Industry Secrets Made Public To Planning Wedding Couples!

Oodles of advertisements, promotions, “Best Of” contests, wedding websites with hundreds of Featured vendors and if you’re daring enough to Google or Bing “wedding services Michigan” the search will provide you with about 19 million results within a few seconds…Whew! Wedding promotions and referrals are flying at you faster than you can take it all in and ultimately, internet overload can provide the potential for overwhelm and possibly wedding disaster!

Planning a Wedding is a first time experience for more than 98% of couples shopping for wedding services.  With the understanding that most of you have never done this before, the Music Box Team has always believed that we have a responsibility to educate those we serve.

Providing Wedding DJ and Video Services to thousands of couples, we have heard too often things like, “We are considering Music Box because they are Featured Vendor on The Knot” or “The Videographer we hired is a WDIV Best Of Winner”.  The repetition of these comments made us realize that brides and grooms may believe that these advertisements, perceived endorsements or contest standings signify an awesome service to hire.

Nothing could be further from the truth! 
Take a look at this Wedding DJ’s attire & the presentation of his equipment…

Does this reflect a company that you think would be quality professional?  Would you like this DJ to act as a representation of you on your wedding day?  Well guess what… this DJ Company is the 2013 Detroit A-List, 2^nd place winner in the Best DJ category.

Oodles of advertisements, promotions, “Best Of” contests, wedding websites with hundreds of Featured vendors and if you’re daring enough to Google or Bing “wedding services Michigan” the search will provide you with about 19 million results within a few seconds…Whew!  Wedding promotions and referrals are flying at you faster than you can take it all in and ultimately, internet overload can provide the potential for overwhelm and possibly wedding disaster!    

Yes, advertisements can be a great resource when you begin planning your Wedding Day but these enticing, strategically placed ads do not provide the secret ingredients in the special sauce”.  In 60 seconds or 500 words or less, it’s impossible to discover the formula of how a Disc Jockey is going to engage your guest or how a Videographer is going to capture your love story & create an heirloom that re-tells the most important day of your life.

Make no mistake, wedding websites are focused on building an audience, making money and pharming your personal information rather than concentrating on the quality of the services they promote.

Websites like The Knot, Wedding Wire or Click on Detroit, etc. do not consider experience, quality, talent or the intangible ingredients that may be important to you as a bride.  Sales reps do not qualify Featured advertisers; if a business has money to pay, then they’re qualified!  Remember, the DJ Service, Videographer, Photo Booth and every other Featured Vendor you view is paying big money to be seen by you! 

Best Of Contests are not a good barometer of quality Entertainment, Videography or other Wedding services.  Annual contests such as WDIV’s “Vote for the Best”, Best of The Knot, City Voter’s Detroit A-List, Brides Choice Awards, etc. are contests of popularity rather than a contest of quality and excellence…      

To win by votes, participating businesses solicit anyone and everyone they have ever known to vote for them: their clients, parents, their parent’s friends, cousins, their cousin’s friends, aunts, uncles…. and many Wedding Businesses have even professed that they create fictitious email addresses and vote for themselves multiple times.  Basically a huge percentage of voters have never even used the product or service that they are voting for! 

Additionally, a company that services 500 weddings annually will almost always win over a smaller company that services 60 weddings each year, yet smaller company may be providing better service and overall quality.  Winning on volume is kind of like being like McDonalds – “Over 250 billion served” but that doesn’t mean that every Big Mac served was nutritious & delicious.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “this company must be jealous because they can’t afford that Featured vendor type of advertising” or “this company is just sore because they never win those Best Of contests….

Nope, that’s not the case!  In 1998, Music Box Productions was awarded one of the very first wedding awards ever given in Michigan and has been a winner or top finalist for every contest held since the award process began.  Annually Music Box is awarded “Best Of” from The Knot, receives “Bride’s Choice Awards” from Wedding Wire, in the top 5 of “Vote for The Best” and all the other like contests.  In addition, for over fifteen years, Music Box Productions has paid to be a Featured Vendor for Wedding DJ and Wedding Video services on just about every popular wedding website.

So what’s the solution… how do you make sure the wedding services you hire will deliver 100% satisfaction to you on your wedding day?

You live a full life.  You may be a college student who is holding down a full time job, you may already have children while going to school and working.  Life has many demands and moves at such a fast pace and now you are planning for one of the biggest days of your life. 

The Secret Formula…

• Slow down for a moment and breath (I realize this may sound silly but just give it a try).  Breath in and count to 6, hold that breath for a count of 3 and exhale on a 6 count.  Do this several times while completely clearing your mind of your hectic day, what you need to get done tomorrow or the phone call you forgot to return earlier that day.  Just relax.  In this state, your will be most resourceful and able to focus on one thing only – your Wedding.

• Determine your desired outcome.  Still breathing deep, close your eyes and imagine that, “you are celebrating your 1 year wedding anniversary” or that “you are reflecting on your 25^th anniversary.”
  How do you remember the day?  What was your walk down the aisle like?  Can you smell your bouquet?  Were you nervous when saying your vows?  What do you remember most about your reception?  Did you have a DJ or a Band?  Was your cake yummy? Did people dance?  Was it stress free and worry free? Did you fully enjoy the day?

     Take that in for a few minutes. 

• Discuss what is most important with your fiancé and your families

• Develop a plan on how are you going to make your vision a reality  

Plan to make good choices.  Plan to hire outstanding services.  Plan to have the Wedding Day that you want to remember.

Research and Education is key…

The best thing you can do to ensure Wedding success is to scrub the web for article topics like “How to hire an outstanding Disc Jockey for your Wedding Day” or “How to choose a Wedding Videographer?” This is a great thing to do for all the vendors you are shopping from the Florist to the Videographer.   

You will find about a million results and the state or country the author lives doesn’t really matter; simply disregard the information that is geographic specific.  Read several articles and look for the overlap of information that makes sense to you and than focus on the questions that address what is most important in achieving your desired outcome. 

Many website have FAQ sections which can provide a great deal of insight on things to look for.  For example, Music Box Productions has a fantastic FAQ page on what to consider when hiring a Wedding DJ http://mbproductionsinc.com/DJServices/FAQs
and MBP Films also have a great Things to Consider when hiring a Wedding Videographer page http://mbpfilms.com/faq

Online reviews is another great element to add to your research…

Feedback from couples who have already used the companies you are considering can be very insightful.  The Knot, Wedding Wire, The Wedding Channel and many other websites provide such evaluations. 

Once you have educated yourself including the average pricing for the quality you seek, develop your detailed plan and begin Wedding shopping!  Good luck with all of your wedding planning endeavors!

Contact Music Box Productions today to reserve Dj services for your Michigan Wedding!