Weddings

[CK`s 0]

Hi all,

 

We have had a couple of weddings where none of the guests have turned up for the evening function.

 

We have been in a huge room that will take 350+ seated with massive dance floors and around 50-60 evening guests. The B&Gs told us that they had 200+ invited and none of them are turning up.

 

We have chatted to the venue management as well and they are just as mystified it seems to be the norm this summer according to the venues whoa re all annoyed as their bar takings are badly down.

 

 

Any ideas?

[stevie 0]

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/042.gif

I think its all down to money as in nobodys got any http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/014.gif

 

Most pubs n clubs seem to do ok but your average joe hasent got the cash to justify goin to a weddin for people they hardly know so they dont bother, its a bit like the house sales at the moment nobodys buying.

 

Dont worry it wont be your fault

 

Stevie

[YourBigEvent 0]

On Friday and Saturday I finished an hour early each night because no evening guests turned up, Fridays bar take was under £40......for a wedding too.

[Dale King 0]

I have noticed this over the last few years to be honest.

 

I always worked on the 1/3 dont turn up formula for weddings, but i think that now, if you get more than 50% you have done well.

 

Personally, I think it's just another symptom of the "don't give a toss" society we live in. People would rather be down the pub (or even worse, sat at home) than sat in a hotel paying £3 a pint, listening to some crap "resident disco" in a room full of people you either dont know or dont like.

 

Despite weddings being our bread & butter, personally, I prefer not to do them and given a choice would never do one again.

[Ian Stewart 0]

I must admit that I have not found this,

 

must be that here in Essex we are a bunch of http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/beer.gif heads, and any excuse for a party,

 

or once the bride & groom thell their guests that I am the DJ, they all turn up because they know it's going to be a good party http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

[brianmole 0]

Except for this Friday's gig, I have not found this to be the case at all. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

[ChrisPointon 0]

I had a Wedding on Saturday where only about 20 people had turned up. However this was due to the B&G living in South Wales - so why they held the gig about 200 miles away is anybodies guess, perhaps they felt that the 20 people in this area were more important and crucial to the Reception (Parents, Best Man, Bridesmaids etc) http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

 

But I have also seen a rise in the number of smaller Weddings (with less than 75 guests) this season.

[AJS Mobile Disco 0]

There was a report in the paper last week that went along the lines that it costs an average of £300 to attend a wedding these days. Maybe thats why people are not turning up as they used to.Newspaper report

Anne

[Kingy 0]

I have seen this occasionally, but there again a lot of the weddings I do are only for about 100-150 people anyhow.

 

I do know people who when asked what they are up to at the weekend reply " I have to go my brother's/ sister's/ auntie's etc wedding". The crux of that statement is the "have to" bit, whereby they feel compelled to go due to family pressure rather than choosing to go. They simply don't want to be there.

 

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

The crux of that statement is the "have to" bit, whereby they feel compelled to go due to family pressure rather than choosing to go. They simply don't want to be there.

 

Which I think is also a valid point related to several other subjects too.

 

I used to enjoy working in a club environment, even though the pay for it locally was usually poor. I found that people (old and young) who go out for the purpose of enjoying themselves and even pay an admission for the same, will usually enjoy themselves far more than those who have been dragged along by the other half, or have to be there purely out of obligation.

 

 

[DJF 0]

i have noticed that numbers attending evening functions of weddings have dropped but upto now not encounted a NO SHOW wedding. as others have stated it's due to alot of factors,the couple,the venue,location of venue,price of drinks,who the guests are and so on and so on.i have personally heard of alot of friends i know being married for only a year or two and getting divorced.so them kind of stories get asround and out people off INCLUDING ME WITH MY PARTNER.

[jackcu 0]

Do you mean they invited 200 and got 200 RSVPs saying they couldn't make it? Or did they say they'd come and stay at home?

 

Funnily enough, I got an invitation to a wedding through the post on Monday. It's been a while since I've been to a wedding as a guest - should be interesting to go with my DJs hat on (although it might clash with my kilt)

 

Cheers,

 

Jack.

[spinner 0]

First experience of it, but it happened last night.

 

Wedding reception with 175 evening guests invited in a room that would take 300 guests easily.

 

How many were there?

 

38!!

 

50 guests were invited to the wedding breakfast but only 34 turned up.

 

We had set up in the morning and returned to start at 7 to find just 34 people there.

The bride said that the evening guests were coming from 7.30 and the first dance should be at 8.

 

By 8 another 2 guests had arrived and we played the first dance.

 

During the evening 2 more guests turned up.

 

Dancing was sporadic and involved less than 25 % of the guests at any one time.

 

The venue manager said the bar takings weren't enough to pay the bar staff wages.

 

At the end of the evening the groom thanked us and we received a round of applause from the 10 people who were left!!!

Edited September 4, 2005 by spinner

[transeurope 0]

It IS the price of drinks, the run-of-the-mill entertainment format, the hassle with childminders, the transport difficulties, extortionate overnight rates for guests and the fact that people just find weddings so humdrum.

 

We are now at a stage where the US was at in the 70s. There, the answer was to turn weddings into micromanaged spectaculars, coupled with the occasional sporadic burst of service/price ratio improvement from the "hospitality" industry.

 

Germany has been through similar also. Their answer involved improved transportation links to venues coupled with earlier finishes and or simply a longer wedding with people dropping in and out during the day.

 

Each culture will cope with this in its own way. I think the day of the "standard" UK/Irish wedding in current form are numbered though.

[BigBen 0]

Although I have never experienced no guests turning up for a party, I have seen more and more let downs; 50% was the figure muted earlier, I'd agree with that.

 

My belief is that the mobile disco really hit its peak in the 80's. In the 90's we had raves and now in the noughties, we have festivals. Our format hasn't really changed in all those years whereas trend's, style's, likes and dislikes all have as the music scene reflects. And, as we all know, some mobile disco's can be truly appalling.

 

As a guest I have enjoyed parties less and less over the years. As a dj I have noticed less people attending, dancing and probably enjoying themselves over the last six years too. It's hard to enjoy yourself when you are in a room with a load of other people NOT enjoying themselves.