Shopping for wedding vendors is a stressful experience, and Sound By Design didn't make matters any easier for us. We had to wait more than four weeks to get an appointment at a time that worked for our work schedules, though Dylan was very friendly and personable. He asked questions that were more than just the surface queries about music styles and the venue, and we enjoyed the meeting. Having met with other DJs previously, Sound By Design came in a bit higher than the other quotes, but we really liked the overall vibe. We asked if they could match the price of our other leading vendor and received no reply. At all. I fully expected to hear that they don't negotiate their prices insert generic policy language here, I did not expect to be ghosted by the company like a bad Tinder date. For argument's sake, let's say that the interwebs failed and they did not receive the email in which we inquired about negotiating on the price. In that scenario, wouldn't Dylan have reached out after not hearing from us? His line of questioning had us with the impression that the personal connection was important to Sound By Design, but I fear that is just lip service. In the end I went two stars since their lack of answer made a potentially difficult choice that much easier. read more

We hired Sound By Design for a photobooth and specialty lighting at our wedding. The photobooth is incredible, amazing lighting and high quality images that look professional. The photos can be texted to your phone and there is a viewable online gallery that can be accessed by anyone with the link and you can see every photo saved. I love that I am able to look back on all of our guests photos! My only complaint were the props provided but I was told it was a coincidence. We specifically told our planner we loved Michael Jordan and that Space Jam is our favorite movie but ended up having props from the new Space Jam and a bunch of Lebron props. We are not Lebron fans so we quickly got rid of those when we noticed. No biggie though. I docked a star because we had paid for specialty lighting after the dinner and we had to track down the coordinator for this because they didn't switch the lights over. The lights were supposed to be multicolored throughout the venue and change to the beat of the music but they didn't start this until a while after dancing had started. We had to actively search for the vendor coordinator to figure out what was going on. We thought the stage lighting was supposed to change too but they kept those lights normal and bright and then eventually changed the rest of the venue's lighting. Overall, I definitely recommend the photobooth but if you have specific props you want, maybe coordinate that better with the vendor. If you choose to hire them for lighting as well, establish a timeline and plan for it so you get the most of what you are paying for without any hiccups. read more

Never used this service and never will now considering one of their vans rear ended me and totaled my car. You guys are lucky I wasn't hurt and my kid wasn't in the car. If you want dj's who drive recklessly, these are your people. read more

After having been to plenty of weddings with mediocre dis I knew how important a good dj was to me and sound by design and Mateo were fantastic. They seamlessly provided music for the ceremony, cocktail area and reception and really got the vibe I was going for especially for the dancing portion. They were also great about keeping us close to our timeline and reminding us we need to start speeches/the first dance soon. I got so many compliments the next day on the dj from guests and they definitely kept people dancing all night. I also appreciated the prep meetings. They walk you through the process and make sure you have every chance possible to ask questions. The only slight flaw might be the usability of the music selection portal (no auto-save?!) but even there I loved that they had top songs to peruse for every event of the night and they were totally able to accommodate songs that were not on their list (we had a Scottish ceilidh). If I ever needed another dj I wouldn't hesitate to book Mateo again! read more

My husband and I got married on August 23rd, 2019, and we could not be happier with the suite of services Sound By Design provided us with for our special day. They came highly recommended from friends of ours as well as provided DJ services at my sister's wedding two years ago where they also did not disappoint (the dance floor was never once even close to being empty, and the bride and groom were happy to hear every song they asked for played). For our wedding, we used SBD's DJ service, lighting, and photo booth, and each service made for an impeccable night. The lighting was perfectly placed to showcase the cream city brick in The Pritzlaff. The photo booth was a hit with everyone--young and old. We got to take a photo booth album home with us the very same night, complete with notes from guests, which allowed us to capture some of the funny/sweet moments that happened after the photographer left for the night. Our DJ, Nathan Moore, was so on top of every last detail both in our meetings and emails leading up to the event and in coordinating the logistics on the day of. He really listened to and understand our taste in music and played all of the songs we wanted to hear, while also paying attention to the crowd at the moment when discerning which song to play. We both highly recommend Sound By Design for any event that requires any of the services they provide. The entire team is professional yet approachable, responsive in communication, and does everything they can to make sure the night is absolutely perfect for the bride and groom. Thank you to Nathan Moore and the entire SBD staff for playing a vital role in making our day run without a hitch and for providing the entertainment to keep the party going all night! read more

We worked with Max for our wedding who was amazing! He met with us prior to the wedding and we were able to discuss our vision for the wedding. Max was so fun throughout the night, even though our crowd wasn't big into dancing he still kept the party going! He would frequently come out onto the dance floor and dance with us and was always singing and dancing behind the booth, we loved it! SBD was awesome to work with and we were so lucky to have Max as our DJ, he truly made my fiancé and I feel special and was so chill and fun!! read more

My husband and I used Sound by Design for uplighting and a projector at our wedding. Communication leading up to our event was top notch! They were prompt with their replies, friendly and confident in their work and abilities, which made us feel very comfortable going with them and their suggestions. Come the day, the crew that came in to set up was very friendly as well! They came up with a clever solution to help a vision we had about a video montage projected up on the wall come to life. And pin lights so our chefs at their stations wouldn't get lost. Along with uplighting through the whole space to create a mood we were going for. It all SHOULD have been perfect... and this is where my review gets tricky. I am not sure what happened or who should have been on top of these two things that unfortunately takes away from all the hard work SBD put in... the video montage was not set up on repeat, so after one time through (after about 30 min) there was a big blue square up on the wall for the remainder of the night. The video was supposed to be repeating for three hours until the end of the event. I didn't notice right away and was way too busy and distracted to get my planners attention to get that fixed. The second, and this is a big one, is that the overhead lights never got turned off. The uplights were washed out and the room felt way too bright. We did not accomplish the mood we really wanted for our event. I unfortunately didn't notice until the end of the night. And looking back at pictures, though beautiful, are so so bright. Breaks my heart, but hopefully this is one of those things that only my husband and I notice. Thank you again Sound by Design for your professionalism and sharing your talents! I am sorry things didn't go as perfectly at my event as you set up to be. read more

This is how you get the party started!! From the moment we met Paul at a bridal show in Milwaukee, to the initial consult and the actual night of the reception the entire production was flawless. Sound By Design is the most professional wedding DJ service around and is hands down the only way to go. Paul arranged the total package for us including lighting, formatting, music set up, MC service, etc. Sure they aren't the cheapest in town however you get what you pay for and they are worth every penny. We have received so many positive comments about the DJ as well as music selection. We supplied a laundry list of songs of which every single one was played and the DJ even kept the flow of the night moving and the dance floor was never empty. State of the art DJ and entertainment package. This isn't some rinky-dink plug and play DJ with strobe lights and a disco ball...no offense if you like that sort of thing. Highly recommended!! read more

Josh with Sound By Design and The Atrium is the best! He made our wedding the very best day and better than we could have ever imagined. He played all the best music and kept the dance floor full all night! Countless people have told us it was the best playlist of any wedding they have ever been to. I 100% recommend Sound By Design and Josh! read more

The Sound by Design team was fantastic and so easy to work with. Our DJ Mateo kept the dance floor packed until the last song. Their process of matching DJs based on our music taste in their portal was super easy. One of the most asked questions after our wedding was what was the playlist we gave our DJ and we give all the credit to Mateo. He was very professional and great to work with and even mixed songs together for my father daughter dance. I would definitely recommend Sound by Design to any couple looking for an absolute party on their wedding day. read more

The owner and many of the employees are nice and accomodating, however, my particular DJ was very difficult to get a hold of before my October 2013 wedding. He made a couple of nice personalizations, but I felt like he did not keep the dance floor hopping and the energy definitely dropped. Additionally, I asked him for a list of the songs he played during the reception. He told me he could provide me with this no problem becuase the information was in his computer. However, he never sent it to me. I asked for this information multiple times, and my DJ, as well as the owner, told me they would send me the list. I have yet to receive it. For this kind of service, the package is certainly overpriced. read more

Paul (the owner) was the DJ for our wedding on 7/26/08, and did a fantastic job! The dance floor was packed all night, and I can't think of a single technical glitch the whole time (they also did the A/V for our slideshow). As we were planning the wedding, Sound by Design was the only DJ that other wedding service providers (hotels, photographers, etc) recommended. It was definitely worth the price, since a bad DJ can ruin a wedding reception. We're going to a wedding in September that Paul is DJ-ing, and definitely looking forward to another of his performances... read more

Ray was our DJ and he was amazing! He helped us pick a grand march song based on our music tastes (we had no idea what to do), coordinated all the speeches with family, wedding party, and with our officiant, and was just an all around a great guy to work with. We had people dancing the entire night - and he even played an encore last song after our guests began a "One more song" chant :) We also used the photo booth and lighting services. The full room uplighting was beautiful in our venue (Cuvée) and went from a warm glow at dinner to color changing with the music during dancing. The photobooth guestbook is such a great keepsake - one we have already looked (and laughed) at now several times. Can't wait to get the website link to see them all! All in all, Sound by Design was excellent and made the day run smoothly. So happy we chose them! read more

We loved Sound by Design! Ben was our dj and was absolutely great! Very professional, easy going, and did a wonderful job with some of our European traditions. The dance floor was packed the whole night! We highly recommend this vendor and especially Ben! read more

Sound by Design does an amazing job and I highly, HIGHLY recommend working with Joe (Joseph DeBroux, in case there is more than one "Joe"). He was really nice, super smart, flexible, accessible, and down to change things on the fly when I (the frazzled bride) changed my mind a few times last-minute. He was also chill about brainstorming or just taking things off our hands when we needed him too, which is really nice when you're in the last stages of wedding planning and feeling overwhelmed. When I asked him too corral people for speeches and let them know what was happening, he did that and announced them during what he judged to be appropriate times during the dinner (I just couldn't deal with it). He was perfect. He also just has great taste in music. While my husband and I were pretty firm about what music we wanted for the ceremony, we felt too busy as the date approached to come up with specific songs for the reception (and input them into the Sound by Design's rather confusing website - they are a fantastic company but when it comes to your song requests, you have to input them in detail (Artist, Album, Song) press send, and then go back to the main page to input another song). Joe was completely laid back and told us to go ahead and send him any songs we wanted via email, which was a lot easier. When we told him what kind of music we liked (in really vague terms: top 40s and old school pop), he nailed it and got us and everybody else dancing like crazy people after dinner. Basically: I've been to a ton of weddings and Joe was by far the best DJ I've experienced thus far. read more

Sound By Design is simply top notch! They did the chair rental, up lighting, photo booth, and DJ services at my recent wedding. Everything went like clockwork and helped give my wife and I a stress free reception. The next morning, everyone we talked to mentioned their sore feet and knees from dancing so much. I can't think of a better compliment for our DJ Dylan, than having done such a great job that our guests danced until they hurt. Awesome job Sound By Design and Dylan! read more

Sound by Design was wonderful until we had to cancel. They will not refund your deposit. Consider this when booking a wedding during a pandemic, we lost $400. Ask to remove that from your contract or consider waiting to sign them until you are sure and it's much closer. read more

From the second I met the crew at Sound By Design to our last song at the wedding! They killed it! Nate was our Dj and he listened to what we wanted and we had so many compliments about the music! We had the photo booth as well and it was a total hit!!! I recommend 100% as they created a wonderful day of us!! read more

Sound By Design - We loved Nate!!! - DJs Near Me - Shorewood, Wisconsin

the best wedding DJ + lighting service in Milwaukee! Ask for Parker, he's the best!!! ;) read more

David did a great job blending hits form the 90's and today with Salsa - Merengue and even some polka! Hhahaha What a great blend of cultures, and it was flawless. I have been to a lot of wedding, and this guy was good. His assistant was funny and complimented us. People thought they were old friends of ours or something! ahah Oh, and if you are thinking of doing the photo booth, they have one of the best setups I have ever seen. The book we got at the end was the frosting on the cake. So cool, great conversation piece, gave the guests an opportunity to be creative and personalize the evening with their thoughts and sentiments. It gave us such a wonderful window to how much fun our guests had. You can't be everywhere at once. Thanks again SbD!! The Daughertys read more

My husband and I were married on January 12 in Chicago and had the time of our lives thanks to DJ Ray and his team. Leading up to our wedding, we met with the Sound by Design team twice. Both times, they truly listened to what we wanted for our wedding and executed it perfectly. Ray was so professional and kept everyone dancing all night. I don't think I left the dance floor. We can't thank Ray and his team enough for everything he did for us on our wedding day. read more

Sound by Design did the lighting for our wedding and they were incredible! They really worked miracles! They had chandeliers hanging from tall trees and ensured that our wedding tent looked incredible! On the night before our wedding there was a terrible rainstorm that collapsed our tents. The SBD team went above and beyond! They ran over to help us hold up the edges so the pool that had collected on the tarp wouldn't dump onto the ground and offered great advice and support throughout the day. Our philosophy going in to planning our wedding was that we would only deal with vendors that we liked and these guys were among our favorites! They were sweet, knowledgeable, extremely helpful and flexible and they do great work! We loved everything about working with them and the end product! read more

My wedding was held at the Pfister hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I am a laid back, hiking, biking kinda gal, but my DJ quickly turned me into a bridezilla. I corresponded with Parker, my DJ, mostly over email since I was planning the wedding long distance from Texas. I asked for the instrumental versions of my favorite country songs as our 200 guests waited for everyone to walk down the aisle. The Pfister has a very romantic and historical vibe, so the instrumental versions would be a soft background music while my guests waited. Parker told me (via email) that he could take care of this request with no problem. I was absolutely HORRIFIED as I lined up with my bridesmaids when I heard the actual country songs with the words being played. It sounded the beverly hillbillies just arrived for a fancy wedding they could not afford. I spent a lot of time pasting links of the exact versions I wanted and it didn't matter. I was so mad and embarrassed that I wasn't even nervous walking down the aisle. I picked a special song to be played the moment I kissed me husband for the first time. I kissed my husband, we waited, the crowd cheered, we waited, and I had to turn my head and LOOK at Parker desperately trying to get him to play the song! We were down the steps already before the song started. Coming into my reception, I pulled Parker aside and asked what the deal was. He said he was sorry, that he wasn't able to find the right versions of the songs I had sent him links to. When I asked why he did not call me and TELL me that, he just stared at me and said he was sorry. Cherry on top of the whole experience.... he says "Now, Christina, your dad Bob will give a speech during what point after dinner?" I died. I said, "Well first of all, my name is Christie. my dads name is Robert, so please make sure you know our names before you talk on the mic to my whole family." I can understand that Bob is a common nickname for Robert, (Nobody ever has called my dad that though) But I'm the bride. How did he not know my name?? Planning a wedding out of state was difficult. I was as descriptive as I could be. If I could lend any advice, you MUST hold their hand through the whole process. You cannot be too detailed with these guys, they will not give you what you ask for unless you literally draw them a map. Something will always go wrong at a wedding, if not several things. Nothing is perfect, but the DJ that we paid a good amount of money for his expertise, did not even know the brides name. Inexcusable, unprofessional, and something I will never forget. read more

I hate to be leaving a bad review, because the owner is so nice and friendly! We unfortunately had a bad experience with our DJ, Scott. We had a meeting scheduled with him about a couple weeks ago. We are from Chicago, so we had already gotten a hotel room to stay in Milwaukee so we could meet with him. He canceled our meeting the day of and we had no other time to meet with him. We talked over the phone and things seemed to be ok. I sent him a timeline and songs we wanted for each part of the wedding. I did send him multiple timelines but the last timeline was the complete updated one. At the reception, it was very disorganized. He stopped the flow of things multiple times to come up to the head table to talk to us, which caused awkward silences. Once the speeches and first dance were over, things were better. The only other thing that was a bit weird was that the dj's were almost pushing us to announce our last dance. Scott came up to both me and Chris multiple times starting around 10pm asking when we want to start closing up. I thought it was clear that we wanted him to be there until midnight? But he insisted that they had to get back all the way to Milwaukee that night. I was very disappointed with the music that night. Honestly, it was the only thing that I was upset about during our whole wedding. read more

My husband and I could not happier in our decision with SBD for our wedding DJ on 1/11/2020. Sound By Design did an impeccable job making the dance floor the place to be on our wedding day. Ray, our DJ for the evening, did an outstanding job at making sure the songs on our "do not play" list were skipped, and played every "must play" song on our list. My husband and I had high standards for our DJ, as we love music and dancing, and SBD nailed every aspect. We had specific preferences on music for the whole evening, and Ray made sure every preference was met. We had a last minute change in music the night before our wedding, and Ray promptly made the changes without hesitation. We could not be happier in our decision of choosing SBD for our wedding. read more

Nate from Sound by Design was incredible to work with! He was so professional and listened to every little detail. He was so polite throughout the evening too and made sure that we were comfortable and happy the whole night. He played all of the music we asked for and then some! The transition from the outdoor ceremony to the indoor reception was seamless...not a beat missed! We got so many compliments on the music afterwards. Seriously, the best night! Thank you, Nate!! read more

I am sorry to be writing a bad review because the owner, Paul, is a very nice person, and he did not personally DJ our wedding -- one of his employees did. But wedding DJs are expensive, and for that amount of money you expect to be able to give some input about the songs that will played and not have just a generic cookie cutter wedding experience. When we met with Paul, I specifically asked him if we could submit a very large list of songs, and the DJ would choose from within that list. He said yes. Then when a specific DJ was scheduled to work our wedding, Paul gave me that person's email address so we could correspond in advance. I reiterated to our DJ that there would be a list of songs to choose from, and he should play from within that list -- not from outside of it. He said that was no problem. Now, I know I'm being a bit of a control freak here, but if you don't agree with me, please tell me, "No way, crazy lady! We aren't going to play your *entire* wedding off a list you choose!" Don't just nod and smile and say yes when you have no intention of doing it. I'd rather you decline our business than refuse to provide what we are asking. By this point, you can guess what happened. The reception starts, and the first song isn't from the list -- nor is it even a song we like at all. OK, fine, things happen. But the second song also wasn't from the list... same deal for the third song. At that point I went over to the DJ booth and asked for a specific song from the list. I ended up spending most of my wedding reception breaking away from conversations to go and tell the DJ what song to play next. We had put quite a bit of time into selecting songs from a variety of genres, many more than could actually be played during the duration of the reception, to allow the DJ to gauge the crowd and play fast or slow songs, new or old, depending on what people responded to. Sound by Design has a very easy-to-use website for entering your requests... but in the end, it didn't matter one bit! At least if they had told me, "No, we don't use playlists," I wouldn't have wasted my time adding all these songs in the very busy week before the wedding. Music is very important to us and we were disappointed not to have more of our "special songs" played. Also, for our first dance, instead of taking 5 minutes to track down the radio version, the DJ played what I can only assume was the album version, which had an excruciatingly long intro that lasted perhaps 45 seconds, leaving us out there on the dance floor wondering if this was even the right song, and our guests wondering what the heck was happening. Come on! read more

SBD did a fantastic job with our wedding! We planned our wedding from out of state, and they made it very easy to set things up from out of town. Everyone was very professional and easy going, which definitely helped to take out any anticipatory stress. Parker did a great job keeping us on track and keeping the dance floor packed. I continue to hear praise from friends about how much fun the evening was, which I give a great deal of credit to our DJ! We highly recommend them to anyone planning an event. read more

I completely understand that finding the right DJ is a very nerve racking task - or that's how I felt. I wanted to make sure we had a great DJ that kept the dance floor packed! Parker and his co-DJ did just that! They totally made the whole night great with fun music - mostly everything we requested and some surprises that got everyone on their feet dancing! You should not feel worried if you book SBD for your wedding. They do an amazing job - as the bride you don't want to have to organize or do anything the day of your wedding and Parker did his part to make sure it was stress free for me! We also added the up lighting at our venue and it was a total hit! Definitely recommend that from SBD!! I have to give Torie a shout out as well - he really helped me feel at ease when deciding to book - he probably thought I was some crazy nut job with all the questions I had, but was very patient! And also... Josh and David as well for keeping me in the loop with other things along the way! All in all we were totally impressed and would recommend SBD to anyone :) read more

Sound by Design was great! We met with them far in advance and they walked us through the entire process, making everything easy and stress-free. Their professionalism and service was second to none. They have a great website with individual login where we could submit our song choices, which was really nice. Also, they were extremely responsive to all of our questions, getting back to us in a very timely manner. On the wedding day, our DJ Joe was perfect! Everything went very smoothly! He was so kind and accommodating to last-minute changes and requests. He really put our minds at ease on the big day, making it a truly enjoyable experience. He even went the extra mile and was stopping by our table to see if we needed anything (offering to take a drink order!). Our dance floor was full the entire time, and Joe was a huge part of that! We received many compliments on the music. A BIG thank you to Joe and Sound By Design for making it such a memorable evening! read more

We used Sound by Design for DJ, Emcee, Videography, lighting and Photo booth services, and they went above and beyond to make sure our big day was the best it could possibly be! We had Zach as our DJ and he was extremely thorough, helpful, and fun to work with. He helped the day run smoothly from before the ceremony through the last song of the night, and kept the dance floor packed the whole time! Torie from SBD not only officiated our ceremony, but he also Emceed the whole evening! He was flawless on the mic, and helped keep everything light, fun, and upbeat just like we wanted. Tony was our lead Videographer and he made us feel very comfortable, and encouraged us to just be us and the video will write itself! Him and his team were there for the entire day and didn't miss a detail! The photo booth was a huge hit for all our guests, and the personalized album they created for us is an amazing keepsake of memories! Sound by Design also provided several different lighting options to help customize our day. They provided string bulb lighting over the bar, had uplighting on all the pillars, and even designed a custom monogram of our names/wedding date which was projected on the floor of the venue. They were really able to understand our wedding day vision, and execute each aspect! From start to finish, in each service we got from Sound by Design, they excelled and exceeded our expectations. We would highly recommend them for all their services to help make your wedding as great as ours was! read more

As a wedding photographer I've been to numerous weddings with Sound by Design and I can honestly say that they are the best DJ's in the area. Super friendly, professional and the play great music! read more

Did not provide what was advertised. If you want a run of the mill DJ for twice the price, this is it. They promised a personal touch with a "must play list" but did not deliver. We were told our DJ would contact us well ahead of time, but we had to make great strides to contact him. We were told that if they did not have access to songs that they would ask us for copies, yet they played the wrong song for the mother son dance. They played only a few songs off of our "must play list" and when they were asked to play more off of it did not. Not worth the money. read more

Hands down the best DJ we could have had at our wedding. Tyler was awesome and our guests raved about how amazing our reception was because of the music. The dance floor was packed all night long. 100% recommend. read more

Josh met with us twice before the wedding. He allowed us to customize each detail, and enabled us to use our own announcer for part of the reception. The lighting was outstanding as well. I highly recommend. read more

I am part of a chairity event called STRUT that has used Sound By Design for the past 3 years; as long as the event has been around. They are fantastic to work with and we wouldn't want to use anyone else. The event is a fashion show, so quality A/V and lighting is essential and they have never let us down. Everyone we have worked with there is personable, accommodating, and flexible...even with the limited budget of a non profit event. Each model walks to a specific song, and they are cued up perfectly and the transitions are smooth. I would highly recommend! read more

We worked with Torie before the wedding and had initially only signed up for DJ services but then ended up going with lighting as well. We were blown away by the quality of Sound By Design services accommodating to our every need and want. The lighting was perfect and the music flowed very nicely with what we requested and what the crowd was ready for. The dance floor was full until the venue kicked us out! The DJs even looked like they were enjoying themselves during the wedding :) read more

Sound by Design is a very professional and high quality business. We were really impressed by their services and the program they use to create their playlists so that we could personalize what we wanted to hear. The up-lighting they use was really nice too; much classier than crazy laser lights. D.J Ray was very accommodating and had great music ideas. He kept the party going at our wedding reception! read more

Sound by Design did our wedding on Saturday and they were amazing! They were very responsive prior to the wedding and on the wedding day they took care of everything without needing any help from me or my wife which took some of the stress of us. The dance floor was absolutely packed all night and it was due to their awesome music choices. They made any announcement I asked for very quickly and accurately. Can't recommend them highly enough! read more

John with Sound by Design did your wedding this past Saturday and did an amazing job! The were incredibly friendly, accommodating, and read the crowd very well. They also had great equipment that sounded great! I highly recommend them! read more