How To Make Mid-Strength (Approx 3.5% alc/vol)

1. Pour in 2L Slush Flavour Base
2. Add 7-8L Water (Depending on desired sweetness)
3. Wait until frozen
4. Add 1L of Vodka, White Rum, Bourbon or Tequila (at 37.5% alc/vol) and allow to mix through before serving

How To Make Full-Strength (Approx 5% alc/vol)

1. Pour in 2L Slush Flavour Base
2. Add 7-7.6L Water (Depending on desired sweetness)
3. Wait until frozen
4. Add 1.4L of Vodka, White Rum, Bourbon or Tequila (at 37.5% alc/vol) and allow to mix through before serving

How To Make Mocktails (Non-Alcoholic)

1. Pour in 2L Slush Flavour Base
2. Add 7L Water

Flavours and which spirits to add

Playlist breakdown

You should make a playlist for each segment of the event containing the right styles for background music during ceremonies, meals, speeches, dance floor mix, wind up etc.

Different Segments of the Wedding you may need to select songs for:

Processional

Walking down the aisle is usually when you bust out that defining song of your relationship, this is the one that is supposed to mean something to you as a couple and has everyone in tears by the time the bride reaches the groom. Usually it is a famous love song but in the end it is your wedding and it should mean something special, keep in mind the bride has to do her slow walk to it!

Signing the Wedding Certificate

Depending on when and how this takes place but at the end of the ceremony after your big kiss and applause, there is the business end of the arrangement where you sit down and sign the marriage certificate. At this point your guests will be standing around commenting on how amazing everything was and you may want to flick on some relaxing background tunes just to fill the gap.

Recessional

Your big exit! You’re now blissfully married and walking down the aisle hand in hand, what magically music do you want to hear when people are throwing confetti at you? Usually something happy and upbeat, after all you should be walking down the aisle with a spring in your step!

Cocktail Hour

There’s that period of time after the ceremony and before the food arrives where everyone is milling around, most likely with a drink in hand. You could have some relaxing tunes in the background or something a bit more upbeat to work everyone into party mode, whatever sort of atmosphere you are trying to create why not pick out a mixture of some of your favourites.

Dinner Music

When it’s time to sit down for a meal there will most likely be a lot of chatter going on so having some low key music playing in the background is your best bet.

First Dance

This is another one of your pinnacle song selections, like the recessional selection, it should mean something to the both of you and perhaps say something about how you feel about each other that personally defines you as a couple. It also may dictate how you dance with one and other!

Dancing with Mum/Dad

The music of your first dance may fade into the rest of your dance music, but sometimes you will want to pick a particular song for a dance with Mum and/or Dad. Talk to your families and make sure they are all onboard with your decision so that everyone is happy to get up on the dance floor. Most people go with an easy going slow song for this moment.

Reception – Party Tunes!

It’s time to bust out your dance moves! While you will probably still want to keep your song selection to favourites of you and your other half, now is also time to remember that you will need some crowd pleasers in the mix to keep people on the dance floor and keep the party rolling. It may be hard to keep everyone pleased all the time as granny and your younger cousin probably have very different tastes in music but there are multiple songs that are timeless and most people find them easy to dance to, so keep this in mind as you alternate between different eras and dance beats. As you compile your songs also try to ensure your playlist flows well from one song to another.

Last Song of the Night

Perhaps you will reach a point where you will just hit repeat on your song list if you’ve decided to keep the party going but if you need to start winding down and kicking people out you may want to consider choosing some songs at the end of your playlist to help people realise they need to take it down a notch. Therefore by extension you may want the last song of the night before the bride and groom leave the venue to be a bit more low key and momentous.

A few other moments in your wedding you may want to consider:

• Prelude Music – Do you want some nice background music playing when your guests are still arriving at the ceremony and before the bride takes her walk down the aisle?
• Bouquet and Garter – When the bride throws the bouquet and when the groom pulls the garter down the bride’s leg sometime during the reception you may want to throw in some cheeky songs!

Now that you know how to organise your playlists please check out our av hire packages and find out how to get started on your wedding DJ experience.

By hiring a full sound system you will allow your guests to be fully immersed in the music and the equipment is set up and packed up completely for you so that all you have to worry about is your own personal devices and song selections.

What you’ll need

• A PA system at the ceremony. We have a selection of wedding PA systems for hire.
• A sound and/or lighting and effects system designed for BYO music at the reception. Some of our party sound system hire packages include this type of equipment.
• A music playing device (i.e. Laptop, Tablet, iPhone, Smart Phone, iPod, Mp3 player) with your song collection. iTunes, Spotify and various apps can allow you to organise your music so that it is convenient to run through. Don’t forget, charging cables, backup batteries etc to make sure all devices don’t fail you! Consider also that if you use a phone, if someone calls the phone during a ceremony, the music may cut out, you can get around this by setting your phone to airplane mode. This also alleviates the horrible interference noises that occur when you have a signal near a speaker!
• Another backup music playing device with a backup of your music collection. We all know how technology can occasionally fail you at the wrong moment, make sure you backup your songs to another one of your devices or a trusted friends device.

Book the gear

You will need to decide if you need wired or wireless microphones, small or large sound system, multiple systems for separate ceremony and reception venues, lighting and effects for a dance floor, sub woofer for extra bass and maybe even a cinema screen hire to play a multimedia project for that extra touch.

Just a couple of tips when using a microphone: The big issues with microphones is the feedback, this occurs when the mic picks up sound from the speaker and creates that high pitched squeal. When you use our PA systems we will set up and test the system to reduce possible feedback. Our microphones also come with an on/off switch which helps you cancel this out quickly if someone accidentally walks too close to a speaker. If you are using a wireless microphone which is great for passing around between guests for speeches and toasts just be aware if people are carrying phones of other devices using a wireless signal it may cause feedback issues as well.

Have you thought about creating a multimedia project to be played at your wedding, maybe a series of photographs or short videos? We also hire out projector screen packages.

We also have packages that include lighting effect systems to really draw people onto the dance floor. Our lighting systems have sensors that react to changes in the music so your lights are in sync with your music.

You should book the required gear in advance to make sure you don’t miss out. We have simple systems for speeches and background music and boosted options designed to get your dance floor moving. You can see our hire packages here: Party Sound/Lighting/Effects System Packages

Make a music plan

Creating a wedding playlist is no small task, ultimately this music should be important to you and your spouse, it should set the mood, create a good background for dancing and mingling and also entertain your audience. You may need to debate and compromise on some song selections with your significant other! If you want some tips on choosing songs for your playlist check out our How to Create a Wedding Playlist guide for everything you will need to know when you plan to DIY DJ your own wedding.

You will need different styles of music for each segment of your wedding and you may want songs played in a certain order for each part. You should consider looping the playlists if you reach the end of the playlist before the next segment. A silent audio track at the end could also be a good fail-safe.

There are a few different ways to create your playlist:

• iTunes allows you to create a playlist for each section of your wedding. It also has settings for looping your playlist and crossfading songs to eliminate silent gaps. Itunes will order your playlists alphabetically so to make your night that much smoother you may want to label your playlists: Wedding 1 – Processional, Wedding 2 – Recessional etc
• Spotify: If you sign up for a premium subscription for around $9.99 a month you can use the same account on multiple devices and your playlist will be all online! Once the playlist is downloaded onto a device you can select available offline and it will remain on the device for 30 days. Spotify also has the crossfade option in the settings.
• There are also apps that allow you to create your playlist such as Wedding DJ for apple devices or Fun Wedding for Android Devices.

Get the settings right

One word, Crossfade!!! iTunes and Spotify allow you to set your crossfade and soundcheck in the playback settings. The soundcheck setting in iTunes or "Set the Same Volume level for all songs" in Spotify ensures even volume levels for each track and the crossfade settings helps to reduce music stalling between tracks which can have an effect on how full the dance floor stays throughout the event. People on dance floors dislike silences as much as quiet slow songs when they are in full party mode!

Make Backups

Laptop frozen, iPhone battery flat? Make a backup of your playlist on another device such as smart phone or mp3 player. The last thing you want is to realise you have no way of playing the amazing playlist you have created. Remember charging cables/batteries for all your devices and backups.

Persuade a friend

You will need a reliable person to help manage the music and lighting. Our systems are designed to be automated once setup and turned on but you need someone to change between playlists, turn on the lighting when the dance floor is ready for use, turn off or adjust the haze machine when appropriate etc. Providing your friend with a outline of when each playlist is to be played and when during the ceremony and reception will help eliminate any accidents. This person will probably also need to act as music bouncer when things get a bit wild on the dance floor and the occasional guest wanders over to choose a song. After all the effort you put into your song choices you don’t want a guest treating your playlist as a juke box.

Practice and test

We will ensure the equipment is set up correctly so all you need to do at home before the event is ensure your music devices have all the necessary accessories, your music is backed up and your playlist runs smoothly.