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The Big Day Has Finally Arrived! Here is a brief walk through of a standard wedding day for SEDJ, including the ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner and reception. The ceremony and cocktail hour will be outside nearby the reception hall. There will be two equipment setups for the day. The ceremony will start at 4pm (guests begin arriving at 3:15pm) and the last song must be done playing by 10pm.
The day usually begins at 10am for the us. At this point, everything is ready to go for your big day, all music that is needed has been downloaded and prep on the two laptops we use. All paper work(including timeline) have has been printed/shared on our mobile phone. Now its time to load up and head to the venue. As we load, we verify with the checklist we make for each event to make sure nothing is left behind.
Arrive at Wedding Venue at 1pm (Usually 2-3 Hours Before Start of Ceremony)
Once SEDJ arrives we will head into the venue to introduce themselves to the on-site coordinator or wedding planner (or both). If we’ve never played at the venue before, we will do a quick walk through with the point person to make sure they set up in the couple’s desired locations inside and outside of the venue.
Setup for the ceremony/cocktail hour is first-
Our ceremony system ( that also doubles as our cocktail hour setup most times) is pretty simple setup that consists of , 2 wireless handheld mics, mic stand, one speaker, and a mixer and laptop for music.
We always try to setup in the back off to the side to help not be in photos/videos, after setup we do a soundcheck for both the music and wireless mics to make sure everything is working and can be heard.
Setup for the reception is next.
This takes the longest to get setup as we have more equipment to set-up, we always try to get as close to the dance floor as possible. After setup of the main gear, we do a quick sound check for both music and mics to make sure everything sounds good and can be heard throughout the room, we will walk the room with the mic while saying over and over, mic check hey hey hey .
Once that is done, time to set up the dance floor lights and room up-lighting if that is being used, then we make sure all of our cables are hidden or covered.
After that we get ready for the ceremony, which is usually putting a polo with our logo on it, and then chill for a sort time before its time for the I’do’s
The Ceremony (we start playing music about 30 minutes piror while guests begin arriving).
Once its time , we cue the music and start the ceremony. After you’ve been officially married, we will play your walk out song as guests cheer you down the aisle!
After that, your officiant ( or us) will make an announcement to your guests letting them cocktail hour is next.
The Cocktail Hour Now we have transition to the cocktail hour, since its in the same location as the ceremony there isn’t much to do other than start the cocktail playlist. A few minutes before the end of cocktail hour, we will head to the reception area and start a background music playlist so music is playing when your guest arrive. At the end of the cocktail hour, we will make a quick announcement for everyone to head into the main reception room for dinner.
*As soon as the music Is stopped, we start taking down the ceremony/cocktail hour set-up and if there is enough time, get it loaded in our vehicle. After that, we go freshen up, change into our reception clothing( generally a suit).
Time For The Reception and the Wedding Party Introduction Formal Dances, Dinner & Speeches.
At this point, we will have background music playing for guests while we are in another area lining up the wedding party and making sure everyone is ready to make their big entrance. We will make sure everyone is line-up and paired correctly.
Once we reenter the room, we do our introduction speech and get your guest hyped for you and your wedding party introductions
Once introduced, the newlyweds head to the dance floor for their first dance. After that , its dinner time(if buffet, and if we asked, we will release the tables to get in line to get food). After dinner is served.
We will do a quick check in with the couple during dinner to make sure things are moving along properly and to see if they need anything and to keep them updated on the timeline. During this time is when we and your other vendors will eat, most of the time we will be in a different room out of sight.
*Throughout the reception up to dancing, we will periodically check in with our newlyweds, the coordinator(if there is one) venue coordinator and your photog/videographer to make sure everyone knows what is going on and to, keep us up to date on the timeline.
After dinner. we transition directly into speeches and then after the speeches we transition into the spotlight dances(father daughter , mother son, and any other dances the couple wants to do)
Time To Party!
Now that all the formal events are over, we kick on the dance floor lighting as its time to party and get the dance floor pack, there are many different ways we can start the party. We will always try to make sure songs are mixed together perfectly with no breaks and as we weave between genres and decades seamlessly.
Generally, around 9:30p, we will make last call for the bar if we are asked, we try to make sure the last song is played around 9:55pm, at the end of the last song, we make a final end of the evening announcement, one last round cheers and love for the newlyweds and that its. Before we start tearing down, we will go say our goodbyes to the newlyweds, make sure they had a great time and give them our best wishes, and if haven’t done it already, get a photo with the happy couple. Then go change clothes again(back into our setup/tear down clothes)
10-10:45pm – Equipment Break Down and Repack Vehicle
The not so fun part, we start unplugging wires, wrapping them up and packing up all of our equipment. And then we do multiple cart runs out to our van to pack everything up.
Then we head home, generally getting home with under an hour if doing a local wedding.
Arriving home, we unload most of the van and call it a night.