I had a formal  private high school dance in February at the Hayes Mansion. The Hayes Mansion is a huge property right off Blossom Hill exit. It is pretty easy to get to. I was able to communicate with the coordinator pretty easy and she was able to let me know where to park to unload my gear. The party was in the main ballroom. They had me set up on a stage with a table so that was nice since it gave me less items to set up.

Students were having dinner buffet style. I was supposed to play good songs early but not the really good ones since we would need them for the dancing portion of the night. Students were so well behaved. I was playing off a list that I could not deviate from and with students wanted a song that wasn’t on that list they were not upset at all. They just said ok that’s alright. One student was like can you play shorter amounts of the song if you can. Basically he wanted a quick mix but due to being limited on the song selections for this dance I had to play longer songs.

This place would be good spot for a high school prom. I mean the name of the place is Hayes Mansion so that is pretty classy itself. They do have a nice outside area where I am sure they can host events too. The main ballroom was big itself and the room acoustics sounded good. I was able to fill up the room with sound with only 2 speakers.

What is a budget Wedding? These times I have seen weddings are not as big as they once were in California. I have been to a few events and there were less than 30 folks in the attendance. So, in essence weddings can be more budget friendly since less guests are actually attending these events. 

I recently got an inquiry asking for a quote and they really stressed having a budget dj. I liked how they were direct and to the point. But the word budget can throw off folks. Everyone’s budget is different. When I think of a budget dj, I think of someone who does not have the best equipment and does not have regular events. Do you want someone to be the host of your wedding with out experience? That is when a budget dj comes in. You do get what you pay for. If someone wants a wedding to remember make sure you hire a professional.

What is a professional dj? A professional dj has a music planner guide to help organize the music for the wedding. They make the music selection easy to choose from. They have a script to use to help guide them with announcements. You want someone who commands attention of the audience and want them to lead the audience in whatever needs to be done.  They have vast amount of good quality music at 320 kbps quality and did not rip music from YouTube at a low quality which is tacky and also illegal. You want them to be able to beat match so the songs do not end suddenly and want it to sound seamless. 

Professional djs have a backup system with the best equipment and have the experience to solve gear issues. I have learned to always carry multiple microphones so voices can be amplified. My wire microphones have always worked but once in Sacramento it was cutting out although it did sound fine in the sound check. With experience, I know to always have a wired microphone close by to handle any wireless issues. 

A good dj for a wedding will easily be over 1000 for just a reception. If you are requiring the ceremony and a reception a good dj will be 1500 to 2000. They can also bring up lights or have photo booths if you want more for the wedding. 

Hire a budget dj if you want some background music at a backyard BBQ. But hire a professional dj to do the soundtrack for one of the most important days of your life. Please look at the reviews of all the djs you and selecting and also keep tabs on how quickly they respond. It is important to have good communication with your dj. 

For your professional dj please call Black and White Affair Dj Services to help you plan your music and events for your big day. We serve the Bay Area and would love the opportunity to make your day memorable and stress free as possible. 

99 percent of the schools I do events for the student body provides of their songs they like to hear. I also recommend that it’s a combined effort from different students to make sure you get different types of music.  I try to find them and I make sure they are school appropriate then I put it in the playlist. If the song does have profanity, then I can edit it so the bad words cannot be heard but for the most part the songs I find are clean. The list that they give me is a good starting point. They may give me 50 to 60 songs. If you think about it, you can play around 25 songs per hour and you have 2 hours of music to choose from that list. Most school events are 3 to 4 hours and proms are like 5 hours. From the list you can get similar songs that fit the vibe that school is trying to have.

The small percentage of schools who provide a list of must plays and cannot play other songs can also work. The only difference is the school has to do most of the prep work to send the list and it has to be enough for 4 to 5 hours if it’s like for a 3-hour event. Some songs are really good to dance to while others may not be much of a hit. So the dj too has to prep to locate pretty much all the songs on the list so to keep the party going. The dj cannot rely on his/her crutch of other school’s playlists to help in a jam. The event I did this past fall it went pretty well. I just went by their list and made it work. Students were very respectful and it was a good time. 

What do I prefer? I can do both. When I have a playlist where I can stray from I can use prior school dance lists where students really enjoyed the music. It would take less time to prep. With only songs to be played on this list dances, it helps me focus on new songs I never considered and I can incorporate in my rotation. 

Please consider Black and White Affair DJ services for your High School Dance event. From August to November 2021 we did 5 high school dances and loved every minute of it. We have the experience and the sound to keep the dance floor packed and school officials content!

Are you thinking of having an office party? Please contact us!

If you are planning a Bay Area Corporate event in San Jose, Milpitas, Fremont, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Livermore, Sunnyvale or Mountain View, or Palo Alto, we are the go to!

We are able to beat match favorites and new chart tracks seamlessly and bring excitement to your team. We are all about being professional and classy.

The boss has given you the opportunity to throw an event. It can be a bit of stress. What happens if the vendors are not good? I believe in surrounding myself with like minded folks so I can recommend folks to are a master of their craft and I know a lot of nice venues to throw events. Let me help you make this event stress free as possible. 

I am a firm believer of showing employees that they are appreciated for what they do. Don’t let them down by not getting the right entertainment for the event. The right dj will provide the right atmosphere for the event.

What do we bring? We bring enough sound for the event. Do you need 2 speakers or 6? We have enough to make sure there is enough sound for the event. Do you need an Emcee to host the event? That is easy as Sunday Morning! We can play music to fit the mood whatever you want for the event. We also work with all sorts of talent so we can recommend anyone locally in case you need those referrals.

Ideas in case you want to have a dj at your company events:

Holiday parties

Celebration of a good quarter 

Galas

Outdoor socials

Network events

Charity Events

Please contact Black and White Affair Dj Services for you next corporate event. We believe in making everything like our mixes seamless and enjoyable. Events are our thing and come second nature. We worked with different corporations and no two are the same and we make sure we make each event custom as can be. 

It maybe time to set up your Dj for your prom in the Bay Area. Proms are usually hitting at the end of the school year. I am seeing them set up Mid April till Mid May. Schools are picking those dates since they don’t want it to interfere with the ending of school. At that time the weather is getting warmer so people are setting up their parties. 

So what do you look for in a prom DJ? Make sure they have experience playing at schools. Playing at schools is a totally different animal compared to playing at private events outside of schools. The dj has to make sure the music is clean meaning that there are no profanity. Also a lot of students like having a dj that can quick mix. That means they can play a song for a short period of time and throw in another song so it blends perfectly. Long gone are the days where a dj plays the whole song from start to finish. It seems the only songs that can be played out like that would be songs to play during dinner or Spanish songs on the dance floor. 

Speaking of dinner, songs should not be slow songs to put students to sleep. They rather be songs that everybody knows and keep everyone excited and you start building it at the end of dinner so they go straight to the dance floor when its ready to party. 

I am all about playing good dance music but during proms a few slow songs need to be put in the mix spread out through the night. 

If you are looking to book your prom dj now please look no further than Black and White Affair Dj services. We have enough sound for any events and please check out our reviews. 

Finding the right DJ

The year of the wedding was marked 2020. Everyone wanted to be married on that year. Bam then covid hit and in California pretty much shut down. Some folks were able to reschedule their wedding with smaller guest lists in 2021. Then people were saying 2022 is going to be the year full of weddings and while I type this there is an increase of Covid Cases. It might be a short phase or it may continue. Some folks are opting for quick small weddings without a reception due to the restrictions in California. 

  Having a destination wedding in California can be the answer. There is plenty of open space venues that will be a solution during these uncertain times. A lot of destination weddings are smaller in attendance since it is not local to the attendees. Setting up a destination wedding can be difficult since most of the vendors will be new to the couple and have not used before. Setting up a wedding is like having a second job since there is a lot of prep to interview the vendors and then having to select the perfect one for the job. To make it easier there are venues that are all inclusive to take out all the guess work. That is one way to make it easier.

Finding the right dj for your destination wedding maybe a wee bit more difficult. Some venues may have in-house djs but I would not trust that. It’s a dj they always use and most of the time maybe only exclusive for that venue. But if the dj is on the venue’s preferred vendor list then that maybe better to choose for. It shows that the dj has been there before and did a good job so they recommend them. An in-house dj means the fee paid for the dj goes into the venue’s pockets and dj maybe good or not so good but the venue will recommend them either way since it means better profits. 

I recommend actually talking to the dj and getting a feel for them. These times it’s so easy to send a text or an email and get information about the dj but I feel getting the right dj is so important. They are going to be your party director or the Fun Ninja of your big event. It’s their job to build the energy of the event. In the phone call you will feel of their musical knowledge and if they actually like the music that you enjoy. Ask them about their wedding knowledge and what they recommend for the order of events. How quickly can they respond to you is important? You want a dj to have the best communication. You want them to help you with the playlist and give you suggestions and offer suggestions on how to do the events. They should be open-minded to the events you want to do or not do. A wedding is your event and you should have it any way you want since it’s a representative of you and your new spouse. 

Right before new years I got to be part of a private party. It was from a family I djed before at a different venue and they wanted to celebrate different events since everyone was locked down for so long. Miss L gave me a good list to work with. She had a lot of songs she grew up listening to plus she had different family members share their list with her. It was a mix of old school and good dance music. We traveled from the 50s sock hop era with stops with 70s classic rock, and 90s dance. 

 The event was at the Double Tree at the Pruneyard in Campbell. They had a banquet room on the second floor. They had around 7 tables and there were under 30 folks in attendance. There was a dance floor there. It was cute since the staff wanted to put a table on the dance floor for appetizers and Miss L was not going to have it. She was like we are going to dance the whole night so please move the table elsewhere. She was right. Dancing was happening the whole night. Double Tree even had my silverware ready on my table but I did not have a chance to eat since there was always someone dancing. Typically, you play music with low to medium energy during dinner time but we were putting up the energy in high gear. 

  Venue space was nice and staff was very courtesy. Guests were polite and loved to dance. It was a good night!

I was all over the bay area for 3 holiday corporate events. Saturday we were doing a big internet company bash in Morgan hill. This is the 3rd event I have for the group. They gave me a lot of songs in their playlist of their liking. Mama mia served up a master meal. A few of the leaders spoke about achievements and talked about folks they wanted to hi light. We finished up the night on the dance floor.

The following day we were doing a corporate event in Fremont which was primarily Spanish music. This was the first corporate event where most of the music was Spanish. I started the event with a little xmas music then 15 min in when folks started showing up I then went with Spanish. I did throw in some old school classics in English. The boss was a young man and his assistant were running the events. They were running games for their employees for nice prizes. Later on they did a raffle and gave out prizes. The songs that got everyone grooving was cumbia and salsa.

Then on Thursday we had a real estate party. They know how to party and they did it on a weekday. It was at their office and they were very happy folks. It was supposed to be a 3 hour event but it was extended to an extra hour. It was all old school and r&b the whole night, No new music the past 5 years was played. There were no announcements and the theme was just to eat drink and be merry. All of them succeeded!