Three Days Notice

AN UNEXPECTED CHANGE-UP

On March 24th I was supposed to be providing my gear and assistance for my friend, David Alexander, who was going to be flying in from Georgia to DJ/MC a wedding for a friend of his. He called me Wednesday evening (March 21st) with some unexpected news. Due to a snafu, his flight arrangements had fallen apart and it was doubtful he’d be able to make it with the high rates of a last minute plane ticket. Since I was already scheduled to go with him…he asked if I’d be willing to step up and take the reigns in his place. He’s a good friend and I said yes without a moment’s hesitation.

HIT THE GROUND RUNNING

Thankfully, David had gotten a fair amount of prep work done including the scripted introductions and a Love Story intro for their First Dance. Of course, I had to transfer everything to my own formatting and I did some tweaking to the scripted materials where needed to reflect my own voice.

LAST MINUTE PLANNING

The bride and I spoke briefly that Wednesday night and then Thursday, after spending about 7 hours prepping and reformatting, I had several details that needed answers in order to be as prepared as I prefer to be, so I texted the bride asking for a 20 minute phone call when she could spare it. She called soon after and we went over my final details very efficiently.

LIKE CRAMMING FOR A FINAL

Then I spent the next 7 hours wrapping up those details, purchasing new music from the dancing requests, creating a short edit of their First Dance song, and prepping my playlists on my Mac, and then backing up those playlists on several devices and finally replicating those playlists on my preferred PC mixing software, BPM Studio. I also reached out to the Officiant, the Photographer, and the Videographer with advance copies of the Ceremony & Reception Agendas.

FINALIZING THE FINE PRINT

I also sent the Bride a PDF copy of my Booking Agreement but told her we would just sign them together at the Reception (as there was limited time) and I updated my Liability Insurance Policy (with R.V. Nuccio & Associates, Inc.) adding her location as Additional Insured for the duration of her Wedding Reception.

CH-CH-CHANGES

Friday morning, there were some last minute corrections the Bride requested so I updated the Agendas with the adjustments and sent the finalized copies off to her and then I spent some additional time creating a customized background mix for dinner.

LOADING UP THE VAN

Before I called it a night on Friday, I loaded all of my gear in my van along with my tux and computer bag. All I would need to do is get in my van the next morning at 11:00am to start my 2 hour drive to Stover, MO.

ADDING UP THE HOURS

I had easily invested over 17 hours in prep work by the time I was done Friday evening. Add another 14 hours on Saturday…4 hours of driving + 4 hours of set-up and tearing down + 6 hours of performance time…and I can honestly say, that even with just 3 days notice, I spent 31 hours on this wedding.

HERE’S WHAT I LEARNED

After over 25 years of doing this, I CANNOT show up and just “wing it.” I need my prep time and advance details. And, in a clutch situation, I can “pull it off” in just 3 days. But, even though I connected well with the Bride in advance and at the Wedding, the missing component was the strong bond I usually form with my couples during our planning process which normally begins at least 3 months prior to their big day.

I still did a great job. They were very pleased and very appreciative. But on my side, the overwhelming confidence I usually feel in knowing my couples so well that I am practically fearless about my choices in music selections and the things I might decide to say in a given impromptu moment just wasn’t there. I can pretty much guarantee that no one else noticed. But I felt it.