Save big money by DJing yourself

After hearing someone tell me $2,000 was a reasonable amount to pay for a good DJ, I decided we were going to DJ this wedding ourselves. First of all, we’re music junkies and have tons of digital music. Second, I used to occasionally DJ in a bar. Third, I’ve been to tons of weddings where I don’t remember the DJ saying much more than the wedding party intros and some general events through the night. So our plan of attack is to use the piped in stereo system our reception center has to offer. It sounds easy at first, but there are many considerations to this approach:

• Developing a dinner playlist and a dancing playlist. This is the fun part – getting to choose all your songs! We really can’t predict the exact moment our dancing will begin, so the playlists we are creating are large enough to cover the time. I suppose we could also loop a playlist as well.
• MCing reception activities. We’re recruiting an outgoing friend to announce our entrance to the reception. We’re hoping he won’t mind performing other MC duties, like “And now ladies and gentlemen, the cutting of the cake…” kinds of stuff.
• Switching music. We do plan to have an entrance song, a first dance, and then mother/son, father/daughter dances. In order to do this, we’re creating a 3rd special songs playlist which our MC will switch to when we’re ready.
• Test run. We will listen to our playlists in full before the wedding to ensure the music is issue-free. We will also get into our reception site beforehand to test our iPod docking and playing skills.
• Backup. What to do if the iPod croaks night of? Luckily the reception site also has a 5 disc changer which means we’ll be prepping those in advance as well!

So, it is a lot of work, but in the end it saves us $2000 and that is fabulous. Plus, we plan to use the music to make CD favors for our guests with personalized messages! Well worth it I think!

Running of the Brides Boston 2009

The BostonBride (BB) loves a happy ending, and there were plenty of those yesterday at the Running of the Brides Boston. Since you, dear reader, know that the BB can’t resist a good deal, she went to this famed event in search of her own gown with a rockstar crew of her Maid of Honor and her MoH’s mom and aunt.

The Running of the Brides is an annual sale put on by Filene’s Basement, home of designer shopping at massively reduced prices. It’s a sale so big, they don’t use their local stores (their flagship store is being reconstructed, but there are other FB’s around). It’s actually held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Women start lining up the night before, sleeping in tents, to be first in line.

At 4:30 am, the BB took a stroll past the Hynes Convension Center where the Brides-to-be were forming. The line was stretched from the front door of the Hynes all the way down Boylston Street to Dalton Street. And there were 3.5 hours to go til opening time! The BB met a fabulously dressed crew sporting white tophats, Dunkin Donuts coffee, and “MOVE…bitch on a mission” t-shirts.  Many clans dress alike to identify themselves among the ridiculous frenzy inside.

Not one for cold windy mornings, the BB took her crew to a local diner and returned at 7:45 🙂  We returned to find the line had moved inside and was now wrapping around the long hallways in the Convention Center.

The BB was so far from the front door she never thought she’d get a dress. But alas, that is what you get for showing up 15 minutes before opening time, right?

The BB and her crew ran through the doors at a few seconds past 8, after the long line poured in. One of us scored a dress thankfully, which began the bartering and exchanging that occured for the next 30 minutes or so. It all begins with a bartering dress.

Once you have a dress you can trade. The BB and her MoH both scored dresses from passers-by who were looking to exchange. Rock on!!! After the jumping up and down and screaming with delight, another ritual frequently occuring that morning, we were out and walking home by 9am!

So what became of the women who camped out? Well our Bitches on a Move were featured in Boston.com’s gallery (worth checking out to see the chaos):

Yay BitchyBride!! We love your saas. Some brides though were real bitches, and to them we say poo on you. Like the bride who turned her mirror away from the BB when she tried to catch a glimpse of “THE-Dress”. Another mirror owner lent hers and we say thanks to you for it!

There were some nice people there – like this nice lady who was near us, lent us her mirror and joined in the good naturedness of dress finding! You rock! This photo is also from Boston.com’s gallery.

In sum, here’s the Boston Bride’s tips for a less stressful day at RotB:

1. You don’t really need to get there super early. The BB went back to the sale at 4pm and the place was neatly PACKED with dresses and smart buyers who waited until the chaos was over. She found 10 more dresses she would be happy with, although she loved her first dress.

2. Be nice to others and you will find your dress. Ok, I can’t guarantee that, but it makes for a more pleasant experience for everyone.

3. Bring people you love with you and when you find that dress it will feel even more special! Plus its fun to jump up and down with delight when you do find it!

4. Screw waiting in the cold. Go to breakfast.

5. Don’t have over the top expectations. We saw more than one unhappy bride walking out of there, several who were camped out in matching garb. There are so many great dresses; be open minded for a discount dress (every dress I tried on was $250).

This Michigan Bridge is Super-Budget-Saavy

While the Boston Bride may have her city wedding plans, she can surely appreciate the amazing do-it-yourselfer attitude of this country bride! She pulled off a 300 person wedding for only $10K (including honeymoon!).

Rock on Jenny!

Her wedding & photos

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