The One Where I Fire Our DJ... With 70 Days To Go...

Yes, you read the title right... I fired the DJ yesterday. I also hired another one... Let that be a lesson to you vendors... I do not need extra grief!

Didn't I sound all tough just then? Don't I sound all kinds of in control? Wanna know the real story? Here goes...

A year ago we hired this DJ for Allison's birthday party. He and his wife did a good job and came in at the price we had budgeted. He was a little too "I think I'm very hip" for my taste... There is something very wrong about a forty-something year old man in baggy sweats and a do-rag, but according to the photos on his website he cleans up for weddings. Also he was really good about playing the songs we asked for and not playing the ones we didn't want. He seemed like an easy choice for Katy and Jed's wedding... I called him a little over a month ago and he was free that day, so we booked him. He told us he needed a $200 deposit... I told him I saw that on his website too. I also told him that if he would wait until after the first of April I'd just pay him in full. (Please note that his website stated he needed a $200 deposit for all gigs 60 days before the event to hold the day... Now please note the title of this post.) He started calling me and asking for the money Monday... I told him I have a super busy week and would have more time to meet up with him towards the end of the week. He got a little snippy and told me he had to have his deposit in order to hold the date. I said, "Yo, dude... I know how this works." I actually said "I'm really sorry to ask you to wait, I just don't know if I can get together with you before Thursday night or Friday morning."

You see, I hate those kinds of phone calls... It brought back bad memories of the years we were in debt in our early married years. I hated those phone calls... I don't like that fast heart beat thing that happens to me... I felt like I was not paying up on a debt. When Paul came home he pointed out the error in my thinking... First of all, we don't owe him anything, he hasn't provided a service yet. If I don't pay the deposit the only consequence is he won't save our date...  So when he called back Tuesday I thought I'd be prepared... Nope, I turned into the same spineless jellyfish I had been the day before. Since he wanted the money in cash (he assured me he'd give me a receipt.) I wouldn't be able to make it to the bank and to meet up with him until Thursday. (Paul and I are sharing a car right now.) Again I got off the phone and felt horrible.

Fast forward to yesterday... I woke up with a migraine and ended up lying down on the sofa after Allie went off to school. Katy came in to say goodbye, she and Jed were going to take a load of stuff to the apartment, then out to lunch and then he was going to drop her off at work. I came out of my headache fog long enough to remember that it was Thursday and asked her if I gave her a check could she cash it so we could pay the D.J.? She said "Sure, but I won't have time to bring the cash back here before work." I told her that would be fine. About ten minutes after she left, he called... I told him I was sick and could get him the money the next morning. Apparently that was not good enough. He was going out of town for a gig early Friday and wanted the money before he left. I told him I'd try to get in touch with Katy and see if she and Jed could meet up with him. Long story short, she was out of cell range and I couldn't get in touch with her until she got to work and I got two more growingly annoyed phone calls from him in the mean time. I was a mess...

When Paul got home, he was not amused... He informed me that clearly this guy was having some sort of money issues and he no longer felt comfortable giving him the full $600 in fear he would disappear. In fact he said since both his website and the contract (which we had yet to sign and give him) said the deposit was due 60 days before the event, that would be when we would get it to him and not one day before. After he said this the phone rang again and guess who? Paul was too mad to deal with him in a Christian manner so I had to talk to him one last time. I told him what Paul had said (minus the money problems part) and that we would give him a check on the sixty day mark. He was not thrilled (to say the least) and I fired him. Yep, just like that... I told him we would no longer need his services, we would find another DJ and I hung up!

I felt like a thousand pound weight was lifted off of me. AND within an hour we had contracted with another DJ who has a better reputation and references and quoted me only $500 and offered us more services for that money! (HA)

Now about my other stressor... The RSVPs... Thank you for all your suggestions and encouragement... I may save Beth's "suck lemons" suggestion for a slightly bigger offence, but I do still have 70 days to go, so it may happen!
I have decided to speak to these individuals personally one on one and let them know the situation. I will also ask their help in letting other people know the situation. A lot of you were concerned about out of town guest's children. We didn't invite a lot of out of town guests. Of the few we did invite, most do not have young children. We did include those children with the invites, (Of the ones who haven't previously told us they can't come that makes five children.) We That would be a total of seven children under age 12 at the wedding. If everyone of our local and church friends brought their young children we are talking 57 young children at the wedding... Big difference!
One bloggy friend said she has taken her kids to several weddings, but they were all "children friendly" weddings. I don't know what that means... I have been to a lot of weddings and the ones with a lot of kids were always chaos. The only possible solution I could come up with was to plan activities for the kids, or as Paul suggested, rent a bounce house for them... Everyone temporarily got on board with that last suggestion, until I pointed out that we would still be over the limit that our venue allows. (Plus, what if it rains?) I really don't have time or money in the budget to plan activities for everyones children... Plus, again we do not have space or enough food ordered.
The downside of the above conversation...Now they my whole family want the bounce house, kids or no kids! Dorks! I told them I'd cut out the DJ to pay for it! Ironically at the time I said that, I had no intention of actually firing ours, but as soon as I did they momentarily considered having a friend DJ and getting the bounce house... When they realised they would have to rent a whole bunch of A/V equipment they decided it was wiser to go with the DJ... Do you know who was leading up the pro-bounce house side? Paul! Yes, my 45 year old husband would prefer a bounce house to a DJ! Welcome to my family!


Thanks for listening,