I'm not going to lie, but I was a bit disappointed with some big deal things on our wedding because…read moreof our DJ. Matt seemed to have some great reviews that looked promising. When I contacted him, he had amazing communication, made great suggestions, and worked with me through planning, so I was hopeful about our big day. On the day of our wedding, he arrived at our venue early and made sure that his equipment worked, and he had a good "stage presence" because he was dressed for the occasion, which made us happy. He also did a great job following my created playlist for our ceremony, and he played everything on time.
On the other hand, during our reception, most names in our wedding party were pronounced wrong even though I put the written pronunciations of everyone's last name on our sheet, and I gave him a copy of this well in advance. He never asked to meet us in person or Zoom, nor did he ask us how to pronounce anything. He even said our married last name incorrectly as we walked into the reception, so I am happy we didn't have a videographer because that would have been embarrassing. My husband's brother and sister walked into our reception as the first bridesmaid and groomsman, and Matt called Jackie (my husband's sister), Jessica, so not only did he call me (the bride) Jessica but he also called her by my new married name.
During our reception, he was very nice to my husband and I, but he didn't really announce much and didn't say anything or update the playlist to get the crowd moving. As someone who has been to plenty of weddings after having mine, normally DJs will make flexible changes to get the crowd dancing and they will also say things to get everyone on their feet. Sure, there were certain times we had tons of people on the dance floor, but many times, it seemed bare. Many people told me they requested songs, but he never played any unless I personally went up to him and requested them; my mom even told him that she was the mother of the bride and wanted to play a song he never played. I did have a "Do Not Play List" of 2 songs, but I never said I didn't allow people to request songs, so that was very disheartening to hear. He also cut our first dance song and my father/daughter dance a bit too quickly before they were 100% over, which made me sad. I realize many DJs like doing this to save time, but he didn't ask us beforehand if we wanted that, and I didn't know that I was supposed to request the full song to be played. The dances all just seemed extremely rushed, one after another without any breaks in between, and they slowly faded right before he announced the next dance to start.
Although there were some things I would definitely change, there were some memorable positives, as well. His company was able to provide us with a photobooth, which was a huge hit, so I am glad we added that into our celebration, and it wasn't too expensive. He played many songs that were on the list of songs we asked him to play, and he was very nice when we actually met him in person. As I stated above, he did a wonderful job at our ceremony, the sound for everything was great, and he was professional with his attire and with how early he arrived. He was even flexible with staying a bit later when some of the timing changed, and his communication when planning our event and booking him was great.
