wannabe when the dj can play the orginal .

Advice give to me many years ago by a far seeing club owner pay peanuts you get monkeys

Jeez dunno what kind of bands you've been playing after mate but the ones I play after are superb, and never leave early to do another gig or anything like that, I normally find them very professional with good playlists and good equipment that would take minimum an hour for four people to strip and load in the van. Of course you may have chancers who do cheap weddings with a few mics and backing tracks but that is the exception rather than the norm in my experience to be fair. Like anything else you get what you pay for.

[MintyDave 0]

last nights wedding Gig had a duet playing for about 2 hours (friends of mine). they just did acoustic numbers and the only gear they brought was guitar, mixer + mic with the usual bits and bobs. they ran thru my PA

 

they are both in a local band and agreed that they sometimes provided bit of a disco after the band had played and charged an extra £50. they literally add a laptop and a couple of lights to the band rig. Now in this instance the sound guy is a dj and has been going for years so he does a half decent job.

 

they offer this service to save customers money as i know i have played for less than 30 mins after a band getting somewhere near £20 per song one night (excluding background music)

 

BUT they dont like doing weddings because of all the hanging around and awkward song requests which they cant do

 

what was interesting is that the duet got £50 more than me

 

i tell year...im getting my guitar out!!!

 

 

[DJMickeyk 0]

they literally add a laptop and a couple of lights to the band rig. Now in this instance the sound guy is a dj and has been going for years so he does a half decent job.

 

Which is perfectly fine, the problem for me arises when you get a lazy band who just hit play on an i-mix and then continue to haul the rest of the gear out to the van, no lights etc (I have seen this with my own eyes, it does happen). This is just greedy IMO and is not a proper disco. Like I said above if a band want to add disco then it is fair game but at least put some effort into it.

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[centrestagediscos 0]

although goverment statistics prove otherwise i still firmly believe we are in a recession or even if we are not a lot of people do not feel any sense of security in there employment, in my day job we transfered over from a city council to a housing charity and within 12 months the trade staff ie plumbers,electricains ect have been told that we face pay cuts of a minimum of £5,000,00 per annum with the average being 7.5k and with the job market being so depressed they know they can get away with it, so if your faced with losing money the first thing you do is econimise protecting what you already have ie mortgage standard of living,making sure your kids dont suffer, would for the vast majority of people take priority over a wedding or pretty much any other kind of party,it's often easy to think only of the cost that applies to the disco but even a standard birthday party comes in at or pretty close to a 4 figure sum and people will find it hard to justify the expenditure.

 

 

[MintyDave 0]

just got this from the venue i was in on sunday night. it was the 4th wedding in a row for them so they must be doing ok

 

“Plan B”

 

We recognize that some guests, for whatever reason, decide not to have their wedding at Judges.

 

Sometimes, having booked and paid your deposit somewhere else, the level of service and care you then begin to receive makes you regret your decision.

 

So, with this in mind, we have decided to introduce a new service.

 

If you choose to move your wedding to Judges, (and if we can help!), we will refund your wedding deposit directly to you and we will match all the prices of the venue you already have booked.

 

Simply ring us before your payment and cancellation terms come into effect with your existing venue and we will take you under our wing from thereon in.*

 

wedding prices

 

once upon a time they would have been a lot more than that

[vokf 0]

just got this from the venue i was in on sunday night. it was the 4th wedding in a row for them so they must be doing ok

wedding prices

 

once upon a time they would have been a lot more than that

 

We've got a "winter discount" at our Venue. I forget the price, but something like £4.5K for 50 daytime and 100 max in the evening.

Grub + a few drinks included with room hire (ceremony and main room), and bridal suite.

We looked around and it was good value - we could have gone cheaper.

 

 

The wedding I worked this weekend was in a 3 star hotel, but the function room was very new (this was the first wedding there).

The B&G had spent quite a bit on the day, with my fee being the highest to date for me, a week ago, they mentioned they had booked a band - and I was starting at 9pm and not 6pm, and also ending 30mins earlier.

 

I liaised with the band (2-piece) and suggested they use my PA, which made for a smoother handover.

 

I'm fairly sure they had a large amount of cash behind the bar (no-one was paying for drinks).

We had another like this a few weeks ago, extra services brought in (videographer, harpist, accoustic guitarist), and again, I charged a decent fee.

 

Still... got a £170 kids party this weekend (but I've got my kids over..lol), so its not all bigish payers.

If its a regional thing, then it'll catch up down here.

I'm not out every weekend (sometimes only 1 or 2 gigs/month), but are noticeably busier than last year, with an increase in fees.

 

[MintyDave 0]

 

I'm not out every weekend (sometimes only 1 or 2 gigs/month), but are noticeably busier than last year, with an increase in fees.

 

but with the north south divide being what it is you probably gross more than us poor northerners who work 9 days a week 27 hours a day for '3&6' and half a loaf of stale bread a week, same with many other trades from what i have heard

 

saying that we pay sensible money for houses so what goes around comes around.