Vendor review: Mega-Mix Sound Systems

www.fwmegamix.com

Jason and I knew that we wanted a DJ, as opposed to a wedding singer or a band. We knew that we'd want a wide range of music and the best way to get that was to hire someone who had access to all sorts of music.

Juan and Gil are brothers-in-law who both have other jobs. They DJ in their spare time for fun more than for profit. They had also previously worked at the Abbey, which was a big selling point for us because they knew the environment, as well as how to find the place!

This was the only DJ company we met with. The price was right, we got along great with them, and that was really all that mattered to us. I went a little control crazy and wound up pretty much dictating to them all the songs I wanted played and not played. If they had followed the list I gave them, they wouldn't have had to do anything except show up and load a playlist. After I realized that I wanted something more than an iPod could give me, I emailed them saying that they were free to disregard my list (except for the special dance songs) and make decisions based on how the crowd was responding.

These guys did a terrific job! They encouraged everyone to dance without harassing them. They did an amazing job reading the crowd - if people sat down when one song ended and another one came on, they had no problem changing it 10 seconds in if it meant the new song got people up again. We actually ended the reception early, but I didn't mind in the least because it was due to everyone having so much fun dancing that they wore themselves out really fast.

For the ceremony, I made a CD of all the songs I wanted to have played, including the classical music that played the 30 minutes before the processional started. Then I wrote a list of each song and it special instructions (fade when bridal party is at altar, only play from :54 to 1:28, etc.) and passed that on as well. That was all they needed to run the music for the ceremony, and because our DJ was able to take care of it, we didn't have to hire someone for a 30 minute time frame (of 10 minutes of actual work.) There was a small incident when a song played at the wrong moment, but our pastor fixed it by saying loudly "Let us pray," and the music was quickly turned off. Honestly, I didn't even mind, and I still don't. A story for the kids, I suppose.

Juan and Gil were so amazing, they even kept an eye on time the whole evening, updating me and Jason on how things were going (according to the master schedule I had sent everyone.) Because of this I didn't have to hire a coordinator, which saved me even more money. Don't be afraid to ask your vendors to take on additional tasks - providing they are capable of doing so, and you feel comfortable passing it off on them (if you are going to be more worried about it being done right than you are going to be relieved someone else is taking care of it, spend the money. No amount of budget friendliness will make up for stressing about jobs you've passed off to others.)

A++ for Juan and Gil and Mega-Mix Sound Systems!!!