As a Wedding Planner, we often help our couples with music for their day. We know that music can be an important part and sets the tone for many parts of the wedding. Since most people haven’t hired a DJ before, we talked with Steve Macke from Trustworthy Music about some of the most common questions we hear from couples.
With so many streaming services and devices, some couples are choosing to have “DJ Spotify” for their wedding rather than hiring a traditional DJ for their music. I asked Steve what the benefit was of hiring a live DJ vs. going the playlist route. He talked about how the DJ is an integral part in helping to keep some of the big parts of the day on track, as well as being able to read the crowd for music. Having a professional takes the pressure off of everyone, and most of the time by the time you rent a lot of the equipment and lights you need, it’s about the same price as a lot of DJs.
We then talked about music for the ceremony, which a lot of couples really struggle with making decisions on. Many times the ceremony music is one of the last things they work out, so thinking about it early will help alleviate some last-minute stress. Steve said making the music personal is important, and finding instrumental versions of that music is the best way to go.
The first dance is always a big part of the wedding day. In recent years, we have seen some couples move towards having it before dinner rather than waiting until the full dancing starts. I asked Steve what some pros and cons of this were from a DJ’s point of view. He points out a few reasons, but that one of the big pros with it happening right away after announcing the couple in, is that you already have a captive audience. One of the benefits of having it after dinner, is to help create an exciting piece to get people over to the dance floor. There are also cons to both we discuss.
With the dance part of a wedding, there are a lot of traditional dances that people do such as parent dances, bouquet or garter toss, dollar dances, etc. I asked Steve what he thinks are good additions to your dance, and which ones don’t work so well. He had a few opinions on both, but he emphatically said that the dollar dance is for sure one that is really a buzz kill and has a tendency to make people steer clear of the dance floor. He also notes that anytime you do any kind of special dance that doesn’t involve everyone, you are kicking people off of the dance floor, and then you have to try and get them back on, so keep that in mind when thinking about what special dances you want to do.
Finally, we asked Steve about working with a Planner or Coordinator helps them do their job better. He said having a Planner there not only lets them focus on getting the music and the lights ready, but it also means that they are coordinating everything with the Planner and not having to work with the couple on everything. With the Planner there, it’s just one person going to the couple when it’s time to go do the next thing, so they don’t have a bunch of vendors coming up to them all the time for different needs.
Check out the full interview below:
Photo credit: Whitley B Photography
You can find Trustworthy Music online at https://trustworthymusic.com/
Be sure to check out some of our other vendor interviews on our Blog for more great information:
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Content from Keyed Up Events, a Minneapolis Wedding Planner
