Questions to Ask Your Potential Wedding DJ

When interviewing Chicago DJ companies and bands for your wedding reception you should be extremely thorough in your search in order to find a professional and reliable business as well as the entertainer best suited to your tastes. Use the following questions to help narrow down the field.

1. Aren't all DJ companies basically the same? How is your company different?


2. Will you personally be the DJ for our reception? If not, when can we meet the DJ?


3. Do you just play music? Do you also Emcee and coordinate the reception?


4. What type of experience do you have? How many weddings do you do each year?


5. Do you have references?


6. How would you define your "style"?


7. What do you do to motivate the crowd if nobody is dancing?


8. Do you provide a reception planner?


9. What do your packages include? Do you provide a wireless microphone for speeches? Are basic effects lighting included?


10. What package should I get? Do you offer lighting and sound upgrades?


11. What are your rates? Are there any additional charges?


12. What type of equipment do you use? Do you use professional equipment? Do you use CD's or MP3's?


13. Can we pick what music gets played? Will you be willing to play requests and discuss music ahead of time?


14. How loud will it be?


15. How long will the DJ play? Do you take any breaks?


16. What is your policy on drinking alcohol or smoking during the wedding?


17. What does the DJ wear? Will you be suitably dressed for our occasion?


18. Are you familiar with the venue? If not how do you handle coordination?


19. When does the DJ set up? How much time do you allow for set-up?


20. What if the DJ gets sick?


21. What if the DJ is no longer with the company or becomes unavailable?


22. What happens if something breaks? Do you provide backup equipment at my event?


23. How far will you travel?


24. Will you be available to answer questions?


25. What kind of customer service can I expect?


26. How do we reserve your service?


27. Do you provide a written contract?


28. Is a deposit required? If so, how much? When is the deposit due?


29. May I make partial payments?


30. When is the final payment due?


31. Is gratuity included in the price?


32. What do you charge for overtime?


33. How do we submit our information?


34. Do you have insurance? Can you supply me with proof of liability?


35. Are you a member of your local Chamber of Commerce or BBB?


36. Do you belong to a professional organization or trade group?

Questions to ask references:

1. Did the band/DJ show up on time?


2. Were they professional?


3. Did they return phone calls and communicate with you well?


4. Did they know what you wanted?


5. Did they play a good set?


6. Did they break down the equipment on time?


7. How did they interact with guests? Any problems?

How A Digital Photographer Can Assist You In Capturing Memorable Moments

Digital Photography is something truly wonderful and available to everyone, and allows you to take memorable moments of yours and your families life. Digital Photography has evolved to possess incredible functions for capturing stylish, graceful and elegant photographs. For taking high quality digital photographs a prosumer camera is needed. Digital Photography is now commonly used in wedding ceremony photos, occasional photography, sporting events, model or studio photography and commercial or business photography etc. The benefits of having the photographs as a digital file are numerous and one major draw card is being able to manipulate and change everything about the photo. From red eye reduction to color balance to background removal, it's all possible and easy with digital technology. Also digital images are easy to crop, zoom and edit, these images have higher resolution than some other images, and digital images are often far more affordable.

Digital Photography is also recognized as digital imaging, the images that are captured with the assistance of digital camera are also available for printed photos by scanning photographic images.

Over the last decade image production done by a digital photographer has increased in popularity all over the world. Digital photographs are often used as personalized gifts for occasions such as birthday parties, wedding ceremonies and other special memorable events. More and more commercial photographers or artistic photographers prefer digital cameras rather than a film camera for still photography. All over the world people mostly prefer digital photographers for all occasional events. The difference between an every day photographer with a creative eye and a professional photographer is a professional photographer is fully able to operate digital cameras, by adjusting color-balance, red eye reduction, ISO, shutter speed and aperture within the camera.

Various Features of a professional Digital Camera:

1. Quickly review images: no need to wait for the development of images or to download them to a computer, if you find any problem with your image a digital photographer can take a new image in few seconds.

2. Less cost: Obviously a digital camera does not need any film so the cost savings are quickly evident, however the initial learning stages of photography can't be understated also. In the early stages of learning new photographers can go through roles and roles of film learning and discovering new things, but with digital cameras it's a thing of the past.

3. Digital photographs can be copied from one system to other system without any degradation.

4. Digital photographs can be manipulated in far easier ways than traditional film cameras, which require the use of a dark room.

5. A digital camera possesses faster work flow.

6. Digital photography takes less time for deletion and editing of images.

Photographs are always going to be subject to the affect of time and tend to fade and lose image quality due to some day to day effects such as sun-exposure, dust and unsuitable storage of photographs, where as digital images are easily stored for further printing at a later date. Digital images never degrade in quality as long as digital media remains undamaged.

The addition of a trained and experienced photographer that understands the finer aspects of the digital camera, and also has a creative flair is able to capture all your unforgettable moments and turn them into original and impressive images.

Traditional Japanese Wedding

Japanese, similar to Chinese Traditional wedding, also go through the process of 'betrothal ceremony'. This betrothal ceremony is called 'Yuino', and an exchange of emblematic gifts between the family of the groom and bride. There are nine gifts which consist of Mokuroku, Kinpou, Naganoshi, Tomo-shiraga, Suehiro, Surume, Konbu, Katsuo-bushi, Yanagi-daru.

Mokuroku: a list of betrothal gifts.

Kinpou: betrothal gift money which is put in a special envelope called Shugi-bukuro, which has gold and silver strings.

Naganoshi: a stretched dried abalone that expresses good wishes.

Tomo-shiraga: a long white thread of hemp symbolizes a wish for the couple to live happily and to grow old and gray together.

Suehiro: a folding fan that widen at the end, representing a happy future.

Surume: dried cuttlefish which symbolizes a long lasting marriage.

Konbu: dried kelp which is known for the ability to breed healthy children.

Katsuo-bushi: dried bonito which represents the groom's strength.

Yanagi-daru: gift cash given to purchase sake. Traditionally, it was a wooden barrel of sake.

Crane symbolizes longevity and prosperity, and folding 1,001 golden origami cranes will bring good luck, good fortune, longevity, fidelity, and peace to the marriage.

Japanese Wedding Traditional Costume - Bride

Shiro; a white kimono

Uchikake Kimono; a patterned brocade kimono

Traditionally, the bride would have to wear the two types of kimono; the Shiro kimono is wore for the ceremony, while the Uchikake kimono is wore at the reception. The bride's hair would be tied into a bun decorated with colorful kanzashi accessories and a white tsuno-kakushi, which is a white headdress or hood. In Japanese, Tsuno, means "horn" and this headdress is to cover the horn which symbolizes obedience. A tiny purse called 'Hakoseko' and a 'Kaiken', a small encased sword which is placed in it, is carried by the bride. A fan is also tucked in the Obi belt to symbolize happiness and a happy future

San-San-Kudo

A Japanese ritual san-san-kudo is performed by the bride, the groom and both of their parents. During the ceremony, the groom will take 3 sips of sake from the first cups, and then the groom will pass the cup to the bride, who in turn would drink 3 sips. This is followed by the remaining two cups. 'Three' is considered a lucky number, especially in wedding, as it is indivisible. 'Nine' being three times of 'three', means triple happiness. After exchanging the nuptial sake sips, it means that the bride and groom are united, along with both their families.

Honoring the Parents

During the wedding or reception, the bride and groom would usually take some time in acknowledging their parents. The couple would offer a bouquet of flowers or a toast to their parents as an acknowledgement. Some couple would choose to recite a personal letter of love and thanks to both their parents.

Speeches

Family, friends, colleagues and teachers would take turns to give their wedding speeches and blessings to the bride and groom.

Favors and Gifts for the Guests

In Japan, the bride and groom usually spent $50 or more on Hikidemono, a favor given to the guests. An example of a Hikidemono is a Kohaku Manjyu, which is a round steamed bun with bean paste filling, which are offered to the guests in pairs; a red bun and a white bun.

How to Choose The Perfect Wedding Venues

Wedding venues are places that offer services for wedding receptions. After a couple gets married, it is very common for them to host a reception. This is a time that takes place immediately after the ceremony, or within a few hours. It is a time for the guests to visit with each other and with the newly married couple. It is a time where food is given to the guests and numerous other activities will take place. A reception normally takes place in some type of large hall or banquet room. These rooms are called wedding venues, but they can also be rented for any other type of party or celebration. They come in a large variety of sizes and styles, and you have the opportunity to choose the one that is right for one.

One of the main things people look for when choosing one is the environment offered. Most couples want a place that is elegant, and this is not hard to find. Elegant wedding venues are available all over the country. These places are beautiful, elegant and offer a romantic ambience. If you are not concerned with finding an elegant hall, you may just want to look for one that is more informal. These are also available. Be sure to keep the size in mind though when you choose one. Some halls are designed for very large crowds, while others are for smaller gatherings. There are certain places that will divide a room into two just to accommodate groups that are smaller. There are other places that can open walls as a way to accommodate very large groups. You will want to choose the right size for the number of guests that you are expecting.

Most wedding venues have another thing in common. They offer catering services. Even if you are hosting a party other than a wedding reception, food is something that is always a part of all celebrations. Catering services are offered on-site at most of these halls. You will have the choice of planning the meal, and you can do this by looking at the menu they offer. They will allow you to choose the number of meats you would like, as well as the number of side dishes. Based on the numbers you choose, you will then choose exactly what you would like them to serve. Most wedding venues will serve the food family style. This means that they will bring a dish of eat entree to each of the tables. Guests can take what they would like, and they will always bring more food to the tables if the guests would like more.

Finally, if you are planning on having a DJ or band at your reception, you must make sure that there is enough room for this. If you have a lot of guests coming, you may want to find out if there will still be enough room for a band or DJ to set up.

The Top 4 Qualifications of a Well-Skilled Wedding Photographer

Are you unhappy of the poor quality of your wedding photos? You should have considered getting a qualified wedding photographer to handle your wedding event right at the very start. Wedding is not just an ordinary event. As much as you want your gown and suit to be beautiful and perfect, photos require the same importance too. Don't allow a wedding photographer to ruin your event and make you feel disappointed and unsatisfied looking at your wedding photos. Here are some important qualifications you should set when you're out finding the best wedding photographer to complete your preparation.

1. Experience. It is very important that you hire someone with the highest level of experience. Photographers who are handling wedding events for several years do have the skills and are already equipped with different techniques in making photos standout. You can also inquire and ask some people who already have hired professional photographers for some feedbacks. Allow them to share you the information and details of their photographer and use this for your advantage.

2. Gadgets Use. Find out what type of gadgets and tools the photographer will be using during the entire wedding event. Cameras at present are already equipped with powerful settings that are much relevant in making outstanding and high quality images. Secure someone who is skilled enough to make the necessary photo editions and are very much knowledgeable on different camera angles and positions.

3. Charge. A Professional photographer's charge or fee depends on the length of service you require him to do and probably the number of shots you need him to take. It is very important that you secure your spending budget to make the necessary adjustments in cases when there's a need to pay additional fee. You can search the internet for a good list of professional photographers with their corresponding service charge and contact information. Once you have chosen one, make a call and arrange a schedule to discuss your wants to the photographer personally. This is one great way to establish connection and chance for you to see his own photography artworks.

4. Style and Quality. Learn the styles and the usual photo designs of your photographer. Hire someone who is creative enough to make your photos appear stunning and beautiful even if it's a casual photo. You can refer to your photographer the style of photos you want him to produce given a certain time. You can also set limits to the number of shots for the entire event. Some couples would only like the highlights like the wedding ceremony and reception.

Usually, a wedding photographer will offer you a package. This normally is being offered to help you save more. However, if you want more of additional services like pictures on CD, uploading the photos on the web, wedding albums and frames, it is better that you discuss this freely with the photographer. Some photographers do give discounts and there are also those who would no longer ask for charges on their extra services.

Designing DIY Photo Wedding Invitations With Unique Styles

Many of us overlook the significance of wedding invitations when compared to the catering costs, renting the venue and the price of the wedding dress. Though these things do matter during the wedding preparations, but just think what is a wedding without invitations? No invitations equals to no guests. If you prefer to make your wedding a special occasion for the guests, then you can easily design your own photo wedding invitations.

These picture wedding invitations set the tone for the wedding. You can easily choose the theme for the wedding and have pictures of you and your spouse printed upon the invitations. Couples who prefer to have beach themed weddings can have their photos taken at their favorite beach and then add it to the beach themed invitations.

Creating or designing such invitations guarantees that your invitations are unique and cannot be copied by any other individual or couple. If you have no time to design your wedding invites, you can easily go in for custom made invitations that come with an option of changing the theme, layout and even adding photographs of you and your spouse.

You may come across many websites that allow you to get personalized wedding invitations at reasonable rates. All you have to do is download the templates depending upon you preferences and choose a lovely photo of you and your spouse to scan and attach to the invitations. The details of the day can either be printed or written inside the wedding invites.

Another option available for you when it comes to doing DIY photo wedding invitations is to hire graphic designers to create the picture wedding invitations with special graphics or photos. You can even have the borders of the invites altered and modified to make them even more attractive to the guests. Graphic designers can help you to make the invites more suitable for both traditional and modern wedding scenarios.

Many couples prefer the DIY kits since they come with all the necessary supplies to design beautiful and adorable wedding invites. Most of the DIY kits come with envelopes, a bunch of themed invitations and some accessories. The instruction guides found inside these kits makes the task more easier of you since all you have to do is follow the steps given inside the guide.

Many of the personalized wedding invites also come with a color change option for the photos. Couples can either choose for sepia tones or go in for black and white photos depending on their choice. Sepia tones give the photos an older look while the black and white ones makes the invitations feel more elegant and sophisticated.

Not only your friends and family love this creative photo invitations, but you will also cherish these in your scrapbook or photo album for the rest of your life. Some people who have received such type of invitations are known to have framed them as portraits. It again all depends on your creativity skills and preferences.

Are Expensive Wedding Photographers Really Worth The Money

It's your wedding. And out of the myriad decisions you will make in planning one of the biggest and most important days of your life, hiring the right photographer may very well be the most important. After all, the wedding cake will be eaten, the flowers will eventually wilt and the wedding reception will be over when it is time for you and your betrothed to head home and prepare for the honeymoon. After all is said and done, it will be the images of your day that will help you to always remember all of the emotion, laughter, tears and sacredness of that day. The scary thing is, what if your wedding photos are, well, less than satisfactory?

Let's be honest. Weddings are expensive, sometimes even ridiculously expensive. There's the dress, the tux, the flowers, the cake, the rings, the venue, the food, the alcohol, the officiant, the DJ or musicians. And don't forget the honeymoon. It all adds up very quickly. And if you're like many couples, the financial burden of planning a dream wedding can take its toll on your finances. Even if you're fortunate enough to have parents paying for most or all of your wedding, it's still a hefty sum of money to hand over for even the most financially-endowed of parents. And this is when a couple can become very vulnerable to a certain idea that can have a lasting impact on the wedding. That idea being: "What if we hire an affordable photographer?" Affordable. Sounds good on paper but let's dissect this a bit.

What is an "affordable" wedding photographer?

An "affordable" wedding photographer is usually a photographer who is just entering the industry and often has little to no experience shooting weddings professionally. They often price their services well below the market average in hopes of building up a portfolio. While this practice is certainly common and can turn out well for both the photographer and the clients, there are a few things to consider before hiring your affordable wedding photographer.

1. How long has the wedding photographer been in business?
2. How many weddings has he or she photographed?
3. Why are their prices so low?
4. What is the quality of their work in comparison with a photographer who is two to three times more expensive? (Be sure to be honest with yourself here. You may want to believe that their work is comparable but more often than not, that is simply not the case).
5. What do you, as the client, expect out of your wedding photographer and can the "affordable" photographer really actualize your photography visions?

A case for the more expensive wedding photographer

In the case of wedding photography, do you really want to entrust a lifetime of memories to a photographer you found on craigslist.org or on an Internet search for "affordable wedding photographer"? Do these low priced photographers really have what it takes to ensure that your wedding images are truly exceptional? Hopefully, you only get married once. Similarly, the decision you make in regards to who you entrust with capturing your wedding day is only made once. You may save a couple of grand by opting for a more affordable photographer than your first option, but you may very well regret that decision in the future.

It's your wedding. It happens only once. Be sure that the professional wedding photographer you hire is up to the job.