This probably goes without saying, but the past few weeks have been a bit of a blur for all of us.
For those of you planning a once in a lifetime event, this has been a blur of unique proportions, mixed with plenty of emotion and challenging decision making. Everyone in the special events world understands the discomfort you are going through, trying to figure out what is going to happen with your 2020 event.
Event professionals across the world have hastily been coming together, through video and phone, for conversations to figure out the best path forward. While much of the conversation has centred around how to provide for their families and their employees over the coming months, there is also the other side. We have been speaking at length about the hard work, effort, money and emotions you have invested in your special events, and the uncertainty that you must be feeling. Likewise, the attachment that many of your wedding suppliers feel towards your wedding can leave them feeling emotionally and physically drained too, even without performing at the wedding.
In the case of a wedding, years, and sometimes a lifetime of dreaming have gone into planning this special occasion. Through the following words, we would like to share some perspectives on postponement that have come from many in the special events world: decorators, wedding planners, florists, DJs, venues, and more.
Deciding on a new date for your special celebration carries many benefits with it and we would like to share some of those here. This big step will allow you to preserve all that you have invested into your big day, and it also ensures that the professionals you are counting on will be around for you too.
Research + Relationships
Putting together an event like a wedding requires a lot of research to find the perfect dream team of wedding pros. By now, you have already done that work and discovered an amazing group of people and companies that are the right fit for you. Finding a new wedding date with your current team saves you from having to do that work all over again. Chances are that great relationships have begun between you and the individuals you’ve decided to work with too. Giving those relationships even longer to develop will ensure you have the most dedicated team of people on your side when your big day arrives. You also preserve the individual planning sessions that have taken place with your wedding planner, DJ/MC, decorator or florist. All of your plans can still take place, even if not in the short term. Don’t discard the work you and your dream team have already completed.
Pricing + Payments
Many of the wedding professionals we have talked with will honour the pricing you booked them at for a future date. Precise terms will vary from company to company, but overall, staying with the company you have booked saves you from potential price increases when the world returns to normal. We can’t be sure of anything just yet, but the fees you have currently agreed to will likely be more favourable than those in coming years. Most booking or reservation fees are also non-refundable, but most companies are willing to transfer those payments to a postponed event date. In most cases, a cancelled event will result in the loss of any payments made. Postponement of your event will ensure that any payments made will translate into services for you when your party takes place.
Non-Saturdays
An unexpected bonus to finding a new date is that many event professionals are offering incentives for non-Saturday events. Due to the number of weddings being postponed right now, Saturdays in 2021 (for example) are going to be in very short supply. Therefore, many companies are offering valuable incentives if people are willing to move their event to a Friday or Sunday or even a regular weekday. In the case of a wedding, no one will remember your wedding just because it happened on a Saturday, they’ll remember it for all of the happiness and joy it brought them, watching you and your partner tie the knot.
Supporting Each Other
These added incentives are being made available by many wedding professionals because they want to still be around when you need them. A mass cancellation of events right now assures that many of the companies you depend on might not make it through this crisis. Help them remain in service to you by moving your event to a future date and maybe, the incentive to go to a non-Saturday will bring you something wonderful you didn’t expect!
Regardless of all that is happening in the world right now, there is no need to re-write your dream wedding. All of the details—your choice of flowers, that incredible photographer, the music for your dance party, the exquisite dinner you have planned—can still go on. If you are worried that COVID-19 might impact the date of your celebration or special event, reach out to the event professionals you have hired and work on a new date as soon as possible.
We are all very excited to see your dreams come to life through the amazing event you have planned. We need to put those dreams on pause for a few months of course, but we want to be here when you are ready to make those dreams come true. We’re going to need a big party at the end of all of this anyways, right? Let’s make that party yours!
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.
DJs & MCs wishing to publish DJAA “DJ MC Hiring Tips” blog content to their own website is permissible provided the content remains unchanged and when credit is given to a guest author that credit remains intact at the end of the blog post as originally written. Those republishing blog content must also have the following line inserted at the start of the post:
This was originally published by the DJAA (embed link to original article here) and has been republished here with permission.