Ian Stewart Blog

well todays blog is about my Friday,

Well we woke up at the usual time, with a couple of errands that we needed to do, so I looked after the paperwork that needed to be done, printed off the playlist for Murray's gig in the evening and left for an afternoon in Brighton, which has got to be one of my favourite places.

I had to return 4 LED uplighters that I had borrowed from a DJ colleague of mine, we arrived at lunch time, had a nice cup of tea, and a chat were we put the world and DJ industry to rights, then a short drive into Brighton, and a nice walk around the Lanes followed by a meal in the famous soul food restaurant (the one featured on the Gordan Ramsey show).

We then had an hours drive to The Faifield Halls, Croydon for the Main event, we saw the Mighty Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, I had never seen this band, and had always wanted wanted to see them. This was the opening night of their short UK tour and WOW what a night, all the classics were played;

Before I Let Go
Running Away
Back In Stride
Happy Feelings
Southern Girl
Golden Time Of Day
and of Course Joy & Pain

I no this blog is a little off from my normal work related musings, but I wanted to put on record what a superb night it was

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this has been a very busy start to the month for me, without much time to keep the blog upto day, where shall I start, well as they say the beginning is always a good place so here goes:

Monday 1st September
Now normally I only ever DJ on a Monday if it is a bank holiday, but today was an exception, after racing back from Ipswich the night before I was at Stock Brook Manor, in the Rosewood Suite, I had to arrive very early as the couple had also asked me to be their Master Of Ceremonies / Toastmaster, so I arrived at the venue at 11am, to make sure that I was all set before the bride & groom ariived at the venue.

We had a fantastic day and a lot of fun as well, you would not have thought it was a Monday the way the guests were partying.

This was followed by a day off for some welcome rest before returning to Stock Brook Manor on

Wednesday 3rd September

The Essex Chamber Of Commerce had asked me to help out on a breakfast meeting they had in association with the London Fire Brigade, so the alarm sounded at a time I did not know Excisted 5am, as I had to be at the venue for 6am, so I could have the speakers, microphones & projectors all set up, this was done in plenty of time to assist the Essex Fire Brigade with their presentation.

Thursday 4th September
This was a busy day with two disco's being booked at Stock Brook, in the Rosewood suite a DJ was required for a wedding for a lovely couple, and in The Banqueting Suite, a DJ and LED Colour wash uplighters requited to Support a Take That Tribute called "Fake That"

I DJ'd the wedding and Murray DJ'd the Fake That night, both nights packed to capacity and full dancefloors all round, but I had to be on my toes, as my PC crashed, but as I always have a back up with me, I just switched over so no one knew there was a problem, and the night carried on without interuption

Friday 5th September

Another Road trip, this time to Brentwood to a venue I used to work at years ago it used to be called the New World Inn, and back in the day I DJ'd singles nights there, but now it has the more elegant name of "De Rougemont Manor", this was really nice as it turns out I'd been reccomended by 2 very dear old Friends Richard & Michelle Smith, it was really nice to bump into them again.

Saturday 6th September
Back to my home, a Disco for a wedding at Essex's premier venue, Stock Brook Manor! this was for a bride I'd had loads of contact with, as since she had booked me for her wedding, she had reccomended me to quite a few of her friends, so as a thank you, i attended the venue very early so I could take some pictures to display on my Screen so the evening guests could see everything that had happened during the day, this went down really well.

I then returned to the venue for a 7pm start, so we could rock the party.

That night I also had 2 other DJ's booked out, Murray was at the REd Lion in Billericay High Street, and Colin in Hornchurch

Monday 7th September
this my normal paperwork day, so I started to raise invoices, prepare music lists etc, when the phone rang, it was the videographer for the wedding I did n saturday, telling me that he was very impresses with the look of my rig, and the set up, and allo the way I made everything happen at the wedding, I thanked him for his kind words, he then went on to tell me he was also the sales & marketing manager for a prestigious golf club just outside Suffolk, and would I be interested iin becoming the reccomended DJ for all their events, of course I accepted, and I have already received my first booking from them, for an event on 24th January next year, my 44th Birthday

Friday 12th September
Another Early start for me with a breakfast meeting at Stock Brook Manor for the Essex Branch Of The Institute Of Directors, for a talk from a very inspirational woman, who had become the quickest woman to walk unaided to the south pole, mad me feel like a real loser.

Then home for what I hoped was a little rest, but turned out I had to sort out a few deliveries of some new equipment, then off to Langdon Hills Golf Club to supply the disco for a 50th Birthday of an old Client, a new venue for me, and a very nice tidy small place ideal for functions of about 100 people

Saturday 13th September
Now I always new this was going to be a monstrous day, I even resigned myself to missing my 2nd home game of the season at Southend United, as I had to undertake project "LED Uplighter", which is a new think for me, where I can uplight the walls within any room or marguee to any colur you wish, have a look here I can even get them to flash in time to the music like this but this was going to be biggest job yet, 24 lights in one room, these were needed for an open day at Stock Book Manor on Monday, as I did not know how long it was going to take, I'd arranged with the bride in the room for my wedding on Saturday to have them in place and in return she would have free use of them.

So we arrived at the venue, a van full of lights cable and gaffa tape, this took Sharon & I nearly three hours, but oy was it worth it, the room looked fantastic.

Sunday 14th September
A chance for me to sell my wares, at Stock Brook Manors open day, I must have met with over 50 couples who all loved the disco and the uplighters, and many bookings were taken

Monday 15th September
Day 2 of the open day, this one was for all the brides who had already booked weddings at the venue, and a chance for me to show them exactly what I can do for them, I had loads of positive comments about the uplighters and disco, and once again many bookings taked, looks like 2009 & 10 are going to very busy years

Now the bank holiday has been and gone, and I think that I have recovered from what can only be described as one of my busiest of the year so far.

Probably best to start at the beginning, I'd had a few days off, so felt refreshed and raring to go.

Thursday I was the DJ for a wedding at Stock Brook Manor in Billericay, Essex in the Rosewood Suite for a lovely couple, and some really nice people. This night saw me playing quite a lot of slower songs, as they were really into their slow dances.

As I was back in the Rosewood Suite the next day, I was able to leave my disco equipment all set up for Friday's Disco

Friday A much younger crowd for this wedding disco, with the bride extremly nervous about the first dance, so after a brief chat, I reasuured her that I would not leave them dancing on their own for too long before inviting their guests to join them, it worked perfectly.

Saturday Now I had a bit of a road trip, as I had been booked to play the music for a wedding at Whipsnade Animal Park, so a trip up the M1 for me.

I arrived in plenty of time, and was even able to squeeze a short walk around the zoo, these were a couple who were really into their soul music, and knew exactly the music they wanted, as well as what they did not want.

I was asked to provide some music for the children at the event, so was more then happy to oblige, and played all the usual suspects, such as High School Musical, Bob The Builder etc, then we had the buffet followed by 4 hours of caister soul weekender anthems, to a complete full floor.

The next day I received a wonderful email from the groom thanking me for playing exactly what he wanted.

Sunday Back to my second home of Stock Brook Manor, for a wedding celebration in the Club House, a late start for this at 8pm, with a 1am finish.

As the weather was so nice, the guests spent the early part outside on the patio, but as soon as we called them in for the first dance, I had the crowd rocking.

It was also nice to bump into a couple who's wedding I had DJ'd at 8 years earlier.

Monday This was quite a full day, as the bride and groom had booked the Three Waiters to sing at their wedding breakfast, so they needed a full sound system, with 4 speakers, 3 wireless microphones, a mixer with reverb, and for me to sound engineer the whle thing.

So an early arrival at the venue to set up both my disco, and the extra sound system, I quickly drove Murray home who had been helping me set everything up, as well as his own system. Then it was quickly back to the venue for the sound checks, and to awaite the arrival of the wedding party.

So during the meal, the Three waiters interupt proceedings, with their superb mix of comedy and Opera, the wedding party were amazed, the sound system was then used for all the speaches as well.

Then while the staff got the room ready for the evenings party, Sharon & I quickly removed the extra sound system and then turned the music up for the party in the evening.

I gave out about 7 or 8 cards, and have already received a call from 1 bride who has booked me for her wedding next August at Crondon park.

Tuesday Now I don't DJ that many weddings on Tuesdays, and this wedding was a pleasant surprise, the bride had picked 50 songs thae she wanted played at her wedding disco, I managed to play all but 4 of them, as I was also taking requests from the guests, and what a night, these people were CRAZY and danced all night, what a fantastic crowd they were

Wednesday was a day without a disco, but it did give me an oppertunity to catch up on some paperwork, and also visit the DJ Superstore to buy a new mixer that I had my eye on.

That was 6 disco's in 6 days, all completly differant, but with the same result a romm full of happy faces

What a great weeked with three tottaly differant weddings

Thursday because I was the DJ for a wedding in the Banqueting Suite at Stock Brook Manor on the Monday of this week, and there were no conferance in the room on Tuesday or Wednesday I was able to leave all my equipment set up for my thursday wedding, as Hannibal used to say "I love it when a plan comes together" So the evening started with me driving my son Murray to the De Rougemont Manor, as he was the DJ at an 18th Birthday Party there, we dropped him & his equipment off, then set off on our journey to Stock Brook Manor, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, I was met outside by the Toastmaster, we had a brief chat about timings of the firs dace etc, we then informed the photographer, videographer etc, however as with many good plans, there was a fly in the ointment, at the start time we were all in position ready to start, looked up and could not see the bride & groom, after a quick search the photographer had taken them outside for a few more pictures, not a problem, we just adapted and waited for them to finish, then the Toastmaster introduced the 1st dance, to raptuous applause, and as a complete surprise to all their friends and family they did a perfect routine to (Ive Had) The Time Of My Life from Dirty Dancing. This was followed by an evening of some of the best dancing I'd seen for a long time.

At the end of the evening, we had to move the equipment onto the stage, as Fridays wedding wanted me on their, then a quick drive to Brentwood to collect Murray

Friday Another Disco for a wedding at Stock Brook Manor in the Banqueting Suite, the only differance from the norm, is that I was on the stage, and set up in the middle of the room.

I'd had a lot of chats with the couple over the past 12 months, so new exactly wahat they required, a mix of old party classics, and some top tunes from the 80's which I was more then happy to provide, once again another great night with some real party animals

Saturday This time I was providing the wedding entertainment at Stock Brook Manor, this time the Rosewood Suite was the room, I set all the equipment up the night before, so there was no disruption to the event when I turned up later in the evening.

These were a little more reserved with a majority of the guests a little older, but I persviered with them, and one them over with a packed floor