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YOU'LL NEVER BE SORRY WHEN YOU INVEST IN QUALITY

The information featured on this page is the answers to the questions that are most frequently asked when booking a mobile DJ and travelling discotheque.  Whether or not you choose to book with Alan Garner Professional Disc Jockey and Mobile Disco please make sure that you ask these questions to make sure that you get one of the few professional quality mobile discos and DJs.

What Equipment do you use?

Professional Equipment and there's a huge difference between your general hi-fi and what professional Mobile Discos use.  Professional equipment is designed to loaded in and out of vehicles, withstand the transportation process and be used each and every day.  On a whole, domestic hi-fi equipment is just not designed to withstand this.  For example, the venue may have a very bouncy dance floor, when 15-20 or more guests start dancing, the movement is so great that it causes the CD's to jump, as you can imagine this is particularly bad when dancing.  Professional CD players are designed to 'read ahead' of what is playing out of the speakers, so if a bouncy dance floor does make the CD jump, the player has time to go back and read it again, so the song is, 9 times out of 10, not affected. 

Can we choose our own music?

You may read on other websites & in other articles, that you would be better leaving up to the DJ.  Well, I disagree, it really helps a DJ to have an idea of the type of music / songs that the party organiser and guests like.  After all, you know your guests and friends better than I do.  It's good for me to have an idea, in advance, of the type of music that you would like & wouldn't like!  In the past I've worked from spreadsheets at one end of the scale through to very vague guidelines, like '60's to present day good party music to dance to'.  Having said that if you'd rather leave it up to me, I'm happy to judge it on the night.  As far as a first dance for a wedding goes, this is a song that I do ask you to specify.  In fact it's really good if you have two dances to start the evening off with, I'll let you into a secret as far as this technique is concerned, obviously the first dance is traditionally the bride and groom's dance, the second dance, presents the opportunity to invite all of your guests to join you for the 2nd dance, then the general idea is that the guests then stay on the dance floor.  I'll be honest, it works most of the time.

Another good tip when you send out your invitations, be sure to include a request form, asking your guests, when they reply to it, to include three of their favourite songs that they will dance to.  (the important bit is to stress dance to), you'd be surprised at some of the guests musical requests if you don't highlight that they will be required to dance to them.  Whilst I can understand a guest requesting Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds or The Prodigy 'Smack My Bitch Up' if they were asked to select some of their favourite driving music, I'm sure you'll agree they or other song's just wouldn't be suitable for a wedding reception.  Once you have received all the song choices back from the invites, you can edit them and come up with a list of great music, that your guests have already told us that they'll dance to them.

How do we know you will turn up?

Every occasion that I am booked for is confirmed with a legally binding contract (from The Edge Entertainment Consultants who are full members of The National Entertainment Agents Council), it is basically written confirmation of our verbal agreement that I agree to turn up and provide a mobile disco and you agree to provide me a function / party to perform at and pay me an agreed fee at the end for providing the disco.  It is a legally binding contract that does not provide for cancellation, this means if you were to cancel the booking and I cannot get a replacement booking, a cancellation fee may be payable, if its cancelled because of unusual circumstances e.g. incredibly bad weather, or any other circumstance that is beyond your control no fee is payable.

Are you able to supply background music?

I am able to supply whatever kind of background music you would like, whether it’s classic soul, classical music, light jazz or various up beat popular music.  Normally I would set up before you sit down for dinner / the wedding breakfast and set up my laptop or mini disc to play the style of music you request.  I then leave the room and return occasionally to check volume & the progress of your meal.  The reason for this, is that some guests can be made to feel uncomfortable if there is someone standing in the corner of the room watching them eat, so to avoid any kind of complaint I adapt a low profile during the meal.

What will you wear?

I normally arrive in jeans, T-shirt and trainers to set up in, sometimes shorts in the summer.  Some venues that I have worked in the past have strict dress codes that do not allow denim or trainers to be work in the public areas of the venue, if this is the case, I'll smarten up, while setting up.  If any rules apply to the venue that you are considering, to save any embarrassment, please advise at the time of booking, so the requirement would be noted on the contract.  The standard dress code that I adhere to is 'black tie', which is tuxedo, dress shirt and bow-tie, however, if you think this is too formal, I can 'dress down' to trousers shirt and tie.  If your event is casual or a theme event, I can dress within the guidelines of the theme, i.e. beach party / 70's night etc.

What are the different size shows are on offer?

Shows vary from a small mobile disco set-up for a restaurant or a larger road show type set-up for medium gigs, through to a mobile nightclub with trussing that extends over the dance floor, with overhead lighting and sound.

Is your equipment safe?

All of my equipment is tested annually and certified for electrical safety, this is not a compulsory test (but, it will become standard one day), however, more and more of the venues that I work at ask to see it.  I also have sufficient circuit breakers (RCD devices) which are placed on every plug socket where I get a supply.

Do you have insurance?

I have £2 million public liability insurance.  With more and more 'no win, no fee' legal companies around, it is really important to check that your DJ and Disco has public liability insurance.  This provides insurance cover if a speaker / light was to fall on a guest or if someone tripped over a cable and caused an injury.  If your DJ and Disco did not have PLI there could be a chance that you, as the booker could get sued, as a result of the DJ not having PLI.  A professional DJ will have no issues with showing you confirmation of his PLI insurance and you should insist on seeing a copy!

Will It Be Loud?

Generally, any disco will be loud, however, if at any point during the event, you feel that it is too loud or guests have complained, I won't be offended if during the night, you ask me to turn it down, nor, will I turn it back up again five minutes after you ask either!

I've booked a band as well, can you work with them?

As a professional DJ I have no problem working with any type of act that is booked to appear on the same event as me, more often than not we end sharing each others equipment to save on space, for example the band may use my lighting and I will plug into their speakers or vice versa.  Any professional DJ will have no problem working with other entertainment / entertainer.

Are you available? How soon should we book?

I operate a very strict first come first served policy, this means that once I have accepted a booking for a specific date, the date in question is struck from my diary and nothing else will be taken on this day.  If an enquiry is received on a date that I am already booked, it will be passed onto my booking agency, The Edge (www.theedge-uk.com) who will suggest another DJ of similar quality.  Once a booking has been accepted, a legally binding contract is drawn up confirming in writing our verbal agreement, sounds awfully complicated, but simply, it is an agreement for a DJ and disco to turn up on the day and at the times specified and provide disco entertainment, and in return the booker agrees to provide a venue, safe electrical supply and function for the disco to perform at and pay an agreed fee for this service.

We'd like to book you, can we see you work first?

It's difficult to come and see me work, the majority of the functions that I work at are weddings and corporate functions, and it can cause problems if uninvited guests just turn up.  It also may put you off what I do because I tailor the music to the clients requirements, and you may not like what you hear if I'm playing some weird and wonderful music that a client has requested.  I don't have a set play list as such, I prefer to make it up as I go along, this may sound a bit strange, but it does a couple of things, it keeps every event interesting for me and means that I can react to guests requests a lot quicker than a DJ that has his same old set that he regurgitates at every function.

What Will It Cost?

Now that's the difficult question.  The fee does depend on a number of individual circumstances that are connected with your booking, please contact me by telephoning 07802492509 or send an email to me at alan@blacktiedj.co.uk, (I can normally reply within 24hrs of your email being sent) 

A good way to get the point across is this 'You will never be sorry if you invest in quality'  It's common for people to treat a DJ and Disco as a commodity and try to buy it as cheap as possible.  Sadly I hear many horror stories when people choose the cheapest disco available for example:- not turning up, setting up the equipment and leaving his young 13/14 year old children to DJ, getting 'legless' whilst working, treating it as a night out for him and his mates, playing the type of music he chooses and not your requests and just imagine the above at your special event! all because the booker thought they would be smart and book the cheapest possible.

YOU'LL NEVER BE SORRY IF YOU INVEST IN QUALITY