I researched and researched and researched DJ's for our wedding. At first I was hell-bent on getting a band because I thought all DJ's are cheesy. After realizing no band could possibly play our mix of music - old country, jazz, rock, little bit of a reggae - and do it well, I decided I would find a DJ that wasn't ridiculous. I spoke with about 10 people or more before I spoke with Live Oak DJ and I must say, I was losing hope. I'm not a fan of flashy, swirly lights that you buy at Spencers and I was very picky about what the lights and DJ set up looked like. From the start, Live Oak seemed different. They weren't cheesy, they didn't have uber cheesy pictures on their website of their DJ's and I decided to go with them.
I ended up getting matched up with Mike M because they thought he would be the most "our speed." It was a dream! Speaking with him on the phone right after I chose them just really made me feel so comfortable. He explained how the whole process works and what to expect and when to expect it. They even give you an account where you can plan out all your music, intros, special moments and make lists of songs you love, songs you like and songs you don't want anywhere near your venue - and they stick to it. I was very serious about not wanting YMCA, Macho Man, the Chicken dance and other such horrors played at our wedding. Mike was great, he geared everything to our tastes, which range quite a bit. Each song was hand picked and I had so many guests come up to us and comment on how great the DJ was and the music selection and that it all seemed so "us." A lot of times you go to a wedding and if you close your eyes, you wouldn't be able to guess whose wedding you were attending. With ours, everyone kept saying they just knew we picked every song.
We met with Mike a few times before the wedding to discuss our expectations and work up a timeline and even met another time to walk the venue. I didn't want to work with a wedding planner and I planned the entire wedding by myself with the help of the vendors. Mike was one of the ones that went above and beyond - he helped me tweak and perfect the timeline. We had a ceremony outside, he provided the mike, speakers and everything for out there, we had a cocktail hour inside the mansion- where he provided everything there as well and then we had the dinner/reception in another room of the mansion and he had a whole other set up in there. He really did a great job and had a seemless transition into everything. He helped keep the entire event on track and moving. The day of, as we were setting up - we were supposed to brief the ushers on when they needed to signal the music change for the ceremony and he decided it might be easier to have his wife come help and he asked if that would be ok. I said of course, and my goodness, she was lovely. She was dressed so nicely and helped the music stay on track for the ceremony and let the wedding party know when to walk and the spacing. Even in the reception she was running back and forth asking me if requests that people had would be ok to play. She was a dream to have! What a wonderful couple!
I was so worried about the lighting but he assured me they would be extra mellow and unobtrusive and he was perfectly correct. He did a great job of having a little bit of lighting that pointed on the floor of the dance floor and slowly rotated. It was perfect! I'm so impressed with how well he tailored everything to our needs and our tastes and he just exceeded what I thought was possible for a wedding DJ. Absolutely don't use anyone else but Mike. If you want a classy event, he's the guy to go with. He helped me pick ceremony music and had excellent suggestions and they were perfect for us. He then had the cocktail hour as an upbeat jazzy cocktail feel, dinner was a more mellow spanish guitar and some of our more mellow favorites and then he started out a bit slow and rock n roll/jazz on the dancing and as the crowd dictated he amped it up or slowed it down. He really read the crowd and went with the flow. It was amazing! I could really go on for hours but I would never feel like I did him justice. It was truly perfect. People are still talking about our music and it's been a month! Mike - I can never truly thank you enough. read more