It’s the time of year when thoughts start turning to the long summer nights and grand plans are put in to motion. For the more adventurous, you might be planning a festival or outdoor event yourself. A rather daunting task and something that involves more work than you average indoor event. Indoor events have toilets, water, emergency exits and [Read more...]

As well as holding your own iPod wedding disco, many couples are now choosing to play their own selection of music earlier on during their reception meal. All you need for this is an iPod or laptop as well as a sound system and finely crafted playlist for your guests to listen to. Having done many receptions we are going to share some of our top tips to making your song choices a success.

Firstly you really need to think of the mood people will be in at the time. Choose upbeat positive songs to match the mood of yourself as well as your guests. Remember that there is a long way to go and you don’t want to be playing too many hits too early as there should be no repeats throughout the whole night.

Secondly make sure you don’t get caught short with songs in the playlist. Weddings rarely run on time so add at least an extra hour of songs to the playlist to make sure you have enough. With this in mind, leave your itunes on repeat so if you do come to the end of the playlist the software will go back to the start rather than leaving you in silence.

Pick songs that you both like. The day is supposed to be about you so don’t be shy about expressing your personalities. The worst thing you could do is miss a song because certain guests won’t appreciate it. Make the playlist represent who you are.

Lastly, try and keep the laptop or ipod hidden away. You never know who might decide they want to become the DJ.

If you have any questions or want to add a few suggestions then please just comment or use the contact form!

Star cloth is a great way to transform an otherwise ordinary room in to a modern, elegant area. Star cloth is perfect as a back drop to a top table or as a surrounding to a DJ or band. Sound & lighting hire companies such as Onion Audio can provide &  install star cloth for special events in Hotels, marquees and private venues.

When hiring star cloth, its advised to cover the entire wall with star cloth. If you require star cloth but don’t have the budget to cover a large area, Onion Audio can provide simple blackout cloth when required. This gives a great effect in the place you need it and makes the rest of the area work with the star cloth.

We regularly provide star cloth to large events such as weddings and corporate events along with led uplighting and table center spots. Onion Audio can provide lighting for events of any scale and are happy to talk about your option. Please contact us for a no obligation chat, visit the wedding ideas blog or the wedding sound hire page.

Holding your wedding over the festive season has some excellent benefits. It maybe a little cold during the winter months but sound & lighting hire companies like Onion Audio are here to give you what a summer wedding could never have.

One of the main benefits to a winter wedding is that when evening guests arrive you can light your venue to give it an amazing magical sparkle you could never have during the summer. White fairy lights look great when used to guide guests down a path or entrance way. You could also use them to highlight an arch way or the entrance to the venue itself. In a marquee fairy lights look great with ceiling drapes to add sparkle to the venue itself.

Sky trackers, a big spot light that is aimed at the sky looks great. Shooting light through trees or simply in to the sky can really dazzle guests as they arrive or socialise outside.

Inside, uplighters around the room work really well on white walls to create a warm atmosphere when dusk settles. You can have uplighers that fit or compliment the colour theme of your wedding. Wedding uplighters are affordable and scaleable so they can fit in with any budget.

Lighting trees and features outside is another way to add atmosphere to any area. Read our post on uplighting trees for more information and advise on what we could do for you.

At Onion Audio we can provide any lighting you require to make your venue look and feel amazing. Contact us to see what we can do for you.

If your planning on hosting your own iPod wedding disco, your own wedding band or just organising the whole event yourself, there are a few simple things you should consider to give your event a professional look. Onion Audio can provide all of the things we mention below.

We have spoken briefly about the basic things you need to host a DJ or band  (or a simple iPod connection) in our FAQ section. Here we are looking at the extras you may want to make the event look special.

Staging
This is often over looked at weddings. A small stage gives a really professional look to any band or DJ playing at your wedding. It helps act as a focal point and can be as high or low as you like.

Dance Floor
When hosting a wedding in a marquee the dance floor is often provided by the marquee company although Onion Audio do provide them when required. The dance floor gives your party style and encourages people to dance. Without it there is no clear place in which people feel comfortable dancing.

Uplighting
Marquees are often finished with white drapes which makes them perfect for uplighting.  Uplighters are lighting that is placed on the floor at the edges of the room. They face up and create a wash of colour across the walls. Uplighters are perfect at fitting in with any colour theme you have at your wedding as they can be any colour you wish. You could even have them as alternate colour throughout the room or changing colour through out the night.

Starcloth
When done right a star cloth back drop can be really effective. It helps define the area and helps create a party atmosphere.

Central Table Spots
Onion Audio can provide table spots lights that hang from the roof of the marquee and shine down to light table center pieces. This makes each center piece shine and makes the room sparkle.

Our advice to anyone looking to make their wedding special would be to find pictures of what they want and take them to your sound and lighting hire company. Let your imagination run wild and tell us what you want. You maybe surprised at just how easy it is for a sound hire company to create!

In our last article we looked at some of the common things to think about when booking a sound system for a wedding. In this article we will further the discussion and look at more of the technical terms and questions you may be faced with.

PAT
PAT or portable appliance testing is a test that determines if an electrical item is safe to use. Hotels and wedding venues often ask for the DJ or sound hire company to provide a PAT to prove their items have been tested recently. Most sound hire companies will have a PAT certificate they can give you or the venue upon request.

Public Liability
Similarly to the PAT certificate most venues will request proof of public liability from anyone working at the venue. Again most companies will have a copy handy to forward to the venue.

Power Source
Most hotels and venues have an adequate power supply for the rooms they provide. Some sound companies will ask you what power supply the hotel has. This is a question you should forward to the venue manager. What the sound company is asking is what plug sockets the hotel has. For smaller rooms most hotels may just have 13 amp house hold sockets. These are the normal sockets you find in your home. For bigger venues they may have a 16amp c-form socket, 32amp c-form socket or anything up to 125 amp 3 phase power. Basically the more ‘amps’ the venue can provide the larger the system  can be. For the most part a sound system providing sound for 150 people will have sufficient power from a 16 amp socket.

Marquee Power Supplies
If your holding your wedding in a marquee, power is usually  supplied from a generator. The generator is normally provided by the marquee hire company but its best the check. A sound hire company usually needs to know the sockets the generator will be providing (Similar to the sockets in the power source section) but they may also want to know how big the generator is in ‘Kva’. This is a measurement of power and the bigger the sound and lighting system is the more you need!

Look out for more information on wedding sound and lighting hire for marquees in a later post.