It’s Wedding Wednesday, pretty people! Last time, I shared a post for Wedding Wednesday on photography and videography (you can read that HERE). Another important vendor to remember to book early on is the one for your music and lighting (if you have a venue that needs extra lighting or uplighting to set the mood). Band or DJ? String musicians or singers? Piano or organ? There are so many options – you just have to figure out your own style and the theme of what you want your music and setting to be. And once you decide, book fast because musicians, and especially bands / DJs fill up super fast! Don’t miss out on the one that you really want for your big day!
One of my main desires for our wedding day was to have a pipe organ being played as I walked down the aisle. Our ceremony was very traditional, so I (of course) wanted the Bridal March on the organ played as I walked toward the love of my life. Actually, one of the reasons we chose the church that we did was because of their pipe organ (read about our venues HERE). The organ ended up sounding so grand and beautiful just like we had pictured!
Teej and I also looove live music and singers, so we asked two of our family friends to play the piano and sing 3 songs before/during the ceremony. If lyrics aren’t on your radar, getting a string quartet to play is also a great idea for when guests are arriving and for the bridal procession. Nothing sounds more beautiful than a violin!
For our wedding reception, we decided on a DJ instead of a band. TJ and I both loved this idea from the start. In our minds, we pictured a partaaay for our reception with lots of dancing and good music. Our friends and family love to let loose and have fun too, so we knew they would approve of this idea. 😉 Teej and I both love live music and listening to bands, but since we did want a party with some good dance music, we decided that a DJ would be our best bet – especially after we found Mr. Jim Ogle of Ogle Entertainment Group! He is ahh-mazing at what he does. And, if you’re lucky, he’ll even help you out of the trolley when you arrive at the reception, carry your bouquet for you until you get to your spot for pictures, check on you during the reception, ‘save you’ from getting trapped and missing your own wedding, and keep an eye on you all night to make sure the bride and groom have anything and everything they could possibly want and need. I’m not exaggerating when I say that this man does it all.
We love Jim and would choose him as our DJ all over again, so if you are a bride looking for an amazing person to make sure that your music, lighting & well, everything else for that matter, is taken care of on your wedding day – Jim Ogle is your guy.
Contact Ogle Entertainment here.
When looking for someone to take care of music and lighting for our wedding, we also wanted someone that could add ’emcee’ to his or her name – someone who could basically direct the events on our wedding timeline (i.e. bridal party intros, first dances, toasts, etc.). Yep – Jim fulfilled that wish too!
This is something very important to keep in mind if you want a smooth-sailing reception. Your guests (+ yourself) will thank you for having someone to emcee the night because this will keep everyone on the same page and everyone at the event will know what is going on at all times. Everyone likes to see the first dance or the cake cutting, for example, so your DJ or band leader should be able to let everyone know when these parts of the night are happening so that your precious lil Grandma who is sitting at the table resting doesn’t miss out on seeing you cut the cake (and then shove it in your hubby’s face 😉 ).
Yep, this is my best friend y’all … and she may kill me for this.
Ogle Entertainment offered us a fantastic DJ and a party experience for our reception, along with some beautiful lighting. Our venue was so gorgeous already and then Jim added in the uplighting and – BAM! – the whole ballroom transformed into a romantic paradise … until the real party started, that is. Once the jams started rocking and the dancing began, Jim was able to change the uplighting many different colors to give the whole ballroom that special club-ish, party feel that we were longing for! He even changed the uplighting to the color orange (GO VOLS!) when Rocky Top was being played (see our mini pep rally above ha!).
If you can’t tell by the photos, our guests loved it – and of course, Teej and I had the best time of our lives! Music is so important because it is so powerful. Whatever music and lighting you choose for your wedding day will set the entire mood and theme of the night. My biggest suggestion when thinking of what route to take in deciding on this part of the wedding process is to close your eyes and picture yourself at the ceremony and reception. What do you see? A fun party? An elegant, sit-down dinner? Acoustics or strings? Fun, exciting lighting or beautiful, natural light outside? Does the music and lighting match the theme of the whole day? Whatever it is, be sure that it is you. It should be exactly what you picture your wedding day to look like – you only get this night one time and it’s all about you, girlfriend! 🙂
If you have any questions regarding anything wedding related, I have some really great resources and friends in the wedding industry, so I would love to help you out and point you in the right direction! I was a bride-to-be this time last year, so I can totally relate to the whole process. I’d love to hear all about your journey to your big day!
Thanks so much for stopping by today, beautiful! As always, it means the world to me that you are here – love love love ya!
xo, P
**Photography by Katherine Birkbeck.
Thanks, great article.
Thank you!