Below are some Montego Bay Jamaica Destination Wedding DJ Photos as well as Sam Turner’s account of his recent trip to DJ a wedding at the Round Hill Hotel and Villas.
This past February I had the opportunity to go to Jamaica for my first destination wedding. Destination weddings are especially fun, but they come with a set of challenges much different from a regular wedding. Another layer of difficulty was added when they asked me to DJ two parties on two separate days. I’d like to explain the tactics I used to overcame the challenges of a destination wedding and have a great experience.
First, the most important thing is to keep a tight schedule. When it comes to weddings in my neck of the woods, I stress punctuality. I like to show up four to five hours before the wedding starts. This is to insure that if there is some sort of emergency or catastrophe, I still arrive on time and have my equipment set up for the event.
When you take a plane to the wedding, this mindset has to be intensified. I worked on scheduling with John and Savina and I booked the earliest possible flight on the day of my first gig. I talked to them about the possibility of my flight being cancelled or delayed and the chance that they would be without music for their first night. We decided together that the risk was relatively low, and that it was acceptable if I wasn’t able to make it because airline problems are out of our control.
As luck would have it, I arrived ahead of schedule in Jamaica and proceeded directly to customs. Upon reaching the hotel where the wedding party and I were staying, I checked in and dropped off my stuff. Afterwards, I got a tour from the hotel manager to ensure I knew the spaces where all the events would be, and the timelines for moving between spaces.
When a photographer is hired for a destination wedding they bring their own equipment with them on the plane. For DJs this is much more difficult, so my clients opted to hire a company on the island to provide sound equipment for me. The bride and groom liked being able to meet and talk with their DJ here, instead of trying to……. convey over the phone what they wanted to someone they would only meet the day of their wedding.
It is super convenient having an entertainment company provide and set up most of the equipment, but it also has new pitfalls that must be avoided. I emailed and talked on the phone with the engineer who I would meet at the gig and we discussed what equipment I would use and what DJ software I was running. I stressed that I liked to be prepared and would want a sound check as early as possible. I am glad I did because we ran into some software errors the first night, but because I requested extra time they were all sorted before any guests arrived.
For the first night I DJ’d a white party on the beach. I had talked with John and Savina multiple times about feel and progression of the night, seeing as how we had two parties in two different spaces. The white party they wanted a more relaxed housey/loungey vibe. I played that sort of music until the last hour of the night, then they came to me and said, we’ve changed our minds we want to dance! As you’re perhaps getting by now, I like to be prepared, so I launched into a dance set I had up my sleeve just in case this situation arose.
The next day it was time for the actual wedding reception. A cool thing about this wedding is it was the first gig I’ve ever gotten that I had the same crowd for two days. I learned a lot about them the night before on the beach, and I spent most of my day in a cabana adjusting my crates for the specific needs of the people at the wedding. Not something I normally have the luxury of doing, and it was a real treat!
After a day of preparation and anticipation I arrived at the wedding party and set up my equipment. I played for dinner and facilitated all the wedding formalities needed (bridal parties intros, toasts, first dance etc). Then I launched into the music the bride and groom had asked me to play for this party. It was a mix of current pop, throwback 90’s and 00’s jams, mixed with some big room house from the bride and groom’s college days. All the music was hitting well and we danced the night away!
To conclude, destination weddings are a blast. They’re challenging and provide a good change to a DJs routine. I will forever remember my first destination wedding and hope to do more in the future.
We hope you enjoyed these Montego Bay Jamaica Destination Wedding DJ photos. To learn more about Sam Turner and to hear his mixes click here. For Sam Turner’s testimonials click here.
