Price increase

rickryan.com said:

It makes sense in a densely populated area that venues would book out on their dates. It also strikes me at the price per person in your area versus here. I'm doubtful that any Birmingham venues are getting $400 per person, much less my little venue out in the country. My of my top-end packages are coming in at $100 per person, and that includes food, cake, DJ and coordinator.

On showing prices on my website, I'm still waffling over that one. Showing complete package pricing has been something I've been doing for 17 years now. It's been a staple of how I pitched my services and it's hard to switch mentality, but I'm going to try it.

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$400 from an itemized perspective gets you venue, tables, linens, lots of food for cocktail hour, a 4hr reception with a first course usually being a salad or pasta, and a main course consisting of your choice of fish, chicken, or filet mignon, as well as lots of dessert options, cake, and top tier alcohol open bar w/ at least 2-3 bartenders per bar (usually 2 bars, sometimes 3), as well as 1 wait staff member per 2-3 tables to make sure guests are taken care of, served a plated dinner, and of course get drinks for them as to avoid lines at the bar. You will also have a dedicated bridal attendant to attend to the couples every need including getting them food, drinks in their hands at all times, bustling the dress, packing their stuff at the end of the night, etc, and a day of coordinator to coordinate the timing of everything. Even at $200-300 per person this is the general expectation in terms of what is being received, the only difference being the amount of food or type of alcohol. Some venues include uplighting or ice sculptures to make it more appealing, but no ones booking the venue for those items. Likewise, some venues have multiple weddings at same time, which some brides don’t want, or some venues book day time weddings meaning only 2hrs for your vendors to set up… which if you’re doing something over the top, these venues might not be the best choice.

Florals, decor, signage, dj, photo/video, cake, etc. All extra.

DJ Ricky B said:

Also, What are the actual odds of a Sunday wedding couple booking for that particular Sunday any way? MOST venues I frequent typically only book Saturday, and often have nothing going on for the day after on Sunday. Now, very busy venues want those sales, and will sell by the day only. They will typically do a 9 or 10 hour total time frame for the event. 6 hour event with 2-3 hours for load in/set up and 1 hour for tear down. SOME down in DC only do 8 hours...5 hour event, 2 hours for load in, and 1 hour for load out. Pretty darn stringent, and sell an additional hour if the couple wants it for another $1,250+ for to have a 6 hour event.

The less popular venues with less than 70-80 event bookings per year are likely to do better by selling 2-3 day bookings for the venue like what you are doing. It's a better selling point to those couples that do want to relax, and stay the night on property vs the wedding factory type of venues.

I found out a few years back, that since hotels fell off with the wedding trend years back that what the hotels will offer is a Breakfast for the wedding couple's family/bridal party that stays at the hotel for the night and they do like a 10 am or 11 am BRUNCH in the same room that the wedding reception was in. So the staff flips the room for the brunch the following morning while Me the DJ is tearing down and loading out after the reception!

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You’re missing an opportunity at an extra event music for brunch and gift opening

djtaso said:

Generally speaking, your pricing doesn't encourage Sunday weddings. Not saying that there's even demand for it in your area, but even if someone wanted a Sunday, they're likely not calling you. You did that by design whether you realized it or not (just like I market primarily to weddings). Your pricing is focused heavily on booking all 3 days, so it's always with the assumption that Saturday is going to be the day of the wedding. Likewise you don't offer discounted Sunday Weddings as somethng to motivate those looking to save a buck.

With that said, your area likely doesn't have enough of a supply vs demand issue to encourage people to consider Sundays. The only one that would perhaps have demand is whatever the most sought after location is. They likely have all their Sept/Oct Saturday's locked in, meaning that if anyone wants that location bc it has a certain value that others can't replicate, they'll have to choose a Friday/Sunday.

Here the demand for these dates comes from two things... all the high end venues get booked for the prime dates 2 yrs in advance... and lower price for Friday and Sunday's is very motivating when you're talking abotu $400 per person for a Saturday vs $250 per person for a Sunday and a 150 person minimum.

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Also, you have to take into consideration that he is in Alabama. It is very likely that the population in Alabama is significantly heavier on Regular church attending Christians. Rural South America is generally Southern Christian. I am not sure if Alabama is considered in the "bible belt" but if it isn't it's not far from it. So, generally speaking a large portion of the population down there goes to Church routinely on Sundays, so the thought of having a wedding on a Sunday when they and their family/friends attends church is just not going to be a consideration.

My relatives on my Miom's side of the family live in Southern rural Maryland, and they routinely attend Church on Sundays being faithful baptists. Especially those over the age of 40. The younger ones are less involved these days, and church attendance has been on decline over the last 15 years, but it's still a thing the more south you go.

tunes4046 said:

You’re missing an opportunity at an extra event music for brunch and gift opening

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It's not a thing. They don't want the music after a night of partying. Also, these types of clients often have an after party in the bar area or in the rooms for a couple of hours after the reception. Pretty sure they want the brunch to be quiet time, and often the parents and out of town relatives are there for it. I am sure more conversation happens at the brunch that they didn't have time for on the wedding day.

As a wedding and Mitzvah DJ my full time schedule was 4 events in a weekend: Jan - Dec with only a 3 week slow down last 2 weeks of July and 1st week of August (Single most popular summer vacation period.) I spent one weekend in the same venue for 3 events in a row - had to change rooms on Friday night for the Saturday afternoon event, and then back to the original room for a Saturday night. I never charged less for a Friday or Sunday than I did for a Saturday.

In fact, I only charged more for a Saturday cross-over time like 3pm-8pm because it precluded me from doing doubles, or for travelling because it too - precluded me from doing a double.

I was full time because these kinds of events happen ALL WEEKEND LONG Friday- Sunday, and during the week there are other kinds of commercial business to be done. In December there were weekday holiday parties as well.

I'm truly mystified by the concept of a business that aims to work only 1 day a week.

rickryan.com said:

Do I have a staff of 20, floating around the property? No. It's me, a day of coordinator, an assistant, a caterer and sometimes a photographer. There's no red flag and my team is perfectly capable and it keeps prices down.

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Is this team present during a site visit? If not, what evidence of consistency and commitment is on hand to make the presentation of this 'team' fully credible?

I think your ego may be preventing you from truly seeing things from the other side of the desk. Perception is reality at the point of sale.
It's not about you. It's about everything behind you. In sales - it's important to know we are not photo-bombing ourselves with our own complacency.

sawdust123 said:

We each have different goals in life. I think it is great if you can hit your goals working just 1 day a week. Some people value leisure or family time more than others. There is little time for playing with your kids on the weekend if you're doing doubles. Of course, most DJs are just part time. They don't get to relax mid-week.

Some restaurants only offer dinner and are closed one or two days a week. Others places offer just breakfast and lunch. My favorite spot is open 4-10 pm five days a week and 3-8 pm on Sundays. Their wait staff has very low turnover. The bar manager earns 6 figures working just 4 days a week. I'm sure the local Denny's does more business per week since they are open 24/7 and seat more people. However, I guarantee the Denny's staff isn't paid anywhere near as well.

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Well said, at some point you realize money isn’t everything, nor is a hectic always busy schedule,
Last weekend I had no events, yet my self storage business continued to earn me a steady income and is built in a way that requires very little hands on time, a couple of my commercial rental properties signed new long term leases,
What did I do,
I went to the farm worked the restoration of an old tractor, mowed some of the UTV trails, had friends out in the evening for a bonfire and a few beverages, all in all a very relaxing enjoyable weekend, I’ve turned my focus into sources of revenue that required much less time to generate income. I’ll still do an occasional gig for the right client at the right price,

Next up looking at a few self service car washes a guy has for sale

DJ Ricky B said:

Also, you have to take into consideration that he is in Alabama. It is very likely that the population in Alabama is significantly heavier on Regular church attending Christians. Rural South America is generally Southern Christian. I am not sure if Alabama is considered in the "bible belt" but if it isn't it's not far from it. So, generally speaking a large portion of the population down there goes to Church routinely on Sundays, so the thought of having a wedding on a Sunday when they and their family/friends attends church is just not going to be a consideration.

My relatives on my Miom's side of the family live in Southern rural Maryland, and they routinely attend Church on Sundays being faithful baptists. Especially those over the age of 40. The younger ones are less involved these days, and church attendance has been on decline over the last 15 years, but it's still a thing the more south you go.

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Greeks (or anyone thats eastern orthodox in general) and many italians who are Catholics go to church on sundays too. Sunday weddings are very very common in these cultures, as they take place after sunday services are done, typically around 2 or 3pm, and then everyone heads to the venue for cocktail hour and reception.

Like I said for his area, if anyhting, it's more to do with population not driving the demand for sundays. Perhaps the most sought after venue might have some Sunday demand during the peak seasons, but less likely for the smaller or less sought out venues.

rickryan.com said:

Somebody talked me into doing wood panels inside. The drapery softens it a bit. It's an improvement.

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Disagree.... but I'd have to see what's under it, but...... pretty sure it would be better. This all just feels temporary like a tent.

rickryan.com said:

On the referrals, come on, when has the DJ EVER sent a prospect to book a venue? It never happens that way. Out of 14 years of mobile DJ I can't remember even one time where a bride booked a venue based on my referral as a DJ.

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Oh my gosh, we do this rather frequently. There are good venues, and there are venues that appear good enough on the surface/marketing but are a bear to work with and we've seen recurring issues. We absolutely steer people to certain ones and away from others.

You've got a lot of people giving you advice here, Rick, but you're not open to hearing any of it.

awdj said:

Oh my gosh, we do this rather frequently. There are good venues, and there are venues that appear good enough on the surface/marketing but are a bear to work with and we've seen recurring issues. We absolutely steer people to certain ones and away from others.

You've got a lot of people giving you advice here, Rick, but you're not open to hearing any of it.

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Let me say I don't steer people away from here their event in a certain venue. I might suggest a certain venue if a potential client ask me to suggest a few venues to have their event in. I don't tell people not to have their event in a certain venue. For me there are certain venues I will not do an event in. I did my sponsors 70th birthday celebration and it was in NJIT in Newark, NJ. Very nice venue to be in. Somebody suggested a place around 12th street somewhere. I don't know what place they were talking about but my sponsor quickly said no. I'm glad he picked that venue even though the load in was horrible.

Over the years I've learned to stay away from certain venues and certain crowds. Now a potential client can have their event in any venue they want to. That's their choice and they have that right. I have a right to refuse doing a potential clients event if it's in a venue I don't want to work in.

rickryan.com said:

Turning away a gig because it's at a less desirable venue happens regularly (or rather for me, it used to). Venues typically get booked first and DJ towards the end. DJs don't steer clients towards venues.

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Some may ask if you could read a venue to have their event in because they don't have any ideas about choosing a venue. The thing to do is to find out their budget for booking a venue. It's not a common thing that happens. Some will know you've been in business a long time and just figure you should be able to help them find a venue to have their event in.

rickryan.com said:

Turning away a gig because it's at a less desirable venue happens regularly (or rather for me, it used to). Venues typically get booked first and DJ towards the end. DJs don't steer clients towards venues.

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As mentioned before, that is certainly not true. In addition, an example I forgot to mention is social media. Many vendors use their voices on social media to share pleasure or displeasure with working at certain venues. We have a Facebook group in nj for brides with thousands of people on there who ask for outside opinion on venues al the time before making a decision. When it’s a not so good venue, the comment section gets flooded with vendors and other members echoing their experiences.

Stop thinking DJs and vendors are not powerful in steering. It’s a dangerous mindset as they are respected and very valuable in the growth of a venue.

sawdust123 said:

They don't get to relax mid-week.

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I don't know anyone who does.

I raised 5 kids, bought a home form which I could operate a business, a life that suited me.
Relaxed is building the life you want. Lying in the shade with your feet up is called: recreation.

awdj said:

You've got a lot of people giving you advice here, Rick, but you're not open to hearing any of it.

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That's normal.
A year from now, a year after that, bits and pieces start to creep in.

"Advice" is the seed that grows that thing we do that we believe we arrived at all by ourselves.