There has to be a lot of coordination when it comes to a destination wedding. Once a venue is secured then the rest becomes easier. These are good questions to ask your venue

Is your Venue all included?

1) Are there options to pick what you want to pick or is there everything included. Get quotes for everything to do a price comparison. Some venues do have packages and some may have add ons.

2) Are you flexible with other vendors?

Some venues are particular in selecting other outside vendors. Sometimes they have their preferred vendors on their list and if you want a particular vendor then they may charge you more or ask for a certain insurance. It would be good to be upfront with the venue on what you would want.

3) What spaces are available for the ceremony and the reception?

 It ideal to have the ceremony and reception in the same area to limit the driving from place to place especially if you have to rely on someone else for transportation. Some if it cannot be avoided if you are going to get married at a church. It would be good to find out how may guests can the venue hold for the ceremony and reception. Also if you are interested in a venue ask them what would happen if weather was not favorable and what would be another option in case they had to move the ceremony elsewhere. A good venue always has a plan B in case the unexpected happens.

 Last year I did a corporate holiday party in San Jose. It was a good time with lots of positive energy. They contacted me again and asked if I can do their event this year in Napa. For some reason I think of Napa being over 2 hours away but it is not that far from San Jose. Usually I only drive less than an hour to the events but I remember the positive vibe from the company event we had last year.

  I made sure we had two wireless microphones since at times there seems to be more than one event happening at a time. They were doing a raffle so they would read out numbers and the guests would receive nice prizes. It was their 25th year anniversary so we were instructed to stop what was happening every 25 minutes and make a game show sound and they would do a black jack game based on who was selected. The guests would have an option to keep the 50 dollars or a chance to double it by playing black jack. If they lose then they only get 25 dollars. It was fun on top of fun.

 As a dj you are supposed to not interrupt the speaker but with the 25-minute count down that did not matter. It was pretty humorous to play the Jeopardy daily double sound effect in the middle of someone speaking and it was black jack time.  Also during the night, they played the hi low game with big cards and guests had to predict if their card would be higher or lower than the dealer. The last guest standing would win a good prize.

 During the raffle, they would give out framed pictures of a comedian. So it felt like the white elephant prank. But the guests were not left out. Those three that got the gift was invited to play a game for big cash prizes at the end.

The company gave out nice prizes and the guests were super excited. The positive energy of playing of the games then transitioned to a night of dancing. It was an easy night of playing music since everyone was in positive spirits

The City offers a perfect urban atmosphere with plenty of beautiful scenery. It is one of the top U.S. cities to get married in. What makes San Francisco so scenic are the spacious parks, the skyscrapers in the business area, and let’s not forget the San Frans’ icons cable cars and the Famous Golden Gate Bridge. San Fran is surrounded by water so it can provide many beautiful pictures. At San Fran, they have various types of gourmet food made from fresh ingredient to make any venue menu mouthwatering.

Temperature wise San Francisco cannot do no wrong. It may get a little chili at times so make sure you have light jacket in case you get married in the summer.

Half Moon Bay is a small town with big scenic views. There are awesome beaches, fantastic golf courses and delicious food. May to October would be the prime months to go but at the same time it does draw crowds of its beauty.

Napa has very stunning views of acres of vineyards. It is famous for all the wonderful wine that it produces. Restaurants produce fabulous food that go with Napa wine. Napa Valley towns are filled with nice boutiques and galleries.

The best time to go would be the summer and October. September may be hard to book since it is their busy time unless you really pre-book.

The thing to do is to go wine tasting. There are so many wineries to chose from. Guests do have plenty to do when they are going to your destination wedding in Napa.

There are many reasons to have a destination wedding. Maybe the bride and groom had the dream of getting married by the ocean or even the Golden Gate Bridge! When you do get married locally it is easy to meet local vendors and venues to see whom you would pick for the location and vendors. When you are doing a destination wedding, visits to vendors and venues can be more limited due to the distance.

For brides and grooms looking for an easier way to book their venue and vendors in the bay area then they can select an all-inclusive packages to lessen the stress. In these packages, the venue with décor and catering can be included. Open bar anyone? Venues can set up tables and chairs and take them down. If the ceremony is held at the venue, some venues will provide seating, the arch, wedding rehearsal and recommend officiants.  While some venues may be able to provide the sound for the ceremony or recommend the right dj for that.

Speaking of the right dj, Black and White Affair (www.bwadj.com) can set up the ceremony with multiple speakers to ensure everyone can hear the vows and the officiant no matter how big or small the ceremony is. Need sound for your cocktail hour? That is an easy fix for Black and White Affair. As your Bay Area Dj, we can travel anywhere in the Bay area to make sure your destination wedding happens as smooth as possible. We can also do video calls to make iron out all the details for the wedding.  Let us provide the sound track for your Bay Area destination wedding.