Today

Today....was a great day

Wedding woes....and how to avoid them.

Your dream wedding...since you were twelve years old, you have planned it. As a teenager, you daydreamed about walking down the aisle with that mystery guy. The flowers were beautiful, your bridesmaids were smiling at you. Your gown fit you like it would fit a princess. After all, this is your fairytale wedding!

As you ease into your dress and prepare your make up, the day begins to materialize from dreams to reality....then it RAINS...


How dare it rain on my special day, you think out loud. Soon, it starts to rain even harder...the forecast calls for wind and rain all day. Some people say it's good luck if it rains on your wedding day. You say "bull ?$&#!". So, what do you do? Well, you finish your mascara, and climb into your magical chariot to your wedding. Or your limousine, if you've hired one. The limo driver looks like James bond, and the bridesmaids ogle over him as the champagne is poured by your maid of honor for the girls to enjoy before the trip down the aisle.

BANG!....the limo gets a flat tire. Your champagne spills all over the FRONT of your gown....

What next?

The cake falls off the table? The DJ is late? The florist delivers the wrong flowers. Cousin Vinnie shows up in khakis and a baseball hat....What next?!?!

Don't panic, and remember: it's your wedding day...Relax and enjoy it...NO MATTER WHAT.

Golden rule # 1 : Do not micro manage your wedding into the ground...Take it in stride and just enjoy. There will be things that are beyond your control. But for the most part, your vendors will handle everything for you.

Golden rule # 2: Let the evening fall into place... and quit looking at your watch!

Golden rule # 3: If something does go wrong, have your friends and family deal with it accordingly. Or let your vendors handle it. If it's something like bad weather, traffic, or something that cannot be "Dealt with"...Don't sweat it out. A good word of advice: Kick off your shoes and dance in the rain, it would make for some fun photos.

Most importantly, enjoy your special celebration, and relax. if you have fun, so will everyone else!

Until next time,

Steve Lebo

Bridal shows and bridal woes

So we set up our booth at many bridal shows. And we speak with hundreds of brides in about four hours. We take the time to actually speak with some and answer all questions. Sometimes, people genuinely are interested in hearing about our services, and sometimes people want free stuff. Most of the time, brides drift right by our booth and fade away...

As a professional DJ, I completely understand this categorization of bridal show visitors....the ones who are there for free stuff (freeloaders), the ones who are just gathering info (window-shoppers), and then, the ones who genuinely want to BOOK vendors (buyers).

Please, if you are just gathering info, let us know, if you are truly searching for a DJ or photographer, TELL US. If you want free stuff, go to goodwill.

Tonight, I had a meeting with two brides who were absolutely amazing to talk to. They were genuinely interested in what I had to say, as was I interested in hearing about their dream wedding. It was wonderful to speak to both Elizabeth and Sarah...and they said they had a great time listening and gathering information.

What a win-win situation....

My only complaint: six people signed up for the meeting and only two showed up. Please, respect our time as we have family and work to do. We set aside time for us to meet, please keep the meeting... Thank you Sarah and Elizabeth.

Finally, if you are reading this, and you are a bride to be, one point to remember:

It cost us time and a great deal of money at these bridal shows, we respect your time, please respect ours.

Something amazing is coming...

We are proud to say that something amazing is coming to the wedding scene in Pittsburgh. And guess what?

Party-Time Productions will be the only area company to offer this unique and exciting addition. Stay tuned...as this is happening very soon. You will not want to miss out.

Please call if you are very interested...We can tell you this: Your event will be a memorable one!

Party-Time Productions wins "Bride's choice award" two years in a row!

February 1st, 2011

Pittsburgh, PA – February 2nd, 2011 - WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, is thrilled to announce {Enter Your Business Name} has been selected to receive the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for DJ's and Event Lighting!

Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.

Party-Time Productions DJ's and Event Lighting stands among the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire community, representing quality and service excellence within the wedding industry. Awards were given to the top wedding professionals across 20 service categories, from wedding venues to wedding photographers, and were based on the overall professional achievements throughout the past year.

“WeddingWire is honored to celebrate the success of the top-rated wedding professionals within the WeddingWire community,” said Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “With the annual Bride’s Choice Awards™ program, WeddingWire has the unique opportunity to recognize the best wedding professionals across the US and Canada. We applaud {Enter Your Business Name} for their professionalism and dedication to enhancing the wedding planning experience last year.”

We are happy to announce that Party-Time Productions DJ's and Event Lighting is among the very best DJ and Lighting within the WeddingWire Network, which includes leading wedding planning sites WeddingWire, Martha Stewart Weddings, Project Wedding and Weddingbee. We would like to thank our past clients for nominating us to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011.

For more information, please visit our WeddingWire Storefront today at http://www.weddingwire.com/biz/party-time-productions-monroeville/63bee5c809a0a994.html

For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit www.WeddingWire.com.

About WeddingWire, Inc.
WeddingWire.com, the nation's leading technology company serving the $70 billion wedding industry, is the only online wedding planning resource designed to empower both engaged couples and wedding professionals. For engaged couples, WeddingWire offers the ability to search, compare and book over 200,000 local wedding vendors, from wedding venues to wedding photographers to wedding cakes. WeddingWire also offers an online community and a suite of cutting-edge planning tools for weddings, including wedding websites and wedding checklists, all at no charge. For wedding professionals, WeddingWire provides free online management tools creating the only market opportunity that gives local businesses control over their clients, reviews, leads and performance. Businesses that join the WeddingWire Network appear on WeddingWire.com and other leading sites, including MarthaStewartWeddings.com (NYSE: MSO), ProjectWedding.com and Weddingbee.com (both part of eHarmony), and Celebrations.com (part of the 1-800-Flowers family of brands, NASDAQ: FLWS).

Getting ready for 2011

Hello Everyone.

We here at Party-Time Productions are getting ready for a great year in 2011. There are some new and exciting things going on over here at DJ central, and we wanted to share a few with you.

First of all, we will be adding MORE lighting to our inventory, so you can book more up lighting and we can now handle three events with up lighting per weekend. Book yours soon, they are still solidly booking UP (No pun intended)

Secondly, we are going to offer much more in the way of creative interaction...Please ask us if you would like: The newlywed game, Singing dinner tables, who knows the newlywed couple the most...As well as other surprises.

Thirdly, we are going to be offering a SUPER HOT NEW ITEM sometime after February...Stay posted for this...You will NOT want to miss out on this new addition. We should have more info in January.

stay tunedfor NEW additions.

Stay tuned for some new additions:

Flip books

Photo booths

Interactive skits

More to come

Testing mobile blog.

the new trends in Weddings for 2010

Hello everyone!


Welcome to another addition of our Blog posting. I would like to go over some of the HOTTEST trends going on in the wedding industry today. There are many new and unique ideas out there and we just want to share some of these with you.





1. Decor lighting

With Decor lighting you can accent, highlight or warm up any venue! This is all the rage right now with Brides everywhere.

There is so much to offer with this unique way to decorate your room, add warmth and beauty and really give your guests the "WOW" factor!

We offer the area's ONLY wireless technology, and use state of the art lighting to offer you 1,600 colors to choose from! See our gallery on our website for more info.

2. Unique dances

"Rock the reception" dances, surprise "father / Daughter" pledges, First dance pledge, and of course the "Bridal party" routine dance are becoming more and more popular. Why not try something unique? Our favorite is the first dance pledge: We record a private message from the Bride to the Groom, and then record one from the Groom to the Bride. Each message is very short and sentimental...We then INTERSPERSE the recordings of your voices into your first dance song....What a memorable way to start your first dance as Husband and Wife!

3. Audience interaction.

This comes in many forms: Dinner interaction (Singing tables for you to have a kiss is very popular), Cocktail trivia about the Bride and Groom, as well as many Dance themes and interaction. Most Professional DJ services are now offering many options for you to choose from. Try a few!

Décor lighting…What is it?

Simply put, your wedding reception room can be surrounded in warm, beautiful lighting….

Décor lighting is used to ACCENT the room, while adding décor. Lighting will add a sense of beauty that cannot be described by words…Just look for yourself ...How would you describe the image above? Regardless of the words, your guests will be surrounded in beautiful lighting that you choose. We have a choice of 16 million colors to choose from!

Our lighting is state-of -the-art new LED lighting. Don't be fooled by the "Older" style lighting- Par can lights. These old style lights can generate ALOT of heat, and require alot of power...Some par cans are known to BURN too bright, or explode... Please do yourself a favor and ask what type of lighting is used...We carry ONLY wireless LED lighting...Specifically designed for this type of application. Par can lighting is primarily used for stage and live band lighting...and your choice of colors is limited to "Gels" - Pieces of plastic put in front of the par cans...

Check out our gallery page on our web site and see for your self what we can do to add to the beauty of your wedding reception...We can also light up you ceremony area as well...See our photos! Gallery link (Click here)
Hurry...these book fast!

Booking a DJ for your event

Professional DJ?
Part-Time DJ?
Ipod?
Cousin Vinny as my DJ?

Let's face it, you have many choices for hiring musical entertainment for your wedding.

Many of you may have heard my story of the "part-Time DJ"...And if you did, it is worth hearing again. (This is a true story)

I have booked a bride who was at her best friend's wedding. This wedding was in the Spring of 2008.

Here is what the Bride booked for her DJ: Someone who "Does this part time" , We will call him DJ Jammin' Johnny. (Not his real name)

DJ Jammin' Johnny charged this bride $700 to DJ her wedding.

He provided her with a two page planner sheet. He told her to "Fill out the information" and he would call her a week before her wedding.

The sheet contained basic information (names, times, and SOME music selections), but nothing more.

She filled out the form, and found to her amazement that there was no address to send it to! (Where does Jammin' Johnny LIVE?) After THREE phone calls, he finally returned her call and told her to mail it to his home address....She did.

ONE week before her wedding, he calls her to go over the info. She asked if he would be able to play all of her 30 or so song requests and he said "Yes". (Boy was she in for a surprise)

He showed up on her wedding day a FEW minutes late. He said there was traffic....(This is completely unprofessional)

He THEN:

1. Mis-pronounced a few names in the bridal party (He was unprepared...)
2. Did not play the few songs she had requested, as a matter of fact he only played 3 of them.
3. Was rude to more than a few guests who wanted to request some songs.
4. Started drinking alcohol (Completely unprofessional)
5. During the "father/Daughter dance" - He DISAPPEARED OUTSIDE to smoke a cigarette.

At this point, the bride was furious.....................

Oh, and by the way, he was wearing a white piano tie and red converse tennis shoes.......

This is the part-Time DJ that charges $500-$700 for your wedding.

The bride was in tears by the end of the night.

Ask yourself this: Did she REALLY SAVE MONEY? Or did she get what she payed for?

When it comes to your special day, hire a SPECIAL Entertainer..... You will be happy you did...Not in tears on the day of your special wedding.

Remember, you should hire the DJ that you feel CONFIDENT in, not the one you found at the lowest price...Best of Luck!

Play something FUN!

"Slide to the LEFT, Slide to the RIGHT, everybody clap your hands...." (Clap, clap, clap)

Ok...So you heard this song more than once...Imagine how many times WE have heard this song (Cha Cha slide)....Seriously imagine...I think I lost count after 900..........

So you want us to play something that you can dance to? Well let's start from the top...1,2,3,4

1. Keep your guests in mind when you choose music selections. It's very easy to pick out music you and your Fiancé' like, but what about grandma? What about Aunt Gertrude? What about cousin vinny who likes Disco? What about any kids who MIGHT like the "Chicken Dance"? I have been told that if I play certain songs, well I will get food thrown at me....By the Bride! Here is my advice: PLEASE keep ALL of your guests in mind when you pick out music...Yes you should do some oldies if the crowd will have some 40+ year olds, YES you should do the Chicken dance if there might be some kids (Even Grandma LOVES this one!)....Are you sick of hearing these songs? Probably, but remember: We are the professionals; we know what songs will work. In the end, however, it IS your event: IF YOU DO NOT WANT A SONG PLAYED, WE WILL NOT PLAY IT.

2. Choose a variety of music that will appeal to all ages. Remember, you want your GUESTS to have fun and remember how they DANCED all night long! "Wow, we had SO much fun at Amy and Bob's wedding......." We still get people from years ago telling us that they had a blast at a wedding We DJ'd YEARS ago........That, Miss happy Bride is PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!

3. Don't Piss your parents off. I did a wedding not too long ago where the Mother of the bride INSISTED that the "Electric Slide" was to be played...The Bride had put this on her "Do not play " list, and after Mom came up to the DJ (Hands on hips..."what..No Electric Slide"?) I directed her to her Daughter...in which a Battle erupted...and guess who won the battle?............MOM.

4. Let your DJ do what he or she does best: Play great music and entertain ALL of your guests for a fun-filled evening of Dancing. Give us the freedom and flexibility to play requests, go with the FLOW, and read the audience. This will relax all of your guests and encourage more people to Dance to a variety of music, rather than JUST ONE type of music. Again, this is what we do FULL-TIME!

So there you have it.....Something I feel is very important to both you and your DJ....The Music. Please feel free to also have a list of "Only play if requested" songs (Electric Slide, YMCA, etc.)...This will help your DJ in going with the flow....Again, to tell us that you will throw food at us if we play YMCA is OK.....I don't like to have food thrown at me so I won't play that song on your wedding day!

Welcome to Party-Time Productions Blog page.

We are proud to offer this to you, our valued customers. As you go through your planning process, please email us some topics you would like to see here. There will be many helpful party hints that we can share with you...All you have to do is ask us to share a topic with you.

As always, we will update this often....So please visit this site often to help you plan a great event!