Life in lockdown is starting to ease and restrictions are beginning to lift.
But it will be some months before Hampshire Event DJs are out partying again.
We can’t blog about events we’ve hosted since March so would share what’s been going on behind the scenes.
Here’s a snapshot of our week.
Revised Plans
After the Prime Ministers speech on Sunday evening many couples and venues revised their plans. Most of Monday morning was spent liaising about our availability for their potential new dates.
One of the advantages of being a team is we have the resources to accommodate everyone for their new functions. Some couples have kindly suggested payment in full on the original date which is very thoughtful.
After updating our diary we sent postcards to our couples to say we’ll see them next year and it will be worth the wait.
As usual at the start of the week there is correspondence from couples who enquired about our services over the weekend. We confirmed bookings for weddings next year at Wasing Park, Kimbridge Barn, Bartley Lodge and King Settle Stud.
Social Distancing Would Be A Problem
Our summer is usually busy with weddings at the weekend and corporate parties during the week. We had a question mark hanging over one regular event in July and touched base with the events company just to see where we stood. They were waiting to hear from the client but advised us it was understandably looking “unlikely”.
When you see how packed the marquee was last year you can understand why social distancing would be a problem!
We did have some good news from another event planner about a wedding we were pencilled in for at Windsor Park in August. The client was keen to book because of our experience with US/UK mixed weddings. The event itself won’t be happening until the last Saturday next July which is already looking like one of our busiest days of 2021.
We also caught up with Martin bell Photography who kindly shared some photos from a wedding we worked at Lainston House.
We added “write Lainston House Blog” onto our to-do list!
Music Makes Time Travellers Of All Of Us
Like most people during lockdown we’ve been having a tidy up.
Hampshire Event DJs have a central reference library of music the team can access. It’s handy for lots of reasons but especially for more recent rap and hip-hop tracks where the language can be a bit colourful.
We know our clients are not prudish but feel a responsibility not to play offensive tracks. So the team have access to clean versions of big noughties hits from acts like Jay Z and Lil’ Jon.
Our job for Wednesday was replacing a few lower quality copies with higher bit rate versions. You really will notice the difference!
If you are wedding planning now is a really good time for you to think about you music. You can work on your list together and find the songs which have strong positive connections.
Because music makes time travellers out of all of us it will probably lift your mood with positive memories too!
Start your wedding planning journey from your sofa!
Most of our Thursday was taken up with planning for this weekend’s Hampshire Virtual Wedding Fair. It’s the first event from UK Virtual Wedding Fairs and gives couples the chance to chat directly to suppliers from the comfort of their own home.
The concept evolved 2 years ago following a chance comment from a groom about how time-consuming weekend fairs were.
During Covid-19 seems the ideal time to try it so on Sunday they are!
Simon from our team is the online host and Dan will be available to talk to directly to visitors in our room.
It will be exciting to see how this first event works out for the visitors and exhibitors.
Direct Association With Venues
Our listing with Hitched is about to come to an end and we’ve been talking to them about renewing our prime position.
We’ve been with Hitched a year and it is the only kind of paid for advertising we do. It gives potential customers access to all our reviews and direct links with venues where we have strong working relationships.
On Friday we took a deposit from a couple who live in Maidstone and are marrying at Bartley Lodge in April 2021.
Living out of the area meant Rebecca and Simon couldn’t ask their friends for supplier recommendations.
Online reviews were important for them.
They did their research last weekend and emailed last night to book.
We’re writing this at midday Friday and the day is still young.
But the sun is shining and we think we’ve earned a few hours of lockdown life with our feet up.
This time next year our Fridays will be a totally different story!