WEDDINGS

HOW TO: Coordinate your wedding dinner

When it comes to wedding coordination, the burden should never fall onto the bride and groom. It is your big day! You should be having fun with your family and friends!

How do you make sure everything goes right if you are not taking care of things?

Here are 2 good alternatives.

           1.  Get your best friend to help you out

ü  Plan the program rundown with your best friend that is helping you coordinate the evening.

ü  Give him/her your inputs and ideas on what you would like to include in the itinerary.

ü  Be sure of how many slideshows/videos you want to present.

ü  Finalize the rundown at least a week before the wedding dinner/luncheon/party.

ü  Prepare copies and backup copies of your slideshows/videos for him/her.

ü  Print out at least 8 copies of the finalized itinerary for handouts.

ü  Have him/her brief the emcee & hotel/restaurant team a few hours before the dinner starts.

ü  Have him/her pass the slideshows/videos to the hotel/restaurant technician for a try-run.

ü  Everything will run on the coordinated cues of your coordinator + hotel/restaurant team.

#tips# Try not to change anything on last minute notice to avoid any hiccups.

2.     Hire a professional wedding coordinator

ü  Give your details and input to your hired coordinator.

ü  Confirm the number of slideshows/videos (and what they are about).

ü  Your hired coordinator will plan a program rundown for you.

ü  Discuss on the planned itinerary and let your coordinator know if there are any changes needed.

ü  Finalize the rundown at least 1 week before the wedding dinner/luncheon/party.

ü  Pass copies and backup copies of your slideshows/videos to your coordinator.

ü  Give him/her necessary contacts of the emcee & hotel/restaurant team.

ü  Your hired coordinator will take care of the rest!

WEDDINGS

HOW TO: Hire a Good Performance

Know your preferred genre & theme

When you hire a live band to perform at one of the most memorable evenings of your life, be sure of what you want. It’s either contemporary pop music if your family and friends are hip and trendy and they follow the latest songs in the pop charts, jazz music if you are up to some classy but fun environment, Shanghai Jazz if you love all things oriental & retro, classic jazz oldies if your parents have many business partners as guests, Top 40 and dance numbers if you’re turning on the party mode or lovely acoustic smooth music if you love an intimate dinner with close friends and family.

#tips# Get your preferred band to suggest a mix of genres if you would like a versatile performance!

Get good sound quality for the entertainment

Be sure to know roughly how many guests/tables of 10 you are expecting. Keep in mind that hotel sound systems are only made to support speeches and background music. Your preferred band will suggest you a set of sound system that will be able to support the coverage of the estimated area/ballroom. Do not settle for less than medium range quality sound equipment as you would not want a good performance to go to waste. Cutting the budget out of the sound system when you have a good performance team will be like making sandwiches with stale bread. It decreases the overall quality of the performance.

#tips# Ask for a professional sound engineer to come with the sound equipment you rent!

Good stuff don’t come in cheap prices

It’s your big day! Why settle for less if you could get good quality musicians to perform for your big day? A few hundred Ringgit more will not burn a hole in your pocket but it will do wonders for your memorable evening. Better musicians charge a little more for their performances for a good reason. They have experience, music knowledge, great time management, the ability to re-arrange your favorite songs into a suitable wedding version, bring up the ambiance of the evening, and so on! Professionalism goes a long way when it comes to a wedding dinner where EVERYTHING may go wrong! (touch wood!) Hire an experienced team to help keep you off your worries for the whole evening. Enjoy your big day with your favorite songs fuss free!

#tips# Hire a good team at least 2 months before your big day so they will have time to rehearse your special song requests!

Less is more is FALSE

Fewer musicians mean less versatility in the music they play. Unless you are going for a smooth acoustic performance for an intimate dinner, let the professionals advise you on how to proceed with the line-up of the band for the music genre you require. Do not expect an acoustic band to play Bruno Mars for you with all the grooves and attacks. It will not happen. Do not believe that the keyboard could play the sound of ‘drums, saxophone, string instruments, and percussion’ for you. Fake instrument sounds will never sound better than the real instruments.

#tips# Work around the budget with your preferred band to come up with a solution that makes you happy!

Less is more is FALSE (2)

Scantily clad (female vocals) are a big boo-hoo for your evening. Make sure the band members that you hire wear appropriate attire for the performance. You may request for specific colors or dress codes if you have a specific theme. Long gowns or Cheongsams good are always good choices to portray classiness.

#tips# Refer to your preferred band’s videos for an idea of the attire they usually perform in.

*@*Have a great day ahead peeps!!*@*