Posts Tagged ‘wedding’
When I launched my DJ career, it was ancient times
My partner and I started our DJ business 21 years ago on a whim. We had no experience and no equipment but thought we could make it work. Since 1997, we’ve performed at more than 400 weddings. I’ve also served as the minister at more than two dozen weddings, including the wedding of an ex-girlfriend. We’ve…
Read MoreProfessional Best Man (and the amazing things that have happened since I first proposed this job)
Five years ago I proposed a new job idea: Professional best man. It remains a role that I am waiting to fill. Let me explain. Although I meet many outstanding best men in my role as a DJ, I also meet many who are too nervous to deliver the toast, too drunk to assist a…
Read MoreJim and Pam are still together. There is hope.
On the rare day that I’m feeling pessimistic about the world or sad about something in my life, I will often stop and think, “Jim and Pam are still married. As long as they’re still together, there is hope.” Sometimes I go back and watch their wedding. It brings me such joy. I miss those…
Read MoreMusic is not the most important part of my job as a wedding DJ.
Last night I wrapped up my 19th year as a wedding DJ. When we first launched the business back in 1997, I thought that music was going to be the most important part of my job. Learning to mix songs together with great precision and playing just the right song at just the right moment…
Read MoreWedding advice: No impromptu toasts.
Wedding season is upon us. On Saturday my partner and I will begin our 19th season as wedding DJs. When we started back in 1996, we still had a cassette deck in our rig and had no cell phone, laptop, or GPS. I don’t know how we did it. Almost two decades later, I’ve…
Read MoreThe Professional Best Man: A bride’s best friend, too.
Four years ago, I proposed a new job for myself: The professional best man. I was serious about the proposal but less than hopeful about my prospects, but since publishing that post back in 2011, a number of remarkable things have happened: Four grooms have attempted to hire me. Two lived in California. Two lived…
Read MoreDon’t say goodbye to the bride and groom. Just leave. Let it be your final gift to them.
Slate’s Seth Stevenson argues in favor of not saying goodbye. Ghosting—aka the Irish goodbye, the French exit, and any number of other vaguely ethnophobic terms—refers to leaving a social gathering without saying your farewells. One moment you’re at the bar, or the house party, or the Sunday morning wedding brunch. The next moment you’re gone.…
Read MoreI went to Maine to officiate a wedding for a couple I had never met, and it wasn’t crazy.
My friends think I’m a little crazy. Three days before the start of my school year, I headed to Maine to officiate the wedding ceremony of a couple who I had never met. The bride is a fan of my novels. We met online a few years ago after she read Something Missing and reached…
Read MoreThe New York Post’s Kim Kardashian – Kanye West wedding announcement was quite educational.
A couple days ago, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West got married. I wasn’t aware of their wedding (or their engagement, for that matter) until I saw it mentioned on Twitter. I know who Kanye West is. As a wedding DJ, I play his music from time to time. I couldn’t pick him out of a…
Read MoreHow to Stop a Wedding: Much better advice than what Slate had to offer.
Slate recently published a piece advising readers on how to stop a wedding. The editors of Slate loved this piece, declaring it on Twitter to be one of the most popular articles ever amongst Slate staffers. The advice is decent, albeit a little obvious. “Think about why you want to break up the wedding.” “Approach…
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