Nope, we’re not talking about those last-minute, uninvited guests who are hovering around the bar to make the most of your bar tab - we’re talking to Dean from The Wedding Crashers, specialists in all things entertainment, sound, video and production! These guys are the experts when it comes to wedding entertainment, and will make your day as stress-free as possible, from their pre-event consultations right through to getting your guests up and dancing to those ‘must play’ songs.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE WEDDING CRASHERS - WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN?

It all began with a pair of turntables, a box of 70's & 80's records, a pair of speakers and one party light....9 years ago. It was then that the Wedding Crashers were first formed and started to provide DJ services for the local wedding market, and boy, have we come a long way since then!

WHAT SERVICES DO YOU OFFER?

Year-on-year we have expanded our service offering in response to our couples' requirements and the industry - we now offer a super-tight package of services covering DJ & entertainment services with sound & lighting hire for the whole event. Our video team has recently joined us too which made perfect sense, and now we provide a complete audio/visual & entertainment package.

WHY WOULD YOU RECOMMEND GETTING A VIDEOGRAPHER?

Video is now commonplace across social media and in the hands of most people now with a smart phone. Increasingly our couples wish to record their wedding day experience, and because The Wedding Crashers are providing the tech behind the sound, microphones, room & party lighting, it is just another small step to provide video production service too. That way we are a single, coordinated provider that can bring the elements together and produce a tight video. Our team has the latest camera gear, drones and lighting equipment so the wedding looks AMAZING on film!

WHAT’S THE BEST FIRST DANCE SONG YOU’VE BEEN ASKED TO PLAY?

We get asked to play all sorts of wild and wacky first dance songs - the best one, hmmm, that would have to have been a 7-minute long multi-song edit we did for a couple that ended up being a full-on interpretative dance routine ending in a flash-mob! They wanted to make a splash and they certainly did that!

FAVOURITE GO-TO SONG TO GET PEOPLE ON THE DANCE FLOOR?

We have a number of what we call 'party starters' - songs that are guaranteed to get the d-floor going...songs like Uptown Funk, Blame It On The Boogie, I Gotta Feelin', Wagon Wheel, Dancing Queen - it's the old-school, instantly recognizable songs that do the trick!

DO YOU COME UP WITH THE PLAYLISTS, OR CAN THEY BE CUSTOMISED?

We have what we call 'Wedding Crasher authorised playlists' which we have developed over the many years DJing weddings but every couple has different requirements, and every crowd is different so we 'read the crowd' and of course, take requests from the couple and their guests. We use our new Suggest-A-Song cards now which is a cool card in the shape of an old-school cassette, and the guests can print their song suggestions on there, which is a bonus activity for the guests as they are having dinner.

BEST STORY FROM THE WEDDINGS YOU’VE ATTENDED?

We perform a lot for couples returning from overseas and we do a lot of multi-cultural weddings - we love the cultural aspect of performing for diverse groups of people which include Indian, Pacific Island/Maori and people from all over the world. We often work in music from our couples' homeland and we get to see other great cultural dances and customs shared with the Kiwi guests.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?

Meeting people is always a lot of fun, and people at weddings are generally there to have fun and support their friends and family - but the true fun of the job is entertaining a crowd - putting a smile on people's and making them dance. Kiwi's love to dance and let loose, and that is the special skill of a wedding DJ - to make that happen for a diverse, multi-generation crowd (not an easy thing I can tell you!)

Want to know more about The Wedding Crashers? Check out there Facebook page here or head over to their listing!

Wedding Music and the Wedding Crashers