I have unofficially declared this engagement session week here on Hi-Fi! Here’s another darling sesh to swoon over! Stephanie and Maxwell flirted first date style while serenading each other with guitar strums. I adore their style and how natural their love appears in these images!

Photos: Orange Blossom Photography

Taylor and Alex are a bohemian couple that personify love! They live, breathe, and adore music (my kind of folks)! I am smitten with their picnic in the park! Complete with their favorite albums, Alex and Taylor’s engagement session is personalized to match their already wonderful style. It was an afternoon full of love songs and cuddle puddles! Uh, awesome.

Photographer: Studio Sequoia
Reception Venue: Balboa Park
PR Rep: Lighthouse Entertainment

Click to listen:
DIIV – Doused

My husband and I have been in “Fall cleaning” mode XTREME. We are trying to have a yard sale on Saturday and have been working hard cleaning all of the nooks and crannies and assessing all of our collections. Since it’s my last weekend until wedding season hits full swing, we’ve been having to work around the clock to ensure this sale actually happens. How does this relate to Tuesday’s tune? Well, only because this is one of the songs on the Let’s Do This Shit motivational playlist! I love how catchy it is! Helps keep everything movin’ and groovin’ right along. (that’s what she said)

Still hankering for more music?! Check out all of the past Tuesdays!

What do you get when you combine a dashing couple, incredible scenery, and lots of fun – Mona and Paul’s beach babe engagement, but of course! I’m so not ready to let go of Summer (although I’m hankering for my husband’s pumpkin pie). This session transports me to an endless romantic sunset beach walk and I love it! The records make for such a great detail!

Photos: Christine Farah

Each week I digitize a 45 from my own personal collection and share it with the earholes of the internet. The Sunday Singles are not just for those planning a wedding, but for music lovers across the board. It’s a recollection of the past with the sound of vinyl against a needle and the warm song that results.

Click to listen, right click “save as” to download:

Side A:
98.6

Side B-1:
Ain’t Gonna Lie

Happy Sunday friends! Here’s some greatness from Keith! Well, Side B isn’t really wedding “appropriate” but I still love it as a song. 98.6 is totally a sappy hit, and would make a fabulous addition to the wedding playlist! In fact, it’s one of my favorite love tunes and has become a song Andy and I will sing to each other occasionally.

Wanna mingle with more singles?! Check out all of the past Sundays!

While I’m 99% sure this was not the only wonderfully adorable music goodie from elsewhere on the web – BUT it is the only one I had time to locate. My head hit my pillow last night (this morning) at 4am. We had Nobunny, Bad Sports, and my band, The Porcharitas, play in our store last night. It was SO much fun!!! This week was crazy busy getting ready for the show and practicing, that I barely had time to stay on top of emails…nevertheless, check my reader everyday. Anyway, I hope you and yours have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you sweet friends next week!

SO DARLING!

Before I gush about this next session, I need to pause for a moment to apologize for my lack of Tuesday tune yesterday. This week has proven itself to be hectic (with extreme fun) and my computer time has been so sporadic and short lived. Tonight NOBUNNY and Bad Sports are playing in our record store (so is my band…eep!) and I couldn’t be any higher on Cloud 9!!! Alrighty, let’s get on to the lovey dovey greatness!

Oh my CUTE!!!! As soon as this session hit my Two Bright Lights account, I was hooked! From the retro styles, to the fun locations – I’m in love with every single shot! Terese and Eric are so adorable, don’t you agree?!

Photographer: Dawn E. Roscoe Photography

Kat and Josh are the cutest! Josh works at a record store in Chicago, and Kat managed to get them into Congress Theater, an old, awesome concert venue in Logan Square, to take their engagement photos. That night’s band was doing their sound check when Kat and Josh snuck into the back of the theater so they could dance to the song playing just for the lovebirds. It was a crazy awesome moment and I can’t thank Anni Cee enough for sending this my way!

For funsies, I wanted to find out what love songs tickled their eardrums. Kat and Josh sent me along a selection of songs that have already made it on to their wedding playlist. I can’t wait to see the full thing!

Sweet Disposition – Temper Trap
Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Emmylou – First Aid Kit
I Will Follow You Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
Us – Regina Spektor

Photographer: Anni Cee Photographie

Each week I digitize a 45 from my own personal collection and share it with the earholes of the internet. The Sunday Singles are not just for those planning a wedding, but for music lovers across the board. It’s a recollection of the past with the sound of vinyl against a needle and the warm song that results.

Click to listen, right click “save as” to download:

Side A:
Just Give Me Time

Side B-1:
You’re not Gonna Live Forever

This 45 is a complete surprise score for us. A couple of years ago one of our favorite record store customers (friends) brought us a digitized version of an album of Alabama garage bands from the 60s. It is amazing! We have since gotten the record for our collection and it’s on constant rotation. Anyway, imagine our surprise when Andy finds a 45 by one of the bands at a flea market one random Sunday – in EXCELLENT condition!

Wanna mingle with more singles?! Check out all of the past Sundays!

Rabbit, rabbit friends! Today I’m sharing a great article from a friend, Michael from Wedding DJ. Definitely a great read if you are considering hiring a DJ for your wedding! Lots of great tips!

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Your wedding day is said to be the most significant event of your life. Studies have also shown that as much as 80% of your big days success is influenced by the entertainment you choose. Factoring in both these claims, to make sure that the day you and your partner marry is a hit with guests, securing professional entertainment is integral.

Every wedding is different, and each celebration has different requirements. Depending on the style of wedding that you plan of having, hiring a DJ to service your entertainment needs can be a fantastic choice. As opposed to a band or a musician, a DJ can offer a very cost effective resolution. Apart from a disc jokey being the cheaper option, they have the capacity to procure a more diverse music library, cater to more genres and tastes than live entertainment. In saying this, we are not bagging bands and musicians, it just boils down to what type of wedding you are hosting. Booking an experienced and trustworthy DJ for your big day can be a very difficult task. With quite a large number of companies to choose from and a majority of those agencies being online, it can be very arduous to detect which DJ entertainment companies are legitimate, professional and trustworthy of carrying out the task of entertaining at your reception on your big day.

Below are Top 9 Tips to hiring a professional Wedding DJ:

1. Hire an experienced DJ: This tip is top of the list for a reason. Albert Einstein noted that “the only source of knowledge is experience”. Prior to making any bookings with any company, it is best to see firstly how much experience the DJs at a particular agency have under their belt. A well seasoned wedding DJ will know the proceedings of a reception like the back of their hand, they will know the perfect song to suit the perfect moment and they will add a touch of class to your wedding. An inexperienced DJ, simply will not. Take the time to know the agency, the DJs they send out, and their previous experiences dealing with weddings.

2. Make sure the DJ is licensed: With music piracy and illegal downloads on the rise, it is essential that the wedding DJ you decide to hire is authorised to play music and songs commercially and is licensed with the appropriate bodies. Depending on which country you are in, this will be different. This is important for a few reasons. If a DJ is unlicensed, and a venue or a representative of ARIA obtains knowledge of this, you put your wedding at risk of not having entertainment for the rest of the evening as they do have the power to order the DJ to stop playing. A licensed DJ obtains all their music and songs from reputable outlets such as iTunes and other retailers. Not only is this music legally attained, it also ensures that it is the highest quality version of the file or song. Sure, it is easy for many DJs and regular people to download and acquire songs from illegal music piracy sites. However, these versions of songs are often very low quality, odd remixes or even cut short. When these songs are played out loud on speakers and systems, it is apparent that they have been pirated and sound distorted.

3. Ensure image & presentation indicate quality: This tip can be difficult to gauge when a lot of wedding entertainment vendors are now online and do not have physical locations that you can visit. However, from our experience, a poor website, online presence and branding usually results in, you guessed it, a poor quality DJ and even worse equipment being sent out to your wedding. You would like a DJ to come out who is presentable, respectful to the dress code and is also friendly and constantly smiling. If you would like these qualities in your wedding entertainment, you need to hire from a company who has those same values instilled in their marketing and the way they represent themselves through their branding. A professionally made website is a key factor into determining whether you are dealing with a professional DJ Agency or not. If you are browsing a site that is old, out-dated and tacky, then chances are the DJ service you will be receiving will be similar.

4. Pricing: As the old adage goes, “You get what you pay for”, most definitely remains valid in this regard. We understand some companies charge more so than others. Please do not let pricing be the leading decision making factor when choosing the entertainment for one of the biggest days of your life. Instead of looking how much an agency costs, try to look at the value that you are getting when you hire a DJ for your wedding. You need to try and think to yourself, what am I really getting when I am hiring from these cheaper agencies. This stands testament to booking all vendors and aspects of your special day. The difference between a lower tier and a top range DJ is a maximum of $300. For such an integral component of your wedding, something that comes around once in a lifetime, a small increase in price can make a huge difference in value. Don’t be left embarrassed and regretting your decisions, this is the most special day of your life, so don’t be afraid to spend a little bit more to ensure quality.

5. Make sure they are a Wedding DJ: Yes, there are different types of DJs and entertainment agencies out there. Some specialise in parties, others in corporate entertainment and some specialise in weddings. Book with a company who strictly deals with weddings, this will ensure your big day gets the attention it deserves and everything will go smoothly. Niche wedding DJs know what they are doing, always come prepared and can make the difference.

6. Listen to live samples: When booking a DJ online, it can be hard to substantiate the DJ’s mixing abilities, experience and the sounds they play without a demo. You should ask all agencies that you are considering booking if they have any live samples that you can have a listen to. These days, this can be done very easily over the internet, either on their website or via sites such as Soundcloud. Here are a few live samples from a Wedding DJ so you are able to hear their mixing abilities, the styles and genres that they specialize in and weddings they have done in the past. You would not book a wedding photographer without seeing their previous works, in the same sense, do not book a DJ until you have heard some live samples from previous weddings that they have provided entertainment at.

7. Equipment: A DJ is only as good as the tools that they use, and their equipment needs to be top notch to ensure reliability and trust. For your wedding day, make sure that the company you choose use reputable and trusted brands. The thing with poor equipment, it not only sounds terrible, looks old and bulky, but it is also unreliable and could cut out at any second. Cheap companies usually use cheap equipment. Also, be sure to ask the agency if they have back ups on hand in case anything goes wrong or any of the equipment is faulty and stops working. These things do happen (hopefully not to anyone reading this), but did you book with a company who has the capacity to deal with these issues? Let’s hope so.

8. View their playlists: Ideally, you would like to make sure that the DJ agency you are booking with has the music that you want, and if they do not have it, they are at least willing to source the music in time for your wedding day. Due to weddings usually having people from a wide variety of age groups, it is also good to have a company who has a wide database of music available. To keep everyone happy, the DJ should have an array of genres that they can call upon, and classic songs from every decade from the 60’s to current music. Check if the DJ is open to requests from guests. Some DJs refuse to take requests and find it offensive. Attempt to steer clear of DJs with egos. You want the music at your wedding to reflect you and your guests, so you should have as much say as you are willing to put into the entertainment. If the DJ agency does not have the music you want, or is not willing to organize the music you want for your wedding, there is no point in booking with that company. The DJ should be bending over backwards to make sure their client is happy.

9. Make contact with the agency: Don’t just email the manager, or read information on the company website. You can tell a lot about an organization and a person by talking to them on the phone. Have a quick chat to the DJ or Manager on the phone about the details and requirements of your wedding. If they are confident and friendly over the phone, then proceed to organising a consultation with you and your partner. If you are happy with the meeting, and all the above tips are checked off, then it is safe to say that you are ready to book a DJ to entertain at your wedding.

I hope the aforementioned tips prove helpful in your endeavors to booking professional, reliable and quality entertainment for your big day, and assist in making a more informed decision regarding one of the most important aspects on one of the most important days of your lives.

Michael
Wedding DJ