Bride-to-be Blogger Carolyn: Choosing Our Music Maker

Carolyn and Chris enjoying a friend's wedding.

Chris and I have had a lot of fun at weddings with bands, DJs, and iPod playlists. To be honest, I was a little bit ambivalent about which to choose when it came time to decide for our own wedding. The iPod is a great, economical idea, but I was a little nervous about trusting a playing iPod with no handler, so that one was out. A band always gets the crowd going and dancing, but can be expensive. Plus, in the end, it was my strong preference to hear certain songs by certain artists—ok, Britney Spears—that lead me to the DJ decision for our entertainment.

Winterthur has a pretty solid preferred-vendors list, so Chris and I limited our search to only those DJs. I started out by reading their reviews on different websites, and emailing a few to get their rates. Without having attended a wedding by any of these DJs, it was a little difficult to figure out who to choose. Inevitably, my procrastination set in, and we ended up focusing on other parts of planning, rather that hiring a DJ. During this planning, I sneakily asked several venders and wedding professionals that we met with what DJs they had worked with, and who they recommended. We were continually told by different people in the wedding industry that Steve Croce from Silver Sound was excellent at entertaining, and that he went above and beyond his role to ensure that everyone has a great time.

After I got the recommendations I needed, Chris and I set up a date to meet with Steve. This is where we broke one of the rules of wedding planning (not the first time we did this—but more on that in a later blog): We only met with one DJ, and booked him. He was a very nice guy who seemed to enjoy what he does and he had impressive organizational skills (definitely a needed quality in a DJ). I know all the books say that we should comparison shop before choosing, but, let’s face it, we’re busy, he came highly recommended, and we liked him. Please note that even though I have now broken this rule a couple times, I have every intention of comparison-shopping with cakes—I’m not messing around with that one.

We’re pretty happy with our decision and I hope our wedding guests are ready for my Britney Spears-packed playlist.

How did you decide on the entertainment for your wedding?

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