More Vendors: Photobooth, DJ, After Party

While Mark was in Jacksonville, NC during his MOS training, Noreen Cabellon my future sister in law, aka my Matron of Honor went with me to my first bridal expo. It was interesting, upon registration, we were given bags full of "goodies." Lines were long and there were plenty of brides, a few grooms, and the bride's entourage. The event was in the earlier part of the year, prior to all the wedding planning, but fun none the less. We enjoyed the cake samples (it was from the same people who made Noreen's wedding cake), enjoyed critiquing the fashion show, and taking pictures in the photo booth! I highly recommend going to expos, they're inexpensive (there are always discounts that they email, a couple weeks before the event) and they're a great way to figure out what you want and don't want.

PHOTOBOOTH

After experiencing our first photo booth at Dan and Noreen's wedding, we knew we wanted to have one of those at our wedding. They're fun and they give the guests an opportunity to goof around while being able to take the pictures home as a souvenir! A few days after the expo, I contacted the owner of Nova Photobooth and we were able to negotiate an amazing price. Needless to say, I signed the contact! I'm so excited!

DJ
The DJ is the single most important vendor we can have. The DJ sets the mood and the tempo for the night, so we wanted to make sure we did it right. A few years back, I planned the D6 Semi Formal on behalf of Mason and enjoyed the DJ we booked. He spun music that was not on the radio and got the crowd going! When I contacted him, he said he no longer did weddings [what a blower!]. But when one door closes, a window opens. Mark and I had contacted his cousins [Gabe and Melissa] who had a DJ we raved about during their wedding. The DJ played every type of music from line dances, ballroom, motown, r&b and etc. We figured we'd contact him. DJ Ran was very organized, sent me a timeline for events, and specific music we wanted. DINGDING! We found our DJ! After negotiating with him, we signed the contract and gave him our down payment to reserve our date!

AFTER PARTY
How many weddings have we attended and wish the night still kept going...a LOT!

Although we're inviting and expecting a large turn out for our wedding, we're unable to invite many of our friends. Family comes first and has priority on our list; we feel bad that we cannot invite many of our college friends, so we found a solution! We're throwing an after party immediately following our reception. The after party is meant for our guest and the people [who would love to invite but can't due to our numbers]to mingle and just have informal fun! This way, we can have our friends spend time with us on our special day. The after party will be for 2-3 hours after the reception and include a cash bar, snacks, and a DJ to keep the party going. Formal attire is not required!