Special Treat for the first dance thanks to a special guest

It has been a busy year! Finally have a small window and I want to take this opportunity to fill  you in on a special event I was privileged to be a part of this past Fall. A few months ago I as part of a special treat for a couple's first dance as husband and wife. Let me build the scene and provide some background information on all those involved. The wedding and reception were held along Charleston's scenic Ashley river at beautiful Magnolia Plantation. The cocktail hour and reception were on the Veranda of the plantation's historic house.

Lorraine and Ellie of Invitation Only Events LLC

All the decorations were courtesy of Lorraine and and Ellie from Invitation Only Charleston. Everything elegantly displayed, meticulously laid out to perfection. I have worked with them on several occasions and when it comes to event planning they may very well be the best in the Charleston Area. With any luck I will get to work more events with them in 2017.

The musical entertainment for the ceremony and cocktail hour was provided Classical Charleston and it was superb! Excellent music and sound!

Yes, I am stalling on the surprise.

Video was done by Thomas Kemp of 326 Films First time working with this vendor; but he was very professional and I am sure he provided excellent video coverage.

Watering Hole Bartending Services

Cocktail service was provided by Jon Wilson of Watering Hole. I have worked with them on several occasions; 3 times in the past year alone and each time it was a pleasure to work with such professional bartenders. Hope to work with them at another event soon.



Chris Smith of Chris & Cami Photograhy covered the event and I would like to thank them for the photographs below they provided me for the Blog. I have worked with them in the past and they are among the best in Charleston and the surrounding area.  Thanks Chris!

Ok Let's move on the fun surprise. I was contacted by the mother of the bride to see if I could work with her on a surprise for the Bride and Groom's First Dance. We worked out the details and made it happen.

For the First Dance, who shows up to sing for them...  the last winner of American Idol... Trent Harmon!  What a privilege. He was such a down to earth, easy person to talk to and work with. He is very personable and a great performer.

Katie & Grayson's First Dance

Trent Harmon performing for the
newlyweds first dance.

While the couple knew he was there as a personal friend and guest; they did not find out until shortly before their first dance he would be singing Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love for them. Afterwards, he performed a few more including his recent hit single. There's a Girl. Which everyone enjoyed and started off the dance floor.

We provided the musical entertainment for the remainder of the evening including all the request made by the Bride and here guests.

Everyone had a fantastic time and we received a personal Thank You note from the bride a few weeks later. These personal Thank You notes really help make our day as we strive to provide all our clients the best and most professional service possible.

This wedding was also featured on Borrowed and Blue.

#trentharmon, #idjcharleston, #rcbaudio_dj, #invitationonlyllc, #chrisandcami, #326_films

Great Set of Events

A Slight change from my recent postings. This time I just want to share the fantastic events I had the privilege of being the musical host for this past weekend. So let's just get to it! Starting out let me say all three couples were fantastic to work with and it was a pleasure being their musical host!

Friday, July 8, 2016

Started off at the Cedar Room at the old Cigar Factory in Charleston. A great reception venue with a lot of fantastic history. Love the interior decor brick walls, wide open dance floor area, ample room for food stations all work together make up a fantastic venue. We also got to work Christiana Halvorson of XIE Creative who is an excellent event coordinator and Bridal Broker.She is definitely a professional and it shows in every event we had the privilege or working with her on.
Check out the link below for even more information on the history of this venue space.
(http://ldhi.library.cofc.edu/exhibits/show/cigar_factory/historic_background_cigar_fact)

One of the exciting things we debuted at this reception was a small version of our Moving Monograms. While we can display the monogram against a flat wall, projection screen or multiple large monitors; after discussion with the planner we determined we did not want to distract from the simple and elegant decor of the venue. So we settled on a more subtle display.

Above is a photo of the monogram and to the left is a short video showing it in motion.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

The next day we were out at another of Charleston's historic locations..... Magnolia Plantation. We setup at the Carriage House for an outdoor ceremony on the banks for the Ashley river with the reception to take place inside the Carriage House.  This lovely couple took advantage of our Live SlideShow. This unique service definitely kept the energy going and at the end of the night they received over 150 photos we took that night and incorporated directly into their Live SlideShow. It is always fun watching guests reactions when they see themselves on the big screen(s) dancing to a song from just a few seconds ago. You can check out all the photos from this event on my Google Business page To the right are just a few photos from that celebration: At this event we got to work with some other great professionals:
Brett Martin - Vidographer - Not sure anyone can capture the video better than him.
Nicholette Creedmore - Photographer - Have worked with her on a couple of events now and she is fantastic.
Shannon Rae - Photographer - First time working with her but an outstanding professional and great to work with.

Saturday, July 16, 2016
In the French Quarter downtown Charleston at No. 5 Faber. Along with DJ / MC Services we provided uplighting in this venue for a great wedding reception.
 Uplighting is a great way to enhance your venue and provide an elegant and fun way to match your wedding colors with the ambiance of your celebration.
This wedding party arrived by limo service from their wedding in Summerville and partied the night away to the variety of music we provided.

 From the Polka, to county, classic rock, to current pop hits. It was a pleasure to be a part of these newlywed's celebration.










Wrapping it up
Each of these were wonderful receptions we were thankful to be a part of.
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ron@rcbaudio.com

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"cheaper".... "paying for this ourselves"..... "on a budget"....

"cheaper"....  "paying for this ourselves"..... "on a budget"....

I have heard all of these and similar often. I completely understand trying to get the most value for what you are looking for; and even then different people place different value on different things.
There are a few things to be considered when looking at budgets for major events such as wedding / receptions, reunions, anniversary, corporate events etc...

The responses to the above are:
"cheaper" - The old adage is true "you get what you pay for".

"paying for this ourselves" - Unfortunately this is becoming more the norm. A change from the traditional older days where the families of the affianced cover all or even most of the expenses.

"on a budget"...   The bottom line is weddings are expensive. They are by nature. They are not a planned line item for a a weekly monthly, yearly, biennially or even decennial planned budget. They are expected to be once in  lifetime celebration.  I have never heard a bride or groom say "well I am going to try it this way and if it does not work out I will do it different at my next one..."

ONCE is usually how often do you plan (budget) and pay for a celebration where you have to spend money on (and this is a incomplete, short list):

• special attire (wedding dress, rehearsal dinner dress, bridal gowns, tuxedos, shoes)
• a caterer to cook appetizers, dinners, & deserts for a guest count that can easily fall between 70 - 200
• bartender or drink service for the same guest count
• a venue to account for your guest count and match what you are looking for
• a professional photographer to take the photos for this lifetime event
• entertainment to help your guests dance, sing a-long and celebrate with you
• a florists to provide bouquets, boutonnieres, table centerpieces, and more
• rentals (if your venue of choice does not provide in their price) - tables, chairs, cocktail tables, linens, etc...
• event / venue coordinator to help orchestrate all the above or at least execute your plan when the day comes

And for each one of these (and probably other items) you want a professional. And true professionals are not "cheap" and for good reason. What they do to make sure it is done right (time, reliable gear (backups), effort, plan, review, improve the plan, review, perform) is what makes them a professional. There are no do-overs at events this important.

I am no saying you have to go into bankruptcy. There are people and companies out there that are professional and offer the services mentioned above at reasonable prices. Just do not go into shopping and preparing a budget with unreasonable expectations on an unreasonable budget. Do some research. See what the average is for related services in your area and budget accordingly allowing more or less for each area based on where you place your value. To some people the decorations are more important, to others it is ambiance of the venue...  To others it is there the reliability and quality of their entertainment. Here is a brief guide to help you in searching for the best entertainment for you. 

We have reasonable prices to bring the best professional mobile DJ services to all of out clients. Contact us today so we can discuss the details of your event and put together a package for you that will not break your budget.

Reduce Stress on Your Day

Reduce Stress on Your Day

I know planning an event as important and life-changing as your wedding day can be very stressful. There are a few things you can do to reduce stress the day of and increase your enjoyment on your day. I am sure other people have a lot more tips and suggestions; so please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

1. Time - There really is no substitute. This is the key to almost everything else to follow. Don't rush. Give yourself plenty of time to plan so you can have what you want. You may have been planning your wedding and reception for years; but now you have to move from planning to implementing. Time to visit the perspective venue. Time to research, interview, and select your vendors (more on this to follow). Time to pick your dress, work on invitations, wedding party, family, etc...  Time is key. The less time you have to plan; all the more critical the following suggestions become.
2. Trust Your Vendors - Hopefully you had Time to research potential vendors and interview them and ask key questions. (A Skill Set Q & A Guide To Obtaining Your Ideal Event Entertainment) This does not apply just your entertainment, but all your vendors. Do not hire a vendor you are uncertain about. Once you select your vendors and review your expectations you should feel confident they will meet or exceed your expectations. If you do not have this confidence in them... reconsider and find ones you trust. When you find the ones you trust... let them do what you hired them for and rest assured they will do what they do best.
3. Day of Coordinator - Whether you hire a professional coordinator (recommended, even if just for day of) or have that appointed trusted friend, give them your expectations and let them live up to them. Your coordinator should not be a member of the wedding party (mother of bride or groom included, let them enjoy the day as well). A member of the wedding party is already busy just being a member of the wedding party and cannot effectively coordinate or help resolve last minute potential issues while having their picture taken. Make sure you provide the coordinator all the contact information for your vendors. Ask your vendors to reach out to the coordinator. A good coordinator is like a orchestra conductor making sure all the individual components work together as a whole to produce a great concert. This leads us to the next key suggestion...  Communication
4. Communication - Like Time there is no substitute. Most of this can be handled in advance of the event and make sure everyone has a copy of their schedule. Give all your vendors your entire schedule for the day. If they want to reduce it to just their tasks, let them do that. But; this way you know you (or your coordinator) gave them all the details. This also helps reduce your work of creating a separate schedule for each vendor. This is an example of trusting your vendors to do what they do best.  Events generally shift to some degree at receptions and should be expected, keeping all the vendors informed so they can adjust as needed is very important.

Let me give some examples based on experience why I chose to focus on the on some of the above above:

The first one, Time is self-explanatory and can vary from person to person based on their schedules I would suggest a 6 month minimum though for planning an event as important as a wedding and reception. Trusting your vendors is also kind of self-explanatory why risk such an important day to a person or persons you do not trust?

At a destination wedding I was hired for; the coordinator was a member of the wedding party and was fantastic at setting everything up, prior to the reception. Through no fault of their own, they were unable to effectively communicate with the other vendors when the time came.  The photographer took significantly longer than expected with photos after the ceremony; what was scheduled to take 45 minutes to an hour turned into 1 hour 45 minutes. The coordinator who was in the pictures was unable to communicate to the venue, caterer, and myself what was happening. The caterer was concerned about the food since they can only leave food out for so much time before they have to take it up and cook again from scratch. While a delay of 1, 20 or even 30 minutes can be handled an entire hour delay is very concerning. This delay also pushed back the dancing portion of the evening, so some events were pushed together sooner than scheduled and made this part of the reception seem shorter and crowded by so many room focus events stacked back to back to back. While everything was pulled off in the end it was obvious the couple was more stressed than they needed to be that day.

Please feel free to comment and offer your suggestions.  I look forward to hearing from you.  Best Wishes.

At Your Service,

Ron Swain

ron@rcbaudio.com   

843-608-1766  

FAX: 855-420-5763

     See our reviews and testimonials at www.rcbaudio.com/#!testimonials/chjz

Why it's hard to find a professional quality DJ for cheap.

Let me retype the title where I can emphasize the key words:
Why it's hard to find a Professional Quality DJ for cheap?

Take a few moments to consider what can make your event a great memory or dreaded memory. While there are several aspects of your event that can have this level of impact this entry will focus on the musical entertainment or specifically your DJ.

Just to be fair, anyone who owns a business is in it to make  money. Like most DJ's and other wedding entertainers there should also be a passion involved to make sure it is done right. Even though this is not always the case, we will assume it is for the sake of this entry. Like any legitimate business there are expenses involved.
Some items we are not even going to dive into:

• Transportation - Not even going into vehicle upkeep and maintenance.
• General Business Costs (ie. advertising, software, general office costs)

Items with a little more detail that definitely impacts your event:

• Quality equipment - Do you want someone showing up with a living room entertainment system, or low quality PA equipment? Even if the music is high quality a cheap or un- maintained music system can make it sound terrible. They should have a quality sound system that can easily handle your size event and venue.
• Backup equipment - The truth is electronics is electronics. and they can fail at any time, do they have backup systems on site they can put in place within minutes. Not just audio equipment, this also includes backup of the music library (see below). Large music libraries require large backup and should be backed up multiple times.
• Music Library & Legitimate Music Sources - You have been on iTunes or another paid music service. Think about how much you would spend just to you have your favorite songs in your preferred genre. A good DJ has to maintain music in several other genres to accommodate a wide variety of tastes. This is not a 1 time purchase with a depreciation. This is a constant expense to keep the library up to date and ready to go. There are some DJ's who actually depend on streaming services... what of the internet goes down. Even if they bring their own mobile hotspot... it could go down.
• Business License (ask to see it)
• Insurance (ask to see it)
  I would not even consider a DJ who could not provide me with proof of the last 3 above items to be professional. Each of these items speak to honesty, integrity, & legitimacy of the DJ and his business. You would not hire an unlicensed caterer or rent an uninsured venue, would you?

The biggest impact item that will show before, during and even after your event:

• TIME - The truth is you do not hire a DJ for just the length of your reception.There are not too many shortcuts in this business, especially when it comes to quality and doing things right. Like most anything done well there is no bigger expense than time. In my years of experience in this industry, starting from when I worked for a multi-op in high school until now; there is nothing that tops time as the biggest impact on an event. It has been my experience that for every hour of an actual wedding reception I spend playing music there is a minimum of an hour to hour and a half of additional time involved. (Example: a 4 hour reception = 8  - 12 hours total work time) Why?... because I want it done professionally and to the absolute best of my ability to make sure my clients who put their trust in me are more than satisfied! Why? because if they are happy, I am happy, and the more people I want to continue making happy. It is a challenge to make sure I can do it each and every time. Yes it is obsessive.
  
  Now let's look at that time frame, 8 - 12 hours. We will split the difference and go with 10 for our calculations.  Let's subtract 4 right off the top for the actual reception time. [Note: A professional mobile DJ is not just up there pushing play. he is constantly looking around the room. Noting who is paying attention to the music, what people are liking, what they are dancing too, always knowing where the bride and groom are, working with the planner {do we need to shift the schedule, the bride went to get her makeup touched up} or venue manager or caterer {are the plates out for the cake cutting in 20 minutes}, and photographer {about to have a room focus event:cake, bouquet, etc..., are you ready?.] Now we are down to 6 hours, lets take 2 more hours for setting up at the venue before the event starts. Out of those 2 hours about 1 is our actual setup time the other hour is spent testing the equipment (speakers; mics; lights; if there is a problem resolve it... getting out the backup, re setting it up, testing again; sounding out the room determine the best volume levels for the music; mics for toasting; etc...) the other hour (or remaining time) spent reviewing the timeline, practicing name pronunciations, double checking the playlists (we'll touch more on this later), reviewing the details with the event or venue coordinator or planner. Now let's take away 1 more hour for tearing down the equipment, cleaning up afterwards (again we are not including the travel time to or from the actual venue).
  
  Ok, so here is where we are now: 10 - 4 (actual event) - 2 (setup and testing) -1 (tear down and cleanup after event) = 3 hours remaining.
  
  What takes up those additional 3 hours? The initial meeting with the client letting them know why you are the DJ Service to fit their needs (could be 30 minutes, could be 1 hour itself). More time working with the client to make sure you have the songs they want no, they need & deserve at their event. Review time with the client to go over name pronunciations for the Grand Entrance, timelines, their room focus event songs, any additional announcements, etc... Setting up the playlist(s) for the event. I usually have at least 2 preset playlist for each event: (1) for room focus events (Grand Entrance, 1st dance, parent dances, cake cutting, bouquet & garter, anniversary dance, etc...) and (2) a list of songs they specifically requested to hear or from their genre of preference. [I do not believe in playlisting out the entire event in advance; it is better to have flexibility for small schedule changes, guests requests, etc...

As you can see we have easily used up the average 10 hours. The above example does not even address when enhancements are needed for the event like uplighting, Monogrammed GOBOS (http://www.rcbaudio.com/#!lighting/c1pq9), or out Live SlideShow (http://www.rcbaudio.com/#!live-slideshow/c1p1j). 

Why is all this time important? This is a lifetime event, there are no do overs or second chances. This is a something you want done right the only time. Take the time to find the musical entertainment professional that you can trust to take the time to make sure it is done right and the way you want it.

You do not want this: Bad Wedding DJ's   Yes some of these are staged; but, you can easily tell which ones actually happened.

Thanks for your time.

Enhance your event... how we can give you more

It has been a very busy Fall wedding season in Charleston. This year has seen a pretty big increase in the types of enhancements I have started offering my customers.  Uplighting, GOBO projection, #instagram slideshow, etc... And even though we introduced the Live SlideShow last year, we have changed some options for it and it's popularity continues to grow. Let's take some time and go through a brief overview of these enhancements to bring more to your events.

Uplighting
Most of the best events are always well-lit and uplighting is an excellent way to accomplish that effect. One of our new packages for 2016 includes uplighting services at an incredible price. Accent columns, illuminate corners or just bring unique lighting to the edges of your event. The fixtures we use are all LED and programmable so we can color match the surrounding lighting to your theme. There will also be no unsightly power cables for tripping hazards, these units are all wireless and will shine for your entire event.

GOBO projection

Perfect to display behind your cake or dessert table. Need to transform a dull blank wall at your venue into a beautifully and memorable decorated piece of art?  here is your solution.  Select from either a standard pre-cut GOBO design or have one customized just for your event. The customized GOBO is yours to keep afterwards and make a wonderful decoration or keepsake. It can be framed, used as a holiday ornament or safely held onto with your other valuable keepsakes. Below are some examples of some customized GOBOs.





Instagram SlideShow

Been to weddings where the newly weds provide a hashtag to their guests for Instagram photos on the web? Well we can bring it to you and your other guests LIVE! We like to stay ahead of our competition and bring the latest to our clients. Do not let the same old slideshow play over and over again for your guests all night Keep it fresh by letting your guests build your slideshow right then and there. Keeping it fresh all night! Displaying within minutes of them submitting the photos to Instagram!

Live SlideShow

This new service takes the traditional idea of slideshow and projects it into the now! Have you ever been to an event where a slideshow was running and over and over again... all night long? Well let's change things up a bit and put a modern day spin on it! We start off with 40-60 pictures pre-selected by you that you want to share with your guests. They can be of anything that is important to you: photos of each of you growing up, significant moments, engagement photos, etc... When your guests arrive you will notice that the guests ooh and aah for a while but just as they get used to seeing the same photos over and over again, this is where the Live Slideshow keeps the novelty going. As we get closer to dance time we start pushing photos that we're taking into the slideshow. Slowly, it morphs from 'memories' to 'what's happening now'. It's amazing to see the reaction of the guests when they see the first room shot hit the screen and it helps to encourage people to enjoy themselves and ham it up. Anytime they see their picture pop up you'll see them laugh and tell their friends 'Look at me'. It gives them 5 seconds of pseudo-celebrity. When the event is over we will send you A copy of all the pictures we used in the Live Slideshow. This is a great way to keep your slideshow fresh and your enhance your guests enjoyment of the event! We have made it event better this year! Instead of taking up dance floor space with a projector and screen we now use 1 or 2 (depends on space) Hi-Def 32" televisions to instantly display the photos we take at your even!  Find more information on our Live Slideshow page: http://www.rcbaudio.com/#!live-slideshow/c1p1j

Why you hire professional wedding entertainment.

This is a follow up entry to the previous post on what to look for in professional wedding entertainment. You put all that time, effort and research to find and qualify the right professional DJ for your reception because a Professional DJ knows....

• Your time is important - A pro DJ knows you could be coordinating with several vendors, guests, family, etc... on different facets of your wedding and reception. How can they make what you need to discuss with them easy for you. Usually you can expect a replay in 24 hours (usually much less). Sometimes we are not immediately available but will get back to you as soon as possible.
  RCBAudio has several benefits to help you communicate with us:
• You can reach us by phone, email, text, or send us a message directly through our on-line planner (see more blow). Many of our clients often send us messages through Face book (www.facebook.com/rcbaudio) or G+ (https://plus.google.com/+RCBAudioDJKJCharleston/posts)
• Our on-line client portal is available to you 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Plan at your convenience. Enjoy our older blog article about this unique feature here Blog: Plan on Your Time  Don't worry we are automatically notified each time you make a change and review any changes daily to make sure we stay on top of your needs. Some of the features on this planner include:



RCBAudio On Line Wedding Reception Planner

• Comprehensive planning worksheets for the wedding and/or reception
• Timeline Builder
• Guests Management
• Make song requests and DNP (Do Not Play) Lists
• Allow your guests to make requests
• Review Service Agreement
• Contact us directly
• Provide Vendor contact information
• Additional Event Information
• Refer friends
• Communication and Coordination with other vendors is a must for a successful event
  Even if we have worked with your other vendors in the past; we will make every effort to touch base with just to introduce ourselves and let them know we are looking forward to with them to help make sure you event runs smoothly and is a success. One of the features in the on-line planner is a timeline builder for the event. You can easily send them copies of the final timeline or ask us and we will be happy to do it for you.
  We arrive early to every event to make sure we touch base with the other vendors, review the timelines and make sure everyone is on the same page so we can all work in concert for your event's success.
• Proper Prior Planning.  A pro DJ knows there is a lot more to just showing up for an event and setting up the gear. The truth is for every hour your event lasts there is at least 30 - 45 minutes of behind the scene efforts we take for your event.
• Setting up the important songs in a playlist for the important events (Grand Entrance, First Dance, Special Dances, etc...) so we can find them quickly and easy. It also helps to make sure we have the proper version of the song you want.
• Additional playlist. Since we allow you to make requests in advance for songs you definitely want heard we need to make sure we have them ready as well. Even though we have an extensive library and constantly adding to it  (about 50 - 60 songs a week); there is the occasional rarity where we have to get the songs through one of subscription services to make sure we have it for you. 
• Rehearsing. We rehearse the names we will be announcing during the event to make sure we pronounce them correctly. Even if last minute are required at the event, if you are familiar with the names involved a last minute change is easier to accommodate.
• Constantly reviewing the planning worksheets and timelines for any changes. 
• Your Peace of Mind. You have put the time to research and find your perfect DJ Service; now enjoy the peace of mind that come with knowing you have hired a legally licensed business, fully insured, professional DJ Service.

Aside for the details above it all comes down to the clear and obvious answer, and it is the correct one...You want great entertainment you and each of your guests can enjoy and peace of mind it is done professionally.