S3, EP15: Getting the most out of your wedding vendors

Eddy: Welcome to Project Engaged, a podcast for fun loving couples planning their non traditional wedding.

Aleks: We’re wedding DJs Aleks and Eddy Mac from Melbourne. We run a business called One More Song, and our tagline is No More Nutbush.

Eddy: In this podcast, we’ll share our wedding experiences and chat to some of our past couples.

Aleks: We’ll also interview bold wedding suppliers who share our philosophy of your wedding being a celebration of you as a couple and wild. One epic party.

Eddy: Let’s get into today’s episode.

Aleks: Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of Project Engaged. I’m DJ Aleks Mac.

Eddy: And I’m DJ Eddy Mac.

Aleks: Just in case you haven’t listened to us before. Welcome, welcome. We are probably a couple of days late this week on landing an episode. Landing. Recording.

Eddy: Yeah, recording.

Aleks: Recording. And the reason for that is because we had a pretty big week last week. We had five weddings between us.

Eddy: Yes. Yeah, it was a. It was a huge one, but so much fun.

Aleks: Yeah. And that takes us into our weekend wrap up.

Eddy: I love it. You think it’s done, and it’s like, duh again after.

Aleks: I always have. Hope that you’ve changed it.

Eddy: But anyway, when have I had time to change it?

Aleks: I know, I know.

Eddy: She’s done five weddings.

Aleks: Yes, five weddings between us. Ed had three and I had two. And he reminded me of that fact every day last week.

Eddy: Oh, yeah, I probably did a couple of times. Well, why don’t you take us away with your gigs, Aleks?

Aleks: Sure. All right. So Friday night, I was at Rupert on Rupert, which we have spoken about many times. One of the most beautiful venues in Melbourne, in Collingwood. It was for Tegan and Will Teagan wore one of the most incredible dresses I’ve seen. Peachy. I don’t know how to describe it. How did it look? It was just gorgeous. Anyway, have a look at our instagram. It was lovely.

Eddy: It was definitely something.

Aleks: It was something. It was huge. I admire the commitment to wearing it, even on the dance floor, so everyone kind of had to make a, you know, circle around her.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s right.

Aleks: So, yeah, I didn’t mind that. Great vendors on this one. Got to work with Lucy from. She takes pictures.

Eddy: Excellent film. Lovely.

Aleks: Who I haven’t seen in a little while, so that was great. Who else is there? Oh, Nat Sproal, our friend Nat. I think she was there. I didn’t actually see her. I bumped in after. During cocktail hour. Sorry. And I started the reception. It was one of those weddings, though, where the species did run over.

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: Please refer to earlier episodes. Five mistakes but I did feel for the bride because she had sort of organised the run sheet and she had a rogue groomsman make a speech and quite inappropriate, so that was hilarious.

Eddy: Inappropriate? Terrifying in what way? Now, obviously, this is a podcast, so we don’t want to go into anything too crazy, but was it, like, inappropriate to the couple? Was he making jokes about the guests? What. What sort of went down?

Aleks: Oh, he was sort of making fun of the fact that he had to be woke and he mentioned a couple of things. It was sort of like. He referenced things. Oh, things I shouldn’t say. And then he said. He said them.

Eddy: Then he said them anyway.

Aleks: Yeah. Anyway, the funniest bit about that was because the father of the bride and father of the groom had really long speeches and this guy just came up later, everything was running late and did a speech. Someone put a timer on, so it started going off and he had to basically wrap it up. So there you go. It can be done. Yeah, very good.

Eddy: That’s an interesting strategy to make sure that speeches are two time.

Aleks: Yes, definitely. So, yeah, so dance falls a bit shorter than I would have liked, but it meant I was kind of busting banger after banger people seem to enjoy. It was a pretty good crowd. So. Yeah, that was on Friday nights.

Eddy: Yep. And how about Saturday?

Aleks: I’m gonna just write down all the supplies that we mentioned because there’s a lot of them and we want to make sure that we give them a shout out.

Eddy: Yeah, we have to give them. Shouts out shout.

Aleks: Shout out.

Eddy: Shout. Shout outs shouts out oh, God.

Aleks: All right, so Saturday night I was at encore in St Kilda. Right on the beach.

Eddy: Yeah, it’s a beautiful location.

Aleks: It’s a great spot. I mean, it’s literally on the beach. It’s great. Great team there. This was for Anthony and Julia.

Eddy: Is it Julia or is it another name?

Aleks: All right, well, I was MCing and I may have gotten the bride’s name wrong.

Eddy: Oh, dear.

Aleks: But there’s a reason for that. So the groom’s name is Anthony Giuliano, spelled Jiuliano, and the bride is Julia, also spelled G I U L A. So I introduced them as Anthony and Giuliano.

Eddy: We don’t have a sound clip, unfortunately. That was quite funny because obviously I was working as well at the time and I just got the text message, you know, when things were a bit quieter, Aleks sent me a text. I said, oh, my God, I just got the bride’s name wrong.

Aleks: It was. It was. It was after, like, there were a lot. There’s a lot going on. There was a lot to coordinate and, you know, there were a lot of entrances and I had to kind of, you know, obviously.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Yell out everyone’s name and I know.

Eddy: Exactly how that can go down. Look, there was water off her ducks back.

Aleks: It was funny. It was funny. Yeah. Everyone had a giggle because there’s like a running joke in the family that her name is so similar to his surname.

Eddy: I spoke, sealed the deal.

Aleks: She said that just. She said that just proved my point. So they were totally cool. So that was kind of funny, but, yeah, yeah, it was a really good crowd. 150 guests, so quite a big, big wedding.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Lots of early dancing and there was just a lot of, like two thousand ten s, two thousands late nineties, like finger boys and stuff. Just like really, really upbeat party favourites. And I was joined by Sophia from Quint photography, first time working with her, and Pia from high up films.

Eddy: Excellent.

Aleks: Yeah, great. And the venues staff are amazing. Encore. They’re really onto it. So that was really.

Eddy: Yeah, I’m trying to think of the last time that I played there would have been pre pandemic, I think, but, yeah, I do recall that was very warm and helpful. Yeah, makes a big difference.

Aleks: Yeah. So that was great. That was a great one. And let’s talk about your three.

Eddy: Yes, so, as you heard, I had three in a row starting Thursday. So Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night.

Aleks: Which was so confusing for our entire weekend.

Eddy: Just came through to Sunday and it felt like a Monday. So today it’s a Monday, but it feels like a Tuesday. Oh, dear. Anyway, so the first wedding, this is a Thursday night one, it was at Brunswick Mess hall, which we’ve spoken about in the past on this podcast, 170 metres away from where we live. So the bumping was nice and easy for me. It was for Emma and Tom. Absolutely beautiful couple. They’re actually from the UK, they reside in the UK. And he. I believe. I’m not exactly sure what part of New Zealand he’s from, but he’s from New Zealand, she. And he thought, you know what, let’s just do it in Melbourne, because they have a bunch of family members here as well.

Aleks: Was Emma. Is Emma Ozzie?

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: Yep.

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: And hard to tell sometimes when they accent.

Eddy: Exactly. That’s exactly, exactly why I kind of stopped, because, yeah, after a while, you do tend to get that UK twang.

Aleks: Yes.

Eddy: But, yeah, so it was absolutely lovely night. Super relaxed, as it always is. Yeah. Good dance floor. Shout out to the team. Shout out to Amy and Troy from Brunswick mess Hall. They’re absolute legends. And yeah, look, I was joined by photography royalty Ollie Sampson from Briars Atlas, who we have on this podcast. I think it was in the first or second season. Yeah, yeah. Just an absolute ninja. Incredible, incredible photographer. And our lovely guy.

Aleks: I know, he really is super down to earth.

Eddy: So he actually stayed until stumped. So he was there to eleven.

Aleks: Yeah. That’s crazy.

Eddy: Also, I was joined by Jack from Jack Thomas weddings who captured some content for me on his iPhone. And we had a really cool reel put up the day after for that.

Aleks: Particular wedding was so good. And we had Jack, Jackie’s a previous groom of yours and we had him on an episode.

Eddy: Yeah, a few episodes ago. Jack and Khalise at Churchill.

Aleks: Yeah. And he’s also a wedding photographer.

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: But he was just doing some on the day content for us.

Eddy: Yeah, he didn’t want to step on Ollie’s toes, obviously, with anything, so. But yeah, the work he did was fantastic.

Aleks: So good.

Eddy: Yeah. Really, really cool. So that was Thursday night. Friday night, I was lucky enough to get my first gigat project 3488. If you don’t know about this venue, it’s in Warburton. Yeah. Take a look. Google it project with a k 3488. It is something else. It’s. I don’t even know how to describe it, to be honest. It’s just an incredible venue. Very bohemian. The styling’s insane.

Aleks: There is one thing I have to say, apart from how the venue looks and the way it’s set up is have a look at their instagram. They’ve got this reel of a wedding where there was a burlesque stripper.

Eddy: Oh, yeah, yeah.

Aleks: And a cake.

Eddy: Not for everyone.

Aleks: Gives you a sense of the types of couples who are, you know, into the venue, I guess. Yeah, definitely non traditional.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, definitely non traditional. So. But the, the. Basically the. What am I even trying to say? Set up the setup for the dining area completely transforms into the dance floor area. So all of the tables that are set up, long wooden tables are hoisted up to this ceiling.

Aleks: It’s crazy.

Eddy: It’s crazy. And that creates the dance floor, which is nuts. So what they’ll do is they’ll have people there for dinner service, send them upstairs to do speeches on this balcony area, which is really, really nice. And as speeches are going on, they’re rearranging the room, clearing everything out, shoving the tables, chairs up, and then people come back down and they realise what the room looks like. Then they think actually a lot of people are coming back into the room. Thinking that they’ve had two drinks, well, take the wrong turn, which is really interesting. So they’ve got a massive disco ball that’s just fixed there. They had laser lighting later on, once the dance floor started this wedding, by the way, it’s for. For Christy and Merrick. Congratulations again to those guys. They’re absolute rock stars. I’ve never seen as many kilts at one wedding as their wedding. She had a scottish background, so that was really.

Aleks: Would’ve been random if one of them didn’t have a scottish background.

Eddy: Yeah, it would have been a bit random.

Aleks: Did you play the proclaimers?

Eddy: I did. It was a requirement play that. So I spun that quite early on.

Aleks: 500 miles for those playing at home.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s right. Went off. Yeah, it was just a fantastic night. So I was lucky to be joined by Marty from all my Wednesdays, which is. Which is really cool. And she’s just absolute legend. Yeah, absolutely. But, yeah, look, it was just a great night. Quite far away for us to drive. It took. I think it took a solid 2 hours from Brunswick, but plenty of time when we got there. Yeah, it was just lovely. And Saturday, I was gonna say Sunday, but Saturday I rounded it all out with Rachel and Mitch’s wedding at Churchill in Tarradale, Churchill events.

Aleks: Rachel and me. You have another Rachel coming up at Churchill. That’s super confusing.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is a little bit confusing. This particular one, celebrant. Lovely. I didn’t get to see her.

Aleks: We do a lot with her, actually.

Eddy: Yeah, yeah. Ashley has. Was the photographer.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: Apologies about this pronunciation there.

Aleks: Ash, If you’re listening, she actually wore a dress made by the same people as my bride on Friday night.

Eddy: Really?

Aleks: And the same sort of skirt.

Eddy: Wow.

Aleks: Yeah. Check it out.

Eddy: And of course, flowers done by Prunella, who own Churchill events. So shout out to those guys. They’re legends as well. And this one was huge. So you could tell as soon as we walked into the church where the reception was, I was set up on the like, pedestal section, altar section, whatever it is.

Aleks: Clearly you’ve never been to church.

Eddy: Yeah, the pedestal, whatever it is. And you could just tell that people were there to party. There weren’t too many older crew. It was mainly sort of younger, maybe like 28 to 35s, sort of.

Aleks: Oh, nice.

Eddy: But yeah, people really, really, really down to party.

Aleks: And you had some banger requests.

Eddy: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like Dom, dollar, Fischer. Really high energy. And you know, some really, like dirty rb and hip hop. Yeah, obviously we threw a few classics in the mix to keep happy here and there, like an ABBA what have you. And then it was just, yeah, banger after banger after banger. So that was a really, really good one to round out the weekend. But, yeah, a little bit tired today.

Aleks: A little bit. You’re a bit cooked today. Just for those listening, if you don’t know, Churchill, the venue, it’s not actually a church, as in there’s a church service there. It’s an old converted church and you tend to get big parties in there. It just looks so cool and Prunella with their flowers. I mean, the floral arrangements are crazy. They’re huge and they look incredible.

Eddy: They’re beautiful. And if you want to know a little bit more about the venue, we mentioned this before, but check out the Khalise and Jack Potty that a few episodes ago we interviewed those guys and they do take you through a little bit of how it works there, if you’re interested.

Aleks: Yep. Cool. Well, if you’re still with us.

Eddy: I know.

Aleks: Well done. Congrats. This is what happens when you’ve got five weddings. It’s gonna be a long wrap up, but we wanted to make sure that we mention all the vendors. Cause it’s very important.

Eddy: Oh, absolutely.

Aleks: And that gets me onto today’s topic. It’s just us two. And bear with us because we do have a couple of episodes coming up with other people involved, but just us two today.

Eddy: That’s a good point. So the reason why it is has been just us. And we’ve pushed on with these podcasts. Cause I really wanted to do them weekly, is that everybody’s really busy at the moment.

Aleks: So busy, hard to lock down.

Eddy: Giving it smart. Mad March, we call it Mad March. It starts to slow down from sort of this weekend, coming Easter e and all that kind of stuff. So we have much more interesting guests than just us two waffling along for the next couple of episodes.

Aleks: Well, hope you’re enjoying it. Anyway, today we are going to talk about getting the most out of your wedding vendors.

Eddy: Woo hoo.

Aleks: This is a good topic, I think. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to talk about the whole process. So we’re going to do a kind of chronological rundown. So everything from actually securing your dream team of vendors.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: How to get them, make sure that you can book them in, how to work with them in the lead up on the day itself and after your wedding. So how to get the most of these professionals that you’ve sought out and booked.

Eddy: Yes, I love this topic. I’m very excited.

Aleks: Yeah, I think. Yeah. It’s about, you know, how to be a good client. Could be the other way to frame it.

Eddy: Yeah. Because we did talk about framing it that way, but I think it came off a little bit wanky. Wanky, yeah, definitely. Anyway, the word I would use. Anyway, let’s get into it. So we’re gonna start. We’re gonna sort of do this chronologically. So we’re gonna start at the inquiry stage. So this is when you, as a couple are reaching out to your dream vendors. You’ve. You’ve locked them sort of down in your mind as. Shortlisted. Shortlisted them. And, yeah, it’s time to reach out. It’s time to reach out. So how to maximise your chances landing your dream vendors, number one, and this should be fairly obvious, is just getting early.

Aleks: Yes. Yeah. And I think no time is too early. If you started planning and, you know, started researching and you’ve got that short list of people you want to reach out to reach out ASAP, there is.

Eddy: A slight caveat to, like, how early it can be. So you mentioned it’s never too early, but sometimes it might be, you know, my conversations with some vendors at weddings, they’re still not really taking weddings for, say, 2025.

Aleks: Yes.

Eddy: But if you were to reach out to them, we do the same thing, say, oh, we’ll probably take them about a year or 18 months out and at least then that will prompt you to then put a note in your calendar to re.

Aleks: Yeah. So I think it’s still worthwhile reaching out to see whether that, you know, if it is two years out to see whether your vendors are taking bookings for that time or if not, like you said, diarize and know when is the earliest you can contact them. So at least then, you know, and you can secure them early. So it is worthwhile at least having that initial point of contact. The other thing that I think is a great idea is to chat to your venue and have a few different dates.

Eddy: Yes. And we’ve seen this happen a little bit more since the pandemic because obviously a lot of couples struggled to get new dates with everybody, so they were. What was that thing they were using, like doodle or something like that?

Aleks: Doodle.

Eddy: Doodle. Some. Some strange little website called Doodle voting polling poll. Yeah, exactly. You don’t have to go that far, obviously, but it is great to get a few different dates and we’re seeing that. We’re seeing that more now than we ever have.

Aleks: Yeah. And the point of it is that you are again maximising your chances of landing your dream vendors.

Eddy: Exactly.

Aleks: Especially if you’ve got a Saturday, you know, peak season, March or November. Yeah. You know, in a year’s time, if you offer a few different dates, you’ve got a much higher chance of getting the full dream team. So definitely have a chat to your venue and look, as far as I understand, some venues will hold tentative dates for you.

Eddy: Okay.

Aleks: For a small period of time. So if you’re quick and you kind of reach out and check when people are free and then take the date that, you know, the majority of free for, that is a really, really good idea. Them.

Eddy: Love it, love it.

Aleks: I think another important thing to do before inquiring is to really do your research thoroughly and get a really, really good sense of your vendors style and the vibe. Before you reach out, you got to.

Eddy: Ask yourself what type of vibe that you want.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: And whether when you are looking at all your vendors, whether they match or, you know, they’re going to help you with the type of wedding that you want to achieve.

Aleks: Yeah. And look, I think it’s important, I’ve had a chat to photographers where, you know, they’ve had sort of potential clients reach out to them and provide examples of the photography they want which are completely not that photographer’s style.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s a really good point.

Aleks: So that makes no sense. Right. So you’re better off having that conversation before you get to kind of meeting up with them and, you know, wasting both sides time when it’s not the right fit.

Eddy: Exactly. And you might be meeting with multiple vendors for, you know, photography, videography, celebrants, DJ’s, musicians, et cetera. So there’s a lot of time. If you add it all up, it.

Aleks: Is a lot of time, I think. Look, and it is up to vendors to make sure they’re putting themselves out there enough so that you get a good sense of the vibe. Which is why if you sort of look at on our website, at the bottom, there’s about 50 social media or whatever those icons. Ridiculous actually. But basically it means that you can do all your research and get a really, really good idea of what we play, what we don’t play, how we work with clients. You know, if you read through our blog, you understand the process so that by the time you get to meet with us, you know, you, in your mind you think that we’re a good fit. That’s the idea, anyway.

Eddy: Yeah. And then it’s basically just a quick vibe check between, well, you’re jumping ahead. Yeah, yeah, no, no, I’m jumping ahead a little bit.

Aleks: But you’re right, it is a mutual vibe check. And the other thing as well is, you know, have a look at your budget and pricing. So if I know a lot of photographers have pricing on their website, at least starting packages, we have pricing on our website.

Eddy: Some vendors don’t, so.

Aleks: No, they don’t.

Eddy: Obviously, you need to check in with those that don’t, but I think as time continues, more and more are starting.

Aleks: To see a lot more.

Eddy: Yeah, put them on their website. So that’s really great. And this, this is my favourite one. Put some time and effort in when you’re making the inquiry.

Aleks: Yes.

Eddy: So let that particular vendor know what you love about them, how excited you are for your wedding, you know, how hopeful you are that they’re available for your wedding, and a little bit about your vision for the day as well, whether it’s based on the music, you know, if you’re talking to a DJ, whether it’s, you know, the photography side of things, et cetera. So, you know, we get really excited when we get those types of inquiries. We can tell that the couple are just super pumped. They’re crafting this excellent day. They just want you to be a massive part of it, as opposed to like a one line DJ.

Aleks: Six to eleven wedding, 60 people. Eleven to whatever. Eleven. Six to eleven, yeah.

Eddy: Look, I may speak for everyone by saying, you know, if you’re gonna get a November the 25th inquiry and you’re gonna get one of the former and one of the latter that, you know what I’ve just been sort of saying, you’re gonna want to go with the most exciting one. Right?

Aleks: Yeah, that’s right.

Eddy: There’s only two of us, or there might only be one photographer.

Aleks: Exactly. And we’ve seen this a lot. So there are a couple of dates that in the last month, we’ve received multiple inquiries for, as you mentioned, some of those kind of peak dates. So, yeah, we’re definitely going to go with the one that’s actually, you know, put in time to talk about the vision also, obviously has really gotten a good sense of what we’re about and checked out all the content and information that we’ve put out there as well. So also, I think it’s important, if it isn’t already on the inquiry form, just to let you, your vendor, that you’re inquiring with, know how you found them as well. So, for example.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Particularly if it’s like a friend or family referral or you’ve actually been to a wedding that they’ve worked at, letting them know that as well, because that might increase your chances of being able to secure a meeting with them. So, yeah, definitely, you know, more is better in this case. And we love it when our couples say, you know, we loved your no more nut bush. You had us at no more nuplish because we know, okay. They get our vibe. We get it.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: So that is the inquiry stage.

Eddy: Boom. Okay, so the initial meeting stage. And this is where I jumped the gun before, but obviously it’s a mutual vibe check.

Aleks: Yes.

Eddy: Between each side, just to make sure that things feel good. Everybody’s happy. You know, go with. I always say to couples, go with your gut.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: You know, if it feels good.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: Then do it.

Aleks: Just lock them in. Yeah. But I think it is important to say, to remember, sorry. That it is a mutual vibe check. It’s not an interview of the vendors. The vendors are also trying to make sure that you’re a good fit.

Eddy: Cross interviewing. Everyone’s interviewing.

Aleks: Everyone’s interviewing each other. It’s not interviewing, it’s a chat. It’s a chat.

Eddy: And it’s actually, if it feels like an interview, then usually something’s gone wrong.

Aleks: It’s stilted and maybe, you know, your personalities don’t align, your styles don’t align, which is totally fine. It does happen from time to time. But it is important to remember that, you know, it is a two way street, this meeting.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Mutual vibe change. I think another thing prior to the meeting that’s really helpful is to send any kind of, you know, additional information to your vendors head of the meeting. So an example of this is, you know, I had one last week. If you’ve got like a Spotify or an Apple music playlist of songs that you’ve been, you know, just kind of compiling together as a couple that you’d like to hear at your wedding. Send that ahead of time. I love that I get such a good sense of what you’re about and I can really delve into that and ask some more questions on the core. So that’s really helpful. Or if you’re chatting to a planner or stylist, maybe send a pinterest board of your aesthetic vision or reference a wedding that they’ve done that you liked, the style of. Maybe just anything that you can kind of send ahead of time to get the most out of that call.

Eddy: Yeah. And obviously come with questions as well. I love when clients, prospective clients, have a little notebook and they’re like crossing off questions as we go. Yep, that’s that question that’s answered that because you can get the most out of us on that call and vice versa with a bunch of questions.

Aleks: Yeah. And I think, look, it depends on each vendor’s style. Our style is very much to lead the meeting. So we will kick it off with asking about how the planning process have been, which are the suppliers you’ve locked in or you’re looking at, et cetera, what’s your vision? And then we get into kind of timings and music, etcetera. So I find a lot of the time our couples are like, oh, you know, the end. I’ll say, oh, do you have any questions? I’ll be like, oh, no, I think you’ve answered everything because we’re asking it. But other vendors might be a little bit more, you know, a bit more chilled about it and might kind of ask you if you’ve got any questions. So it’s good to be prepared with those.

Eddy: Definitely ahead of time. And, you know, there’s always a, the opportunity to ask questions after the meeting as well. I typically sort of end a meeting by saying, look, I’m sure you have a bunch of questions that will hit you as soon as we end this call. And often at times they’ll send a few through on email or text if they think of them at the time.

Aleks: Yeah, and that’s totally fine. And I think it’s important to finally just leave the meeting understanding what the next steps are. So if you’re not sure, just ask to confirm. Okay. So will you send a formal quota after this, et cetera, and then go from there so that everyone’s on the same page with what’s going to happen?

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: So that is the initial meeting. What’s the next stage?

Eddy: The next stage is quoting and booking.

Aleks: Yeah. So as I just mentioned, if a vendor is organised and has their sort of processes in place, normally what will happen after that initial chat is you get a formal quote and an outline of the next steps should you wish to book in that vendor.

Eddy: Yes, that’s exactly right. So it’s important to make sure you look through all of the information that you know, a vendor will send through. They’ll often send their contract through, so take a peruse of that as well, t’s and c’s, etcetera. It’s really, really important and obviously will prompt more questions potentially as well.

Aleks: Yeah. And if you do have those questions, just get back as soon as you get that, you know, email just get back to the vendor. Just ask whatever you need to ask.

Eddy: And I suppose another really big thing, and we’re like this, too, when we quote, our quotes expire in seven, after seven days. So, you know, and that’s because we have such a volume of quotes coming, of clients inquiries coming in all the time, quotes going in and out all the time. So it helps us. I’m sure many vendors are exactly the same.

Aleks: Yeah, that’s right. If you want to book, book in ASAP. If you’re not booking that particular vendor, just don’t ghost your vendors.

Eddy: Don’t go, star Scott.

Aleks: Very nice. We will chat each other, chat to each other as well. And it’s not very, it’s not very nice when you get ghosted. And, you know, you might have found an alternative supplier, someone who’s maybe just totally more your vibe, more than your budget. Maybe you’ve got a friend who’s offered to help out or whatever. Just let, just let the vendors know. But that’s just a common courtesy. General rule in life.

Eddy: We’re doing life advice too, by the way.

Aleks: Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. This is a life coaching session, I think one other thing, if you are confirming with the vendor that you’re booking in, is to let them know when they can expect the initial payment, because it can take a little while to come through. I think we have, as part of our process, a little kind of payment promise function. So when you hit that, you can put a little message in and say, you know, we’ve made the bank transfer. We expect it’ll arrive in three to five business days or whatever it is. So again, it’s just to maximise your chance of locking that vendor in for your date.

Eddy: That’s right. So what’s next?

Aleks: So next we have the months leading up to your wedding.

Eddy: This is the time where you start to get really excited.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: You know, and it goes quick too. It’s feedback.

Aleks: Yeah, I think the last bits go quick. It’s like a weird curve, you know what I mean?

Eddy: A weird curve. Yeah. It’s a good way of looking at it.

Aleks: It’s like a parabola. Not really. Not a parabola. Oh, yeah.

Eddy: Actually it is like real mathematical.

Aleks: Oh, it is like a parabola when you think about it.

Eddy: I was very, I know what a parabola is.

Aleks: Oh, you.

Eddy: Thank you very much.

Aleks: So one of the things that we do recommend is to follow all your vendors on social media.

Eddy: If you’re not already, if you’re not already likely, that’s how you found a lot of your vendors anyway.

Aleks: Yeah, but like, qualified. For example, with us, we’ve obviously got our one more song DJ’s Instagram account, but then we also have our individual accounts as well. So once a couple has locked either of us in, they tend to follow whoever their DJ is as well as our general business accounts.

Eddy: Exactly.

Aleks: So, you know, vendors have loads of tips and inspiration, as you know, because you’ve probably looked them up on Instagram. So just make sure that you’re following all of your vendors. The one of the other tips is just to be in touch with your vendors in the lead up. And it’s, look, it is difficult when you’ve got, you know, a few different vendors that you’re working with and you’re looking at maybe an 18 month timeframe. You probably want to have a bit of a holiday planning. What do you call? Yeah.

Eddy: Yes, I always recommend that. So once you’ve locked in your major vendors, just have a planning holiday, enjoy your engagement, and then, you know, as Aleks says, in the months leading up, your vendors will start reaching back out anyway. And we have, you know, yeah, just doing the odd check in here and there. We do the same thing, you know, every few months. If we haven’t heard from you guys, we’ll send an email, maybe a blog or a cool Spotify playlist we’ve been vibing to just to keep the communication going and, you know, asking if you need anything.

Aleks: Yeah. And I think, I think it’s good to understand when you book in a vendor as well, understand what communication you will expect from them or you should expect from them. So when we send out our kind of, yeah, you’re booked in email, we always say, hey, like the month’s leading up, you’ll hear from us. We’ll send you a couple of occasional blogs here and there, but please reach out if you need anything while you fill out your, you know, party brief questionnaire. So those emails that we send out that you mentioned, we will normally get a response just saying, oh, hey, by the way, we’ve been thinking about this and this and this. So it’ll just prompt our couples to ask any questions or check in with us as well.

Eddy: Exactly. And you mentioned the questionnaire. You know, a lot of vendors will have questionnaires to fill out along the way. Give us as much detail as you possibly can, please. So we absolutely love it when our couples provide a whole bunch of inspiration on their music brief. And the more we get them, more we can understand you better. And on the night, probably understand your friends and family better as well.

Aleks: Yeah, absolutely. We even have a section for you to fill out details on your guest demographics. And sometimes I get, like, two paragraphs and it’s really entertaining.

Eddy: It’s like, yeah, they’re fun to read.

Aleks: Uncle Joe’s going to do this. And then, you know, our friends, there’s this many people between these ages, and we went to festivals together. You know, the more you can give us, the better.

Eddy: Well, it’s funny you mentioned that. I have a story from the weekend about that kind of messaging on our questionnaires, and it was the Saturday night wedding. They pre warned me about Riley, the best man who would absolutely try and, you know, convince me to play horses and eagle rock. And he came straight up to me, he’s like, hey, can I have a request? And I’m like, oh, you’re Riley, aren’t you? So, straight onto it. Sort of took him back a little bit. He’s a great guy.

Aleks: And did he request either of those songs?

Eddy: Yeah, he absolutely did. Oh, yeah, yeah, of course he did. And I actually showed him because we, you know, the people that follow us on Instagram every week that we have weddings will write down the requests that the couples do not want, so they do not play, which is becoming a.

Aleks: Bit of a thing.

Eddy: Everyone’s becoming a bit of a thing. Yeah. So I was able to show him those do not play written down and lock it in.

Aleks: I love it when you have a written down.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s quite funny. So, yeah, so those types of things are great to read and really, really good to include in the questionnaire.

Aleks: Yeah, seriously, the more detail, the better. One of the other things that we often talk about is the importance of sharing your run sheet with your vendors as well. So if your vendors haven’t asked for one, once you have that draught run sheet that you’ve worked on with your venue, make sure you send it to your key vendors.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: For those who will be there on the, you know, on the day and have a role to play, just to get that feedback and make any tweaks that you need to, it’s really, really important and people will have competing views or perspectives. And that’s why it’s good to get in early, so you can kind of negotiate that and make sure that everyone’s happy and, you know, you’re relying on that expertise ahead of time.

Eddy: Yeah, that’s a really good point.

Aleks: All right, next bit.

Eddy: Next bit is the week before or the week of, depending.

Aleks: Yeah. So what actually, I would say the month before, if if your vendors haven’t been in contact with you about kind of a final meeting and you’d like one, definitely let them know and lock it in. We know that things get really, really hectic, so we always reach out to our couples one month before the wedding to book in a final meeting and of course, organise the final payment and stuff. So, yeah, if you haven’t heard from your vendors about one month out, feel free to give them a nudge and ask them about that.

Eddy: Yes, exactly. Obviously, make your final payments on time, if possible. That always helps. You know, it’s. You don’t even be chased in the few days before. You’ve got plenty of other things on the go at that point.

Aleks: Yeah, exactly. And I think if there’s any kind of last minute significant changes to what’s happening on the night, just confirm any final details in writing. We often, when we send out that email one month before to our couples, requesting that they book in a time to chat with us, we often say, look, it’s better to do that in the week of your wedding because what we find is if we do it earlier than that, normally there are changes, you know, to key moment songs, to timings. So there’s a bit of back and forth and it’s, you know, it’s a lot of work for both sides. So it’s always better to leave it from our perspective anyway, leave it as close as possible to the wedding so that everything’s kind of firm and finalised and you can, you know, have that meeting with your DJ. Forget about it. Done. Music sorted. So our recommendation. But any other changes, text, email, have it in writing, or update your questionnaire if you still have access to that.

Eddy: Yes. Now that’s a very, very good point.

Aleks: And the final little bit.

Eddy: The final little bits, make sure you understand any additional requirements for your vendors.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: So they should communicate these with you and your vendor, but in your venue. But if they haven’t check, what time they’ll arrive.

Aleks: Yeah, that’s a big one.

Eddy: That is a huge one. And if they have any dieteries and anything else, you know, they might need on the day.

Aleks: Yeah. So, for example, we had our photo booth in a couple of weeks ago and I needed access to Wi Fi. So that was something that I need to check.

Eddy: Little tidbits, I like to call them.

Aleks: Little tidbits, which there are many. Which there are tidbits in the week before, hopefully your vendors are all over it. But if there are any other kind of little things to confirm, you know, you’ll probably get those from your venue and just check those with your vendors. So that is the week leading up.

Eddy: Yes. Now we’ve reached the big day. Very exciting. So if you followed our tips, the only thing you’re going to need to worry about is having an amazing time completely trusting in your suppliers on that day itself.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: You know, it is important that you sort of let go. Don’t get overwhelmed with the small details. Water off a ducks back, as I like to say, because, you know, you’ve chosen your venue and your vendors, now that I’m saying those correctly again, to sort out any niggles. And they’ll do that, you know, without you knowing most of the time, if anything has gone awry.

Aleks: And it happens, as we heard many times on this podcast. Yeah, I think it’s important just off the back of that, just not to micromanage your vendors on the day. And this is as much for your own sanity as that of your vendors. But it’s quite off putting. I think if you’ve worked really closely with a couple of lead up and, you know, spent a lot of time and you sort of lock things in to kind of be, you know, micromanager in the day. Luckily it doesn’t happen very often because, yeah, if you’ve had, had that, you know, lots of that contact in the lead up and everything, you should just put all your trust in your vendors and let them deal with everything and you don’t upset your dream team.

Eddy: Yeah. Yeah. And what’s the last point?

Aleks: I wrote this down. Thank them in your speeches.

Eddy: You don’t have to. It’s nice.

Aleks: It’s nice to give them a mention.

Eddy: Yeah. It actually will make us feel like a million bucks.

Aleks: Totally. And I think it’s nice because normally, you know, the couple’s speech is right before the dance floor officially kicks off, so you get a little boost of. It is excitement when you know, oh, we can’t wait to hit the dance floor, you know, in a bit and kind of reference your DJ and thank you, DJ. I think it’s, it’s a nice little touch.

Eddy: Well, you know, that’s, that was your day. You’ve had an incredible wedding, you’ve danced, you’ve drunk, you’ve eaten, you’ve been married, etc. Etc. Etc. Hopefully not such a bad hangover the next day, but we’re going to talk about post wedding now. So do you want to take it away?

Aleks: Yeah. So one of the key things is to show some love and tag all your vendors when you’re posting. So most couples will post the day after and share some of their sneak peeks.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Yep. Share some stories. And look, this goes both ways as well. So, you know, we, where we’re following or are followed by our couples, we will always tag those accounts on social so that you can easily share stories because there’s so much going on the next day.

Eddy: So much.

Aleks: It’s nice when you can easily just share content from Instagram and leave a Google review if you had a great experience or a terrible experience. I mean, hopefully that won’t happen.

Eddy: Google views are fantastic. And, you know, I imagine that you as a couple would have checked out Google reviews of all your potential vendors anyway.

Aleks: Yes.

Eddy: So it’s a huge deal for us in terms of just getting people to trust that we are good at what we do, I suppose. Yeah. So we would love a Google review.

Aleks: Yeah. For anyone listening who hasn’t left one yet, I think one of the other things is to ask for any content that your vendors may have while you wait for your full photo gallery and film, if you obviously had a videographer, because that stuff can take months depending on the time of year and what’s happening. So, you know, for example, we will often throw together a Google Photos album with all the videos that we took of the dance floor for the couple to enjoy. And I know that’s really greatly appreciated because obviously the couple hasn’t had time to take videos and we have a different perspective from behind the decks.

Eddy: That’s right. Exactly.

Aleks: Another thing that we do is we can put together a Spotify playlist of the set that we played in the order that we played it. So I think having all that extra content just kind of extends the excitement of the wedding and maybe helps with some of those post, what do they call it? The wedding blues. Post wedding.

Eddy: Post wedding.

Aleks: Come down.

Eddy: The come down. Yes. Yes. Oh, dear. And obviously, if you had a great time and this has happened to us a few times now, feel free to recommend your vendors into your network.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: You know, it’s always great when we see some of our old couples at new weddings.

Aleks: Yeah.

Eddy: You know, is it really, really cool?

Aleks: Well, it’s nice for our couples, too. Like, I. They get excited, too, if they had a great night for their wedding.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: Then they get to be a guest at another fun wedding. So I think it’s. It goes both ways. Yeah. I think also, don’t forget that you can use your vendors for other types of parties, too.

Eddy: Yeah.

Aleks: So what are some examples of that that we’ve seen? We see this quite a lot.

Eddy: Well, it’s for, I don’t know how much it would happen for other vendors, but for DJ’s, it’s quite easy if, you know, you’re. You’ve got a worker party or something like that to slide us into that. Yep.

Aleks: Milestone birthday.

Eddy: Milestone birthdays. Family events, other special events, etc. So we have a few of those, which always really, really great. But yeah, I suppose. Other vent. What would be a good example? Photographers. Yes.

Aleks: Cake makers, maybe?

Eddy: Yes.

Aleks: Venues?

Eddy: Probably everything, actually. Photo booth operators? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, spreadsheet? Share the love, I suppose.

Aleks: Yeah. Look, I think if you’ve had a great time and you’ve really enjoyed working with your vendors, then you probably skip the party going. Yeah. Want to keep the party going. Exactly. I think that’s about it.

Eddy: I think we got there. I think we probably spent most of the time wrapping week.

Aleks: Did we? Actually?

Eddy: No, we didn’t. Actually, no, we didn’t. But, yeah, I’m glad we got through this. This is some really good stuff in this podcast, I think.

Aleks: Yeah, I think so. And as always, let us know if you’re listening, what you’re enjoying, what you want to hear more of, what you’re not enjoying, maybe.

Eddy: I don’t know.

Aleks: And if it’s us, if you don’t like the sound of our voices, then just don’t let us know.

Eddy: Just don’t listen to us. No, no.

Aleks: Yeah, but as we said, we. As we said, we’ve got a couple of episodes coming up and then hopefully, you know, securing even more people to chat to when things are a little bit less hectic.

Eddy: Yes. So we have some pretty awesome people on the shortlist.

Aleks: We do.

Eddy: Which is really, really exciting. So I can’t wait.

Aleks: Yay. Have a good week and chat soon.

Eddy: Bye, guys.

Aleks: Thanks for tuning in. If you’re enjoying Project Engaged, please hit the subscribe button on your fav podcast app.

Eddy: You can also follow us on Instagram, @projectengaged and @onemoresongdjs.

Aleks: We’ll see you next time. And until then, have fun out there.