Weddings Wedding interview with Bride and her mom and dad?

Papa Deuce said:

MY buddy I was telling you about with the price on the business card just said something strange to me.... not a huge deal by any means, I guess, but possibly signs of bad things ahead for the DJ they hire?

He just told me that his fiance had a meeting with the 4th DJ company she had interest in, and she brought her mom and dad along on the interview. Granted, they are the ones who are paying for the DJ, but I have never had that happen or heard of it before....

Many of you have lots more wedding experience under your belts than I, But is this something that has happened to you? How often?

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I would say 1 out of every 4 in my area brings their parent or parents. Actually I kind of like it. Probably they have not found the DJ for them because they might have been looking to cheap and interviewed people there parents did not like. For me at 47 years old many of the parents are my age or just a little older.

They like that we know weddings and how to run them. We always show up in dress clothes with our Logo on our polo or button up shirts. Most seem to be impressed on our professionalism and that we are a team. I think the parents then feel a sense of confidence with who will be running there son or daughters special day.

The last mom and dad that a bride and future groom brought. I had them all crying (in a sentimental way). It was great I just laughed at them and told them they where to easy. I tell me clients I love to make them cry and make them sweat. Moms of grooms and Dads of brides are easy. I keep telling you guys that we bring a rose for the mom for the mother son dance and give it to her and say its from her son on his special day to say thank you for all the years she has been there for him.

Yes you have to make sure all the facts are correct but after that your gold. Moms tend to tear and ladies in the audience give out the nicest Awwwwww. I always tell the groom just not say anything and smile. We had one bride 2 weeks ago that I was telling her and her fiance about this and she stopped me dead in my tracks and said " Your Hired". I love it .

It's about 50% for me with the parents.

I also got a call recently from who I thought was the FOB. He was actually a friend and former DJ who was screening DJs for him.

At the end of the conversation, I was told I was a pretty nice guy. Then he gave me the FOBs number.

hiredpower said:

It's about 50% for me with the parents.

I also got a call recentley from who I thought was the FOB. He was actually a friend and former DJ who was screening DJs for him.

At the end of the conversation, I was told I was a pretty nice guy. Then he gave me the FOBs number.

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That's pretty sneaky... never heard of that.

One story that stuck with me was told by someone on another board:

At an interview he thought he was interviewing the B&G.... they went over everything from timelines to wedding planners.... at the end of the interview it turns out that who he thought was the groom was really the DJ they hired. And the whole purpose of the meeting was not to hire him but to gain his knowlege...

Talk about low blows... but that takes the cake. (pun intended)

Papa Deuce said:

How did this become known to the DJ? And, yes, that is brutal.

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At the very end of the interview they asked if they could keep the materials and that they hoped he would be willing to work with their DJ to help him plan their event. To which he grabed his ball and left.

I almost forgot, he asked me what kind of speakers I had,

I'm pretty sure that's how I got the gig.

hiredpower said:

I almost forgot, he asked me what kind of speakers I had,

I'm pretty sure that's how I got the gig.

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I've booked gigs that way too.... just a little metion of equipment sometimes tips the scales....

Ain't name recognition great!

We see the Moms quite often, maybe as much or possibly even more than the Grooms. Dad's every once in a great while.

If it makes the prospective client feel comfortable, to have a parent, relative, groom, friend, pet, etc., I'm all for it and have not found it to be any problem whatsoever.

Had meeting with mom , dad, and bride and groom, and even aunts and uncles were there.

Many times have met with bride and mother. But my worse experience was the bride, groom and groom's mother. The MOG was a bigtime control freak, trying to control everything. We met at the venue and the MOG got up from out meeting to go back into the kitchen to talk to the staff. While she was gone the B&G told me how controlling she was. Gave a high quote, and didn't hear from them again.

Have it happen to me all the time....

well the Parents are paying for the Dj,
so they want to know what they are getting for thier $ worth

We met our dj at our home so my parents were there. I don't even think my hubby was. lol The dj was a former boss of my brothers, he worked for him dj'ing for a short time. It was good, my parents and I were all easy going and said 'ya sure that is a great idea' to most of what he said. Didn't even bother to shop around and it worked out fine.
I think it could be helpful to have the parents there. My sil hired a different dj than I and at the beginning of the night, my mother-in-law asked for one song not be played when she spoke to the dj. He played it, she went up and asked him to stop it and he packed up his stuff and was ready to leave because of it. I'm betting that could have been avoided if they had met before.

See if you hire an amature you get monkeys lol

thats why he left just because of one song
now thats one dj never to hire again for any job!!

Papa Deuce said:

Wow, I never would have guessed based on my experiences.... ( and I do have over 200 weddings completed, though the vast majority were in the early 1990's when I had a DJ company for the 1st time ).

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Times she be a changing.

Also we need to factor in that the kids are staying at home longer, letting Mom and Dad "take care of them."

I love having the parents of the bride at a meeting. Nothing better then having all of the decision makers present. They can't say "well, we have to talk to my parents first, they are paying". Plus the parents have been to more weddings usually so they have a better understanding of how important the DJ is to the event.

while I have never had a meeting with the parents
I have had many gigs planned entirely with the MOB.
in some cases, the B/G do not live in the area anymore
so mom is taking care of the details...
but occasionally, it's a power play where the MOB wants to control everything.
In those cases, I always make sure I use the phrase,
"well, I'll talk things over with your daughter before the big day..."
or
"what do the bride and groom think?..."
and it usually gives me some breathing room.
But I am all for having everyone involved with the planning...
as long as THEY can all agree amongst themselves!
never hurts your future business to make friends with the people paying!