DJ XTC Entertainment

There are two aspects of wedding music that need to be addressed when planning your big day. First, you may wish to select certain music or arrange for professional DJ or musicians to play during the actual wedding ceremony. But at the wedding reception, it’s pretty much anything goes when it comes to selecting wedding music, provided it’s tasteful.

Right away is the time to plan your wedding music. Good talent gets booked fast and you don’t want to end up having to select the brand new DJ with only a few weddings under his or her belt or something even worse. Booking your music entertainment a full year in advance is advisable but at a minimum, you should know who will be showing up and what he or she will be playing at least six months prior to the wedding date.

For most weddings, selecting the music for the wedding ceremony isn’t that complicated because most often, has been planned by the wedding couple. When you’re researching your wedding ceremony options, be sure to inquire about any guidelines with respect to wedding ceremony music as these could possibly impact your decision. If the ceremony is being held outdoors, check for electrical hook-ups at your venue or book live musicians.

Wedding music during the ceremony is basically secondary to the ceremony itself so the music is really meant to sort of ‘fill in the gaps’ during the non-speaking periods such as while guests are being seated, during the procession, while lighting the unity candles and of course the recessional. Of course, it’s your wedding and it can be custom-designed.

The music that’s played at the reception, however, is going to mean the difference between a successful reception and one that’s ho-hum. And this is where things can start to get complicated. When you begin searching for wedding reception music, you’ll realize rather quickly that you have a lot of options. You can book a live band, or a DJ that’ll play pre-recorded music, or you can buy that CD full of top wedding songs and have someone act as the DJ. The later leaves little or no control and isn’t really suggested since the person is not actually a professional.

It’s important that you both agree on the type of wedding music you want played at your reception. There are ‘traditional’ songs that almost always are played at certain points during the reception such as the father/daughter dance, the cake cutting, the dollar dance and so on. And then there is all the music in between. Do you want Jazz, Country, R&B, New age, Italian, Latin, Jewish-inspired, or a little bit of everything? That’s an important decision to make because the DJ you select has to be able to deliver what you want or you won’t be happy.

Try to book experienced professionals for your wedding music. If booking live talent, arrange to hear a live performance before booking. Scrutinize the contract before signing to make sure all parties agree on the number of hours music will be provided and that everything that has been agreed to is in writing. Find out the cancellation and refund policy, too. At the end of the day a contract will clarify all parties roles and protect everyone involved.
​
We would love to hear your thoughts. 
www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram

It is my recommendation that you order your Wedding Invitations at least four weeks prior to mailing them out to your guests.  This will allow you plenty of time to receive your Wedding Invitations and double check your order to make sure you have received everything you ordered and no mistakes were made.  It will allow you enough time for a reprint is needed.  It will also allow you plenty of time to address all the envelopes.

Wedding Invitations should be mailed out so that your guest will receive them at least  six to eight weeks prior to the Wedding.  This will allow your guest enough time to make travel plans and return the respond card you included with your Wedding Invitation.  Typically the respond by date should be two weeks prior to your wedding date.  This should allow you enough time to make your final preparations.

You will have many other things to take care of as your wedding approaches and the last thing you need is to have to rush to get your wedding invitations addressed and mailed out.  There will undoubtedly be last minute names to add and address changes to deal with so please allow yourself plenty of time to accomplish this task.
We would love to hear your thoughts. 
www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram

The announcement of your engagement to your future life partner is the precursor to the wedding itself. For a person who is deeply in love, the importance of the engagement ring takes on a great significance as the engagement ring is a forbearer of sorts for the wedding ring. The engagement ring does not and should not be relegated to an inferior ring when compared with the wedding ring.

So when you are getting engaged, it is important for you to consider some tips on getting your best engagement ring.

What then is the best engagement ring?

Your engagement is a declaration to the whole world that you are a couple in love, and are making a public announcement that you are serious or going steady with a view to getting married shortly.

Most if not all couples getting engaged would like their engagement ring to represent such a beautiful declaration of love. Many take the engagement ring as the surety of commitment, and as long as the engagement ring is on their finger, they are keeping themselves solely for each other, and can appear as an "item".

In choosing their engagement ring, they would have to decide on the material they would want their engagement ring to be structured from. Some would like to have it in gold, with diamonds, or some in white gold or silver, but by and large, this would be decided based on the question of affordability.

An engagement ring can be of any precious metal with infilled gemstones, including jade or diamonds, but more important than that is the design of the ring. Connotations of love, symbols of enduring love can be designed on the ring. 

If the engagement ring is a pre-made or jeweller's designed engagement ring, then it is important to buy that engagement ring from reputable jewellers to avoid being overcharged by unscrupulous dealers who treat this as a once-off purchase, and so take the opportunity to jack up the price.

When you purchase your engagement ring from a reputable and honest jeweller, you can be sure of a realistic price as he will want to be your choice dealer when it comes to your actual wedding, and hopefully can be your family jeweller, and to supply all your jewellery needs in the future.

So when it comes to the engagement ring, first settle on the design, then settle on the expenditure, then make sure you purchase your engagement ring from the most reputable jewellery in town.

We would love to hear your thoughts. 
www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram
Photo credit 

One of the most challenging things about getting married is finding and hiring the wedding vendors.  However large or small their roles may be, they will have a significant impact in the overall outcome of your wedding day. Because of this, it is imperative to take your time and follow some very simple steps to ensure you are hiring quality and reputable wedding professionals that you can trust. As you will soon discover, there is really no shortage of wedding vendors in any given category. The goal is finding the professional that is right for you, not only with product, service and price, but with personality as well. The search for wedding day vendors can begin in a number of places. Knowing where to look and what to look for will assist you in your search. The following are suggestions as to where you may begin the search for your vendors.
Bridal Shows 
The greatest value in bridal shows is the opportunity to meet with a large number of wedding vendors and view many products at one time, in one location. There are many categories of vendors represented at the shows, making it an invaluable tool for doing research and for gathering wedding-related information. When you find vendors you particularly interested in, make a note of it and call soon after the show to book a personal one on one appointment. 
Ceremony and Reception Location 
The locations you select for your wedding day are quite familiar with particular vendors, and usually have a preferred vendor list. The vendors on this list have worked at that site many times before and are familiar with the logistics and rules of the location. 
Friends and Family 
You will usually get honest no nonsense answers and opinions regarding products and services when you ask married friends and family members (even co-workers) about their own weddings. Ask them about their vendors, the services they used, what they liked and didn’t like, would they hire them again, etc.? 
The Internet
The Internet is an easy access, easy to use, anytime resource. You can find a wealth of vendors on the web. Checking out a vendor’s web site can give you a good idea of pricing, packages, and type of work they do before making a personal appointment.
Local Bridal Magazines 
Using local wedding magazines and directories can at first seem overwhelming, as there are a large number of advertisements in these publications. You can, however, find excellent vendors in the magazines, but it will take some calling around to acquaint yourself with these vendors. 
Wedding Planners/Consultants 
Wedding consultants have several pre-established relationships with local vendors. If you are working with a consultant, she should be able to provide you with preferred vendor list. However, if you are not working with a consultant, you can still benefit from this knowledge, as most consultants will share their preferred vendor list with you for a fee. 
Conclusion 
Once you have made your final decisions, you must get a written contract. Call the vendor to confirm the details and ask for a contract to be sent to you. A contract is the best way of ensuring you and the vendor understand what is expected, as it should outline specifics such as dates, times, names, and types of services/products provided. It will also spell out payment plans, refund and cancellation policies. It behooves (I always wanted to use that in a sentence) you to read and understand the contract. Do not assume you have secured a vendor for your wedding day until you have a contract that is signed by you and the vendor. And finally remember, part of getting the most from a vendor’s service is also being a good client and providing the vendors with the payments and other requested information in a timely manner. 

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below, stop by and check out www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram

The question of who will get to take home the centrepiece can sometimes be a central discussion at reception dinner tables, particularly if the centrepiece is particularly pretty or original.

Making an Interactive game of who gets the centrepiece can be an amusing diversion and one many guests will enjoy participating in. Here are some ideas for giving away that reception table centrepiece :

How about a game of 20 questions? Give each guest a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. The MC or DJ asks a series of 20 questions, but first gives the guests the basic background information, that is, that the answer is an animal, place, person or thing. Once that’s taken care of, people can shout out questions and the MC or DJ will answer yes or no, and whoever figures out the answer first gets the first centerpiece, and that particular table is done playing. The game is repeated until one person at each table has won the centrepiece.

One of the most popular ways brides give away the table centrepiece is to put a number on the bottom of the centrepiece and give each guest a number. At some point in the evening, a number is called, each guest checks his or her number and whoever has the called number gets the centerpiece. There are many ways to put a twist on this traditional activity.

For example, you might provide each table with a number, but make it a lower number (ie. between 1 and 10) and theDJ or MC could move from table to table and have each guest do something a certain number of times. So, at the first table, for example, the guests might need to do “head, shoulders, knees and toes” six times and whoever does it first gets the centrepiece. Or, at the second table, the guests might be required to sing the alphabet 3 times or sing “twinkle, twinkle, little star” three times and whoever does that first get the centerpiece.

Another fun activity for divvying up the centrepieces is to require guests to produce a certain item. The DJ or MC moves from table to table, announcing what guests at that table will be required to produce in order to get the centrepiece. Maybe it’s a American quarter or a mint, or a doctor’s appointment card. Whatever it is, the guest at each table who produces the requested item will get the centrepiece.

You can always make it easy and offer the centrepiece to the oldest person at the table, or the one who took the most number of years to finish college. Perhaps you could create an activity where the person who has the strangest talent (as voted on by the tablemates) wins the centrepiece. Then, if possible, that person might show off the talent for the entire reception party.

If you like musical chairs, you can play a game of musical dollar bills in order to give the centrepiece away. Someone takes out a one-dollar bill and music begins playing. Everyone at the table passes the dollar bill around the table and when the music stops, whoever is left holding the bill gets the centrepiece. Or this game can be played a bit more traditionally with the person with the bill being eliminated, and the game continuing until only one person is holding the bill. That person can then be awarded with the centerpiece. Or, for a fun twist, the bill can be passed around and when the music stops, the person holding the bill is told to return it to the person who first supplied it. That is the person who gets the centrepiece.

Some fun, and fairly traditional, ideas include the birthday person getting the centrepiece. At each table, the person who has a birthday closest to the wedding gets the centrepiece. Or if there are married couples at the table, the couple who have been together the longest can get the centrepiece, or the couple who were married most recently. Perhaps the centrepiece should go to the person with the longest hair, or the strangest shoes (again, this would be voted on by tablemates).

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below, stop by and check out www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram

If you’re not used to public speaking, then making a wedding speech can be very daunting. With this in mind, I have prepared a few important tips to help you overcome your nerves and deliver a great wedding speech.

1. Remember these people are on your side. They aren’t secretly hoping you’ll mess things up. The reason you’re there giving a speech is because you are connected with the wedding couple and so are the audience. Bearing this in mind, you can rest assured that anything you say in your wedding speech will be listened to and respected fully. Also, people listening to speeches at weddings are wanting to laugh as this breaks the tension. So any vague attempt of a joke will get you a response.

2. Practice your wedding speech thoroughly. The more your practice, the less nervous you’ll feel on the actual day. Remember to practice the intonation of your voice and the pauses. By showing you’ve put effort into your preparation, any mistakes you may make on the day will be easily forgiven.

3. Learn your speech by heart. Whenever you have some spare time, in the car on the way to work, in the shower or wherever practice your speech. Repeat it over and over again as many times as you can before the big day. You will feel much calmer on the wedding day as you’ll know the whole speech inside out.

4. Remember to breathe. As simple as this sounds, it is often overlooked. Practice where you’ll take a breath in the speech, and learn to breathe correctly. Diaphragmatic breathing, as used by singers and public speakers, will help you here. If you’re unfamiliar with this, a quick search on Google will show you.

5. Think of a funny story before you stand up. Nothing so funny that you lose your focus, but something mildly titillating that will bring a smile to your face. This will loosen you up, and give a nice energy to your wedding speech that will improve the delivery immensely.

6. Have a banana 20 minutes before you make your speech. This tip is often used by professional public speakers, and helps the nerves of many people. It also gives a nice energy boost which also helps reduce your nerves.

7. Speak slowly and clearly. If you are nervous, you will feel the urge to speed up and your speech will become unclear. So try to consciously slow yourself down and speak clear so people can hear what you say.

8. Make eye contact with people in the audience so it feels like you're just chatting with everyone who is there.

9. Lastly, remember to simply enjoy yourself! Your life isn’t going to end if you make a few mistakes and the speech will be over in just a few minutes. Have fun!

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below and check us out online  www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram

Get Our FREE Wedding Speech e-books 

The day you get married is one of your most important days of your life. Some people tend to have a budget wedding to save their money. What is important to know is that a budget wedding does not mean a cheap wedding. It all depends on how smart you plan your budget wedding. There are many aspects that can the cut cost of your wedding. However, you should pay attention to certain aspects so that you don't sacrifice the quality of it.

Wedding Photography and/or Videography
A professional wedding photographer can charge you anywhere between $1000-$3000. You might think that you can just ask your friend or relative to take your wedding pictures. That's a No-No. Wedding pictures and videos are the only things that you can see or view to re-live your wedding moments in future. If you really need to cut your budget, try asking around from some photography clubs. There are some members out there who a hobbyist and wouldn't mind giving lower prices. One good practice is to pay them first to do your engagement or pre-wedding picture or video. If you're satisfied with the results then you can contract them again for your wedding day.

Wedding Venue
If you think that you could save money by having your wedding money in your house for free of charge, make sure that your house is comfortable enough for guests to gather around. You would like the guests to be comfortable enough to want to stay longer. In the end, how could the wedding reception be fun when guests are leaving early? Try to find good venue that match your theme. Some venues could have off-season and weekday wedding discount pricing.

Flowers
​Have you asked about prices for wedding ceremony flowers? You be might shocked at the pricing for that. Some flower vendors might give you cheaper pricing but be careful. Vendors might show you a great sample of flowers, and when it is time for your wedding day, he/she will arrange the flowers with some “less fresh” ones. You can always cut your cost here buy ordering the flowers that are in season. Or, you can have a garden wedding without adding costs to your flower budget.

DJ / Entertainment
The first complaint after wedding is usually about the food or poor entertainment . Do yourself a favour and don’t cut corners.Hire a professional entertainer. A professional disc jockey, band or entertainer doesn't have to be a full timer. There are many people who are experienced and do it at a part time basis. They may be able to give you the same level of service without sacrificing quality.

There are many other aspects to consider for your budget wedding. Overall, the important thing is to have proper planning for your budget wedding. You can cut cost up to 50% and still have a great wedding. 

We would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below, visit us online at 
​www.djxtc.net Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram