Wedding Ceremony & Reception Music Discussions

Unsure about DJ

I feel like I'm second guessing every little decision, haha. We're looking this early because we're in NYC and things book up fast. Anyway me and FH interviewed a DJ on Saturday, we're not dancers (but we are having a first dance), we hate clubs, we're not into the party scene but we want our friends to have a lot of fun. We don't like the typical DJ/MC that pushes everyone to dance whether they want to or not because we also have many shy friends, we also can't stand the look of spotlights, uplighting, gobos, fog etc. so basically we're looking for a non tacky DJ.

I think we found him, he's a upper middle aged dude (although age shouldn't matter) and we all got along quickly, we really hit it off with the fact that we're all into public service, he even does political activism (nice). He does DJing part time. I have an old school taste in music and he is an expert in this and knows about all the typical modern pop/dance songs that our friends would like as I saw in a mix on his website.
His partner is an expert in Latin music, perfect for my side of the family. Basically me and FH left the interview feeling great that he may be the one. We like his attitude about DJing (the music should do the talking), and he seems like a nice guy overall. Now my crazy bride side is showing up, he only has 4 or 5 reviews online with dates far in between despite being in business for 30 years. His website has plenty of testimonials though and handwritten letters scanned. All these reviews speak highly of him but I wonder why there's so few?
I'm worrying about nothing right? 
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Re: Unsure about DJ

  • I wouldn't worry about it. If he's been in business as long as he has, a lot of past customers may not even have thought to put a review online. 
  • I would ask him for recent references where you can call and speak with someone. Anyone who is reputable should have no problem coming up with someone in the past year.
  • MCmeowMCmeow member
    500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments Name Dropper
    Yeah true I think I'll do that. I hope we don't come off as paranoid or anything. Is this a common thing for people to do? @ernursej
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  • If it's any consolation, our DJ was the only vendor we worried about, even up until wedding day. No real reason, he just didn't seem super on top of things and we thought he might be flaky. He turned out to be one of our favorite vendors and we had lots of people tell us how much they loved him! Check references if it makes you feel better (I think that's fine), but you're probably good to go. 
  • Trust your instincts, interview, and the reviews you did find.  Some DJ companies have tons of reviews, true, but reviews and likes etc... can be managed and purchased also.  This guy seems like a perfect fit for you!  
  • Did you check Facebook? Has his company changed names? Does he have reviews on TK, WW, WB, Yelp, Google? Where did you find said 4-5 reviews besides his direct website?
    Did you check the Better Business Bureau too?

    Sounds like a good fit though! 
    ________________________________


  • MCmeow said:
    Yeah true I think I'll do that. I hope we don't come off as paranoid or anything. Is this a common thing for people to do? @ernursej

    I ask for references for everything. I would never hire anyone for any job without speaking to several other people about the work that has been done before. I also give back and after hiring someone or using someone for a job, if I'm happy, I will offer to give references for that person/business the next year.
  • MCmeowMCmeow member
    500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments Name Dropper
    Did you check Facebook? Has his company changed names? Does he have reviews on TK, WW, WB, Yelp, Google? Where did you find said 4-5 reviews besides his direct website?
    Did you check the Better Business Bureau too?

    Sounds like a good fit though! 
    I actually saw those 4/5 reviews on TK & WW & WB. They were pretty similar, which I think is normal because when I reviewed my bridal salon I just copy and pasted on different sites (The lady who helped me was amazing, I wanted to give her a good rep). I checked each one and they're real people that reviewed other vendors.  Not sure if he changed names, that's not mentioned anywhere.
    On his website he has plenty of testimonials (Maybe 10+?) plus scanned letters from couples, but I tend to not trust reviews directly from people's websites so I relied on sites like this. I agree I should go with my instincts and book him, my practical side stopped me though and I emailed asking for references, he responded and said definitely and will get them to me soon. Yay. That will definitely calm me down. Maybe I read too many wedding disaster stories and fear the same will happen to us?
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  • MCmeowMCmeow member
    500 Love Its Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments Name Dropper
    ernursej said:
    MCmeow said:
    Yeah true I think I'll do that. I hope we don't come off as paranoid or anything. Is this a common thing for people to do? @ernursej

    I ask for references for everything. I would never hire anyone for any job without speaking to several other people about the work that has been done before. I also give back and after hiring someone or using someone for a job, if I'm happy, I will offer to give references for that person/business the next year.
    Smart, if I were an employer I'd probably do the same. My bosses always asked for references but never followed through and used them haha.
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