Part 2 of our 25 tips on planning your wedding comes from none other than Casey Brown, owner of CMB DJs.  Here he is in action as well as a few tips he gave on why having a DJ is a good idea for your wedding.

Here are 5 ways that a good DJ can make your wedding better.

1. Announcements.
Having a DJ that can announce the toast, cake cutting, and the occasional lost set of keys, and be heard and understood is a huge plus. The person on the microphone has to be able to cut through all the chatter and get everyone’s attention.

2. Mixing music that suits your guests.
A good DJ can look at any group and sum up a play list that fits. And he can only do this if he/she is familiar with many genres of music and it’s era. (Adult Contemporary, Pop, country, hip hop, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s)

3. Quality equipment.
While it doesn’t necessarily make a better DJ, quality equipment can provide a better experience and service that not only sounds good, but looks good. A “rats nest” of wires on the DJ table or around the Dj’s setup tends to take away from the nice  center pieces, cakes, and linens that make up your reception decor. Especially in smaller rooms.

4. Be prepared.
Having an outline of the order of events for your reception and any special songs that go with those events will allow your reception to run much more smoothly. If the DJ has a digital setup, making “folder” in his DJ program with all special songs for the reception, or putting all special songs on a single CD and having them ready for use ensures all those important songs are accounted for and ready to play on cue.

5. Knowing the wedding etiquette.
You can’t take a karaoke jock from a bar, and expect them to know how to pull off an elegant and fun wedding reception. This is how that could turn out. ((insert blog link to that couple taking for ever to load the first dance and mother son dance.)) You will want a DJ that has wedding experience and references. When the budget needs to be cut one of the first things they think of is the DJ entertainment.  Because all the DJ does is play music right? By getting a cousin to man the iPod, or a friend that has a big music collection, you stand to lose many if not all of the tips mentioned here. If you’re on a small budget, try to budget more for the services that really affect your wedding, and cut some smaller things that may not be quite as important.

CMB DJs
http://cmbdjs.com/
903.724.3192

Kim & Josh were one of my favorite couples I’ve been able to shoot.  You may recognize them from my promo video on my About page.
I had a chance to catch up with Kim about 1 year after her wedding.
She shared her thoughts on picking vendors, what to look for in a photographer, and a few budget tips.

Also, here is a list of some of her wedding vendors which she loved so much as well as a few favorites of mine from each of her sessions. :)

Cakes: Chez Bazan
DJ: CMB DJs
Flowers: Michele’s Flowers by Ela
Venue: Villa di Felicita
Videography : Vanessa McKellar Productions

The guest at Katherine & Sean’s wedding may have enjoyed The Mug Machine more than any so far.  Everyone kept coming back through for another set of images.  I had a blast shooting these and loved seeing the combinations and ideas that everyone came up with.

The preacher man.  Follow him on twitter
The grandparents ROCKED the Mug Machine.

Another fantastic shot of the grandparents.

There were a TON of Aggies at this wedding.  I found a few of the Longhorn faithful and we had fun.

There were FIVE past AlexM couples at this wedding. Some of them left the wedding early.  Those who stayed late get some blog love. :)  Here are Davi & Marcie.  Marcie is great with child.

I had a great time at the Villa di Felicita in Tyler, TX shooting Katherine & Sean’s wedding.  Here are just a few of my favorites from the day.

Katherine& her dad share a treat from the candy bar.

The tasty and fancy cakes were done by the umber talented ladies over at Edible Art.

Some First Look goodness.

The flower girl spent a few minutes scratching Katherine’s back and relaxing her before the ceremony.

If you look over to the right of the photo you can catch a glimpse of RuthAnne.  She was rockin’ the harp and did a swell job.  You should book her for your wedding.

Of all the weddings I have shot at the Villa di Felicita, this was the first I ever saw or heard an airplane fly over.  I’m assuming it was heading towards the island for the LOST series finale.

CMB DJs kept everyone dancing the whole night long.

The Mug Machine was also at the wedding so be on the lookout for those later this week.

So I’m thinking of starting a new little tradition here on the site.  Once a month I’ll feature my 10 favorite images from a same month 1 year ago.  (Wow, I feel like I made that sentence much more confusing than it needed to be.)

I think it’s important for brides to see a “history” of work.  Anyone with a decent camera can shoot a good image every now and then. However, shooting a wedding week in and week out is what really helps me “know” what’s going to happen next on your day.  So, this is a way of showing you that I’ve been shooting for a little while, and it’s also a way for my past brides to flaunt their stuff on my blog again. :)

Anyway, here they are, in no particular order, my favorite images from April 2009.