So before the party kicks in to full force you may want a little time to relax, why not hire a harpist or jazz band to play after the ceremony or during the sit down meal if you have one at the reception.



Always a great way to get the conversation started at those awkward moments on the tables full of distant relatives!

Get The Party Started

Choosing the right Discotheque for your function is one of life's hardest purchases. Considering the average individual may only require such services once in a lifetime, for those special events like Weddings, this is unsurprising but nonetheless rightly concerning and worthy of consideration.

The situation is confused by the widening spectrum of services on offer today. Sadly, the possible quality on offer to the client has declined with the import of cheap equipment, lighting especially, now easily available and enabling anyone to quickly "set up in the business". Unfortunately, this may be no more than an enthusiastic teenager, playing his own musical taste, typically loudly, and "just needing a table" at your function for a couple of inferior, possibly home-made, lighting effects. This amateurish, potentially unreliable, approach is exactly what you want to avoid booking, but how do you know from a mobile telephone enquiry that this nightmare will turn up on your special day, and will result in you effectively paying them to disappoint you and your guests? The client can guard against this potential misfortune in the following ways.

? Use the Internet - a Discotheque that utilizes a web site should be a good guide to their services and interestingly reveal their taste too. The smaller outfits will clearly show up has poorly designed websites with a minimal amount of actual information and a useless diversity of animated images, such as exotic dancers and spinning CD's. You should look for a comprehensive site which reveals those important keys to a professional: to begin with, like any company, the actual business name is a crucial market indicator of what they wish to the customer to perceive; next specifically look for the provision of a proper landline telephone number and postal address, contract and venue references, Public liability Insurance and Electrical safety certification; confirmation to Health and Safety Guidelines, for example sound reproduction, the use of strobe lighting and special effects equipment; a dedicated Weddings page, and a reciprocal links page to other recognized directories, and possible venues where they have performed, that both vet their content.

? Follow the search with a telephone enquiry, rather than e-mail if you can. If your call is answered by an enraged housewife, tackling two crying babies and a barking dog in the background, rasping to you that her "hubby" will be home from work after 6.00pm, you are probably not dealing with the top end of the market and the services offered will measure up accordingly.

? Avoid telephoning on a Friday /Saturday evening - a busy Discotheque should be working these times. Try their mobile number as an alternative. Ring at other times, and if you are met with an answer machine don't hang up, instead leave a contact number - the professionalism of the outfit will materialize if they actually ring you back.

? Discuss your event with the company with a clear idea of your requirements, not just the date and venue location, but your taste in music, perhaps a theme you wish to amalgamate and an estimated performance duration; the number of guests, and if the function is to be outside, also make a difference to what equipment the professional can provide. Knowledge of your venue is very helpful, the hotel suite or marquee size; from the Discotheques viewpoint, vehicular accessibility and electrical provision are vital to assessing their capability to assist you. Historic sites, for example, are lovely venues from the client's aesthetic view, but can be a problematic myriad of narrow entrances, steps and gravel surfaces, that cause difficulty for the transit of heavy items on trolleys, with potentially older wiring too, that will need to be investigated further.

? Enquire if a consultation before the event can be planned to check requirements, ascertain any problems and satisfy both parties that the event is feasible from their own perspectives. Meeting the Discotheque employees beforehand is obviously reassuring to many clients.

? Musical repertoire. A requests facility should be available if required; a good discotheque should provide for all tastes covering many decades and even different styles of specialist dancing, for example Scottish or Ballroom, perhaps as part of a theme. The amateur will regard any purchase of such music as uneconomic, whereas the professional will include these sounds, even if they are rarely used. Remember the discotheque should reflect your taste, not theirs.

? Style of presentation - this should match the ambiance you are hoping to achieve. Do you want your discotheque to lead the function, a verbose approach with plenty of announcements and jokes to get the party going, or do you desire a quieter approach, where the music is the focus. Little things can alter the feel of the event too. For example, check also if the discotheque staff take breaks and prop up the bar, or work throughout the function operating the rig.

? Gay Friendly ? Check to see if they are gay or gay friendly. You do not want them to cause a scene at your wedding as they did not know it was a same sex couple.