Some DJs just offer a ‘rustic’ booth, while others offer whole setups that fully embrace the theme. Either way, the reason for going down this route is often driven by what customers want coupled with a desire to stand out from the competition. “I work at a lot of rural barn and rustic tipi weddings,” explains Wayne Braybrook , “so it seemed logical to create something which would better fit with the brides’ theme instead of using the generic booths that everyone else is using to give me more of an edge over my competitors.” Also driven by a desire to stand out, Damian Kelly – who has offered a full rustic rig, including both a console and set of four podiums, for over a year now – used feedback from potential customers to inform his design. “I wanted something very different to everyone else and something that made future brides and grooms say ‘I WANT THAT’!
I invest a lot of time in attending wedding fairs and, while talking to the visiting future brides and grooms, I was hearing more and more talk about booking barn and farm type venues for their big days. One of my bookings was actually planned for a farmer’s field (weather permit - ting of course, but I did pack my wellies!), it actually turned out to be an amazing and beautiful day. But this was the kick start to my thoughts. I searched the internet for inspiration (and yes, to see if there was anyone else out there with this look).
But the actual material and structural idea came from a pallet yard I would drive past almost every day (but, may I add, this was not the source of the material used on my actual booth)!” While rigs comprising of truss plinths and clean-lined booths certainly fit the bill in modern function venues, they can stand out like a sore thumb in a more rustic setting. Iain Baker told me, “I was bored with my rig and frankly a little embarrassed turning up at beautiful venues (especially barns, we have a lot of barns here in Kent!) with my twinkle skip (a term coined by fellow DJ Harry Kilb to describe the standard starcloth-covered booths used by many DJs).” Wayne Braybrook's Rustic Booth Surround Iain feels that rustic booths and rigs appeal to a certain type of client, “Some couples are interested in emotion, about how things will feel, they want a relaxed atmosphere and for their guests to have fun.
But others are very visually-focused, and those are the ones who are interested in my rustic booth. When you ask the question, ‘tell me about your wedding day’ , they’ll either talk about feelings and emotions or how they want it to look. I think having something that looks different, taps into those couples – and brides specifically – who are particularly interested in how things look.” An early adopter of the rustic trend was Roger Knight , whose distinctive ‘Luv Shak’ setup was featured in a Pro Mobile article called ‘Get Creative With Your DJ Rig’ back in Jan/Feb 2018.
Since then he has continued to experiment with creating custom rigs and has recently debuted a brand new rustic setup. “I was first inspired to try and create a ‘rustic disco’ when I found the Wed Shed company online. Whilst they had gone down the festival route with a garden shed on a trailer, I wanted to try and create something that I could use at the majority of the venues I cater for as well as marquee weddings. So, I set about designing and building a disco setup that had a unique, shabby chic/rustic look that could be setup and taken down in a similar style to a traditional mobile disco.
It took me about five months and around £900 to transform my ideas into what became the original Luv Shack Rustic Disco, which after nearly three years in the market is still my most popular rustic disco set up for bridal couples looking for something to add a bit of WOW to their wedding celebration. Since I first built the Luv Shak, I’ve not stopped experimenting with different rustic, vintage and country disco setups. Above, Roger Knight's Original 'Luv Shack' Rustic Rustic Disco Rigjt, Roger's new 'Luv Rusctic' setup
