Planning a wedding in Spring can be so nice.

Just like any time of year weather can be a factor. Too cold, too warm, wet, WINDY!

Nothing we can do about that (except be prepared and have a plan B, ie: umbrellas, warm wraps, and hand fans)

What I love about weddings is the look, the feel, and the experience we create for everyone.

Lighting and music. Well timed, creative announcements. All set the tone for the party to continue.

Here’s four things from a DJ’s view that can connect with your Spring wedding in a powerful way.

1. Spring Music- Is there a Spring music theme? You certainly can find songs about, during, from the Spring season. We look for songs that are upbeat and positive. When putting set lists together it’s about the best version of a song, by the right artist, played at the right time and with the right volume.

2. Spring words- Am I supposed to be reading poetry out loud about Spring?! One well placed quote of a line from Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Dickinson, in the opening of a greeting or toast can really match the tone of the season.

3. Spring flowers- Not so much within the Entertainment Direction, but I highly recommend it. A card to him/her before the ceremony, a Spring flower stitched on a handkerchief. Something to remember for a long time to come.

4. Spring lighting design- Bathe your dance floor, your room with light and color. Surround, envelop your guests in the experience of your Celebration at this glorious time of year. (call for details)

5. Spring message- Spring holds a message of awakening, renewal, refreshing and blossoming with the sound, sight, and scent of a new beginning. Spread the word and share this message with your guest. You’ll all have a deep experience to last for memories of a lifetime.

6. Spring location- Take advantage of this glorious backdrop at your venue, for the ceremony, for pictures, seen through the windows as the sun sets on your day, into the night and it’s party time.

OK so I gave you more than three. Enjoy!

Wendy Donahue, Tribune Newspapers begins her article like this: “Less Kim. More Kate.” Thankfully so. You want your Chicago Wedding DJ to be cooler, and classier than a reality TV show, but maybe not as formal as Westminster Abby.

The way that each of these weddings was broadcast to the world speaks to the sincerity and charm of  the moment (or lack thereof).

In your moment you want all the memorable, fun, exciting, heartfelt (insert your favorite word here) possibilities of your wedding celebration. You deserve it and that’s what you should have.

Here’s the rest of the story:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-06/features/sc-fash-0305-wedding-5-things-20120306_1_bridesmaids-wedding-trends-pippa-middleton

Taking my grandmother grocery shopping I learned a habit that I use everyday.

Walking through the fruits and vegetables section at the grocery store with my grandmother is an exercise in both patience and childlike wonder.

She picks up a number of apples, turns them over, looks at them intently. Then she looks up at me and says: “Pick the ones with the rosy cheeks.”

What I learned from her works on so many levels. It’s about being in the moment. It’s about focusing on the process of choosing. It’s about looking for the best.

I have a picture of my grandmother in a raspberry patch in Wisconsin. We are picking fruit. She has a basket of what she’s chosen and she’s holding one special raspberry that she has picked just for me. She says: “It’s the best one. I picked it for you!”

Not a day goes by, not a trip to the grocery store passes, without thinking of her sweet excellence.

Take your time, know when it’s right and make the decision. Pick the best.

In the 2010 movie Valentine’s Day couples deal with the pressures and expectations of Valentine’s Day.

Can Cupid finish his work by midnight?

For you, the happily engaged, Cupid has already done his work. You’re in the throws of planning the greatest celebration of your Lives. The pressures and expectations of this planning crop up all the time.

What you want, is what you want, when you want it. How we see this at ChicagoWeddingDJs is: “What can we do to make your entertainment shopping, choosing, planning, and creating process as easy (and as fun) as possible.

Let’s look at Valentine’s Day. Does he get you a gift? Will she give you a card? A poem, nice dinner, flowers, chocolate, leisure/lounge wear?

If it’s a dinner out, you’ve got to make plans. Research the restaurant, or call your favorite and make sure there’s a reservation. If it’s the work week, we’ve got to get out of work, run home get ready, or run straight to the restaurant and switch into lovey-dovey mode.

But here’s the thing. You’re planning a wedding, you’re excited, you’re thrilled about being with each other. On top of all the pressure and expectations of your everyday life there are the pressures of planning the wedding.

And in Life, anytime you set your mind on something you have a focus about it. In every task you do focus on excellence and not just Passing. Don’t focus on perfection (Stop chasing perfection and settle for excellence).

Because when you focus on excellence your chances of acheiving it are better than when you focus on just OK average mediocre. You know there’s someting better in Life.

That’s why you fell in love, that’s why Cupid’s arrow struck and why you are giving this gift, and sharing the joy, of your love with the world.

I love photobooths.

I especially like to see how they let people have fun.

Anything you do to get people enjoying themselves pays big all night long.

It’s OK if you don’t have a photobooth at your event.

A party without a photobooth is still a great celebration and a fun night for them.

When you add a the crazy, silly, sexy, romantic element of people getting cozy in a photobooth:

-it allows people to stay longer, and HAVE MORE FUN.

But it has to be the right style photobooth. NOT open air (that’s not a booth, it’s a photographer with a backdrop). NOT a photobooth made from pvc pipe and my next door neighbors old Canon digital camera. NOT a photobooth so big you get lost in the pictures.

A real photobooth let’s you sit down. It squeezes you in just enough to make it cozy, cute, and crazy.

A real photobooth gives you a custom print out right away and the pictures are fantastic.

Chicago Wedding DJs can help you get the MOST out of all the sweet fun at your wedding.

So, as I said, I love a photobooth. Especially when we it’s the REAL THING. 

In the spirit of photobooths. I found this picture really cute: