Engagement Season Primer: How To Begin To Plan Your Charleston Wedding

In case you missed the last episode of The Mike Bills Podcast (Episode 5), I mentioned that the Thanksgiving weekend was sort of the unofficial beginning of the engagement season. Between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day, upwards of 45% of all annual engagements occur. If you think you might become one of these lucky brides and grooms who expect to propose and say "Yes" this holiday season, then I would like to be one of the first wedding vendors to congratulate you. After you do say "Yes", don't panic. Please just take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. The man of your dreams probably just orchestrated the single most romantic moment in your lives and asked you to spend the rest of your lives together. You need to enjoy this moment to it's fullest before lifting any finger on your wedding planning. I've seen a lot of weddings over the years as a professional wedding DJ. I can assure you that there are lots of moving parts that make them the best days of your life. If you've spent just a few minutes on my website, my blog, or are intrigued by style from my podcast, then you have already begun to find out just how important it is to have the best mix of music is, as well as having the right wedding DJ for that matter. Should you decide to get married in Charleston in 2020 or beyond, I would love to be your wedding DJ.

I can assure you that working with ME will be one of the least stressful parts of your wedding planning process.  I keep my wedding DJ business simple. I'm an owner-operated DJ company focused on entertaining one wedding couple per day. Working with the owner of any company generally results in the best service because the pressure is on to provide top notch service and protect the reputation of the company. This is in  stark contrast to other larger wedding DJ services where you get subcontracted DJs who have no incentive to provide you excellent service because it's only another "gig" to them. I cannot stand looking at couple's wedding day as a "gig". I prefer to call it "their wedding day" and to provide an excellent mix of music that they will never forget. In this day and age, modern brides and grooms are more concerned with having a "quality", fun and modern wedding DJ who will keep the party going, and not play the same old cheesy, overplayed wedding songs.  This blog post will summarize some of my thoughts on what will make your wedding day the best and least stress-free. For a more in-depth post on what you'll get from me as a wedding DJ, click here for more reasons why you should hire me to be your DJ.



Pick Your Wedding Date
The obvious first decision after you get engaged is to choose which day you are going to get married.  Be sure to pick a date that has meaning for the both of you.  Are there any dates that are special between the both of you?  Maybe you'd like your wedding date to be on the first day you met? Perhaps you'd like your wedding date to be the day that you went on your first date? There are lots of sentimental reasons to pick a wedding date. Different days can also mean significant differences in price too.  Which season would you like to get married in? Spring and fall are two of the most beautiful seasons in Charleston to get married in. But truth be told, even the winter months are not too bad in the Holy City.  Click the following link for more information on popular wedding dates and ideas in 2020 in Charleston.


Photo Credit: Mike Bills Entertainment

Photo Credit: Mike Bills Entertainment

Choose A Beautiful Wedding Venue
Charleston has so many wonderfully, beautiful wedding venues.  I simply do not have enough time to mention them all, but if you click back over to my main website, you'll see some of my posts that I have published over the years.  For a wonderful historical feel to your Charleston wedding, you cannot go wrong with Boone Hall Plantation, Magnolia Plantation, and Middleton Place.  Charleston also has some of the most beautiful beaches in the country. Check out this post for a  five of the most beautiful places for a beach wedding.

The avenue of oaks at Boone Hall Plantation make brides all dreamy when they think of that famous scene from "The Notebook".

How Many Guests Would You Like To Be There?
Determining how many people will be there will be the first step in figuring how much this amazing day will begin to cost.   Small boutique-style weddings can be just as fun as the large weddings.  Who do you want to invite to the party? Getting a firm handle on how many guests are going to be there will be helpful in determining other needs like additional sound by your DJ.  Click on this post for a great (free) wedding planning checklist.



Develop A Vision For Your Wedding Day
Before he asked you to get married, how did you envision your wedding day? How important is music to you? Would you like to have a classy, luxury photobooth? Would you like to have a signature cocktail created by your bar service?  Your biggest expenses will be your venue & catering, so once you determine your head count, you can begin to add in some of the extras you've always dreamed about. 



Book Your Wedding DJ
The best wedding DJs and bands book fast and very far in advance. Since the entertainment is  the most important aspect of your wedding day, you should never leave it to the last minute. Listen to the Mike Bills Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and IHeart Radio to get inside one of the top wedding DJs in Charleston.  You'll see links to those podcasts near the end of this post.




Hiring A Great Wedding Planner / Coordinator
The investment in a top notch wedding planner or coordinator is one of the best investments you can possibly make for your big day. I HIGHLY recommend you hiring one. Let me say that again. "I HIGHLY recommend you hire a wedding planner." Doing it yourself will create unnecessary stress, especially if you are planning your wedding from far away in Chicago or New York City.  Hiring a great planner alleviates that stress because they help you with your vision for the day and have the ability to address every detail of your day and construct a timeline for the day.   An excellent wedding planner will become your best friend and allow you to enjoy your engagement with your fiance. Check out this link for even more reasons to hire a planner for your wedding.
Over the past several years, most venues in Charleston are now requiring a wedding planner after signing a contract. Some wedding venues do offer day of coordination from their staff for an extra fee. Charleston has some of the best wedding planners in the country, and if you need a few idea, please check out my preferred wedding vendors page. Your wedding planner will be a true professional at creating all the lists you need to plan and execute your wedding day to the fullest too.



ABOVE ALL: Enjoy Your Engagement And Love Each Other To The Fullest And Do Not Stress
Obviously if planning a wedding could be done in less than 1,500 words, it would be easy.  This post was designed to give you some quick, preliminary measures you might take after getting engaged. After doing hundreds of weddings in Charleston, the tips you see here are some of the things I've observed that work together to make your day the best ever.  Don't panic and rest easy! Review these items on this post and hold each other tight as you begin to plan the happiest day of your life.  On November 1, the Mike Bills Podcast was launched to allow me to reach prospective clients in a different way, with my voice.  At the time of this post, the 6th episode is in production and will soon be released. You can find a new episode each Friday at wherever you get your podcasts. You may click on the links down below to go and get all the past episodes. You can also find the podcast on IHeartRadio.

If you are interested in contacting Mike now and want to set up a time to discuss your wedding, click back to his main website and fill out a simple and easy contact form  I look forward to talking with you about being your wedding DJ here in the Holy City of Charleston, SC.