I view the wedding DJ's job to be much more than playing music.  My first responsibility is to make sure your wedding goes smoothly.

It's my job to make the evening flow and make sure everyone has a good time.

I am a classically trained musician and have been performing literally all of my life.  I have been a sound engineer for about 15 years and maintain
very high standards for the quality of my sound system.  The combination of my performance and technical skills help to anticipate the needs and
wants of you and your guests. If someone has a question, I try to have an answer or to find one.

Everything starts with the planning.

As your DJ, In preparation for your reception, I ask you to fill out my wedding planner.  When I get it back,  I will walk through your reception
with you - from introductions to last dance.  I try to understand the picture you have painted of your wedding day and help you to fill in the blanks
and bring potential problems to your attention.  Once the day arrives, I plan to get to the hall about an hour before the start of the reception so that
music is playing when people start to come in.  From that moment until dinner begins, my main focus is on making sure people are where they need to be when they need to be there.

You and your wedding party will get to your table timely and gracefully
(well, some of the groomsmen sometimes have trouble with the grace part).

I have even been known to help bustle the bride's gown - no costume malfunctions here!  After dinner I keep tabs on the mood of your guests so that people aren't waiting around for the "formalities" to continue but at the same time making sure that the evening isn't rushed.  From there, it's party till we drop!  Almost all of my music is on my computer.  Of course I always have cd's as a backup, but the computer allows me to search through my 70,000+ songs quickly - even if I've never heard of the song!  From the time someone makes a request until the time I am ready to play the song can be as little as 3 seconds! (I don't usually interrupt one song for another, but if someone asks for a song just as another song is ending, it's kinda cool for them to hear it moments later.)  DJ's that play from CD's or records have to figure out which cd the song is on, find the cd, unload one cd, load the new cd, find the track and cue it up... a much longer process.

I make it a point to acquire all of the songs you request for your formalities

In addition to your formalities, I do my best to get songs that you have brought to my attention as being important.  Recently, I've added the ability to download songs at the event if I have Internet access available (more and more hotels and banquet halls offer this).

One final piece of advice I offer to all of my clients:  Remember that as much as everyone says "this is your day, do what you want" it is usually the first and biggest party that you and your new spouse will host together.  I continuously find that the more you make decisions based on what you think ALL of your guests will want, the more likely you will be to enjoy it yourself.  I have found that when I play to the crowd, even if it's stuff the bride and groom wouldn't normally listen to, the bride and groom have more fun than if I play what they would listen to and it's not what everyone else wants.

The bottom line is that the person writing the check makes the calls, but I don't expect people to hire me to say yes to everything - they hire me to help them make their event the best it can be.