I never quite know how to handle situations like this but after hearing the same story again yesterday I figured this may make a good topic for the blog.
I was talking to a teacher I know who brought one of her athletes and students up to HCCC to tour campus (I work there fulltime during the week in case you didn’t know). We did the campus tour and checked out the library before heading into the campus store where we ran into an employee who started talking to us about a variety of things including her wedding. The teacher said something to her about making sure if you want to book Kenny do it early because she had a friend who wanted me to DJ their wedding and I had booked their date some 20 months out and wasn’t available for her friends.
I felt bad because I knew where this was going… Little did the teacher know that this person had inquired about my services and I already booked the June 2011 date in November 2009.
This happens on a regular basis. People I know call, email or inquire online about a date and I have to sadly say I am already booked and reference someone I know I can trust to do a good job.
It’s hard to say sorry I am booked but even harder to say sorry I was booked 18-22 months out from your wedding date. Some people aren’t even engaged or dating for that long and stand no chance of getting a date. As someone who recently planned a wedding I know how difficult or disappointing planning can sometimes be.
I don’t want people to think I am a sales person looking for the “big deal” when I say book early but the reality of it is if you don’t you may be shut out. For example, June 2011 has 3 of 4 Saturday’s already booked with other inquiries coming in for May and July 2011 on a daily basis. Same can be said for December 31, 2010 and January 1st and 2nd of 2011. People are looking, waiting and sadly disappointed when they found out they looked at the date, saw it was open and then waited to inquire, only to see the date was filled again.
This problem doesn’t apply to just my entertainment company. There are several solo operations and even a few multi-operations in town that have their premiere talent booked for key dates.
Remember most brides start out thinking about dresses, food, colors and flowers and wait til the end to book entertainment. The result can sometimes be disastrous! Spending too much money on the items listed above can mean you can only afford low end entertainment (you run out of money and have a great party with bad music) or worse look to have a great entertainer dazzle your crowd only to find out they are not available because you waited too long to obtain their services.
My advice is simple: inquire early. You can easily check my availability online by using the link to the right or the date checker on my web site: kennythepromoguy.com.
Thank you for reading this and have a great day! DJ Kenny The Promo Guy
