Fullerton, California, USA
"But don’t all DJ’s do this?"
Wouldn’t it be nice if they did? You could just hire the cheapest one out there! The reality is there are few true professionals who approach your wedding with the care and attention needed (I typically need 30 to 40 hours to prepare for each of my client’s weddings).
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What’s the secret to keeping a party dancing all night long?
The number one rule for your wedding DJ play list is to only play about 3 songs from the same genre in a row. That's it! That is the FIRST rule when building your client's music play list for dancing.
I know, it sounds too simple but it is what will make or break the dance floor. If you think I'm crazy and decide to play more than 3 songs in a row of a certain style, you won't realize that the guests who dislike that style will start to wonder if the rest of the night will be all that kind of music. 3 songs come out to about 10 to 12 minutes of music. This is a good length of time for a dancing set, especially when dealing with older folks (like myself!) who are tired after dancing to two songs.
When the music switches up to a different genre, those who were dancing go get a drink and rest up while those who like the new type of music will take over the dance floor. If you run into the "problem" of no one EVER leaving the dance floor, thank your lucky stars!
Be aware of making gradient transitions. This means mixing through like genres. For instance, going from oldies and Motown into disco isn't too jarring and can go quite smoothly. Think Respect by Aretha Franklin then going into Got To Be Real by Cheryl Lynn. These two songs are close enough in BPM and can actually be beat mixed. You've seamlessly transitioned from Motown to disco. From there, you could go into some mainstream Top 40. There's about 30 to 40 minutes of straight up dance music.
At this point, you could slow it down with a love song or even do some good old rock and roll. You can then restart the cycle.
As always, there is an exception to this rule. You can get away with playing 5 or 6 songs from the same genre if you know how to mix out of each song early. And I mean 2 minutes into the song. As you can see, it's more about the amount of time your guests are subjected to a certain style of music, which is about 10 to 12 minutes, and not about the specific number of songs. If you go over that time, you will run into problems and you will most likely have guests heading out the door early.
How would you describe your ‘style’?
Fun, Unique, and Memorable! My "style" is "your style!"
Now, this “describe your style” section is curious, because what I do is never about me. It’s about you, the happy engaged couple. It’s about your parents and your wedding party and your friends and family and your ringbearer. Sure, it’s important to know that I’ve been planning and DJing weddings & receptions for almost two decades and all my clients have been more than thrilled with how their receptions turned out. But, unlike a lot of DJ’s, I don’t make your reception about me. I don’t turn into “DJ Clown” and pass out toy guitars & funny hats. I also avoid the Chicken Dance, the Macarena, the YMCA, and even played out disco like Celebration and Brickhouse–but, again, this is about you so if that’s what you want–please leave now. Of course, I’m kidding–and I would be thrilled to help you build a wedding day that’s exactly how you’ve always dreamed it would be.
I add a lot of fun and unique touches to your reception so your guests feel involved–that is, they feel more like a part of your day instead of a by-stander.
When we incorporate your ideas and dreams, your friends and family will notice and enjoy themselves even more. I’ll go over these unique ideas at our first consultation.
Hopefully, you’ve already seen me at another reception. If you haven’t seen me, I’d love to show you what I do when we meet. If you’ve already seen me in action, you already know all of this “my style” stuff. And you also already know that it’s not about me . . .It’s about you.
What do you love most about your job?
Getting reviews like this makes all the hard work worthwhile:
We couldn't have been happier with James! He truly is amazing and amazing and what he does! Four years prior, we saw James dj at my maid of honor's wedding. She had a few issues with her onsite coordinator, but James took care of it all! Her wedding reception was so fun and my then boyfriend and I knew that when the time came to hire a dj for our own wedding, we knew who to call! James was the first vendor we hired!
Like another yelper mentioned, James really was like having a second coordinator! I'm a pretty organized and anal person, so I knew we were in good hands when he started busting out worksheets and google docs for us to fill out and share! (He speaks my language!!)
He is skilled in coordinating and is also ordained... We had a "small" issue where my officiant got the times mixed up and ended up being over 45 min late... My coordinator and James handled the situation very well and calmed me down and prepped for James to handle our ceremony in the case that he did not show up at all, rehearsing the special bits that we planned with our officiant. James was all ready to go...and then the officiant showed up! It was a relief to know that had we needed him, he was prepared to step into that role as well.
James was professional, punctual, and the heart of our reception. He even helped my father put together a small video for "Wedding Advice" from long standing married couples in our families. He truly goes up and beyond his call of duty of what one would expect from a wedding Dj--But that's because he truly is more than that. We have been to one too many weddings where the djs sucked--where they didn't watch the crowd, played what they wanted, and/or barely spoke the entire night. James involved our guests and involved our court. The whole thing was truly interactive! Prior to the wedding, he drove to our place in Hollywood three times for in person meetings on collaboration for our big night. We went over songs, special events, time lines, AND even ceremony line-ups! James provides worksheets and live links to sample music and is extremely easy to work with. His attention to detail not only speaks to his professionalism, but also the pride he has in his occupation.
During our reception, he kept the momentum going, and worked seamlessly with our coordinator to move the night along and get us where we needed to be on time (physically and figuratively), especially since we were now behind nearly 55 min!
People kept asking all night, "Where did you get your dj?"
Our guests were laughing. Our dance floor was always full. And we were having an amazing time! All signs of a successful wedding... Thank you, James for making our event so memorable for us AND our guests!