EP. 18 Drop the Beat: How DJs Turn Weddings into Unforgettable Parties

What if the perfect wedding DJ could make or break your special day? Join us as we welcome back Matt from Power Sounds, an expert in orchestrating unforgettable events, to uncover the secrets behind masterful DJing. From ensuring the right ambiance during cocktail hours to transforming the dance floor into a lively celebration, Matt shares his infectious passion and wisdom. You'll learn how he navigates the delicate balance of satisfying both the couple’s musical tastes and those of their guests, with funny tales of handling quirky requests, like a groom dodging his mom's favorite tunes.

Get a front-row seat to the chaos and comedy of wedding vendor collaboration, where clear communication and adaptability are key. Matt takes us behind the scenes, sharing stories of unpredictable guests and the magic of seamless transitions, even when last-minute song requests pop up. Whether you're planning your own wedding or just curious about the careful choreography that makes events memorable, this episode is packed with insights and humor that will leave you tapping your toes and nodding along.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Welcome to the Tipsy Guest Podcast. I am your host, Marco Buenrostro, and every week I'm here with the top industry experts, amazing clients and all my vendor BFFs to bring you the best tips, advice and juicy behind-the-scenes stories to make wedding and event planning a breeze. So grab your favorite drink and let's get this party started. Hey guys, welcome back to the tipsy guest. Today. I have matt from power sounds. We had so much fun last time so I had to bring him again.

Speaker 1 0:37

Welcome back, matt thanks for having me again, man, thanks for having me. Like there's just so many things to talk about when it comes. I mean I feel like the djs at events are the life of the party. Yeah, I mean you guys are always. You know, you, you, I mean you, do you even take restroom breaks?

Speaker 2 0:56

uh, no, not really, I really don't. Um, well, if you think about it, right, going back to what you're saying, like the life of the party, I mean we're like the longest part uninterrupted, whether it's us or a band or whatever. It's like two hours, sometimes three if it's a longer one straight, you know, usually like the ceremony 30 minutes of pre-ceremony, 30 minutes of actual ceremony time, an hour of cocktail hour, of dinner, and then boom, two hours straight of us. So yeah, I always say like entertainment could definitely make or break the night because it's the longest, it's the longest part of the night.

Speaker 1 1:23

I mean, what is your favorite part? To dj the, the. I mean you don't dj at the ceremony, but I mean you. What do you guys do at the ceremony?

Speaker 2 1:31

well, ceremony, ceremony. Uh, we run sound, so we run mics, and then, um, we play music, so we play the music for let's say, they're gonna have, uh, family walk down, we play music for that I guess I always get to the weddings late, yeah so I'm never there for the ceremony. So I'm like what do you?

Speaker 1 1:47

do at a ceremony yeah, he's a party. He's a party, no, but so what is your favorite part to dj, I guess, or work, the ceremony, the cocktail hour or the actual like party, yeah party. Party for me, yeah, party I mean it made it. That's when you're really having fun. I mean I'm sure yeah you.

Speaker 1 2:01

I mean you love you do so I know you always have fun doing what you're doing, yeah, but but yeah, I feel like the party is where you know, like I mean I feel like everyone in general, they're just waiting for the party.

Speaker 2 2:12

Well, yeah, I mean all of that for us vendors too. I mean, during ceremony or cocktail or dinner. These people know each other, so they're talking catching up for us. Talking catching up for us. It's just like it's kind of some waiting time.

Speaker 1 2:23

Yeah, it's kind of some waiting time, so for us, that's the time when you kind of like talk to the people that you know which are the other vendors.

Speaker 2 2:29

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 1 2:31

That is cool, so okay. So again, I always show up to the wedding later. I normally tell my people like, hey, I recommend, you know, let's start the photo booth right after dinner, because you know you don't want to waste that hour of people having dinner. Um, you know when people are eating, you know people are socializing, right. So what kind of music do you normally play during dinner? I mean, because it has to be a lot lower, just maybe like mellow music. But what do you play?

Speaker 2 3:00

it. It just depends um normal I, we're here in Texas, right, so a lot of country. Sometimes I do like a John Mayer soft rock style, or some will even do like a Frank Sinatra rap pack. You know Dean Martin, all of that, you know jazz style. It all just depends, though, on the concept the couple's running with as well, because there's some clients that are like I don't want a slow dinner, I'm going to have action stations, right, I'm going to have food. I want it to be lively, I want it to be fun. Or someone will tell us hey, my parents have told me I want the music really low for dinner. So we do that, you know it's always different, though for dinner for sure.

Speaker 1 3:41

And I know you're set up of course hour, because normally cocktail hour is in a different room or outside. Yeah, uh, how? I mean, do you have a second setup outside, or is it just like speakers and you're djing from inside? How does how does that work?

Speaker 2 3:54

we usually have like a separate speaker with the music that the couple chooses loaded on that speaker. Um, so it's not connected, uh, but you know it's just out there, so we think have some music okay all right, it's normally a completely different style of music during cocktail hour versus the actual party it just depends.

Speaker 2 4:11

We've had some, we've had some couples do like the same style of music for cocktail and for dinner. I always try to say or kind of spin it in a way where it's like, hey, you can, you, you can infuse your musical taste in different parts of the night. So, let's say, there's some slower style music that you don't want played for open dance, you can use that, you can use that for cocktail, because I feel like you can kind of take them through that journey of music as a couple. Yeah, even if it's not the same genre, maybe it's the same feel. Well, they can just kind of throw that in cocktail or for dinner. So you can play a lot with the music. You can really make it your own, even with ceremony.

Speaker 2 4:47

We've had some couples do some really really creative stuff with ceremony. Like I forgot which group it was, either vitamin string quartet or brooklyn duo, I don't know. Um, they did a numb cover from lincoln park. Well, the groom was a huge lincoln park fan, that's like his band and we. Actually that's the song he walked down to, only him, he was the only one that walked down to it, uh, but I mean, they really really added like that personal flair to their wedding, so I thought that was really cool and it's okay.

Speaker 1 5:12

I guess to me, like it's so cool that you guys, I mean you have to deal with so many different personalities. Yeah, uh, I mean, and I always, you know, bring the the subject back to me, like to as a wedding vendor. I mean we always try to relate things to each individual vendor. But like going back to the photo booth, for example, I mean we deal with so many different personalities. I mean mainly drunk people. Mainly drunk people because everybody wants to take photos and then the more they're drinking, the more they start photobombing other people.

Speaker 2 5:45

Yeah, so it gets crazy.

Speaker 1 5:46

So with you, for example. I mean, what are the different personalities that you have to deal with? I mean because I know normally your consultations are with the couples, right? I mean, do you ever also meet with like the parents, or like the bridesmaids, or like who do you normally meet with?

Speaker 2 6:03

some, I mean mostly just a couple and the reason why we want just the couples because I want their opinion and I don't want anybody else's input, because they're it's their big day. It's their day I don't mind when parents, when parents you know, join um, sometimes it helps because we get a feel for the family a little bit more with the, with the parents, because sometimes you know you ask the bride and groom well, what does your family use for? Like I don't know.

Speaker 1 6:28

My mom knows, you know, and they will kind of use that information to our advantage To prepare your playlist or what you're going to be doing that night.

Speaker 2 6:37

Right and I kind of ask them to in a way which is like who's important to you that day right? Which is like who's important to you that day right? Like I had a groom, he was like hey, my mom's super, super important. She's paying for it. So I really want to kind of throw this in her for her. So little things like that.

Speaker 1 6:52

Do you ever get Right now that you mentioned that the mom is paying for it, yes, do you ever get at the wedding in this case, the mom, because she paid for the services. Do you ever get that person, that mother of the bride, that's always asking for songs or asking for certain things, and then she always throws that in there Like I'm the one paying for it, I'm the one that got you paid. You need to play this Kind of.

Speaker 2 7:19

I've had a dad come up to me. He was like are you matt? I was like yes, sir, pleasure to meet you. He goes. Cool, I paid for you. That was that's what I had. He was like so I do want to hear a little bit of country. He kind of gave me like his little rundown, but it was all kind of what the, what the bride and groom already wanted, so it wasn't a problem. The only thing I've had a groom one time tell me was really crazy. He was like I don't want you to take requests from my mom just because our styles are so different. I have a lot of friends here. I'm pretty sure his mom thought I was like the worst dj ever, you know. Uh, I mean because, like everything, I was like we had the songs we really did, but it was like footloose. He's like I don't want that stuff, I want like you know.

Speaker 1 7:55

So I was like okay, so I would just try to be real cool, be like let me see what I can do, let me see if I have time and so when it comes to that, like I know, for example, like I mean, it is your big day, you're the, you're the bride, you're the groom right, you know you want your music played at the wedding, but I mean you have to understand also there's a lot of people at your wedding, so you need to understand that a lot of the stuff that you personally like as the couple, it might not be the same for for the guests, like they might enjoy other type of music, so so you always got to be mindful of your guests as well. I mean, is that something that you guys discuss during your your, your consultations?

Speaker 2 8:36

yes, yes, definitely like I'll. First thing I'll ask him is like, what is your guest count and what is the percentage? Is it more families or more friends? If you say it's a lot of friends, then I'm gonna want to know what the really the couple is into, because yeah they're probably gonna be around the same age, you're gonna like the same styles of music and everything like that.

Speaker 2 8:53

Maybe they probably went to school college together, uh. But if it's a lot of family, I'm gonna say, okay, what are they used to, what are we like, what's the dynamic and what are y'all okay with. Though you know some couples will say, hey, like my family's big in the country, we're not give them like two or three, don't turn into a dance hall and let's move on, you know. So we really, I really want to know those things, at least personally for me, ahead of time. That way I'm not second guessing myself. I kind of know, okay, these are my boundaries and I kind of know where how to work it. Yeah, you know, um, but yeah, I mean it's always. I always put it like this. It's like you can't force people to dance what they don't know.

Speaker 2 9:30

Yeah, I did have a. I did, you know, I did have a, uh, a bride, a couple. I mean this was maybe a couple years ago and she was like hey, like my family, you know. I asked her what's your guest count was potentially mostly friends. It was not, it was a lot of older people. Uh, maybe she anticipated more friends coming and I don't know what happened, but it ended up being a lot of older people. So her biggest thing was like two, two thousands, 20 tens. So when I opened, I opened like 70s 80s.

Speaker 1 10:00

By the time they knew it we're in 2000s, 2010. So sometimes how you get there, I like that kind of like a like a timeline, and then you end up with what she really wanted, what they really wanted, for sure. That is cool. I like that. I guess, like I've never really paid attention to I mean, I know the music's always going and I always just see the crowd going and stuff, but I've never really paid attention on how how you transition, you know, like from one song to another. Uh, I mean, and I guess that's a good thing, because that to me it tells me that you're really good at what you do. Because I've been to certain weddings where it's like they just it's a dj, but it's like they just have Spotify playing, because they cut out the song, yeah, and then they start a brand new song, yeah, and you can tell that it's not mixed. Like they just like stopped it and then played a different one.

Speaker 2 10:47

Yeah, or maybe you have to know how to break a situation sometimes, like I had a groom one time and he was like big in the country. I played country really early. It was a younger crowd, it was like 350. They had like 350 guests. It was at chandler green and his thing was like hey man, he came up to me. He's like dude, when you're playing country, I was outside doing sunset photos, I could hear it. You know, is there any way you could throw some country? And this is like 15 minutes before we're gonna end, before it's crazy that's when the party's going.

Speaker 2 11:12

Yes, dude, it's crazy I mean a lot of younger crowd. You know it was a younger crowd, everybody. It is what it is. They were drunk. So I got on the mic and I was like hey, everybody, before the night ends, our new groom wants to two step with his bride. And I was like so, and so this one goes out to you. And I played, it went off. But I feel like if we would have just went straight from crazy party to country and not knowing how to break, make that break, you know, make that transition um, it would have been like what is he doing? Like we were just all vibing out and then you killed.

Speaker 1 11:38

You killed the vibe, but that's what the groom wanted. I mean you, you, they are the, it's a groom right, right.

Speaker 2 11:45

And that's why I always tell them like, if you have anything, ask me there, because we could fix it there. You know, like I always say ask me there, yeah, because I can fix it, you know for sure okay.

Speaker 1 11:54

So how do you deal with people I'm sure I mean I see it all the time people coming up to you asking with their little phones because it's so loud that they can't hear it, so they put their phone up like requesting songs. Yeah, how do you?

Speaker 2 12:04

how do you deal with that? Well, that's something that the bride and groom kind of tell us like do you want to take a question? Not, most will say, or I'll ask them do you want us to use our judgment? And most say, yes, use your judgment. So, like we talked about right, um, kind of filtering different requests. So sometimes people come up to us it's crazy hip-hop party end of the night. And I'll be like, can you play frank sinatra? And I'll be like, let me see what I can do.

Speaker 2 12:27

To me it's, it's, it's a no, because for me I'm not going to put one person's want in front of, like, the whole dance floor if I know it's going to kill it. If it's there and it's, you know, maybe it's in the same tempo with same genre. Okay, cool, I, or maybe I guess it's a different genre but I can squeeze it in. I think it's gonna work then, yeah, but besides the bride and groom, for that it's really just kind of depends on what they're asking for. Now, let's say, I get a lot of requests for it. Yeah, then I kind of know, okay, then like people really want that?

Speaker 1 12:54

yeah, they really want that. What is one song you I mean, you've been DJing for such a long time. What is the one song that you're like? Oh my God, I got to play this song.

Speaker 2 13:05

It was Sweet Caroline for Neil Diamond.

Speaker 1 13:10

What yeah? Yeah, I love Sweet Caroline.

Speaker 2 13:14

Well, for me it's tough. It's tough because it's such a slower song, so it's kind of finding the time to play it, but you've got to find the right time for it, which is, I would say, towards the very end, it is when everybody's already super drunk.

Speaker 1 13:27

It is, and I feel like they're not really dancing anymore. They're just singing yes, along with the with the song, because they're so drunk that they're they can barely stand up. Yeah yeah, so they're just kind of like lip singing or singing out loud, I guess, to to whatever you're playing yeah.

Speaker 2 13:44

So I, and if I see it and they don't give me like a last group song, like hey, how do we feel about this song being the last group song? You know? Because we'll make an announcement hey, everybody, the night's coming to an end. This next song's the last group song, you know, because we'll make it announced like hey, everybody, the night's coming to an end, this next song's the last song of the night. We'll play it, um, and I'm like why don't we put it there? You know? Because it's like so it's just different and what's that?

Speaker 1 14:00

what's the one song that you're always excited to? To play like that? You're like, yeah, like I like. This is one of my favorite songs and I'm glad that it's part of this wedding uh, it changes.

Speaker 2 14:11

I'll probably say it's gonna sound super. Wow. I can't believe it's super cliche, but probably like this how we do it. I don't know why. I just like it. It's very. It's a very versatile song. It works with all kinds of crowds older, younger so it's a very, very versatile song. Um, so I like to just use it to my advantage because it's very versatile okay, okay, that's, that's fair.

Speaker 1 14:32

And then, um, you know, going back to the personalities, do you ever have to deal with um, I mean, I guess we talked about the you know the dad or the mom you know saying like, oh, we paid for this, yeah, and you know, dealing with the people that request songs all the time. Have you ever had anything happen like you know, like something major I know last time you mentioned about you know, like somebody telling you off because you didn't play their?

Speaker 2 14:53

song yeah, yeah but like what?

Speaker 1 14:55

is there something you know? Like you know something funny, or something like that. You were like oh holy. Like you know, like get away from me.

Speaker 2 15:01

Like uh, like something. I would say something funny there. This was a long time ago, like maybe six, seven years ago. It was, uh, at the omni la mansion and we were out playing you know, very, very fun crowd. But there was one dude that was super drunk on the dance floor, had a drink in his hand, jumping around everywhere, jumping around, jumping around, jumping around. So I saw him like man, this dude has a ton of energy. Well, there's this older couple right here. He bumps into him so hard, they literally start tumbling and they slide all the way under a table and all you see is their feet sticking out from under the table. It was like Wizard of Oz style, like just feet. So they end up like moving the table. And this couple was older, I would say they're like in their 80s. They were older.

Speaker 2 15:43

They were older. So I was like well, it was me and dad. We're like what do we do? Do we stop the music.

Speaker 1 15:53

Like like what do we do right?

Speaker 2 15:54

so we turn it down a little bit and um the they ended up moving the table and the and the, the man, the husband, he was just like leave me here, give me like a couple minutes. So that was definitely I mean the way they like flew. I've never seen anybody fly across like slide across the floor like a missile. It was crazy. That is too much yeah and then um.

Speaker 1 16:10

So, for example, when it comes to um to the end of the night, I know you, I I think I mean every dj, you know you guys make an announcement like, hey, this is the last song, or whatever. We gotta clear the room for the last dance. Is there always a last dance and is it normally?

Speaker 2 16:25

private, um, you could do a private one. I always say we gotta do a last song, like a last song, because that way people are expecting, okay, it's coming to an end, and it's not so hard to get them outside. Yeah, because I know most of they already know, like they already know it's coming to an end, and not only that. So that way most people will kind of get on the floor, like if they see the couple, okay, it's the last one they'll kind of get on the on the floor with the couple. Um, but it's like we talked about you have everybody there, okay, everybody, we're gonna go, we're gonna be having a send-off, and it's like right there, you know what I mean they're all right there so we can kind of move and because I mean, most of the time these timelines are towards the end, get really tight, yeah, depending on what's happening.

Speaker 1 17:01

So you know, we want to try to stick to it for as close as we can and speaking of timelines, um, I know we're running a little bit already out of time here, but speaking of timelines and and you and dealing with all these different personalities, have you again? This is my over again, yeah, but have you ever had that one planner where she is a psycho or he's a psycho and they think it's their freaking wedding, like, and they want to, they demand things like have you ever encountered something like?

Speaker 2 17:44

that like I've had some try to give me a script and I'm like, look, that sounds really good from you, but when I read it I can't. I don't know, it's just not natural for me, right? So I'm gonna stumble over it, or or whatever the case, or there'll be some times where you know, let's say we're gonna open floor, we open the floor five minutes in. Can we do bouquet garter? And like now I'm like dude, give me, give us a couple. The bride and groom are on the dance floor, like they're not you know.

Speaker 2 18:10

So, yeah, I mean we've, we've definitely had it before, but that's why we like to have you know that talk with the couple if it's if it's a coordinator we're not used to working with right, because I mean we work with tons of great coordinators.

Speaker 1 18:22

It's easy most coordinators will tell us hey, do whatever you feel, because they know your work because they know that you know what goes on, that you are, that you go with the flow. Okay, or maybe they.

Speaker 2 18:32

Maybe they just understand momentum, right? Yeah, there's momentum behind it. Okay, we're gonna let it simmer a little bit and then we're gonna move into what we're gonna do next. And it's not gonna be really, really choppy, and I think that's where adapting comes into play. For sure, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 18:45

So just you know. Word of advice for you guys planning your wedding it's always important to talk to your vendors about so many different scenarios that could happen at weddings. I mean, you might be used to going to events and just having fun, but this time you're the one planning your big day. You want it to be perfect. Don't stress about it. You know, enjoy it, have fun and discuss all of those things before during your consultations with all of your vendors Most important I would say, of course, your event planner. But then situations like that you know, for example, like with the song and if you are allowed to accept, you know, song requests and things like that. It's always good to talk to the vendors. You know we're here to listen to you guys. We're obviously hired to make your day unforgettable. So you know it's always good to talk. You know like we're not here to tell you no, we can't do that. You know there's always or to judge right.

Speaker 1 19:43

Yeah, we're definitely not here to judge you. We're just kind of here to tell you what works, what doesn't work, and we're always going to try to give you advice. But at doesn't work, and we're always going to try to give you advice, right, but at the end of the day, it is going to be your decision. You know, we're just here to tell you what could potentially work and what could potentially not work at all. For sure, right, for sure, for sure, all right. Well, matt, thank you so much for being with us today again, and again I'm sure we're gonna have you again in the future.

Speaker 1 20:09

You know there's always so much to talk about for today. That is it. Thank you so much for joining us. Please spread the word about the podcast. Tell your bff. If you know someone that's engaged and needs advice or recommendations, you can always send us a dm. You can visit our website. You know we're always available. Tell our listeners where can they find you on social media at power songs dj on instagram perfect.

Speaker 1 20:33

There you go. Thank you so much. Until next time. Thanks for listening to the tipsy guest podcast. If you know someone who could benefit from these tips, spread the love and share it with them. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. Next round's on us, same time, same place, cheers. This podcast is brought to you by MVP Photo Booth. No-transcript.