Rock and a hard place.

JonesClan · January 2012

So I am meeting with the owner of a company I work for on the weekends. I am a wedding DJ/MC and work almost every Saturday through the summer. I am trying to figure out how much time I will need to take off to make sure I am not booked for a wedding on the day my child come. Keep in mind this would only affect things if the baby came on a Saturday.

So how much time should I block out for before and after the due date? This is the busiest time of year for us and we are already short handed. I would hate to be just sitting around on Saturdays instead of working and making extra money for our family.

As a side question to all those who are married. If you had a DJ/MC not show up to your wedding because his child was being born would it ruin you day or would you be understanding? remember this would be before most of us know what the joy of kids and pregnancy is and your wedding is the best day of your life.

pb&fluff · January 2012

As long as someone else showed up in their place and understood our plan and what we wanted to happen at our wedding/reception I'd be fine with it.

babiesbabiesbabies · January 2012

I wouldn't block off my schedule at all if I were you. DH is an ER doctor and he plans on lightening his load for the first part of August, but has let the company he works for know that he might need to trade shifts with someone. I only plan on him being there when the baby is born, but maybe not the day after. Luckily we have family near by.

If it was my wedding, I would be very upset if my wedding dj didn't show regardless of the circumstances.

delem · January 2012

That's a hard question to answer! Can they not find someone else to replace you if that were to happen? I follow a blog of a photographer who missed his baby's birth because he was at a wedding a couple hours away =( He and his wife were fully prepared for that to happen, though.

sassygirl4u27 · January 2012

Id be pretty upset if the MC/DJ didnt show up to my wedding. The music sets the mood of the whole wedding. And as MC you are supposed to be doing introductions and keeping the night moving along. Without music and an MC the reception is going to have problems.

If the person I was expecting didnt show up because they were in labor, but they set a replacement in their place who was prepapred for my wedding, I would be ok with that.

mellosweetie · January 2012

I would let anyone booking with you know that it is a possability you may not be the one showing up to DJ. That being said, you need to arrange for someone to be a backup in case this does happen on a Saturday. It needs to be up to the people booking whether to take that chance. It is a big day for you but it is also a big day for the couple that may be impacted.

morgs8384 · January 2012

As long as someone was able to sub in for you if you weren't able to DJ, I would be okay with it. Obviously, having no one show up to DJ at a wedding would be a problem.

As far as how much time to take off, that is up to you. It also depends if she goes early, on time, or late. My husband runs his own business so all along we had planned for him to take off an entire week once DS was born. Luckily, him as well as his employees were able to work ahead on things, so that he could take off that time. I did go four days late, which didn't help things, but in the end it worked out fine.

lea_ellis · January 2012

Unfortunately there is no way to prepare for the exact time that your child will come. Some babies arrive on time...others are weeks early or late. I would probably block off at least 3 weeks around the babies due date.

As for your other question, yes it would have ruined my wedding if my DJ didn't show up. While I would be understanding about his wife having a baby, I would be highly upset that they didn't have a back up plan in place so that my day went according to plan. I think that is something that you (the DJ) commit to when you agree to DJ the wedding. Hope this helps!

quezzo · January 2012

I'm a wedding photographer and as a professional in the wedding business, I would say it would be in very bad taste to not show up to a wedding and not have a back up. Having a baby is an important day in your life, but getting married is an important day in theirs.

I don't accept jobs around the time I am pregnant and if I already have one scheduled then I always make sure the bride will be covered. For instance, I have two wedding in July this year and I will be bringing an assistant plus a second photographer. You should always have the bride covered no matter what your circumstances are. This way, even if something happens to me during the wedding or before it, they will always be safe and not have to stress about it. It will help your stress level too knowing this.

Afterwards I would say at least six weeks. You never know how labor will go and if for some reason you have to have a C-section then your recovery time will be longer.

JonesClan · January 2012

I am definitely hoping my boss will be ok with having someone as a back up ready to go such as himself or his wife whom are both DJ/MC's. I know in conversations before he has mentioned that if for any reason you will not be able to work you need to block out the time so they dont book you for those days.

I hate the idea of loosing money that we are going to need (about $300 a wedding) for so long but could never miss my child being born and would never want to leave a bride hanging (guess the second Q was kinda dumb in retrospect). He just had a baby so hopefully he will be understanding and let me work as long as there is a backup.

lovebug33 · January 2012

I'd be mightily angry if my DJ didn't show up to the wedding reception. I wouldn't have an issue if you had explained the situation and then did all the meetings (we only had two) with the other person who might come in case something happened. I wouldn't be happy if you didn't just show up and then somebody else showed up. What if I didn't like them?

Mrs_Bennett · January 2012

Any chance you have a friend/coworker who could be "on call" to fill in for you??

I think that most people would be mad if the DJ didn't show for their wedding, although you would have a good excuse!

Nikko Blue · January 2012

As long as there is a backup who knows exactly what the couple wants, I don't see an issue.

byrne15 · January 2012

JonesClan:

So I am meeting with the owner of a company I work for on the weekends. I am a wedding DJ/MC and work almost every Saturday through the summer. I am trying to figure out how much time I will need to take off to make sure I am not booked for a wedding on the day my child come. Keep in mind this would only affect things if the baby came on a Saturday.

So how much time should I block out for before and after the due date? This is the busiest time of year for us and we are already short handed. I would hate to be just sitting around on Saturdays instead of working and making extra money for our family.

As a side question to all those who are married. If you had a DJ/MC not show up to your wedding because his child was being born would it ruin you day or would you be understanding? remember this would be before most of us know what the joy of kids and pregnancy is and your wedding is the best day of your life.

totally no good answer for this.... i have known people who have gone into labor from 32 weeks until 41 weeks.

i would be so incredibly pissed off. if someone else capable came in their place i would be completely understanding...if no one showed up, that is unforgivable.

vivianmc · January 2012

I would book until 3-4 weeks before you are due unless something comes up at some point in your pregnancy to change that. Can someone else just cover for you.

Honestly, if I was a bride I would be mad because I would expect the company to handle it behind the scenes and adjust accordingly. Not a bride's problem. I know that sounds harsh but like you said it's that girl's most important day of their lives up to that point.

babyike · January 2012

becky515:
As long as someone else showed up in their place and understood our plan and what we wanted to happen at our wedding/reception I'd be fine with it.

This exactly.

For scheduling on your end... I would at least block off the Saturday before and the Saturday after your baby's due date. And FYI, the average onset for natural first-time labor is 41 weeks and 1 day. Of course women can go early, on their due date, scheduled induction or c-section, etc... So for now, block them off. But also try to remain flexible as your wife's pregnancy progresses Yes

You literally never know when labor is going to start (speaking from experience) HTH!

Merried_2008 · January 2012

babiesbabiesbabies:
If it was my wedding, I would be very upset if my wedding dj didn't show regardless of the circumstances.

This and this is even after knowing the joy of being a mama. I know it is difficult but I feel it's better to be up front rather than possibly leave someone in the lurch

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