Episode 46 From Tradition To Intention, Rethinking Wedding Entertainment: Dan C Entertainment

The dance floor doesn’t fill itself. We bring in DJ Dan C to reveal how a packed, joyful reception actually happens—through sharp prep, smart mixing, and the kind of MC presence that feels warm, not loud. Dan’s been spinning weddings since 2001 and still teaches full-time, so he understands both the art and the logistics: building timelines that don’t crumble at sunset, using automation to keep couples calm months out, and coordinating with vendors so the big moments land where they should.

We get into the mechanics of momentum: why fading full songs drains energy, how to land transitions on instrumental breaks or a strong downbeat, and when to drop a deliberate slow song as a palette cleanser. Dan shares how he reads micro-signals—the head bobs at the bar, wallflowers edging closer to the floor, the couple drifting to the patio—and times must‑plays to draw everyone back. He also tackles the modern shift to front-loaded schedules that leave long dance blocks, and how patience and pacing beat panic when the crowd splinters across a barn deck or a perfect sunset.

Choosing the right DJ goes deeper than a price quote. We talk mic style, personality fit, and real crowd control, plus how to vet pros through other vendors and pattern-reading reviews. Dan’s service approach is flexible by design: a five-hour base with honest add-ons like uplighting, custom monograms, a photo booth for non-dancers, and an audio guest book that preserves the voices you’ll want decades from now. He even walks through his “amazing love story” feature—an edited audio narrative from the couple that turns a reception moment into goosebumps.

Whether you’re a couple planning with intention or a vendor chasing smoother nights, this conversation is a field guide to modern wedding entertainment: thoughtful prep, empathetic MC work, and dance floors that breathe without breaking. If this helped you plan smarter or DJ better, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a quick review to tell us what clicked for you.

https://www.dancentertainment.com/

https://www.instagram.com/djdancent/

Transcript

Welcome And Venue Spotlight

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Preferred List, a podcast about the people behind the best wedding days. I'm James, a wedding filmmaker. I've spent years in the industry working alongside incredible vendors, and this show is all about real conversations with the ones who make it happen. Whether you're a vendor or a couple, you'll get honest insight, good stories, and maybe a little inspiration along the way. Let's meet today's wedding vendor. Dan, how's it going? Good, James. Thank you very much for having me. Appreciate this. Of course, I'm so glad to have you on. I love DJs, I think they're so cool. And I can't wait to dive into more about Dan C Entertainment, which I just learned. It's a rebrand for dance. Dance Entertainment. Dance. I love it. It's so fun. You told me that, and I was like, dude, this is so cool. So we'll jump into that in just a second, but we're here at Birchwood Venue. Birchwood Venue is where rustic charm meets modern convenience to create the perfect wedding weekend.

Dan’s Origin Story And Career Shift

SPEAKER_00 0:56

That's sold in Milton, Pennsylvania. They give couples three full days to decorate, celebrate, and soak in every moment without feeling rushed. From the Hydrangeo Line ceremony space to the beautifully restored barn, Birchwood is designed to make your day as stress-free and memorable as possible. And if you haven't met Holly, great, love her. Also, you were just telling me you were here at the first wedding that they had here, and it looks a little different.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

That would be one way to put it.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Yeah. Um, so it's just so cool to see venues taking the you know opportunity to like improve their space, make changes that really just are giving couples a better wedding day experience or wedding weekend experience, um, like we mentioned here. But Dan, I'm so glad to have you on. I can't wait to talk all things DJ. Give me, give me the intro. Like, who are you? What I know you're a DJ, but like what do you do? Where did all of that start for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Absolutely. So, oh my goodness, this has been a career that's been a long time in the making. Started out doing radio in high school. And uh as with every radio DJ in my area, it seemed like they were doing events on the weekend. And so I decided it was time to do events on the weekend and had somebody take me under my wing. And I really treated it as just kind of this little hobby that I did and did that for quite a few years, and then quickly learned that people are taking it 100% serious, that they're making full-time careers out of it. And I said, okay, what I witnessed is not what I need to do. This is what I need to do. Yeah. And so that built the business. And so, since probably that that switch, that flip of the switch, probably happened in 2010. And ever since then, it's been like a full-time job. So it's it's DJ, we have photo booth, we have uplighting, monograms, audio guest books, but it's all about like you would never know that I have a side job, like that that I have a full-time, you know, teaching job. DJing seems like that's what I have, and it's been a passion, and I absolutely love it.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yeah, I mean, 2010 was the switch. Like, when did that initial wedding, like when was your first wedding?

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Do I really want to do I really want to date myself on this? Uh, my first wedding was 2001. That's awesome. So I was graduating college and the administration or admissions counselor uh was getting married, and I had done like little things for the college, but nothing like major. And she's like, Hey, you want to do my wedding? I said, I've never done a wedding. She said, That's okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah, that's fine.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

So that was my first one in 2001.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

That's so fun. Uh man, I have so many questions. But you to start out, you told me uh before we started recording, you you kind of look at it as two full-time

Balancing Teaching With A DJ Business

SPEAKER_00 3:40

jobs. You are a teacher full-time. I mean, that's like a that's a normal full-time job. Most people are like, okay, good, got that job locked down, nothing else. But you are running a full-fledged DJ business. How do you how are you balancing all of those things kind of together?

SPEAKER_01 3:59

It it has its moments. It has its moments. Uh, when I started in the industry, it was, you know, people got married in the summers. It was like June, July, August. Like those are the prime days. You'd have a couple spring, a couple fall. Like, like doing well with the teacher schedule. Yeah. Um, but it didn't stay that way. Obviously, as we know, like fall became fall became busy. And that's and that's tough. That's really my my September and October becomes very stressful because the school year's kicking off. The wedding digit or the wedding business is like full-fledged, like prime time season. So it becomes difficult. Um, but I do a lot of my planning and a lot of my prep work and everything, like weeks, months in advance. Okay. Um, I'll actually meet with my couples for their final planning meeting two months in advance. Some of that's to give me some time, but it's also allows me to go, you don't have to worry about this. We talked about this. Yeah, like you don't have to worry about like the week before your wedding, we're nailing details. Now we got it. Um, so it really helps to kind of have that uh plan in place ahead of time.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

Yeah. I mean, well, it's it's gotta make the couple be like, oh, okay. Yeah, he's got it under control. We don't need to worry about anything. But you're balancing a lot, um, which I can't imagine that like there's moments where it's probably easy, but there's moments where it's like, whew, I'm in over my head a little bit. Uh, what do you have in place to kind of keep things organized? Uh, you know, systems that kind of keep you like I know when I have weddings and what the couple is and what their songs are and all that kind of stuff.

Systems, Planning, And Client Workflow

SPEAKER_01 5:33

So I use a a software called D uh DJ Event Planner. It's a company based out of Minnesota. And Minnesota. Yeah, pretty much. It's it's it's really nice. But uh, but no, they they have a software that that allows us, it's web-based, allows us to do a lot of automation types of things. So a lot of my couples will receive emails from me, you know, monthly that I don't have to try and remember to send out.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Um, and and they're they're check-in type of things, right? Like, hey, by the way, you know, at this point in the process, you should have X, Y, and Z. And then some are related to DJing, some are just related to being ready for their wedding. And it really tries to keep them on track so that when it comes time, and I'm like, okay, it's time for us to sit down and meet. You've been working on your online planner. I can see what they've done so far. So a lot of times those meetings then are a little quicker, they're a little bit faster. We get to kind of nail some things down and as opposed to starting from scratch going, what's that first dance? Oh, we didn't think about that. Well, by by that point, they typically have, so it helps.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Yeah, I'd have to imagine the planning process. It seems like you're even concerned with them having like an enjoyable, stress-free planning process, way past just like what songs we pick, and is this a good song for that moment? Is this a good song for that moment? Um, which is kind of cool, kind of cool to see.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

I've had a lot of couples who have reached out afterwards and they're like, like when we're doing the meeting or at the end of the meeting, and they're like, there was a lot more to that than what I expected. We thought we were just gonna pick our first dance and our parent dances, and I was like, Well, that's the main pieces. Yeah, but the other parts, like, I'll I'll even ask, like, when did they graduate high school? You know, who are some of their friends that are coming to coming to the wedding? You know, what kind of things did they enjoy? What kind of hobbies? Because that helps me start to kind of feel out some of those soundtrack type of moments, some of those pieces are gonna uh they're gonna hit because some people, you know, if they were if they were born in the 90s, they may have somewhat been a grunge type of kid, you know, versus they were into boy bands, right? And so there's like that that wide range. And so getting into this behind-the-scenes stuff actually makes my job a little bit easier.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

Yeah, for sure. I mean, you want to play songs that everyone's gonna enjoy to some extent. You can't just like go at it with like, oh, here's what I like. This is a Dan playlist.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yeah, no.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Um, how do you help couples really narrow down like if they're just they have no idea? They might you might do some of that, like you said, where you're kind of figuring out who's gonna be there, what do they enjoy doing together? But like, how do you help them narrow down to be like, hey, this is a playlist that's gonna it's gonna hit with maybe the older crowd, it's gonna hit with the younger crowd. We can really kind of bridge the the

Reading The Room And Playlist Strategy

SPEAKER_00 8:12

gap.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

So I try not to plan too much of my playlist in advance. I get genre ideas, I get vibe type of ideas. Definitely if there's songs that they like, and I'll have some couples will give me, you know, three, four hours of a of a Spotify playlist that they created, and they're like, listen, we don't need to hear them all, but this gives us a taste. These are the types of things that we like. Um, and I like that because it kind of helps me a little bit. And it also kind of goes one of those moments where I go, I just kind of have a brain lapse for a moment. And you know, as I'm like, okay, I know they're gonna like this or I know they're gonna like that, but I need something to bridge the gap. Let's see that list. And I'll and I'll just grab that from my software and I'll throw something in, and it usually clicks well. Um, so that helps, but I try not to play in too much in advance because I've had some surprises where the couples are like, oh, we you know, we really like this. And I go to play something like that, and the bride and groom might be into it, but you know, half their half their guests are like, Oh, we're walking off the floor, we're gonna go get a drink. Like, yeah, yeah, it makes a difference.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

I have to imagine when you see the dance floor clear, it's like, oh no. What do you do in those moments where it's like, well, that song didn't work? And because you generally are doing something at the beginning to kind of get everyone out, kind of get it started. And I would imagine you're just trying to keep that going as long as possible. Dance floors are gonna have an ebb and flow.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Yeah. In our area, and I'm not sure if, like, you know, down in Lancaster, if it's the same, I'm gonna assume it might be, but we've very much gotten into this front loading of events to where all the special events are up front, the dinners up front, everything is. Well, I I like it, but I don't. Here's what I don't like about it.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

What it creates is at the end of the night, we have a three, four-hour dance floor. Most bars don't have dance floors that are going for four hours, and yet these people are wanting to do this at their wedding. And so I think it's just one of those things they don't think about it from that standpoint.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Yeah, honestly, I haven't ever considered that as like a negative.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Yeah. It just, it's not necessarily negative, but it it makes it a little bit more difficult because there's a lot of ebb and flows. You you're not gonna have a pack dance floor all night long with the size of the weddings that we're having lately.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

You know, when you have 200, 250 people, it's easy because you can you can trade some people out.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

Yeah, if you have like 75-ish out there at any given point, it's probably gonna look mostly full.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Yeah. But when there's only 75 people to start with, yeah, makes a little difference. So having some of those event flows and not panicking in those moments, knowing things that can happen. Just this past weekend, we started off with like a reverse anniversary dance where we built the dance floor. And so we had all of our merry couples on the floor, and then I went to an older track that was going to appeal to all audiences, kept them on the floor for a song, but eventually I got to kind of transition a little bit and I started to lose a few of them. I will also say we were at a barn venue. It was beautiful night. The sunset was just absolutely stunning.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

And they all like people started to go outside for a bit, and I knew it. And I looked at the photographer and they're like, We thought this crowd would be dancing.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

Patience, patience. Yeah, I do. It's tough because we were just at a venue that similar barn venue, but there's so many different like places that people could be that were not the dance floor. It's I have to imagine, like, that's patience,

Managing Ebb And Flow Of Dance Floors

SPEAKER_00 11:31

but it's tough to be like, ah, it there's not like this central spot where everyone's meeting and enjoying each other's company, dancing, having fun. It's like, oh, you can go down here or go on the terrace or go on the deck or go over here, play cornhole, and then there's like a beautiful sunset. So everyone wants to see the sunset. It's like you're also trying to like curate the vibes a little bit. Um, like, how are you balancing some of that? Or maybe is there like a song that you can play that generally gets like people back?

SPEAKER_01 12:00

I often tell couples that the guests are gonna go where you are. If you're not on the dance floor, if you're not near the dance floor, I could play the hottest song, I could play their favorite song, and they're not gonna budge towards that dance floor.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

So no amount of Pink Pony Club is gonna get everyone back. Well, that one might lately that one might actually.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

But uh, but no, it it it it begs to it begs them to kind of think about. So a lot of times what I'll do is that list that I get from them that might have a couple of their favorites, I'll throw that in because they will come back because it's their wedding. And so sometimes that's that's just enough, just enough of a little spark to be able to kind of bring them back and and bring them in. But in the same respect, like I said, if it's a nice night and I've got a beautiful sunset and things like that, I I'm not gonna go into like background vibes, but I'm not going to beat myself up the fact that I don't have a back because I know they will. Yeah, I know as soon as that sunsets a little bit more, it's a little bit later, yeah. They're gonna come back in. They might go out for another drink, they might come, you know, it might there's gonna be more veneer and flow, but it's now the dance floor is where they're going to be, where they want to be.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

It is so true. I love when the couple is in the center of the dance floor, just having the time of their life, because it just everyone flocks there, and it's just so fun to see them just be in the center. Maybe they don't love the attention. I love when everyone's around them because it just it makes for just such a cool visual, you know, being a videographer myself. Um, but it's so fun to see just see them like having such a good time. But you're right, like if they're out there, people are gonna be out there with them because I mean, not everyone wants to dance, but like for the most part, it's gonna be a full dance floor.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

But you watch, even the ones that are not dancers, where are they gonna be? They're gonna be at the tables that are near the dance floor. Yeah, they're gonna be watching them from the side, like even your wallflowers, the ones that are not gonna dance for anything, or they're only gonna dance to a slow song. They'll they'll position themselves so that they can watch what's going on. Yeah, it's it's just it's it's always funny to watch and and people watch and see what's happening with them.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Yeah, you have the best spot for it. Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

I love it.

SPEAKER_00 14:09

That was so fun. Uh, can you give me kind of just like a rundown, like describe your DJ style and like even just a little bit of what goes into like how you mix songs together

Mixing Approach And Building Transitions

SPEAKER_00 14:20

and what that process looks like for you?

SPEAKER_01 14:22

So you it's kind of funny that you bring that up because that also mentions kind of how I start to bring them back. Um, I don't play typically the full song.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

If it yeah, yo, if you're a DJ, do the Dan thing and don't play the full song, please. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Now I will say there's a couple exceptions because there's a couple exceptions that I could play a 12-minute version of it and they're gonna be dancing the whole time. Um, but no, I I'm not I'm not exactly a quick mixer. I'm kind of what they consider somewhere in the middle. So for those of you that are not in the DJ realm, um, quick mixing is where like every minute, minute and a half, you're out of a song. Full length.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Like a minute and a half is like maybe a verse chorus, maybe another verse.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Maybe, yeah. I mean, now some of them now you're getting two, two and a half minutes for the full song. Yeah. So you're right. So sometimes you do get two choruses out of it.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Um chorus being the like part that most people know. The one you're singing at the top of the non-music people, most people know the chorus. It's like the most recognizable part.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Yeah. So that's quick mixing. I kind of go somewhere in the middle. Okay. Um, so uh I try to do about half of the song. So sometimes it's a verse chorus, verse chorus, and then I'm out. Um, sometimes the song might have a great instrumental break. That's a beautiful spot to duck out because it almost feels more natural. Yeah. I don't have to cut the, I don't have to cut the lyrics out. And there's some different things that I can do, styles of mixing, um, without going to any of those weird specifics, but that can cut vocals out that allow me to mix better.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

Kind of just like if if a DJ is really just kind of fading songs, like what could they do to kind of step up from fading? Like, what would be that next step? Because like they're kind of just like songs kind of over, they're just fading to the next one.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

You lose so much energy that way. Yeah. You lose so much energy because because the guests are like, they're dancing to the song, the song kind of ends, the next one's starting, so they're coming down, but they haven't come in. And especially if the beat doesn't match, then it's then it feels like what they call a train wreck. Um, so if you're a DJ doing this, like definitely start start with some of the basics. Start with stuff that have the same BPM, that have relatively the same beats. If you really want to just like start real basic, is find two songs that are are sampling the same track and then just mix them together. Get used to hitting the beats on the same spot and then gradually, gradually get up to where they're a little bit farther apart. And and then and there's other, you know, cut edits and you know, dropping, they call drop it on the one, where song is coming along and you you hit that first downbeat that's really hard that's noticeable for the song, maybe even bringing it right in on the chorus to make it feel like it's there. And then there's tons and tons of tricks you can learn from that.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

But yeah, what it sounds like uh you're intentionally curating for lack of a better word, like the vibe of the dance floor um in the way that you're you're mixing the songs together and even like the next song in the cue that you're kind of giving yourself. Um is there like like how much is going into noticing what people are enjoying, trying to play more of that, still trying to kind of maybe get some of the old stuff in there here and there? Like, are you slowing it down a bunch? Like, what's that kind of like? You're kind of actively putting together that playlist from what I'm what I'm gathering.

Real-Time Decisions And Crowd Signals

SPEAKER_01 17:34

My brain is fried by the end of the night. It really is. I mean, when you think about the number of computations as a as a math person, sorry about that. Um, but the number of computations that you think the people are like tweaking out like a minute, what he's a DJ, what are you talking about? Um no, so so like when I'm thinking about the tracks that I'm gonna play, I I think about you know, where can I go next? What you know, within you know, even if I'm at one spot, I can go a little faster, I can go a little slower. And it's that internal turmoil of I want to be able to keep the people that are there, so I know what they're responding to, but I want to get away from that for a simple moment because I want to bring in some of that crowd that hasn't been dancing, but I know will dance, right? Sometimes you you get you beating yourself up from, you know, you play stuff and you're like, well, they're not dancing. All right, I guess I gotta go over here and get them on the floor. I went over and they're not gonna dance. Like, so you kind of have to have a sense of you know, responding and watching. Are they tapping their toes? Are they bobbing their head? You know, are they responding to the music, but they're just not on the floor because it's not their style. Yeah. And those are the kinds of things that you look for to kind of help bring them in. Um, the best thing is not to go too drastic in any one direction and from song to song.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

The best thing you can do sometimes is throw that slow song in sometimes to kind of give it a breather. Yeah, give everybody a chance to kind of reset. Almost like a palette cleansing. Exactly. Exactly. So I but I will say lately the trend has been very much away from slow dances.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Couples don't want to I kind of like it, honestly, because of the and I I can see how a three-hour, four-hour set of songs could be a lot on your shoulders now that I'm kind of seeing it from your perspective. Um, but I just love the like energy to kind of like slowly build and just stay when we're there all night. If it's a fun dance floor, we're having fun. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Selfishly a little bit. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

One of my I I gotta I gotta say, one of my favorite reels recently that somebody shared out. Um, they were taking a picture of the dance floor and the people responding, and there was a it was a I don't know if it was a photographer or a videographer, but they were getting down to it. So they happened to be in the video, like taking pictures, but they were like dancing while they're doing it, and I just had a laugh. I was like, that was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

I I put on a 20 millimeter lens and go right in the center, and I'm just like I'm trying to mostly follow around the couple, but just getting people like singing songs under my camera and just like having a blast, like that to me is just so fun. Which is I think why I have like this very specific like picture of like what a good DJ is. Um, but I'm curious, like what what would you qualify or or like how would you say someone is like a good DJ? What would you what would be like the characteristics or like things that couples can be looking out for is like hey, if you find a DJ that does these five things or three things or is this way or is that way, like you're probably getting yourself off to the right on the right foot.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

So the first thing I'm gonna say is the vibe, the vibe that you the vibe of the the type of person you're gonna connect with. So this isn't necessarily a DJ aspect of it, but it is that position, like a personality exactly, exactly. Because on the microphone, how they're talking, how they're connecting with you, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Yeah, like they're the ones that are gonna be like, welcome. And if you don't like the welcome,

How To Choose The Right DJ

SPEAKER_00 20:56

there's a lot more of them to come.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

Yeah, exactly, exactly. So having that kind of piece is is important, but then also just kind of knowing, like I, you know, I talked about the different styles of mixing. There are there are DJs out there that are very club centered DJing, and the way that they DJ is very heavy on this mix is there's a lot of very quick mixes, and that might not appeal to your parents and their and their family and friends that are that are of that generation. Um, I might be for your closest friends, yeah, but who do you want to have there? And some couples will say, I only want my friends on the floor. Okay, but you might want to think about the other people that just spent money to come to your wedding. Yeah. Um, so so understanding that aspect, but then also understanding like how are they going to be on the microphone? Because not just the personality side, but some some DJs are are in your face and they're on the microphone all night long and they're hyping you up and everything else. And for some crowds, that's an awesome connection. Yeah. Um, I call it kind of the Jersey style weddings. I've been to a couple of those where I was like, did he stop talking this whole night? No. But you know what? Everybody had a blast that night because it was what was expected and desired for that crowd.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

Expectations. That's a huge thing. Yeah. Across the board. But but it seems like like where are they getting that information about a DJ from if they haven't been to a wedding with the DJ?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

So they're going to get it. My recommendation is always to reach out, first off, reach out to them and get a conversation with them, right? Like so the personality is going to come out when they're on the phone. If they're if they're giving you short answers, quick answers, not talking about, you know, them, not talking about the couple, right? Like I if a couple calls me, yeah, they can talk about me a bit a little bit, but I want to know about them.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

I'm taking a vested interest in them. And if if whoever it is, whether it's a DJ or even any other vendor, doesn't take a vested interest in you when you're calling, then there's a problem with that. Um, but no, have that conversation with them. But then one of the other things I love to do is is encourage couples to talk to other vendors, right? You you've decided on your photographer, whether it's the style you like or whatever. You know, ask them about the ask them about the DJ. Hey, yeah, what do you think of Dana?

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah, for sure. There are DJs I would recommend. And I'm sure photographers, uh, venue owners, um, maybe planners, like they're gonna have people that they're gonna stake their name on. Like that that's not a light recommendation if we're putting names out there.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

Not just a recommendation, but even just asking them, like, when they were at the wedding, you know, tell me about tell me what they, you know, how they how they came across. Tell me, you know, not just like where people on the dance floor, because I'll be honest with you, most DJs, unless they're horrible, can get people on the dance floor. Yeah, there's a lot more to it for sure. And so having that kind of piece, like when you saw them perform, you know, even if they're not on your preferred list, when you saw them perform, what did you, you know, what did you think? What vibe did you feel? You know, tell me about, tell me about something that was memorable that night. Um, you know, were there any hiccups, right? How does how does a person handle a hiccup? Because then a lot of times, unless we're working with a vetting vetting, wow, sound like we're talking with a wedding coordinator. Um, like we end up being the coordinator too for a lot of those events and kind of orchestrating what happens when. So, how do they handle that?

Packages, Add‑Ons, And Honest Guidance

SPEAKER_01 24:18

How do they handle a uh a snafu? Right? Think of some of the questions that you were asked in a job interview. Yeah, feel free to throw those right at you, whoever your vendor is, even especially your DJ.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

Yeah, I do feel like there's uh it it's so nice to to know that like there is that weight put on the the other vendors and their recommendations, because even like what you're saying though is like past just like is this a good X, Y, and Z, you have the opportunity to like ask more questions. You're getting even like a deeper, even just like like even like we were saying, like, what what did you experience with this person? Like, did you enjoy the time that you had with them? Are they nice to work with? Because like as a vendor-to-vendor, like we have time where we're like working side by side.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

I got one other way that they can check.

SPEAKER_00 25:04

Yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Read through those reviews.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

And what I mean is read through them. Like, I will say, you know, that some people are like, oh well, the reviews were good. So I assumed it was gonna be good. Most couples are not gonna give a bad review of their wedding. Yeah unless it was drastically wrong.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

Yeah, if it was really bad, they're gonna probably gonna light them up.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

Yeah, but but read through it, right? Like read the fine, you know, read in between the lines. What is it saying? What is that that they're hinting at but didn't say?

SPEAKER_00 25:32

No, that's a great I love that because you're actually getting a like a more full picture of like if couples are saying this DJ was XYZ and everyone is saying that, that's proof in itself of like, oh, that's what we were looking for, is the XYZ. As opposed to just being like, oh well, he was nice on the phone, or when we had a Zoom call, like I enjoyed his personality there. But like there's gonna be some specific things you're looking for from your DJ. If you're hearing that in all these reviews, like actually reading them, it's gonna, it's gonna be a thing. Definitely. Um do you have sort of a normal uh or kind of go-to like package that couples are booking? Like, are you there for a certain amount of time? Is it changed at all?

SPEAKER_01 26:20

So I have a base that I do, which is five hours. Um and that's that typically involves a ceremony reception. Any more 95 or higher percentage of my weddings in a year are doing their ceremonies on site. So I've basically created a starter, and then everything I do is is an add-on. If they want the uplighting, if they want the monograms, because that way you don't have to take a package because, well, that's a deal. I'd rather you want something because it's gonna fit with what you're wanting to do and what you envision. Um, and sometimes it just doesn't make

Vendor Coordination And Timelines

SPEAKER_01 26:50

sense. Like I would love my uplighting to go out every weekend. Because it does look nice, because it does look nice, but there are some venues where it just would be a complete waste. And so when couples tell me, like, do we do we need this? No, you don't need it. But here's what it'll do for you if you want it. Yeah, and and that's that's really the better thing. Because in the same respect, I also look at it, I would rather have that happen than at the end them go, wow, that really wasn't a good thing. We we wasted our money.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

Yeah, why did we say that?

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Yeah, yeah. And some of some of our barns, especially, like if they're super dark, um, the light can be good, but if they're like, oh, but we want a dark color, that's not gonna work. Yeah. So you also have to have a somebody who knows lighting to know, okay, if we're gonna go that direction, here's what you want. And if you're wanting this, maybe we shouldn't do it.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Yeah. No, and I I would hope that couples listening or watching are like appreciating the forwardness of like maybe this isn't a good fit, and spending extra money on this one element of that's not the main thing is not really kind of worth that that extra cost. Um when you have uh you're working alongside a lot of vendors throughout the reception, maybe you have a data coordinator, maybe there's photo, video, catering might be like knocking at the door, needing something. Uh how does that process work for you? And and what could other vendors do to help make your DJ experience be smoother, easier, and just like a better experience?

SPEAKER_01 28:30

So one of the things I I try and do with that automation that I mentioned, the DJ event planner, I will connect with all of my vendors. I I ask for their emails, I ask for their, you know, for their phone numbers, and I will connect with every single one of them in just a quick little, hey, by the way, I'm the DJ for Bobby and Susie's wedding coming up this weekend, um, or whatever the date is when it sends out. And you know, just wanted just wanted to touch base with you. And then when we get a little closer and and the timeline has been finalized, which I like to do two months in advance, um, they get that. And so they have that ready to go. So that way the day of, like they're not questioning, but I have it printed out for them just in case. Yeah. So it's one of those things that kind of all that communication that way up in advance really helps. So the day of, we're all on the same page.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

We're not questioning, hey, by the way, uh what happened starting at 4:30 and you had it starting at four, or like I had the first dance and then speeches, and you had first dance and then parent dances. I love when DJs are just like on it, they're like, here's the list, I'll get you when we need you, go do your thing.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Yeah, I love it. But I think one of the other ways that vendors can help, just in general, is just coming alongside, like coming alongside each other and recognizing that both or all the vendors involved want what's best for the couple. Um, I not to throw any names out there, but a couple weeks ago I worked with with a photographer. She was great at what she did, but we had to change the timeline a hundred percent from what it was

MC Versus DJ: Style And The Love Story

SPEAKER_01 30:03

because she was only going to be there for an hour of the reception.

SPEAKER_00 30:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

And so, like, I get it. I get it from the financial standpoint. Like the couple didn't want to pay for her to be there afterwards need to figure out beforehand. Exactly. And it was that's what kind of was like, okay, well, we made it work, but there were so many things that felt disjointed because we were rushing through because of because of the focus wasn't on the couple, the focus was on she's only got till this time and we got to get out of there.

SPEAKER_00 30:30

Yeah. Which is yeah, that's why we do all day coverage. But anyways, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Well, and and again, that you know, those are the same things. Like I, you know, nobody wants to be at their job past the past the deadline of what they are.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

But but I think that's where sometimes the best thing you can do is go, what you're envisioning, what do you want? Okay, this is what it's gonna take to be there. Yeah, not oh, here's what you bought, let's make it work.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Let's try to fit it into it, yeah. Like the cart before the horse kind of thing. Um, so you have sort of like an MC part of your job, and you have sort of like the mixing DJing part of your job. Do you like love both? Do you love more one more than the other kind of thing?

SPEAKER_01 31:14

It's funny. I don't necessarily come across it, especially when I'm when I'm in DJ mode and MC mode, right? I am very introverted. I am very much I am very much behind the scenes. So what ends up happening is when I go to grab that microphone, I kind of I talk about flipping the switch, right? I flip the switch, I go into, for lack of better terms, performance mode. Um, and it helps me understand um where I'm coming from, right? It kind of helps keep me grounded too, to to kind of know I still have that other side of me back behind me. Um, but it helps me to keep moving forward. So which do I like the more? I like I do like the DJ side a little bit better, just because it's it's orchestrating the music, it's getting them responding, they're dancing. But I love the NC side because I love the emotion.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

So one of the things I do is I do what's called an audio amazing love story. Don't do it often, fortunately, because it takes up a lot of time to put together, but I'll interview my couples, I'll record it, and then I splice it together and I share their love story with them. They're sitting right there, but we take the audio clips that's so cool and we throw it in. So I'll be talking, talking, talking, and then, and then Joe said, and all of a sudden I hit, and there's Joe's voice coming out.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 32:26

And we lead all the way up and we even do the we have them completely tell the engagement story. Like, how did how did whoever propose, how did that happen? Walk me through the entire thing, and we splice it up. It takes about 10 minutes to do, but it is purely emotional, and it's a lot of laughs, it's a lot of a lot of all moments. Um that's so cool.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

I've never heard of that before.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Yeah, we start so there's different ones I've done, love stories. Um, that's kind of a trend that's been out there for a few years, but this version of taking their audio was something I picked up from a workshop I went to.

SPEAKER_00 32:58

Yeah. So you mentioned early on, I'm gonna go back like 40 minutes from now.

How Weddings And DJing Have Evolved

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Um, you mentioned early on that when you were taken under the wing of those couple DJs that were doing some of the events and and kind of branching out, and you're like, oh, I could do that too. Like I didn't know that was a thing. But you mentioned something about like not wanting to do it the way that they were doing it. There was something you noticed that was different. And I'm curious, like, what did you notice? And then, like, how has DJing weddings changed from 2001, 2010 to to now?

SPEAKER_01 33:36

So some of what changed then was just because they were they were weekend warriors, and they treated it very much like that. It was it was extra money that was coming in on the weekends. Some of them made great money doing it, so it wasn't that it was they weren't putting any effort in, but it just wasn't the same type of piece, it wasn't the same type of mentality. Um, and so when I saw what they were doing, I recognized that I needed to treat it with a lot more respect. This is somebody's once-in-a-lifetime event, or in theory, it is. Yeah, and so I want what I can do to make that work in 2010. When I saw these, you know, these other DJs that were doing this full time, and I and I was like, oh, you know, and it wasn't for a while I contemplated even doing it full-time. Like I thought maybe that was what I would do. Yeah. Um, but I just couldn't.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

Oh, like not even any teaching, not any teaching at all.

SPEAKER_01 34:25

Like and what was rough was by the time I realized that I was already teaching. Oh so it would have meant stepping away. And around me, Saturdays are the only days weddings happen. Occasional Fridays, Sundays, but so it would have been it would have meant a lot to to kind of ramp it up to the point of being full-time.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

So uh 2010 though, weddings were, you know, weddings were interesting. Like it was very much a focus on the party, very much a focus on you know, the special events and and having as many people as we could there.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:55

Fast forward to today, it's what's important to the couple.

SPEAKER_00 34:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:59

You know, we don't like a focus on attention. We're gonna cut the cake because we have to cut the cake, but we're gonna do it over here on the side with nobody, no, no hoopla around it. Yeah, um, we're not gonna do the guard route K toss because we always thought it was cringy. So even though there might be a story behind it and a tradition reason why it was done.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

I couldn't even tell you what it is.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

I could. Thanks to a workshop, thanks to a workshop I went to. There you go.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Um, but but those elements, because they're not important to the couples, have gone by the wayside. And so what I love is the fact they've become the weddings have become more about what's important to the couple and less about the tradition on the side.

SPEAKER_00 35:34

Yeah, or even just like what other people are thinking or saying or feeling or wanting. Yeah, it's just seems so silly to me, but it's also it's a tradition thing, I'm I'm guessing, more than anything.

SPEAKER_01 35:45

Yeah, so many, I mean, so many things were done as a tradition, like you know, why why you even even the way the cake is, even with the original tiers of the cake, it was all dates back many years on how things were set up. And so there is the tradition. And so people just kind of always carry it through, yeah, never really understood. Yeah, what I love is the couples who asked those questions, and then they go, that's really cool. Okay, maybe we do want to do it.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

Yeah, right. Yeah, and they're like

Breaking Into Wedding DJing The Smart Way

SPEAKER_00 36:08

they get the novelty of the tradition, right? Um, I'm curious if there's like uh a DJ out there, maybe they have a ton of DJ experience, maybe they have none. Um, and maybe your answer would be different for those two camps of people. But what would you recommend for them to do, not do, to get started DJing weddings?

SPEAKER_01 36:31

First off, see if you can shadow somebody. Like if you don't want to come alongside and be a part of somebody else's company, like I think that's one thing. Too many people jump into it without realizing it's an option. There are established DJs that would love to take people under their wing and have them as a member of their team and pay them pretty decently to do so.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

Um, there are others who also treat them like, you know, yeah, crap, but it is what it is. But but uh to reach out and and if nothing else, shadow some of those DJs. Go to the conferences. There's DJ conferences all over this country. There's big ones, there's small ones, there's workshops that you can be a part of and do that. Don't be afraid. You don't know everything. Yeah, and even if you've been DJing for X amount of years, you're going to learn something at these events.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Um, I I love the fact that we have YouTube and everything else, and we can learn everything from it, but there's something that you're gonna get at those conferences that you will not get from watching a video, or shadowing someone and seeing a good DJ doing the thing that you're maybe trying or wanting to do.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

I used to. It kind of got it stopped with COVID. But prior to that, about once a year, I would have one weekend where I knew I wasn't gonna book anything and you really wouldn't have anything. And I would just call a couple of my buddies up that were in different parts, or a couple, you know, guys that I shadowed, or not shadowed, but had met at conferences and was just like, hey, do you have a wedding this weekend, the whatever weekend that it is? And do you mind if I come along? I'll be your roadie for the day. Tell me what how you want me to dress, what do you want me to do? I just want to watch you. I want to watch what you do. I mean, I've been do DJing for you know 10 plus years at that point, but I was still like, what can I learn from them? And it was such the great experience. And then they would also at the end, it was like, okay, let's go, let's go have a drink, let's pick your brain. Like, what did you see me do? Yeah, what feedback can you give me? That's so cool. It's such a good idea. Oh my gosh, it was it was great. And if it wasn't for COVID, like, which kind of put the kibosh and then it's been trying to rebuild that.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

But now, yeah, like the like refiguring out how all of it works together. If you had some like uh parting wisdom for couples, like one last tip for something that they should be doing in this like hiring a DJ process, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01 38:46

When it comes to couples, you know, connect, make that connection. I cannot stress that enough. I know I mentioned earlier, but I cannot stress that enough. You're putting a lot of faith in the person you're about to give a microphone in front of an amplified system, in front of all of your guests. You're putting a lot of faith in them and what they can and cannot do. So calling them up or sending them an email and going, well, how much do you charge? And that's the only deciding factor you give is not doing your wedding that's the service that it needs. Yeah. You don't want to pick me because we don't connect. Let me know. Don't ghost me. Oh

Final Advice For Couples And Extras

SPEAKER_01 39:24

my gosh, I hate ghosting. Um, that's we could go another hour and just that. Oh my gosh, yeah, we could. Um, but but don't be afraid, don't be afraid to to have that extra conversation, right? And and to understand because yes, I understand budget has to has to come into play, right? You if not, like you're gonna go in serious debt over your wedding. But when that's the only question that that comes out, and and I realize you don't know what questions to ask, yeah. But you can quickly start to learn, just tell me about yourself, tell me how this started, you know, and and the good ones will also ask about you and want to know how how did you get engaged? How did you meet? I love to hear those stories. I love the when in fact when I do pride wedding shows, I'll ask them the first question how'd you meet? Not what's your date, not do you have a DJ? How'd you meet? Tell me your story. I love stories.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Yeah, that's so fun. And I would imagine that not every DJ is like that. So probably sets you apart at least a little bit, even if you don't know that other DJs are doing or not doing that. But it's definitely good advice. So your main thing obviously is like the DJ side of things, but you also have some other elements to your business. Uh, you want to just like fill us in on like what those are and like how they work for you?

SPEAKER_01 40:33

Absolutely. So I mentioned uplighting a few different times, custom monograms, right? Being able to put your names up on the wall and it looks beautiful. Um, and then I also have photo booth and audio guest book. And with photo booth, one of the things I think some couples don't think about is that that can be a great entertainment for the people who are not those dancers, right? They can have some fun with what's happening in the side. They don't have to be a great dancer to come up and do that. Um, sometimes you get couples who are like, well, we're not gonna do a photo booth for whatever reason. And I'm not saying you have to have one, um, but it can be a great piece of entertainment to kind of fill in those pieces. Uh, but it also makes it just fun. It just it creates that different piece.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

I think I've thought of it as like uh an entertainment piece as much as it's like uh here's a photo you can take home, or like here's like the you know, the stack of three photos or whatever. Um, but it is really something that like in the I'm assuming the audio book is the same kind of thing. It's like these are things that couple or not couples, but like I guess couples or or just different guests that are at your wedding, they can go do these things if they're not really into dancing, or if they want to break from dancing, they can go do these things and then come back out on the dance floor.

SPEAKER_01 41:41

Yeah. So the audio guest book is a telephone that records. Yeah. So you pick it up and you leave a message for the bride and groom. So it's not like it's not the whole handwriting one. And what makes it nice is you got grandma's voice there. Yeah. You know, sorry to say it, 20 years from now, she might not be with you, but you still have her voice.

Where To Find Dan And Closing

SPEAKER_00 41:59

Yeah, that's so fun.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

And it and it is, it's a lot of fun. I even have a phone booth that they step into. So it like kind of creates that whole experience with it.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

That's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 42:07

But yeah, it's just different. But it but I like it because again, it gets like you said, it gives that other piece, that other thing to do. Your ones that are dancers are still gonna use it. Yeah, but it's the ones that are like looking for something else to do, it's a great moment.

SPEAKER_00 42:19

Yeah, no, I love that. Dan, thank you so much for being on your wisdom and experience. I had no idea you've been DJing for this long. It's just so cool to pick your brain on all things like business for other vendors, but also DJing and entertainment for the couple side of things. Um, where can people find and follow along with what you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 42:38

Absolutely. So website danceentertainment.com on Instagram, DJ Dan C E N T. Had to be careful because like there's so many variations I tried it, didn't it work? Um, and then obviously through Facebook also Dan C Entertainment. So that's the that's the ones I try and have my image or you know, something there, something that looks like this. So you know, right? Like, yeah, so the old business name was was something that got extra for another company, so I tried to be very diligent this time to fix that and make sure you knew it was me.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Well, and all of the links for all the things that you just mentioned will be down in the description below. So if you're watching or listening, go to the description to find those links to reach out to Dan if he feels like he's a good fit for your DJ or you want to just pick his brain on some DJ stuff. Um, I appreciate you being on and enlightening us in all the things that you know in the DJ world. And I appreciate you guys tuning in uh to this episode of the podcast. If you've enjoyed it, uh please give it a thumbs up or a like. If you want to leave a review, let us know how you've been liking the podcast. Um it's so fun. We get to talk to so many amazing vendors, hear their story, business, couples, advice, all the things. It's so fun. And uh I appreciate you guys tuning in. That's all for this episode. We'll catch you next time on the preferred list.

unknown 44:01

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