General Information about Mobile Discos
The following are some basic tips on making sure you hire the very best mobile disco service for your money. Most functions are one-off's, so you want to make sure you get it right. These tips are in no particular order of importance, but all should be considered.
First, before you even contact a mobile disco entreprise, it's vital that you don't have your mind on hiring the cheapest you can find. As in most things, you generally get what you pay for. Especially with a one off event like a wedding, don't you want the very best you can possibly afford?
Let's face it, in a week or two, most of your guests won't remember what food they had, what the flowers looked like, how great the cake looked or how the room was decorated…
But ask them if they had fun, and I'll bet they'll remember, and who do you think carries the can for that? That’s right, the DJ.
If you're paying 300 euros plus for the wedding cake, and roughly the same for flowers etc, why would you expect to pay less than a few hundred euros for a professional DJ?
But we're getting caught up with the wedding thing, when we're just trying to find a good DJ for you.
Ok, let's face it, there's no substitute for a word of mouth recommendation. However, make sure the person recommending hired a DJ for a similar function to the one you're about to organise. The DJ's approach for an 18th birthday is, or should be markedly different to the approach for a wedding reception - and you thought we just turned up and pressed a few buttons?
Next, if you call a DJ and he gives you a price without asking any questions about your event, that should set off warning lights. Questions a professional DJ should be asking include:
· Type of function - Wedding, birthday, kids party etc
· Venue
· Number of guests
· Start and finish times
· Particular music requirements - no point hiring a Rock 'N' Roll DJ for an 80's theme night
· Access to venue.
Right then, health and safety…
If you ask nothing else of your potential DJ, please ask if they have Public Liability Insurance. Public Liability Insurance is a legal requirement for any business and, though we don't like to admit it, accidents can and do happen.
Ok, this one might seem obvious, but make sure the entreprise you're dealing with confirms everything in writing and that they have a written Booking Agreement for you or your Agent to sign.
The Booking Agreement should lay out all details of the function - date, venue, times, overtime rates etc. This Agreement is to protect both the Entreprise and the customer and should not be heavily biased in any one party's favour.
Does the mobile DJ have back-up equipment in the unlikely event that anything packs in on the night? I say unlikely, if they're professional they'll use pro equipment and this tends to be very sturdy and not given to blowing up at a moment's notice.
However, a less than professional DJ, the kind that are just in it for the beer money use very substandard equipment, even, I hate to say CD players you'd find in your average home hi-fi system.
What happens if the DJ is taken ill on or before the date of your event? Do they have a plan for making sure another suitable DJ will do the job?
And while we're on the subject of mobile disco companies using other DJ's…
Is the person your dealing with, either on the phone or via your Agent the person who will be doing the actual DJing on the night?
When someone calls Loca-motion, they are talking to me. I am the main DJ for Loca-Motion and I have another trusted DJ who works very closely with me. If we're not available on a particular date, we won't take the booking and then act as an agent for another DJ — you deserve better treatment.
Ok, some very quick things to bear in mind…
· Does the person you're speaking with seem enthusiastic and knowledgeable about their work?
· Do they appear to be listening attentively to your requirements and asking appropriate questions?
· Do you get good vibes from the entreprise?
· Can they put you in touch with previously satisfied customers?
In closing, please do not skimp on price…
Any professional who meets all the above criteria won't come cheap, and I wouldn't hire them if they did.
Price can depend on location, but don't expect to pay less than 300 euros for a 3 to 4 hour disco. Any less than 300 euros and I'd be seriously concerned that they weren't entirely legal. It costs a lot of money to keep a mobile disco on the road.
Remember what I said at the start? The entertainment you hire will be the thing that the majority of your guests will remember most, and it works both positive and negative. Get it right when hiring your mobile disco and the wonderful memories will last a lifetime.
The Music and the Equipment
Part of the art of DJ-ing is selection of the right music. You can have personality plus and stunning sound and lighting, but if you're music choice is limited to thumping house music and R & B, you're not going to get far.
It's quite surprising in a way that even for functions like 18th birthdays, the most requested songs fall into the seriously cheesy category.
For example…
Steps, Tragedy
Kylie, Can't Get You Out Of My head
ABBA, Dancing Queen
Bee Gees, Staying Alive
You get the idea…
So, how do we make sure we play the right music at the right time to create the perfect atmosphere?
That's a great question without a simple answer. Well, in fact, the answer is simple, but the doing is not so simple.
Typically the majority of functions have a wide age range, say 8 to 70. We try and get some music going in the background as soon as possible. This can normally be done within 30 minutes of us arriving.
We tend to play pretty easy going music to begin with.
Once we have finished setting everything up and done appropriate sound/lighting checks, we can then turn the volume up a touch and play something a little more boppy.
This is when the guests have normally arrived. We understand that they won't want to start serious partying until they've got some food and booze down them, so we keep the sound at a respectable, easy to talk over level, but loud enough to hopefully get some feet tapping and maybe even encourage one or two folks on to the floor.
We encourage requests throughout the night, but can never absolutely guarantee to play everything. This could be due to time constraints or suitability of the request for that function. For example, at a 60th birthday, the vast majority probably wouldn't appreciate Eminem or 50 Cent, just as most 16th birthday guests wouldn't appreciate Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin.
We try and get the right balance between oldies and chart music, but this will generally be dictated by the requests we're receiving throughout the night and activity on the dance floor.
To be honest, we're finding that we're getting less requests for chart and dance music these days, and more requests for 70's and 80's, and good old classics from the 60's like "Twist And Shout", and "Daydream Believer".
But there's always someone who thinks it's a good idea to come and insist that we play R&B during a Rock 'N' Roll set. There's absolutely nothing we can do for these poor souls except smile, be nice and hope that the medication kicks in soon. :)
Sorry, got derailed for a second there…
The advantage of working both from CD and laptop is that we can find requests extremely quickly and spend a lot less time rummaging through the music library to find that obscure disco track we've not played for 5 years, and more time watching the audience mood and interacting with guests.
We're also finding that we're getting less and less requests for the smoochies at the end of the night, folks would just like to party till they drop it seems…
So, if you're a budding mobile DJ and think it's a case of turning up with a few compilations, think again, choosing the music to play for each individual audience is tricky and almost an art in itself.
Similarly, if you're looking to book a mobile disco for your next function and think that all DJ's do is press a few buttons and talk a bit on the mic, you couldn't be more wrong.
A professional DJ will always spend a good deal of time before a function preparing music. Quite often, the customer has asked for certain songs to be played and these have to be integrated into the general mix of music.
So, if you've hired a DJ that's only charged you 100 euros for an adult family function, chances are they won't have done any preparation beforehand. It may well turn out OK on the night, but why leave that to chance?
Some clients have a very set idea of the music they want played at their function, even to the point that they wish to provide all the music in a set order on CD or via their laptop. For these clients we recommend either a sound engineer or an equipment hire only. We can provide the sound systems to which laptops, IPods and mp3 players can be connected so that you can play your own music. If you require this service please ask for more details.
The Wedding Disco
The Wedding disco is going to be a major factor in your reception's ultimate success or inevitable failure. You may have chosen the perfect venue, the food may be first class and your family and friends are there to celebrate with you.
But hire a mediocre mobile disco and that's how your guests will remember your big day — just ok, not bad — And that isn't how you want it remembered by anyone.
How Do You Make Sure You Get The Best Wedding Disco
First, be sure to book your DJ early.
Why?
Well, if you really do want the best, this isn't something you can leave until the last minute, quality Wedding DJs are often booked at least a year in advance. You might be able to find a budget DJ a few weeks before your Wedding day but it's one hell of a risk to take on something so important and you'll be left with precisely the type of average DJ you don't want.
Loca-Motion Wedding Disco
You can be assured that we put almost as much care and attention into our Wedding discos as you're putting into your Wedding plans. Your Wedding is obviously extremely important to you and your family and this is where our past experience gives us the edge over other DJs.
When you book Loca-Motion to perform at your Wedding Reception, you're getting an entreprise with experience in the entertainment industry, and for the last 2 years, concentrating on providing elegant and professional disco services for brides and grooms all over the Aquitaine area as well as providing party mobile discos for a variety of other events and functions.
The Music Planning Form is there to help you supply us with important information about your Wedding Reception so that we can deliver a slick and seamless performance. This is especially important if you would like us to provide music for the Wedding Breakfast, provide music for specific events during the night, for example, special dances, cake cutting etc, or anything else that doesn't necessarily fall within the disco performance itself.
When you're choosing the type of music you'd like to have played, it's important to remember that there's likely to be a wide variety of opinions as to what good music is. You can select music to be added to a "Must Play" list. We restrict the number of "Must Play" requests to ten songs and this option should be used for those songs that have special meaning for you. There is also a "Style Of Music" option. Most Wedding discos last between 3 and 5 hours and this option is there to give us an idea of the kind of music you enjoy.
During the disco, we are happy for you and your guests to come and ask for songs.
We always do our best to play requests, however it is almost inevitable that one or two people may be disappointed when their request isn't played. This could be down to a simple lack of time, but it may also be due to the requests not being suitable for your Wedding Reception. Some of the most recent rap and R&B music might contain material that may be considered offensive to some of your guests. At the end of the day it's very much a judgement call on our part, we want to please as many people as possible but don't want to ruin your night or damage our reputation by playing unsuitable or undanceable music.
What happens on your Wedding day as far as the disco is concerned will very much depend on what we have discussed during the run up to the big day itself. It is in the nature of Weddings to not run exactly to time and we're flexible enough to understand how to adapt to such changes.
However, to give you an idea of how a typical Wedding disco runs, if there is such a thing, here is a fairly standard format for one of our shows.
This assumes a performance time of 9pm till 1am and that everything has run like clockwork so far…
1. DJs arrive between 7.30 pm and 8pm. Don't be alarmed if we turn up in jeans and t-shirts, lugging heavy equipment around and setting up is not a job to be done in smart clothes.
2. Set up time 45 minutes to an hour. It's worth remembering that we can set up earlier in the day if you wish. This may incur additional charges dependant on the distance from our business address in Montazeau to the Reception venue.
3. 9pm is about the time when most newlyweds like to have their first dance to start the evening off.
4. After that the disco starts. We would normally play fairly middle of the road music for the first hour or so – this gives a chance for your older guests to have a dance as they may not want to (or be able to) stay until the very end.
5. 10.30 pm and now it's time to party! The kind of music we play will very much be dictated by the activity on the dance floor and we've become extremely good at reading a crowd and adapt to suit the mood.
6. 1am, disco ends and everyone goes home shattered and maybe even a bit drunk. Function Managers are normally very strict about finishing times so we're not usually allowed to play past the agreed end time, even if the party is rocking.
Obviously, every Wedding function is different and we can easily alter the content to reflect any overruns or change of plan, but I hope it gives you an idea of how we try and do something for everyone to ensure the success of your day.
Added Extras
In addition to the primary features you receive from our Wedding Package, you can also request other services, subject to additional fees.
Site Visit
The site visit is a useful addition to the Wedding Package and gives us a chance to meet with venue staff and assess the function area for access, as well as being able to plan in advance what equipment we will use on the night.
It would be advantageous if you or your Agent were present during this site visit as we can give you guidance regarding seating arrangements for your guests. For example, we can advise you where to seat older members of your family who may not wish to be put near the sound system.
Dinner Music
Let us provide suitable background music during your meal to create a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere and the perfect start to your Reception. Alternatively, you may wish us to play music that is designed to create an air of anticipation for the coming evening's disco. Whatever your choice of music, rest assured the volume will be kept discretely in the background and only serves to make you and your guests feel at ease while you eat.
Make Sure Your Guest Speakers Are Heard
Use our sound system to ensure everyone hears all the speeches.
Speaking in public isn't something that comes naturally to everyone, and some have a tendency when nervous to not talk at their usual volume. This is where using our cordless microphone and superb quality sound system comes into play. Every word will be heard without anyone having to shout.
What Does It All Cost
Ok, there's no putting it off any longer, we've come to the nitty gritty…
It is estimated that the average Wedding costs 15,000 euros to organise and that less than 5% of that sum will be spent on the evening's entertainment. And yet, it is the entertainment that is largely responsible for the success of your big day and the aspect most of your guests will remember more than any other.
So the entertainment isn't something you should be cutting corners with — it will leave the party feeling very flat and reflect badly on you if you get less than outstanding Wedding entertainment.
When you compare the disco against other Wedding services, even the most expensive Wedding discos are an absolute bargain…
o Wedding cake - 300 euros or higher
o Food - 1,000 to 5,000 euros or higher
o Photographer – 1,000 to 3,000 euros
o Flowers - anything from 500 euros upwards
And that's not even mentioning the car hire, Dresses for the Bride, Bride's Maids etc and all the other services that you're paying out for.
So, when you look at the hard figures, bearing in mind what your entertainment is going to bring to your Wedding day in terms of lasting memories, the DJ's fee really should be up there with the photographer which is another vital part of your day.
Trust me, a Wedding cake doesn't make a good entertainer and won't get people dancing…
Loca-Motion Mobile Disco Service and Disco Equipment Hire
Tel :05.53.63.03.89
email: rf.egnaro|noitomacol#rf.egnaro|noitomacol
http://loca-motion.fr
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