Have you ever thought DJing was just about hitting 'play'? Prepare to have your mind blown as we peel back the curtain on the world of wedding and event DJs. Our latest episode takes you on a playful yet enlightening journey through the realities of professional DJing. We start with a role-play scenario that'll make you think twice about undervaluing the craft. You wouldn't pay your IT pro based on how fast they click, so why shortchange the DJ who sets the rhythm of your most cherished memories?
Turns out, the secret sauce to an unforgettable wedding isn't just in the cake—it's in the beats and the person spinning them. This session spirals into the heart of what makes a wedding memorable, with a special nod to the fierce female DJs shaking up the industry. But it’s not just about the music; it's about the entire vibe from the moment guests arrive to the last dance. We share stories that highlight the DJ’s role as mood maestros and last-minute event coordinators, diving into the nuances of reading a room and the underestimated art of a well-timed playlist.
Wrapping up the discussion, we reflect on the perils of DIY DJing—after all, your wedding isn't a trial run for Spotify’s shuffle feature. We recount tales of dance floors gone quiet and the painful silence when the playlist ends too soon, all to underscore the value of investing in a professional. Whether your budget is champagne or sparkling water, we advocate for allocating funds to ensure your wedding entertainment hits the right notes. Sit back and let us spin this session into your playbook for planning an event that resonates with the joy of a perfect mix.
Have you ever thought DJing was just about hitting 'play'? Prepare to have your mind blown as we peel back the curtain on the world of wedding and event DJs. Our latest episode takes you on a playful yet enlightening journey through the realities of professional DJing. We start with a role-play scenario that'll make you think twice about undervaluing the craft. You wouldn't pay your IT pro based on how fast they click, so why shortchange the DJ who sets the rhythm of your most cherished memories?
Turns out, the secret sauce to an unforgettable wedding isn't just in the cake—it's in the beats and the person spinning them. This session spirals into the heart of what makes a wedding memorable, with a special nod to the fierce female DJs shaking up the industry. But it’s not just about the music; it's about the entire vibe from the moment guests arrive to the last dance. We share stories that highlight the DJ’s role as mood maestros and last-minute event coordinators, diving into the nuances of reading a room and the underestimated art of a well-timed playlist.
Wrapping up the discussion, we reflect on the perils of DIY DJing—after all, your wedding isn't a trial run for Spotify’s shuffle feature. We recount tales of dance floors gone quiet and the painful silence when the playlist ends too soon, all to underscore the value of investing in a professional. Whether your budget is champagne or sparkling water, we advocate for allocating funds to ensure your wedding entertainment hits the right notes. Sit back and let us spin this session into your playbook for planning an event that resonates with the joy of a perfect mix.
Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Clever DJ with Ilia and Nino.
Nino:
This is episode number 19.
Ilia:
Number 19! So do you ever talk to clients and they're really lowballing you? I know you do.
Nino:
We know you do.
Ilia:
Yeah, because I mean you're just a DJ, I mean what are you really doing?
Nino:
You just play music, right You're just pressing buttons.
Ilia:
You're waving your hands in the air like you just don't care. But honestly, yes, the skit is a little cartoonish, but this is pretty much what we're talking about. You'll get the idea. Yeah, hey, I just saw your content online your videos and stuff. And we have a wedding. We need a DJ. How much do?
Nino:
you charge for your wedding?
Ilia:
uh, sixteen hundred dollars oh, that's a little steep.
Nino:
Sixteen hundred, that's too much for this job, you think so yeah, how much do you think it should cost then?
Ilia:
off the top of my head 500 bucks, 600 bucks max. I mean you're not doing much, it's I mean, man, you're just playing music.
Nino:
that's what you think, but uh, it can't do it for that little man, sorry.
Ilia:
Oh, dude, people in your line of work, you guys are a little greedy. I spoke to a bunch of DJs and all you guys are trying to charge over $1,000, $2,000. I mean, you're just playing music.
Nino:
I'm sorry you feel that way, bro, but why don't?
Ilia:
you just do it, then you know what, at this, this point, I'm thinking about it. But you know what? I don't really know how to do all this stuff yet I mean that's why you need me.
Nino:
But okay, let's. Uh, I'll teach you then for 300, all right, but um, so you can save 13001,300 and you'll have knowledge to do a wedding DJ, another gig, if you want, right In the future.
Ilia:
All right, if you think we can do it, that's actually pretty worth it, let's do it. If that's all I need, yeah, let's go.
Nino:
Yeah Well, hold on a second. That's not all you need. You need a decent laptop, a microphone, some lights controllers, a mixer, possibly speakers, a portable hard drive and some other things you know.
Ilia:
I don't have any of that stuff.
Nino:
Well, I can help you out. I can rent my stuff for you for 500 bucks.
Ilia:
You're still saving a good amount All right, let's do it 500 bucks Deal.
Nino:
Okay. Well, I'll be back on Sunday and we can start then.
Ilia:
I can't do Sunday, why not? I only have time today?
Nino:
Oh well, sorry man, I can only do Sunday because I have gigs throughout the whole week, so I prioritize my gigs.
Ilia:
Fine, I guess I'll have to sacrifice my family plans on Sunday.
Nino:
Good, well, that's what we got to do. Just remember we have to collect a lot of music for Sunday, so this sort of thing takes years to collect for DJs. So make sure you have it on Sunday and on your hard drive ready to go. Okay, by Sunday. That's a little too early. You just said it takes years to collect for djs, so make sure you have it on sunday and on your hard drive ready to go.
Ilia:
okay by sunday. That's a little too early.
Nino:
You just said it takes years to do yeah, well, I guess you're gonna have to take some time off for work then, um to get it done. So you know what um, and you also need to get someone to get music, who knows music, to get music for your event, particularly for your event.
Ilia:
What do you mean?
Nino:
That's all you need. You need someone to pick out the right music for your event.
Ilia:
You know what to play?
Nino:
Well, I guess I'll just play music that I like oh, you can do that too, but are your guests going to like it?
Ilia:
You know what? How about? You know it's better for you to do the job. I'll just pay you. I'll just pay you to do it. Do it right, I mean, I mean might as well.
Nino:
Good thinking, bro. All right, let's sign here and let's get this done, man.
Ilia:
So that's the truth, guys. I mean, you're not just paying for a job, you're paying for knowledge, experience.
Nino:
It took years to get to this level. The music.
Ilia:
you know right, that's what you tell them. You're not just paying for me clicking the buttons right, and I'm clicking the buttons because I know what I'm clicking. I'll give you another example. I studied IT. I studied computer hardware, software programming and I used to fix people's computers. Now I have a really strong conscience and I don't like to charge too much and also my business sense was hey, I'm not going to charge them too much or at all for certain things and they'll call me back. And they did. Nine out of ten times. That strategy worked for me.
Ilia:
I made more money than losing money by this strategy. And when I did charge certain people when I really had no choice like I would charge them $300, $400, $500 for something that took me like half an hour or an hour and a half they said that it's outrageous. I mean, how am I charging them so much? And you've seen it everywhere. There's all these like Instagram videos that talk about that. You're not paying for my hourly rate. You're paying for my knowledge, for all the years of education, for all those sleepless nights, for all the gear I collected for all those sleepless nights, for all the gear I collected, for all the software and everything.
Ilia:
And there was another really cool Instagram video that I saw and a thing that I read online, and it said would you rather me do it in a week? I'm a pro, that's why I do it in half an hour, exactly, so you're paying for that too, that experience, that convenience To do it in half an hour Exactly, so you're paying for that too, that experience.
Nino:
That convenience To do it right too as well.
Ilia:
And people just don't get it. People always look for the reason, for the excuse of why you shouldn't get paid correctly. Don't let them lowball you. If you're a beginner DJ, like I am and I'm already getting more and more experience I've started a couple years ago but when you, when you're a very beginner, okay, pay your dues, do a few gigs for I don't want to say this, but you might have to do some stuff for free if it's worth it, if you're getting in somewhere, that that that is really worth it. Or or you know that you're gonna like barter, like you, do that something for them, they do something for you. Mostly try to charge at least something, get something for it, something right. But when you're already established six months, 12 months, a year and a half in and you're doing gigs and you know what you're doing, you gotta, you gotta find that way to stop letting them lowball you know your worth.
Nino:
You gotta know how much you're worth yeah, I mean you.
Ilia:
You have several packages.
Nino:
That's a pretty good way to go about it, right yeah, yeah, depending on what they need, but they always get the same level of service, same excellent service.
Ilia:
So each package you have is tailored to the client and also to how much money you invested into that package. Right? So you have moving heads and you have multiple wireless microphones. Just the more convenient it is for everyone in the event, and the higher production level it is, the higher the package is Exactly.
Nino:
Yeah, the more it takes longer to set up, so technically, we need an extra person. If we're doing one of the higher the package is, exactly, yeah, the more it takes longer to set up. So technically, we need an extra person if we're doing one of the higher, higher tier packages to help set up. If not, we're there five hours before setting everything up and then even tearing it down, and that's pretty much what we get paid for. We love to to dj. We could do if we really wanted to. We could dj for free, but we get paid to tear it down, set it up and do all the work yeah, in between, right, yeah, so and um, we know how to make those moments fun, right?
Ilia:
but uh, let's just say, if I could skip the setup and tear it down, I'd be really happy exactly so at the very least I want to get paid for it exactly um, especially tearing down at like 2 am or 3 am you're dead tired already because you weren't just like sitting there playing music. You've been getting the crowd getting to dance. You've been thinking about everything.
Nino:
Your brain has been working a thousand miles per hour thinking about songs, what. What goes with what? What are you going to mix with what? What songs you're like?
Ilia:
thinking of 10 songs ahead of time so like yeah, the groom said that the parents said this they requested for that. Yeah, yeah, all the time, right and and you gotta make sure everyone's happy, so you're mentally exhausted by the end of it.
Nino:
and now you have to lug all and then physically exhausted by the time the night is over.
Ilia:
Yeah, so that's one of the reasons why we charge. We get paid the big bucks. And you know what, if we don't tear it down, we got to pay somebody to tear it down. So now we got to pay someone. So, no matter what we pay, unless the client hey, if you're the client and you're watching unless you're staying there and you're going to help us tear it down and pay for anything you may break we're not giving you a discount for that portion. But, with all due respect, we understand it's expensive. It is. I mean you already spent $10,000, $20,000, $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, depending on the wedding you have, and now you got to pay another $1,500, $2,500. But you already paid.
Nino:
Now let me say it like this you already paid $30,000.
Ilia:
Really, another $1,500 for one of the most important parts of the wedding, for the entertainment. You're really going to question this. I don't understand how people question that.
Nino:
I know. It's one of the most important part parts of the wedding people unless you, you don't have a dance floor yeah, that, and literally some, some bride and grooms don't, don't want to have a dance or don't think that their guests are even going to dance, so that's why they don't even consider getting a dj yeah right, but people remember two things from your wedding the most the entertainment, how much fun they had and how good the food was.
Ilia:
Yes, that's it, that's all, yeah. Like whenever you speak about a wedding, what do you say? Oh, the food at that wedding was so good, the caterer was amazing, the steak was great, or the salad, whatever you eat and we had such a great time.
Nino:
And that lands on the DJ. Yeah, the entertainment.
Ilia:
Yeah, the music. Oh, the DJ knew exactly what we wanted to listen to. We were dancing all night. I didn't have to make any requests. He knew what I wanted to hear. Yeah, bro, or she. Yeah, lots of new female DJs out there. Of course, there are man in the last couple of years. Yeah, yeah, that's nice, that's very nice. It is, though, because, honestly, I have a few female DJ friends, and they were literally anxious to get out into this industry, thinking well, but most DJs are guys. Are they going to hire me?
Nino:
It's a male-driven industry but honestly, being a female, it's almost novelty that people look for that.
Ilia:
And for certain events, like for certain female-driven events, they will hire a female DJ. They're specifically looking for a female DJ, right, because the support. So, whoever you hire, they're going gonna not only bring all the AV equipment or audio video, all that stuff. Well, not video, but audio and lights and everything, right? Well, if you're a video DJ but, yeah, usually not video equipment they'll bring all that equipment and then they'll liven up the dance floor, the crowd, they will be able to read the room. Are you going to do that yourself as the groom at your wedding? Okay, let's say it's not you. Let's say it's your best man or someone You're going to nominate someone to go and work at your wedding instead of enjoying.
Nino:
Enjoying and having fun right Like what you're supposed to do. Unless they really want to, and we'll get to that at the end of this episode. You know, if you really want to do this, we'll give you some tips Now. There are also a lot of venues that provide AV equipment. That's another avenue, but it's not the same as a lot of times it's not the same as DJ's equipment.
Ilia:
Not the same quality, not the same quality. Like a lot of times, it'll be squeaking A lot of times it'll be squeaking a lot of feedback and stuff. Do you remember the one that sounded like gunshots every time the bass got a bit louder at that church? Yes, every time the bass went louder it literally sounded like gunshots. Yeah, it peaked and it was. I've never. I never heard a speaker do that. Yeah, and I'm surprised that nobody really said anything.
Nino:
You know what? I got a five-star review from that one too.
Ilia:
Yeah, they loved it Well yeah, If that was my wedding and that's what the speaker did, I would stop it. I'd be like no, no, replace those speakers. There's no way. It's continuing. I was literally annoyed the whole night it was bad If we can find footage. If we can find footage from that night, we should probably upload it.
Nino:
It's not going to sound the same over the phone anyway. Yeah, it's just, it was you had to be there, I'm not making it up.
Ilia:
It was so loud and so frequent and just so noticeable. I don't know how people could just enjoy, even though enjoy the moment, even though that was happening so frequently.
Nino:
Somebody said something, but yeah I it wasn't the brighter room, I should have brought my equipment.
Ilia:
Yeah, ever since then you were bringing your. You started bringing your equipment to places where you weren't too sure of their sound system.
Nino:
It was pretty bad man.
Ilia:
It was pretty bad so do you really want to take that risk?
Nino:
I don't think so. You don't want to deal with that stuff, right? You want a professional to deal with that stuff.
Ilia:
Now, one thing that I really noticed you do since you started kind of mentoring me. I forget which wedding that was. You will for sure you know what. No, I remember it's the one where there was this Italian old lady who was really upset. I remember that one.
Ilia:
They weren't playing her songs that were really not appropriate, Not because they're Well no, they didn't make sense to the moment yeah, at the moment, at the moment that she wanted them played. It did not make sense to the moment yeah, at the moment. But the moment that she wanted them played, it did not make sense to play them.
Ilia:
it was a pure italian song and very like old school italian, uh, and it was nice when we played it and I went there and I danced with her and they loved it. They took photos and videos um that wedding. I believe it was that one. You stepped outside and start coordinating um the wedding party yes, I had to and I see like okay, you're gonna go first I had to line.
Nino:
I had to line them up in order of of the when I was gonna call them out and you were literally teaching them everything and telling them what to do.
Ilia:
Was there a coordinator? I?
Nino:
don't think so. There was no one, there was nothing, no one nominated by the venue?
Ilia:
I don't know, know, and then not a personal one right. No, so I had to literally do it, Because they had no idea how to do it or how to line up how do you plan a wedding and you know you can't coordinate it, and then you don't have a coordinator, unless they didn't know they couldn't?
Nino:
Yeah, you only get married once, right? It's not like they think of stuff like this until the day of they realize it, it was always common sense to me. And then it lands on the DJ if you don't have a coordinator.
Ilia:
So here you are doing two jobs and it's not just that. Right, you're thinking, okay, I'll do this and I'll have enough time to go back. And I was just in the beginning stage then I couldn't help you that much yet, right, and uh, I was just still kind of watching and learning and I remember that you were gone for like at least 20 minutes and you're you're teaching like a bunch of people what to do, yeah, um, and then you spoke to um. You spoke to the staff as well. You explained certain things to them as well. I had to coordinate everything, literally djs. So DJs are often the coordinators, or at least the co-coordinators, right? Yeah, like they will help the head coordinator.
Nino:
If there is a coordinator, yeah.
Ilia:
So usually the venue has their own coordinator who kind of usually oversees the certain things like the food when it comes out and stuff like that. Then there's another coordinator that the bride and groom hired.
Nino:
For the day of, for coordinating all the events that are going on for them, right.
Ilia:
Yes, when the photos are taking place and stuff like that right.
Ilia:
But then the photographers they're also taking care of that, right, they also coordinate. So those contractors you're paying so much for, you're paying for a reason, You're paying so your event goes flawlessly, smooth, smooth, yeah, yeah. So I guess the three biggest things will be the equipment, coordinating the entire event, making sure everything goes well, and then reading the room and really making sure that the consistency, the quality of the event does not dip. And then you can't save it because you don't really know what you're doing right with your iPod or whatever.
Nino:
Yeah, it's different when you're just playing it off a playlist and Spotify is just automatically playing the next song, sort of thing. It's different when, when an actual person, a dj is, is mixing songs and they're seeing what people are bopping to, what their head nodding, what their feet are bopping to and stuff you can play. Play stuff appropriately and actually I I start personally, I start reading the room right when Cocktail starts.
Nino:
I can see exactly what they like what they're responding to with what I play, and I can see, okay, if they like this, they're going to like this later, so I know it's going to be a fire wedding. Just because of that, the reading doesn't stop, it starts right at the beginning.
Ilia:
I remember some conversations with you. You're like, oh, they like this song. Watch them liking this when the dance floor starts, exactly. And then it's exactly what you said and that that's what I sometimes know. Hey, you know what? I'm gonna take that video at that moment and I kind of learned how you do your thing and I know exactly when to record you're good at that, man.
Nino:
I'm just saying you should be a videographer, bro that's um.
Ilia:
That's something I actually started considering. Honestly if I had enough time to learn that too, right now I would, and that's part of the package. When I speak to my clients, I usually offer them a bunch of.
Ilia:
I love to take videos and photos right he loves to take videos and photos and I'd say I have a skill. Most people that noticed how I operate, when I DJ and take videos and photos, say, hey, can you send me that? That's amazing. Oh, you captured that moment. How did you know that was going to happen? I just feel it. I end up giving them like a, like a link, a dropbox link or something which has all of those moments in there, and then my camera is also right behind me recording most of the night so yeah, you're recording it all it's.
Ilia:
It's important to record your action shots, and then I have a regular and then that's another thing that djs can do for you.
Ilia:
I mean, it's not very common. I'm one of the only people who does this, as far as I know, because I don't have that many clients yet, right, like compared to you, you have hundreds of clients, right. I have dozens. So obviously I have more time for that and I don't have to run an entire team. But that's something that I'm thinking to incorporate one day and to really plan how to kind of not lose that, that part of the service, because now I'm getting too many, too many gigs and I can't I can't offer that that kind of uh perk anymore. I want to continue offering it. So, yeah, I'm still working on that, but again, we will always try to do something to make your event successful. You can't do that while trying to enjoy your event, usually unless you're a professional DJ who's getting married, but then again you're going to want to DJ, not be there as the wedding party, but you should be there.
Ilia:
And now you're going to feel guilty that you DJed the entire night. Yeah, think about it, think really hard and I know some people who did that. I know some people who DJed their wedding and they all told me the same thing. One of them said it was amazing and went exactly how they wanted. But the other three or four I spoke to there was a handful of people. They said that that was okay, but in hindsight they would, they would hire a dj I'm.
Nino:
I believe that they probably have never hired a dj before.
Ilia:
They don't know what the difference is two of them were djs oh, there you go, yeah and then I believe I spoke to four people after that. Yes, because it was during those events I was telling you about last year and I met all these new people and two of them were DJs. They've been DJing for a few years now and they wanted to just do it themselves because it sounded cool.
Nino:
Yeah, it's not the same man.
Ilia:
So if you really want to do it yourself, okay, if you really like, if we didn't.
Nino:
We didn't convince you enough.
Ilia:
Convince you if you're listening, or if, if you really want to save a buck, or if, let's say, you're a DJ and somebody's asking you hey, can you give me some tips? I guess tip number one is first of all, remember, if you're going to do this, you're not going to be able to enjoy your wedding To the fullest, to the fullest, a hundred percent Unless this is what helps you enjoy it, but you'll have to have a very organized playlist.
Nino:
And for each section too as well.
Ilia:
Yes.
Nino:
So for the ceremony, for the cocktails, for dinner, and then, of course, for dancing, and for dinner, and then, of course, for dancing.
Ilia:
And for dancing, there's a whole process to it, there's not just bangers. So now you have to know how to start, how to elevate, how to calm them down, how to bring it back up. Really, are you going to have time to do that? Okay? And then make sure it's not music that you just like to listen to, right? It's music they like to listen to as well, your hundred people that you're inviting.
Ilia:
Good luck figuring that out, unless you're inviting all the same kind of people, right? So yeah, unless you really know what everyone's going to want to listen to and you have the time to actually watch everyone and analyze what should come next, I mean, I'm talking about it and it just doesn't make sense to me, then sure, go ahead and do it yourself. We haven't even spoken about the. We didn't speak about the MC. Yeah, and you know what.
Ilia:
To be fair, the MC sometimes can be someone from the wedding party. It does happen. But you want them to MC, you want them to DJ, you want them to coordinate. So if you're going to invite me to your wedding and you give me all this work, I'll just say thank you, but you're someone else. It's just not something I will do unless I'm doing you a favor, and that's what I signed up for, um, but yeah, what, what else? What else would you recommend, uh, for somebody who really is adamant on doing it on their own? Is there? Did you ever experience something like that? Have you ever gone to? Did you ever go to a wedding?
Nino:
no, never, I don't think I in all your years around never, because I'm always the dj, so it doesn't happen.
Ilia:
No, but I'm saying like friends. I mean I only know you for two years, right yeah?
Nino:
I I don't know anyone who's, who's any of my friends who didn't have a dj. It's just not possible. We love music and dancing yeah.
Ilia:
So I'm I'm reading this and I'm saying I'm seeing some uh, I see some uh advice online on how to do it yourself, and it just doesn't make sense to me. I'm reading it, I want to give people advice, but I can't, in good conscience, tell you to do that because and there's more stuff here but mainly create your own music playlists and and in the detail that we described earlier, um and um find somebody who's responsible to playing it if it's not going to be you and then, and then the equipment again right, the equipment the equipment.
Nino:
You have to bring it in, you have to rent it. Uh, you have to give someone like the responsibility of putting it all together. You have to make sure they can troubleshoot and know how to use it.
Ilia:
Do you really want everything to just stop because something went wrong? Yeah, on your first dance, it's possible. It's possible too, right, and it's not even the ceremony and stuff.
Nino:
You don't want an abrupt stop when you're walking down the hall or the aisle, right?
Ilia:
You want that fade right and then fade into the next song and stuff like that, and then somebody who knows how to speak into a mic and be soothing and stuff yeah, somebody who's done this before. It's your wedding, likely. You just want to have one, right? I'm not, I don't promise you you're only going to have one, but considering the divorce rate in the world right now, it's pretty high. But I mean, you know, Do it right. Aim to do it right.
Nino:
Do it right the first time.
Ilia:
And I'll tell you. I asked you if you experienced that because I did. I went to a wedding about two years ago. I went to a wedding about two years ago and, hey, if the wedding couple, if they're watching this, then I did have a great time. I have lots of amazing memories from there. Everyone could tell I had a good time, but I did tell them, hey, I had no idea there was gonna be no dj. I know you don't know that, but I'm a dj and you know, at the very least I can, I can help you control the music. I don't have my gear with me, but I I can get my playlist on my phone. I know exactly what you probably want to listen to, right, if you tell me, if you give me some pointers.
Nino:
Question did you find out why they didn't want a DJ?
Ilia:
they did tell me, well, they didn't tell me. Somebody told me yeah, I think it was something along the lines of they just wanted a simple wedding or something like that they didn't want to pay too much money and they thought it was going to be more like intimate, like this Honestly, none of it made sense to me, because everyone's waiting to dance.
Nino:
It's a celebration.
Ilia:
I was going there thinking I'm going to dance all night. It's going to be so much fun. I wonder what kind of DJ is going to be there, because I like to see other DJs performing right, learning from them, and Judging them Judging them. But there was no DJ, there was an iPod and somebody a child and probably their father or someone controlling the playlist, and there was a book I mean a notepad with a request book a request book so people would come up and request their songs.
Ilia:
Put them yeah in and I was like you know what game on. Okay, so you're not letting me do it.
Nino:
I'll I'll give you the right request.
Ilia:
So I requested the right songs, but they weren't smart enough to actually pick them all the time. Good, and every time they did pick them, everyone was dancing.
Nino:
So were they on the Wi-Fi, or were they just working off of their library? I don't remember how it was?
Ilia:
It was, I think, literally connected to the speaker directly.
Nino:
Okay, so they probably were using data or something, or possibly Wi-Fi Something.
Ilia:
I don't remember at this point it was yes, it must have been. Yeah, something I don't remember at this point it was yes, it must have been, yeah, it must have been. So if, if the data got disrupted or wi-fi or whatever that was, then it's silent. But luckily not nothing, nothing like that happened. People had a good time, people appreciated, uh, their setup and everything, but I bet if they had a dj it would have been so much better of course, even if they had a like a cheaper dj, like a newbie right, it would have been better than that at that point right, hire that 300 dj.
Ilia:
Yeah, at that point they'll know better than than this.
Nino:
Yeah the abrupt stops and for the dancing, and then, okay, people sit down and then you play another song. Oh, I know the song. Get back on the dance floor just Just stop and start. Stop and start.
Ilia:
I, honestly, I offered them to sing because I know the songs they loved for certain parts of the event of the wedding. And I offered and I said I'm not trying to steal the show, I'm just I'm trying to do something nice for you. See that as a second wedding gift and, um, I was saying how, I have my playlist, I'll play, I'll play the music for you, right, and I was really careful about how I suggested it. I spoke to the family first. I said, hey, I want to suggest that to them. What do you think? They said that's a great idea. You should go and suggest it. I went and suggested it and they just never got back to me. I asked one more time hey, like just reminding you if you want me to do that, and they they won't do things their way and it just made no sense to me. It sounds really controlling and really like oh, I know, bet, I know best, but I do know best because I'm the only dj in the room.
Nino:
Yeah, right, they didn't want to put that pressure on you, or just that thing?
Ilia:
No, there was no pressure, they just wanted to do it their way.
Nino:
Of course they wanted to do it their way.
Ilia:
I experienced that myself before I heard stories. I'm reading stuff right now that makes no sense to me. Hey, if you think that I'm wrong or we're wrong or whatever, then tell us, educate us, right. We don't know everything, so everyone has different experiences. Nobody knows everything, so let us know. Hey, you know what? Actually, this is a good way to DJ a wedding on your own.
Nino:
And we're not saying that it can't be done. It can be done and I'm sure they've been successful parties, right, but with the professional, the right professional DJ that knows how to mix the songs and turn it up a notch. You've seen it firsthand, right, so you know how it evolves into that crazy party Like you. Wouldn't see that at one of those weddings.
Ilia:
No, not at all unless you just had the perfect combination of the right people, the right level of drunk, even, the right level of even even then it's like it's your.
Nino:
When, when a dj is mixing on top of each other and and just banger after banger, it's just the build-up, it's they're going crazy. Right, just this not the same as stopping mixing and then you quit mixing.
Ilia:
Yeah take it down a notch and then bring it up. Bring it back up you know how to manipulate the crowd in a way that, yeah you, you know they would want to be manipulated in you, you, you enter their mind and you're like okay, so what would you like? Okay, that's what you'd like. Okay, I'll bring it on Exactly and you just focus on that. It's not your wedding.
Nino:
Yeah.
Ilia:
You're there just to DJ and you're going to give it 100%. They're not going to give it 100%, right? So, I think this topic pretty much covers itself. I would not DJ my own wedding. You know what I would do I would do a set why, not. Yeah, do a set. I would do a set. I would love.
Nino:
I want to dj my own wedding for like 15, 30 minutes yeah, 20 minutes just to get on and get everybody like excited and stuff, right yeah, not to do the whole night, right yeah, it doesn't make any sense, and I will only do it if the dj is okay with it.
Ilia:
I'm not gonna steal his show, right? So it's my wedding, but it's his show. I don't want to throw him off. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's it right.
Nino:
Yeah, that's it. So you can DJ your wedding if you want. It's your prerogative.
Ilia:
It could be successful. It likely won't be as successful. As successful yeah successful, it likely won't be as successful as successful. Yeah, and for some people, it's probably the right thing to do, trying to save some money, yeah. So if you can afford it and you already spent thousands of dollars and it's only another 500 bucks, a thousand bucks, go for it if you really can't go for the expensive dj.
Nino:
At least go for a DJ period. It doesn't have to be so expensive.
Ilia:
Yeah, don't go for the expensive one, Go for a cheaper one. But if you really really can't, then follow the advice we gave you and really make sure that you're not tailoring the wedding entertainment to yourself, but to everyone, the whole crowd.
Nino:
You have to think about the whole picture, the big picture, right? Because, yeah, you're pretty much throwing it for them as well right, all right.
Ilia:
Well, there we go. One more episode One more down.
Nino:
Episode number 19,. Man, number 19. We're flying by we're flying by.
Ilia:
Thank you very much for joining and have a good one. We'll see you soon.