The makeup of an event depends on the event itself, whether a birthday celebration, big family wedding, black tie awards night or teenage party, each will have its own needs and characteristics. The one factor they will all have is the requirement for music. This may be to create background atmosphere, moments of dancing, or to highlight spotlight moments. Whatever the reason, is it enough?
Music does play an important role when used to stir emotions or conjure up happy memories, filling the empty spaces of conversation as background and adding to the ambience of the event. But consider a room with harsh ceiling lighting, no personal touches and minimal room and table dressing. This may not be very welcoming and might not inspire guests to get into the party spirit. Would you put up your Christmas tree decked only with plain fairy lights and not a bauble or sparkle of tinsel anywhere?
There are many options in the marketplace to help create the look and feel you desire, with many experts ready to help and advise on your requirements. Lighting is a great place to start, so ask your DJ or MC Entertainer what solutions they have available or that they can help you organise. From full room up-lighting and washing the walls with colour to ambient lighting that creates excitement at the event entrance or to spotlight a key area such as the cake table. And be sure to discuss dance-floor lighting to set the right mood in the dance area. Likewise, a special dance-floor can be a great add-on if you are looking to encourage your guests to dance the night away reminiscing about the school formal, your hen’s night or bopping away together to family favourites.
To add a personal touch to any celebration, there are a selection of additional enhancements. Light up letters (commonly known as “Love Letters”) can create a great focal point for photo opportunities. For weddings, the initials of the couple, “LOVE” or “Mr & Mrs” are popular choices and readily available but depending on the type of celebration, consider simple emotive words such as DANCE, PARTY and CELEBRATE to enhance the wow-factor of the room.
To add excitement to your event, remember the thrill of the carnival sideshows and take inspiration from this; popcorn, fairy floss and lolly carts, chocolate fountains and photo booth stations with a dress a up box. This can create for some welcome distraction, especially for an all-day wedding where it can be a long day for guests. The photo booth options have exploded over the past years and the choices range from traditional enclosed booths to increasingly more popular “magic mirrors” that are not limited to a closed booth. Rather, up to 15 people at once can gather around the mirror for a terrific and fun group shot. If you prefer something more compact, there are digital based systems in all sorts of hip or vintage styles that take surprisingly little room but deliver fantastic photographic results and many can be sent directly to your guests Instagram and Facebook accounts.
Music is the foundation of a great time with family, friends, and colleagues. It creates drama, stirs emotions, and can spark fond memories of people and places. How all of the ingredients of your event are matched and blended is what will make it remarkable, successfully mixing audio and visual elements to stimulate all the senses.
Is music enough? Not always, but there is plenty of opportunity to work with your DJ or MC Entertainer to create the perfect recipe for your event or celebration.
The DJ Alliance Australasia along with our international not-for-profit partner Associations, the Canadian Professional Disc Jockey Association (Canada) and the National Association of Disc Jockeys (UK) are publishing a series of articles designed to help the general public better utilise the industry our collective Associations represent. We hope these articles are helpful and function to assist everyone achieve greater event success with mobile DJ & MC entertainment.
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This was originally published by the DJAA (embed link to original article here) and has been republished here with permission.