The Royal Wedding between Megan Markle and Prince Harry has undoubtedly sparked some inspiration for 2019 wedding trends among designers, planners, and brides-to-be.
Details from the Royal Wedding will undoubtedly have an impact on the bridal industry. From wedding gowns to the cake, to the styling of the venue, weddings in the spring of 2019 are sure to be elegant with flare.
Combining conservative details fit for a duchess and hot new trends, prepare to see a wedding season marked with elegance and closeness.
Smaller Wedding Parties
In contrast with the big bow trend, many couples are opting for smaller bridal parties. Many brides no longer feel obligated to include their second-cousin once removed as a bridesmaid. While grooms as a whole typically don’t have many groomsmen, brides are starting to follow this tradition.
In fact, many couples are deciding to downsize their guest list to include only their families and closest friends. It’s a trend that will save time, stress, and money that is sure to take off in 2019.
Spring Wedding Colors
While rich greenery against white tablecloths was all the rage for the past two years, all good things must come to pass. Colored wedding dresses still aren’t a huge trend, but many modern brides are showing interest in color filled, yet elegant weddings.
Spring wedding colors for 2019 are sure to include pops of elegant colors like peach, rose, and lavender. Deep plums and blues will also be popular for vintage weddings.
Choosing a theme for your New Year’s Eve party can set the tone for the entire night. New Year’s Eve is a fun and exciting time all about reflecting on the past year while looking forward to crafting new memories with loved ones. Your party’s style should match this special sentiment from start to finish with a theme that spreads good cheer. Whether you’re looking to plan a casual gathering or go all out with a formal celebration, these New Year’s Eve party themes will help you ring in the New Year the right way.
New Year’s Eve Party Checklist
In order to avoid stress and save some time, there are a few items to keep in mind when mapping out your party theme. Everything from choosing a concept and setting a budget, to finding those unforgettable New Year’s Eve party invitations can be found below.
Choose a New Year’s Eve party theme that you feel excited about. Make sure you absolutely love the theme you’re choosing since you’ll be the host or hostess. Being enthusiastic about your theme will drastically increase the party in your planning.
Decide who you want to invite. Write down who you’d like to invite so you can get an idea of the size of your party, along with how many invites you’ll need to order. This tip will keep you organized and on track with what you’ll need to buy for your party down the road.
Choose a space to host your party and accommodate your guests. Now that you’ve got your mind made up on a theme and you have a guest list set, you can decide if you want to host your party at home or at a venue. If you’re looking for a more intimate party with family and friends, opt for a celebration at home so you can save money. If you’re hosting more than 50 guests, you should look into affordable venues that are local and easy to access.
Picking the perfect Christmas party music will get everybody in the groove for your holiday get together. Create a playlist of Christmas party songs to set the festive mood as you share delicious food, drinks, and good company. Here are some tips for putting together the ultimate Christmas party playlist!
Play Christmas music that all of your guests will enjoy by incorporating artists from a variety of genres, time periods, and regional backgrounds. A good idea is to take the type of event that you’re hosting into consideration. For a casual get together, play party Christmas songs with an upbeat tempo to get toes tapping and everybody feeling relaxed. Many contemporary artists such as Mariah Carey and Justin Bieber have released holiday albums with modern remixes of traditional tunes. If your party is formal, however, select classic Christmas music to play in the background of your event. A lovely and sophisticated option is instrumental renderings of favorite holiday carols performed by your favorite orchestra or symphony group.
If you don’t have your own collection of holiday CDs to play and you don’t want to spend a small fortune downloading songs from iTunes, try Christmas music streaming. You can use services such as Pandora or i heart radio to create stations to play during the party. Websites such as Grooveshark also allow you to make your own Christmas music list ahead of time and easily organize your songs. Take requests from guests by asking them to write down their top 10 Christmas songs when they first arrive. It’s like the modern version of the diner jukebox. They’ll be thrilled when they hear their song playing! Depending on how large your venue is, you may need to connect your computer to external speakers in order to get the right volume.
Have fun putting together your Christmas playlist and finding music that everyone will enjoy. Who knows—your guests may be so full of cheer that they will break out into an impromptu sing-a-long!
It can be difficult to visualize and choose just what size the stage should be for your next event, particularly when there is a diverse mixture of people and performers who will be using it.
Determining the correct area of a stage is sometimes more art than science. Unfortunately, event planners and managers at times do not give it enough consideration. The horizontal area must accommodate any and all activities that will take place on it. Even though speeches may occupy 3 hours and 55 minutes out of a 4-hour program with only one speaker appearing at a time, but there is a finale with a 12-member dance ensemble, the stage has to be big enough from the outset to accommodate the dance ensemble. In other words, it must be large enough to allow for the activity that will require the most space, no matter how important or how long that activity is in relation to the rest of the staged program.
For most activities, there are no golden rules. Every performing group usually has a minimum size of stage that will accommodate their performance and they should be consulted prior to event setup to ensure that the properly sized stage is ordered. Generally, for speakers at a lectern, a minimum of 15 - 20 ft² is required. Unfortunately, if the event consists of only speeches by one or two persons at a time such as an awards ceremony, having a small stage might not automatically be the correct choice. The stage size in relation to the size of the venue and also in relation to the size of the stage set and any additional décor or audio-visual equipment must be taken into consideration. For example, if an awards ceremony is to take place with a stage set up in the middle of a 150 ft long wall, and two large A-V screens with surrounding drape are to extend to the side walls on either side of the stage, it does not make good design sense to have a stage that is only eight or 12 ft wide as it is completely out of proportion to the remainder of the room’s décor and the scale of the entire venue. The stage must reflect the correct proportion, and should be more in the order of about one third of the total width of the venue or 40 to 50 ft wide, in spite of the small number of persons occupying it at any given time. Part of the extra space may also be taken up purposely with a well-designed stage set.
So much of surviving New Year's Eve without sinking into a deep spiral of disappointment relies on the crew, (often, let's be honest) the booze, and most importantly the good vibes. And with the divisiveness of the year that's almost run its course, we wouldn't blame you for feeling equal parts hopeful and "ughhhh."
To set the right *joyful* mood for your midnight soirée, press play on this 50-track party setlist of up-tempo hip-hop, pop, and disco that will divert people's attention to the little conflicts in life, such as "chaser" vs. "no chaser," "bumping" vs. "grinding," and lastly, "vintage Drake" vs. "new Drake."
1. "Lemon" - N.E.R.D. feat. Rihanna
2. "Celebration" - Kool & The Gang
3. "Bodak Yellow" - Cardi B.
4. "Anywhere" - Rita Ora
5. "Los Ageless" - St. Vincent
6. "What Lovers Do" - Maroon 5 feat. SZA
7. "Homemade Dynamite [Remix]" - Lorde feat. Khalid and Post Malone
8. "One Dance" - Drake
9. "Bad Girls" - Donna Summer
10. "Young Hearts Run Free" - Candi Staton
You’ve picked a date, secured the venue, and coordinated the catering menu for this year’s holiday bash. Now it’s time to decide how to entertain your guests. Planning an office party is a big responsibility, but don’t crumble under the pressure of trying to find something that exceeds expectations. A sprinkle of thoughtfulness, creative food, and surprising entertainment makes for a memorable event that will leave your guests feeling cherished all night long. No matter your budget, there are plenty of fresh holiday party ideas you can use to emerge an office hero. Need some inspiration?
Here are 20 corporate holiday party ideas to spice up your celebration:
1. Unwrap presents with oven mitts: Trade in the white elephant gift exchange for a Secret Santa gift opening race. Let team members take turns opening their gifts while donning a giant pair of oven mitts. Use a clock timer to make things even sillier and prepare for uncontrollable, infectious laughter.
2. Wine Pairings: Some caterers may advertise December holiday packages that include appetizer, main course, and dessert. Ask your caterer for wine pairing suggestions and voila, you have a cozy wine dinner. Arrange tasting stations (seafood, beef, and pasta) so that your guests can work around the room, trying the Merlot with the bolognese and Pinot Noir with the crusted pork tenderloin.
3. Christmas “Family Feud”: Use this holiday party idea to play on guests’ nostalgia by turning your holiday party into the Family Feud set. Divide your guests into teams and let your CEO “Santa” play the role of Steve Harvey the host. Send out a questionnaire beforehand to drum up clever category topics and answers. The best team wins a prize.
4. Give Back: Plan a donation drive for a charity that your company supports or is close and dear to a fellow employee’s heart. Givewell.org is a good place to get started. You might even construct an Angel Tree and allow employees to choose an organization or person to treat this holiday season. Seeing all those donated gifts under the tree will warm hearts and remind guests of the generosity in the room.
5. Graffiti murals: Set up a massive black canvas in an open room, supply your guests with paint cans and let them loose. You can suggest a theme or leave it as a free-for-all. It’ll be fun to discover who has hidden artistic talents and who should stick to their day job. If the final product turns out better than expected, hang it up back at the office or donate to charity.
Awesome Halloween costume? Check. Amazing snacks made to look like eyeballs/intestines/skulls? Check! Pumpkin carved? Check! One of the best horror films of all time cued up on the TV? Check!
But what’s that? You say you don’t have a mind-meltingly amazing playlist of the best Halloween songs for your shindig? Fear not! Here is some of the best Halloween music ever recorded, including the best pop songs from Michael Jackson, creepiness galore from Nick Cave and, of course, “The Monster Mash.” In short? All "Thriller." No filler.
1. Michael Jackson, “Thriller”
“I’m not like other guys,” Michael tells his girl at the beginning of the greatest video ever made, from the greatest album ever made. Did we realize how prescient that statement would be in 1982? So much of “Thriller” shouldn’t work—MJ is a doll, 71-year-old Vincent Price raps, and it’s six minutes long. But together, it’s ballsy genius, riding on an insistent, funky Minimoog bass line. “I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult,” Jackson wrote concerning the video. No, but the Elephant Man bones and chimp did.—Brent DiCrescenzo
2. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, “I Put a Spell On You” (Remix)
Arguably one of the original Halloween songs. Inarguably one of the greatest. Hawkins’s tune—which he claims to not remember recording—permanently added the “Screamin’” to his God-given name. “Before, I was just a normal blues singer. I was just Jay Hawkins, (but) I found out I could do more destroying to a song by screaming it to death.” He found out he could also do more if he appeared out of a coffin on stage in a black cape, tusks coming out of his nose, accompanied by a cigarette smoking skull sidekick named Henry. A rare remix by KCRW’s Jeremy Sole.—Christopher Tarantino
Festivals are a great way to entertain large crowds, but all festivals must be well promoted to be successful -- whether they feature local artists or world famous musicians or they’re focused around a hobby or common interest. I’m often asked how to promote a festival, and fortunately, there are some easy ways to do it both online and offline.
Before you start thinking about promoting a festival, you need to take a few steps back. Planning a festival takes many months if you want to get it right. Furthermore, you need to develop a realistic budget that includes all of the pieces of the planning puzzle, including promotion.
Once your timeline and budget are ready, you can develop a marketing plan that will boost ticket sales to your festival. To help you get started, below are some of the most effective ways to promote a festival.
Partner with Local Companies and Sponsors
Sponsors pay you to display their logo in various places before and during the festival, and many of them will want to spread the word to their own audiences that they’re sponsoring the event. Encourage this! It’s free advertising for your festival, so give sponsors the event logo file, a description of the event, photos, and other supporting materials that they can use in their own marketing.
It’s also likely that local companies in the community where the event will be held will want to be involved. Don’t be afraid to approach them and ask if they would be willing to display your signs or flyers in their locations to help spread the word. If necessary, you can barter for services. For example, you could offer to place a small ad for their company in the festival program in exchange for the company displaying the festival signs and other advertising materials around its business location.
Make Any Special Day a Success Through Music
DJing a wedding can be a lot of fun and also a lot of hard work so it is important that things are done right. Being that weddings are a pivotal part of people’s lives making sure everything runs smoothly is of utmost importance. A good DJ can make or break any wedding, so come prepared with plenty of music. It’s important to treat the client as a customer and to craft your show so it fits with their desired experience. Be sure to find out all the information before hand. What genres to play, how old the guests are, special songs for certain dances, and logistical information such as stage size and set times. You’ll also want a suitably sized library of tracks for any situation. If you’re doing some heavy technical mixing and you’re on for 2 hours you’ll want 6 hours of music available. If you’re just playing track after track with no mixing you can shorten your library length. Here are some additional tricks and tips to make sure your wedding service runs smoothly every time.
Our quick research shows that a good DJ in Arizona charges $600-$900 or more just for one night. If you're on a budget and need to save money, renting high-quality, professional DJ equipment may be your best solution -- and it's easy to set up and completely user friendly!
Just hook up your laptop or iPod to run music all night. Each system comes with a microphone you can use to MC your entire event. The setup is color coded and all you really need to know is how to use the volume knobs. It's easy!
Click here to contact us about disc jockey sound rentals.
Setting up Equipment For the Function
The setup is the first step in Djing a wedding. Make sure to leave plenty of time before guests arrive to setup the equipment. Often times this will take up to an hour depending on how much equipment is being used. You’ll want to get the acoustics set up while you have access to the room before the guests arrive. Be aware that often times there will be a long period to wait before a DJ’s duties come into play. Try to act professional while you wait as you’re on the job.
It’s extremely important to gauge the acoustics of the room to give a great performance. Make sure to set the speakers up according to the shape of the room to get the best sound. It is very important to do a test run of the sound system before the wedding gets under way. Play a song and walk the room, notice any spots where sound misbehaves and see if adjusting it helps. One of the biggest issues is corners trap bass so heavy base tracks may disrupts tables in these areas.
Pastels, rustic decor, sequins—they're all being phased out in the 2018 wedding trends. Curious as to what's overtaking these staples? Prepare to be obsessed (and a little taken aback!) by the details, decor and wedding trends for 2018.
Over the past few seasons, there have been a number of weddings with pastel color palettes and romantic, ethereal vibes. For 2018 wedding trends, expect a shift away from this light and airy feel. In fact, 2018 weddings have taken on a more dramatic and almost edgy vibe in the form of deeper colors and richer textures. Two major 2018 wedding trends, bohemian and “New Age” styles, will replace rustic, and couples will be more relaxed in their approach to planning—it’s less about honing in on a specific wedding theme or color combination and more about creating a vibe or mood for your big day.
Click here to view sound and light rental options for Arizona Wedding Ceremonies and Receptions
Style: New Age Bohemian
For the past several seasons, the rustic look has been all the rage—a wedding held in a barn with DIY-style floral arrangements, casual food, and more. For 2018 wedding trends, bohemian will be the new rustic—a look that’s still somewhat relaxed, but a bit more elevated than the down-home rustic feel. Think Stevie Nicks as your style muse (and not just for hair and makeup)—an undone look that’s edgy but still romantic.
Colors: Deep, Rich Hues and Black Accents
Light and airy colors, including blush, mint, and peach, have been popular for a while (and not just for a spring wedding!). When it comes to 2018 wedding trends and ideas, we’re going to see color palettes start to deepen. Richer, more dramatic hues like burgundy will appear in floral arrangements, and edgy black accents will make an appearance as well. In terms of metallics, gold and copper have been in-demand for a while now, and while that likely won’t change, we’ll start to see more silver and chrome.
Keep in mind that couples won’t be sticking to strict color schemes in 2018 weddings. It’s less about providing vendors with exact paint chips and more about giving general guidelines on colors—a mood rather than a picture-perfect palette.
High School homecoming themes come in all shapes and sizes. The student body will decide on their theme and they have a lot of options from history to current events and fantasy to the stars. The Homecoming Dance is the culmination of all the events leading up to it. The theme sets the mood and the tone.
Picking High School Homecoming Themes
The trick to picking the right homecoming theme comes from the message the students want to send, receive and share. Homecoming is about more than just a pretty dress, a fun game and a parade; Homecoming is about building memories that will last.
Homecoming Themes from Around the World
Students may enjoy choosing Homecoming themes from cultures around the country and around the world such as:
Are you fed up with planning work parties, because it never seems like anyone wants to attend? What’s with everyone being so resistant to a little bit of fun? Well, sure, every office has a couple of grumblers, but have you ever considered that it’s because your events… just aren’t very good?
Obviously, you put a lot of money and effort into them, so nobody you work with is going to want to break the news that you’re a lousy party planner. Just take it from an internet stranger; if it’s getting harder and harder to convince your colleagues that they need to let loose, maybe it’s time to evaluate your formula.
With social media pervading every moment of our lives, standards have never been higher when it comes to hosting a memorable event. The traditional route of hiring a casino table and heading to the local hotel simply doesn’t feed the imagination anymore, so it’s time to shake up your social calendar with an event that your team will be talking about for years to come - here are five ideas to get you started.
KEEP IT TRADITIONAL
When you can be sure of the weather, hosting a magical garden party is an excellent way to keep numbers high and costs low. It’s also ideal if you would prefer to throw a calm and civilised affair in the afternoon, rather than a boisterous, boozy bash.
Classic sports day events like sack races or egg-and-spoon can create a bit of friendly competition between your guests, and add a bit of nostalgic charm. Just make sure there are plenty of areas for participants to sit and relax afterwards!
If you’re worried about a spot of rain or want the option of a covered area for the evening, hiring a sophisticated corporate VIP tent means that you don’t need to compromise on the elegance of your theme. Include décor that blends seamlessly with the natural surroundings like overflowing floral displays and delicate fairy lights, and you’ll have yourself a charming soiree to be proud of.
Tip 1 – Team up with other DJs.
This not only ignites new creative ideas but doubles each DJs reach and network. Find other DJs in your town, city or state at a similar level and team up. Working together can spark new creative ideas, be a lot of fun but also put each DJ in front of each others networks. Create a monthly mix series together or start a live DJ stream on Facebook every week.
Utilize each others social media networks and following. Promoters and the public are more likely to take notice of you with double the following!
Tip 2 – Learn new ways to be creative with the music you’re playing.
In 2018 the digital world of DJing is stronger than ever. Nearly every piece of new equipment, whether its a controller, CDJs or mixer is packed full of creative features. Start using those hidden gems like the sampler, slicer modes or different effects that you’re currently not utilizing. Make 2018 the year of experimenting with the equipment you own. This can really help you stand out from the crowd.
Get creative in 2018!
As I'll be a part time DJ tutor at my college next year, I'm already considering tracks which have an easily detectable, regular beat, which are also very good tracks themselves. The fact is, a lot of people learn to DJ with commercial deep house music, myself included, because it is easy to mix, but it's only easy to mix because there's little to no diversion within it. When I teach people, I will encourage them to think differently, to go outside the box. Of course, they can learn with whatever genres they please, partly since I'm experienced in mixing several kinds of music, from melodic dubstep to psytrance, but also because I'm not forcing anyone to fall into a certain area, because when you learn with a greater scope of music, you become a much better DJ. You become one of the DJs with several tricks up his sleeve that he's not hesitant to use, rather than the DJ who brings in a track that's out of sync by a fraction of a beat in the hope that nobody notices.
So, without further ado, here are some tracks, not necessarily my favorites to listen to or to play in a set, but those which I think will be a core part to misinformed newbies becoming cultured experts in no time.
Technologic - Daft Punk
The isolated vocals in the beginning of the song are ideal for practicing various types of transitions, possibly by simply varying the mid or by implementing a filter, and when you're just messing around with this track, the whole track is good for getting to grips with how a general track is pieced together, and the more you mess around with it, the better you make yourself with these effects. I'd recommend experimenting with the filter, pitch and beat loops using Technologic.
The only issue with this track is that the beat is non-existent for the first 30 seconds, but if you've analysed this track, either by memory or using something like rekordbox, you'll be fine. - PositronWildhawk+8
I Remember - deadmau5 & Kaskade
One of my all time favourite songs, for its incredible sound and its uplifting message. And also a track which made learning to DJ a much more ecstatic experience. Speed it up or slow it down dramatically? Sounds good. Rapid beat loop before the drop? Sounds good. Flanger on buildup? Sounds brilliant!
I love being spontaneous when bringing this track in or out, or by messing with it mid-track, because you know that if that doesn't sound good, you're doing something drastically wrong.
In short, this track really allows you to be creative during your set. If I were to learn it all again from scratch, I would've used this track more often. I was cautious to fiddle with something so intricately put together, but I found that, with concentration in the picture, I became much more confident with mixing progressive house as a whole.
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