How can you be sure you’re hiring the best wedding DJ? Finding a wedding DJ in Portland can be a daunting task. There is already so much stress that goes into planning a wedding while trying to keep everything under budget. we’re going to give you a list of reasons and processes that will help alleviate the stress and make you and help you make the right decision when it comes to hiring a DJ or entertainment company to help run your event successfully. You are probably wondering if it’s really worth it to hire a wedding DJ to help run your event. It can be really hard for a couple to decide where the best place to find and DJ is and where to even start looking. There are so many different Google searches you can do to find the right entertainment company for your special day.
As an entertainment company in Portland, Oregon, we know that brides and grooms have the ability to search Google, but we think some of the best tools to find vendors in our area are The Knot, Wedding Wire, Oregon Bride Magazine, Brides.com, and other wedding related sites. The great part about all these sites is they feature vetted vendors with numerous reviews, testimonials, and examples of their work. These are usually highly trained professionals that will have a good reputation and they should be able to highlight that in their profiles. I suggest that couples narrow their search down to about five different vendors for each category, compare the reviews and portfolios and pricing, and then reaching out to the top three to see if they’re a good fit for your wedding. As a wedding company in Oregon, we know there are many factors that our clients are searching for. This is one of the reasons why we decided to advertise all our information and pricing right on the website because we know that there is nothing more frustrating than finding something that you like and not being able to contact the person to find out their availability or even get a ballpark on the pricing. This can be very frustrating.After you have found a couple of candidates that you think you want to put in charge of your wedding or special event, the next thing is to reach out to them and set up a consultation. With DJ Cutt Entertainment, we have a couple different types of consultations. We can always meet in person at a Starbucks or venue of your choice. But even more common now is setting up a phone call or a video chat in which we can go over the basic details of your event. You can also read our article tips for hiring a good DJ.
In my opinion, an in-person meeting is the best option. But I also like doing a video call so that way we can get to know each other. The most important thing is to make sure that our company is a good fit for your needs. Our goal is always to make sure you have a successful event, even if that means recommending another vendor. During the consultation, we will go over all the details of your event starting from the ceremony and ending with the dance party. The first part of this call I like to get to know you as a couple and find out what style you have because this is going to dramatically affect the flow for a wedding.The very first thing I like to ask is what are some things that you have seen at past weddings that you would like to incorporate. What are some things that you have seen at past weddings that you want to stay far away from or try to avoid? We all know that some weddings can be very cheesy or clichéd so we try to add some unique touches to make sure that yours is special and personalized for your style.
One of the biggest factors for the cost of a DJ is going to be the length of the event and how long you’ll need the DJ there. At DJ Cutt Entertainment, we start our time 30 minutes before the bride walks down the aisle until the end of the last dance. With our company, we don’t charge for travel time, set up time, or tear down time. Our package prices only cover the time that we are actually needed to play music.
We like to find out the important details concerning the ceremony. The ceremony is usually between 15 minutes to 45 minutes depending on the type of wedding you choose to have, such as whether it’s going to be religious or non-religious. We also like to find out how many people each wedding party will have and who’s going to speak during the ceremony. At DJ Cutt Entertainment, we offer lapel microphones and handheld wireless microphones for our clients. It’s important to discuss these details so we know what mics you’ll require so everybody can hear everything while the ceremony is going on. There are also many occasions in which we’re hired to do the AV for the ceremony but the couple has a pianist or a string quartet to provide music. Sometimes you will have family members that play music during the ceremony and our job is to make sure they sound their best.
We like to go over the cocktail and dinner details to find out where these are going to be located in relation to the ceremony site and the dance party locations. Many times we do weddings where they have different venues in different areas and we offer packages that reflect these different areas. We are experienced with knowing how to have the proper equipment at each site. The overall length of the cocktail hour is going to be dependent on many factors, Such as how long will it take you to finish up photos with the photographer. Other considerations are how long it will take to sign the marriage license and how much alone time you guys would like before making your grand entrance at dinner. Cocktail hour is usually very flexible. But it’s also going to depend on when dinner is ready. Dinner can be very lengthy or a short time depending on if it’s family style or buffet style and this also depends on how many guests you’ll have going through the line. This is also the time that we dive into how many people will be speaking and giving speeches at the end of dinner before we move into the cutting of the cake and dances.When it comes to the music for dinner and cocktail hour we usually get a list or ideas of artists or genres of music that you would like during this time. There’s no need to pick out a bunch of songs for this time. You are usually busy doing things with your guests or off taking pictures so we just need to get an idea of a theme or genres you would like to hear.During our consultation we don’t usually go over the specific music but just get a general idea of the timeline and how everything will be organized in order to help you decide if you guys would like to book us for your wedding.
Once we are finished with our video chat or phone call, we will email you over a proposal. This proposal will include all the details that we discussed on the phone such as where the venue is located, how many hours you need a DJ for, what packages you guys would like us to bill you for, and any other details that we discussed.This proposal will be sent to your email with a link so you can view where to send your payments and where to sign the contract. Our online system makes everything streamlined so you don’t have to mail anything to us and you can view your contract and payment at any time. Once we have the signed contract and the non-refundable retainer your event date is locked down and this is where you can start the planning process by filling everything in the online forms.
After we have received the contract and your payments, you will be getting a booking log so you can start filling out all our forms. These forms include one for the ceremony, one for the reception, and a form that has an event timeline with all the events that we need to know times for. There’s also a form for the music requests for the dance party. We try to have our couples work through these forms a little bit at a time leading up to the wedding.
Between 30 to 60 days before your wedding we like to set up a venue walk through with you to go over all the final details leading up to your event. This is a great time to get all your other vendors together so we can all meet each other and open up the dialogue of communication to make sure everybody is on the same page. This is where we usually like to go over the floor plan to make sure everybody has enough room to execute everything that they need to do their jobs properly. There have been many times where we’ve shown up to a location and we didn’t have power where they wanted to set us up and we were able to address any problems because of this site walkthrough. This also ensures that we know where the venue is before the date of the wedding. When we get to about 60 days out from your wedding this is when you guys should really start focusing on the songs that you would like to hear at your reception. We give you up to 25 songs to request for the dance party but there are also a lot of different songs you want to hear throughout different parts of the day. Really think about the energy of each song and the significance of that song and then you can put them in the correct spots depending on what events are happening throughout the day.
The week before your wedding we like to set up a phone call to go over the last minute details with you guys. We will set up a phone call, go over the planning forms, and discuss any last minute changes. This is where we can answer any last minute details to make sure everything flows smoothly and we have no hiccups on the wedding day. After this is done we ask you to submit all the forms. This tells us if there is going to be any more changes made to your wedding. Then we can send off our forms to the venue manager or the planner so that everybody has the same copy of all the details and everybody is in the loop of what’s going to happen and when.
On the day of the wedding we like to show up to the venue early. This is one of the reasons why we don’t have a setup fee because we usually like to show up two to three hours beforehand. We’re typically one of the first vendors that gets to the venue. From here we like to find a good place to park our vehicle and offload our equipment since we usually have a lot of equipment being rolled into the venue. We try to get our set up done before all the guests arrive to the venue. The first thing we like to setup is our ceremony site since that’s usually the first bit of equipment that we need to use. Once the ceremony site is all set up we will do a sound check and the mic check to make sure everything is working properly. From here we will go set up the reception site and do a test of the speakers and then also do a mic check to make sure everything is working as well. We are really good at making sure that our rooms sound excellent and the music is not too loud for anyone. After our setup is complete we go change our clothes and get ready to have a successful event.
We are a full-service entertainment company in Portland that provides its clients with top-quality service and leaves them feeling like they made the right decision in choosing us. With our wide range of services, we strive to meet your needs and exceed your expectations. We have extensive experience in DJing, videography, and live streaming, as well as other aspects of live events such as lighting design, sound engineering, and more!
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