Speaker rentals in DFW / wedding planning topic

[its phillip]

Any of you DFW folks l have any experience renting some speakers/mixer/stands/etc? Doing some wedding planning and trying to find some good stuff for a good price. Some of the venues we are looking at do not require us to bring sound equipment, but others do and I'm just trying to gather as much info as I can. We won't be hiring a DJ because they cost too much

Alternatively, if any of yall know of a nice but inexpensive wedding venue (for around 100 people) that has as much stuff included for as low a price as possible that's good too.

We're strongly considering the Belltower or the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, but we are looking at a few other places. Most are out of our budget however ($5000 for venue/minister/photographer/food/etc).

I dunno why they charge so much more when the word wedding is attached. This winery (Lost Oak Winery in Burleson) we looked at charges $500 for a private event. Weddings start at $3500 and have basically the same amenities included.

 

[lsiberian]

How many are going to the wedding?
I assume a summer wedding if so don't do it outdoors unless you want to sweat like a stuck pig. There are a million churches that can host you if you shop around you can find a great venue for a reasonable price. On the west side for Fort Worth the Western Hills worship hall is excellent for a ceremony, but it may be too small for your needs as I'd not sit more than 120 in it. I'm certain they'd give you a very good deal. It has beautiful stained glass windows and a great center isle.

I recommend Ginny Stewart for your wedding cake I know her personally and she makes some of the best cakes I've tasted. She's highly professional and will take great care of you she can do a variety of other things you might need for a wedding. Seriously she's a great lady. I also know several great photographers my favorite is unfortunately living in New Zealand. If you want some names let me know.

For dresses avoid David's Bridal if you can they are a royal pain to deal with.

I don't know anyone who is currently a dj unfortunately. I guess I need to get a set of JTRs and a mixing board for you.

I do suggest you get a real DJ for the reception it really makes for a wonderful experience.

 

[its phillip]

We're looking at October (nice weather) for around 100 people. I'd like to get married and have the reception in the same place (not the same room, but in the same facility). I'm in touch with several venues and have looked at the websites of others and was discouraged by their pricing. Is this the western hills place you are talking about? Home - Western Hills Church of Christ They don't have anything on their website about weddings.

I'll see if I can contact the cake lady. Fortunately one of my fiancee's friends is going to be buying our cake

The one thing about great photographers that I've seen so far is that they are completely beyond reach of our budget.

I know DJs are nice, but also fairly expensive. We really aren't expecting too much. If a facility has a jack for us, we'd just hook up a laptop and start up a playlist or something. It'd be cool if you got some JTRs and a mixing board

 

[panteragstk]

There are a few places to rent equipment. Most DJ's (that are expensive) bring their own equipment. If you call a local Guitar Center they'll be able to tell you where to rent stuff.

 

[its phillip]

Yeah, I've found 3 places so far that do speaker/mixer rental and stuff, I was just wondering if anybody here had any personal experience with some companies.

I know good DJs bring their own equipment. I certainly wouldn't pay one that didn't have decent gear...but again, I'm not looking for a DJ

I should go check out Guitar Center. Unfortunately, the only one in fort worth is all the way down in hulen. Maybe next weekend

 

[ParadigmDawg]

You could avoid this whole mess by getting a couple of new girlfriend's.....

 

[ImcLoud]

Congrats on the engagement...

Last year one of my employees got married, they rented a local B&B {great looking place with a huge yard}, then hired everything out themselves.. No DJ, they borrowed some audio equipment and had the entire wedding on an ipad, they hired a local restaurant to cater the event, they had cameras at every table, they hired a photgrapher to just take pictures before the wedding, the food was very simple, everything was served in a beverage glass, they had a beer mug with mashed potatoes and gravy with steak, a martini glass with risotto and lamb, it was all really good food and way more than you could eat...

Anyway they did the entire wedding for 120+ people for around $3000!!! I was amazed since we could have fed a small country for a week with what my wife spent on our wedding....

 

[lsiberian]

I think it should be stated anything the bride wants within reason she gets. Check out mira vista country club if you want to do out doors. They have a nice setup. I went to a wedding there catered by Central Market with Ginny's cakes in May a couple years ago and it was wonderful. They had a fantastic outdoor area for a ceremony and a great outdoor area for a reception too. I'd plan to spend 20k on the wedding. If you come in under budget that's great, but things add up fast especially the hidden costs.

 

[its phillip]

I think it should be stated anything the bride wants within reason she gets. Check out mira vista country club if you want to do out doors. They have a nice setup. I went to a wedding there catered by Central Market with Ginny's cakes in May a couple years ago and it was wonderful. They had a fantastic outdoor area for a ceremony and a great outdoor area for a reception too. I'd plan to spend 20k on the wedding. If you come in under budget that's great, but things add up fast especially the hidden costs.

Our budget is $5000.

 

[Rickster71]

Our budget is $5000.

Congrats on the wedding.

That $5000 will barely cover the cost of the time machine to bring you back to the days of a $5000 wedding.

 

[ImcLoud]

Don't get discouraged Im sure you can have a wedding for $5,000...
Like I said, find a hall, rent the chairs and tables {a lot of times your church will let you borrow chairs and tables for free}, have your best man do the dj'ing {just pressing play and talking here and there, get the disposable cameras for every table, get someone to take your wedding pictures, buy a faux wedding cake and have someone make sheet cakes for people to eat with you, there are tons of ways to do it....

It doesn't have to be expensive, its just a party, I have been to weddings where the brides maids and groomsman did everything, they made the cake, the food, dj'ed, took pictures, ect. had the food as a buffet so didn't need any servers, ect...

I wish my wife would have went for that, we had 3 photographers, one that followed her around, one followed me around {before the wedding}, then one that took pictures during the wedding and after, then 2 videographers that filmed everything, I think it was around $12K in photography!!! Then the country club we got married in was over $100 per person, but we got a lot of stuff for free.... the cake was free {friend of mine owned the bakery that was his gift to us}, DJ was free {friend of mines brother is a pro dj}, the limos were free {friend of mine owns Elegant car service}, I already owned a tux {my dimensions are tough to rent, lol}, my wifes dress was a gift from a dress maker she went to college with {although she had to fly to TN to get fitted and then flew down to pick it up, would have been cheaper to buy one, lol}...

Shoot you can even get the rings for $20 His and Her Tungsten Set Silver Gold Black Wedding Band Celtic Mens Promise Ring | eBay a friend of mine that can afford any platinum/gold/ect diamond encrusted ring he wants bought him and his wife tungsten wedding bands, they last forever, I used to wear a tungsten band at work not to damage the ring I got married with...

Anyway budget the money correctly, don't start your life together in debt for a party that lasts one day, if you are thrifty you can come in under budget... Its gonna take some planning but its a lot better than wasting a ton of money, like I said if your fiance is good with it, go for it... I would have got married in vegas at the drive thru if she would have gone for it.. {I asked, and then took her silence and facial expression as a "NO"}


For DJ eqipment you can buy it for a lot less than you could probably rent it for..
http://www.amazon.com/GTD-Audio-G-622H-Professional-microphone/dp/B004443DZ2/ref=sr_1_8?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1391177725&sr=1-8&keywords=wireless+mic
then a pair of active speakers for a couple hundred....

 

[Rickster71]

Don't get discouraged Im sure you can have a wedding for $5,000........

Anyway budget the money correctly, don't start your life together in debt for a party that lasts one day, if you are thrifty you can come in under budget... Its gonna take some planning but its a lot better than wasting a ton of money, like I said if your fiance is good with it, go for it...

Good advice there.
It's a tough one, women have different expectations for their wedding day; very tough to be practical.

Aren't weddings different in the south than in North the East and West coasts? Aren't the traditions different, less formal?

We waste so much on weddings up here.

Would it be a possibility to have the ceremony with family and close friends; then at a later date, when you have more money saved have a big party?

 

[ImcLoud]

In the north east I have been to weddings that were at peoples homes in their yards {cost under $2000} and I have been to weddings that flew us {the wedding party 12 people not including the bride and groom} to Hawaii {all inclusive} after the wedding so we could all vacation together {wouldn't let us pay for a single drink!!!!}, their wedding had to cost $250k, The reception was at Rosecliff Mansion catered by some famous chef and his staff {I forget his name}, me and my wife were in the wedding party, they paid for EVERYTHING, my tax, my wifes dress, limos picked us up, it was insanely over done... I want to say there was 300 people there... The thank you gifts for the guests were baskets that had $100 restaurant gift cards {the grooms father owns a few restaurants} , Expensive candles, movie tickets {the brides father was president of a movie theater company}. Our thank yous for being in the wedding was the trip to Hawaii, we stayed in the mansion that night, the next day the limo took us all to the airport, and we flew first class!!!

It was a great time...
But expensive, and not to put a smudge on the silver but they were only married for 3 years, now divorced.... I wish they were still together, we used to have so much fun together, now we talk on line 4 times a year {the groom and I}....

I remember when they were getting divorced the Sarah {the bride} called me frantic because she had a problem at the house, so I sped over there {they lived 4 minutes away}, I pull up and smoke is pouring out of the house, she put the wedding pictures and tapes in the fireplace, and lit them with hairspray and a match, she didnt know how to use the fireplace and never opened the flue so the house filled with smoke!!!! The fire dept came and everything, I said "how much did them pictures cost"? and she said "20 grand"... lol 20K literally up in smoke....

Anyway, there are more important things than a big wedding, be happy and celebrate it with your friends and family.

 

[Alex2507]

Our budget is $5000.

That would go a long way in terms of audio gear. Just sayin'.

 

[ImcLoud]

That would go a long way in terms of audio gear. Just sayin'.

LOL after all a marriage licence is cheap, just tell everyone meet you at the local chilli's and go from there... look in the paper for a really fancy wedding announcement, go there on that day throw their photgraper $100 bucks to snap some shots of you guys, it will look super fancy, done...

the best wedding pics are simple, I like this one...

 

[ParadigmDawg]

My Niece was just married a few months ago. They spent ~ $40,000 on their wedding which was very nice...

My wife and I spent ~ $79 on ours. We are married...

My ring is Tungsten too...

 

[psbfan9]

Phil, have you considered an outdoor wedding? I know you guys have a lot of ranch, farm, hunting lodge type places down there. Maybe one of those places would be more affordable.

https://www.google.com/search?q=places+to+get+married+in+dallas+area&oq=places+to+get+married+in+the+DFW+&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.26196j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

Dallas Wedding Venues & Wedding Reception Locations - mywedding.com

Dallas Wedding Venues – Dallas Banquet Halls

My wife and I were married here;

Magnolia Acres | Florida Outdoor Weddings & Receptions At Victorian House And Gardens | Intro Page

It was the main house then the ceremony was performed in a gazebo by a lake. Simple, nice, and affordable. Maybe you can find some where down there that's similar.

Good luck!

 

[Adam]

I've been to expensive weddings, dirt cheap weddings, and those in between.

Expensive ones - cool because everything looked nice, the drinks were free, and the food was good. But, the bride would be more stressed out if something went wrong. "That cost a lot of money!" Now, granted that's a chicken or the egg thing - she probably wanted an expensive wedding because she wanted everything to be perfect in the first place. Eh, whatever. I mentioned that the drinks were free, right?

Dirt cheap - good because you didn't have to try and be all fancy and could just enjoy the people. If something went wrong, who cares? Hard to get mad at the photographer because it's just your brother/sister/best friend/checkout girl from the grocery store who agreed to do it for a beer. Flowers not perfect? Nobody will notice after the keg is tapped. And, yes, I've been to receptions that were essentially a pot luck dinner with a keg in the basement of a church - and it was fine.

In between - my advice is, either get a good DJ or don't get one. Some people seem to think that they need one for a wedding, but they can only afford a sh***y one, and it's worse (IMO) than just playing your own music. I can do without the inane banter, myself. Fire up a playlist, save some money, and maybe have the first round on the house. A buddy of mine had a cash bar and worthless DJ...hmmm, maybe the DJ sucked to get people to buy more booze.

I guess the bride remembers the wedding day forever, I don't know. I remember select things from weddings (which, sure, weren't my own). Hot brides maids (oh, sweet mother, some are hot), my sister-in-law dancing with me and telling me that my breath is fresh and that I should see a psychiatrist (quite seriously, mind you) because I was too scared to ask the hot brides maid to dance, and me making a best man toast that utterly unintentionally implied that my brother and his wife were having a shotgun wedding and got one heck of a reaction from the crowd/parents. And I didn't need a fancy wedding for any of that...just friends, family, and a bar.

 

[its phillip]

Got the venue. Booked a chapel owned by a local nonprofit. $2000 with no tax or service fees, with a bunch of free stuff

 

[ImcLoud]

sweet congrats... you are off to a great start...