October 19, 2022 • 28 mins
When it comes time to hire a DJ for your upcoming wedding or event, there are a few things you'll want to keep in mind. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about those things and more!
Ed with All Access DJ is one of the best DJs in town! He knows how to get a crowd going and always keeps the party moving. When you hire DJ Ed, you're hiring a true professional who will make sure your event is one to remember. Whether it's a wedding, corporate event, or birthday party, DJ Ed will work with you to ensure everything runs smoothly and everyone has a great time. He's also an accomplished MC and can provide announcements and other support as needed. So if you're looking for a DJ who will make your event special, look no further than DJ Ed!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Crystal (00:10):
In today's episode, we will be talking with
Ed at All Access dj, whereit's all about you coming up
next.
Cathy (00:20):
In today's rant today we're gonna talk about the
bride and couple's rant ofconsistently seeing different
prices for DJ services.
They see it from 500 to2,500, so what we wanna do
is help educate them on theseprice points and really steer
(00:41):
them in the right direction.
Okay.
And so we've got Ed with us withall Access dj, who is a DJ Pro.
He's been doing this for years.
I thought you would be theperfect person to bring
on to really help us.
I know Crystal worked inthe wedding world too.
When Crystal, I knowthat you saw these.
Prices all overthe place as well.
Crystal (01:03):
Absolutely.
So I'm very excitedabout this topic.
He's a pro.
He's a pro in this industry.
I've been having the pleasureof working with him in the
past when I needed a DJ forbride's corporate events.
I think he's a perfectperson to help us break
down the price barrier.
The fear that some DJsin my experience are like
always concerned aboutpricing structures and
(01:25):
then the brides, How muchis, should I pay for a dj?
How much should Inot pay for a dj?
So it's gonna be reallygreat to delve into that
a little bit deeper today.
So Ed, when a bride callsyou, have you gotten
this from them before?
Like they're just so confused.
Ed (01:40):
I really haven't.
Confusion.
What I've gotten is thatthey would say that they're
having like a small,intimate wedding and they
can only afford so much.
I've gotten a lot of thatand it's increased recently
where price is more of afactor than anything else.
They're just lookingat the bottom line.
Cathy (01:57):
Yeah, so it's not about the discrepancies
of price, you're justsaying, Hey, in general,
price is more of a concern.
Ed (02:05):
Yeah.
I have actually had bridescontact me and just basically
when I ever, and that'safter I give 'em the quote,
then they say, they say,Well, I went to this
other company and theyquoted me this, which is
about half of what I did.
And so what I always encouragethe bride to do is to
compare apples to apples.
because a lot of it is basedon experience and a lot of,
(02:25):
and I've looked at Craigslist alot and a lot of DJs on there.
They'll do six hours for$300 and that kind of thing.
But they're hobbyists.
They're just, they have afull-time job and they're
just doing this on the weekendto make the extra play money
to go on trips and that kindof a thing where a lot of us
that do this a lot are fulltime and this is all we do.
So for me, Seems like we havea little more focus on the
(02:46):
bride then someone who justdoes it on the weekends and
then just has a full-time
Crystal (02:49):
job.
So absolutely, becausethere's a lot of planning
that wedding DJ specific orcorporate DJs specific have
to do in the planning detailsto execute a flawless wedding.
The DJ really doesmake the party.
You can make things lookpretty all day long, but
if your entertainment isn'tthere, then what's the
Ed (03:08):
point?
And I've had a bride, ormore than one bride, and.
See my quote and say, Goodgrief, why is it so much?
All you're gonna be is you'regonna be there for four hours.
You're gonna bethere for five hours.
How can you charge thatmuch for that time?
And so I literally will typeout a whole laundry list of
what you know we do anyways asa DJ about downloading
music, purchasing music,spending 20 hours a week on
a wedding, getting everythingdone, making sure that
(03:29):
everything's sound checked.
There's a whole laundry listof things we do before we
even get to the wedding, andthen we get it there early.
I get to the.
Four hours early, just becauseI like to make sure
everything's working.
There's a lot to do other thanjust be show up and run the
thing because we gotta makesure all the music's working.
Cathy (03:45):
When I was DJing, Crystal would always be like, Why do
you wanna get there so early?
And I just remember thinking,what if something goes wrong?
I have time to run to the store.
I remember the first weddingI ever did was at White Rock
Lake with the big stage.
I can't remember.
That was called.
Remember that Crystal?
And we decided to add video and
Crystal (04:06):
Oh, yes.
Ed (04:07):
That's, that's, Oh my gosh.
That was my firstvenue as all X is dj.
Cathy (04:11):
Oh, wow.
The, you know what I'mtalking about, The one with
the stage, it overlooksthe lake at White Rock.
I just can't remember it.
Not the filter building.
It was the other building.
Crystal (04:20):
Yeah, I was thinking culture, but Oh yes.
I cannot remember whatthe name of that facility.
Cathy (04:26):
I remember being on the stage, we set up all this video,
we had all this lighting andmy Mac cord went out when, and
we had an hour and a half andit was the video cord and they
had given me tons of photosthat they wanted me to show.
And I was so rememberI was so stressed out.
I was like, I've gotta leave.
I'll be back.
And you're like, What?
Crystal (04:48):
I was stressed out too and I was like, I
dunno how to do any of this.
Cathy (04:52):
But no,
Crystal (04:53):
it was.
Winfrey Point
Cathy (04:56):
prolonged time.
But then it was really funnybecause as I was leaving, one
of the guys that was thereactually happened to have an
iPad audio cord in his backpack.
And remember he ended upgiving me that to use.
And I just rememberthe stress of that.
Wow.
And I thought tomyself after this,
I'm never going to show upan hour or two hours before
(05:16):
thinking I've got it covered.
Ed (05:18):
And the other thing is I drive a full size van and
in there is every single.
Piece of equipment Icould possibly own.
So I've had it where weddings,something would go bad
and if I had you, a lot oftimes I'll have it, my, my
van and I would just go outand get a replacement or
something and then go tothe store for the next day.
Cathy (05:33):
Yeah, and it's interesting because I think
that a lot of brides, they'reso focused on the ceremony,
getting down the aisle,crystal, they're focused on
the food and they really.
See a lot of things thatgoes on to prep for their
wedding or even a corporateevent on the back end.
I think that they just don'tsee it, and so they just
don't think it's there.
(05:53):
They don't,
Crystal (05:53):
I would agree with that, Kathy, but in
addition to that, and I thinkalso to your point, Ed is.
Another factor is thecustomization of music.
Mm-hmm.
is, in my experience of therehave been times as a wedding
planner and this, I think, fitsthe point that you're making so
much to the $300 DJs where maybethe DJ was hired before I became
(06:14):
on board as a wedding planner.
And the first thing Ialways wanted to do was
connect with the dj, cuzI'm gonna be communicating
throughout the entire wedding.
Specifically with the DJ,more than any other vendor,
or at least a good weddingplanner, should and I would
always be so fearful of whatkind of DJ I would get because
I have worked with the greatDJs that know their job, know
(06:37):
what they're doing, and the onesthat are either one, learning
their craft, doing it as ahobby club, DJs that should not.
Be in the wedding world ofmusic because every wedding
is different, and so thecustomization of music,
I think is a huge point.
And does your DJ know how todo the starts and stops that
you wouldn't otherwise do ata club or just playing music?
(07:00):
You're not just plugging inan iPod saying, Hey, let's go.
There's a lot of finesseand skill that I have seen.
The difference between your$300 DJs and your 15 to
$2,000, DJs, it's just nightand day, and it really does
make a huge difference in theflow of how the wedding goes.
And people don't realizethat music really does
(07:22):
create the environment.
It takes them on a happytrip or a sad trip or love
trip, all of those things.
Cathy (07:28):
Another thing too is companies like yours, I
see this happening a lot indifferent industries, not
just the wedding industry,where businesses are doing
more, they're offering more.
So for example, you're offering,you do things like a photo
booth, and I think I, You'vegot a lot of things that you
offer, and I think that a lotof times that the brides or
(07:49):
couples, they want those things.
You know what I mean?
And I think those extrasalso affect the price point.
Am I wrong?
Ed (07:56):
No, you're right.
It does affect the pricepoint because there's all,
everything is an add on,but it's an extra service.
The one thing that some DJs aredoing and some are not, but some
are trying to go outside therealm of a DJ and photo booth
type thing outside of their.
I don't know if they're theirskill set, comfort zone skillset
to offer other stuff that theyhave no idea what, They just
(08:18):
see money, they don't understandhow it all works together.
For a long time, weoffered a coordination.
We had different coordinators,but it just didn't, it
didn't feel like it wasworking to do that, so we
just stopped doing that.
But yeah, adding.
Everything.
Cause we have, we doofficiating, we do love
letters, we do dancing on theclouds up, lighting, all that.
And so that all doesadd into an extra cost.
Cathy (08:38):
Yeah.
And so the bride, whatit's awesome is they can
do that one stop shop.
I love the fact that when Isee a bride can hire like a
videographer and a photographerand their team and they
come into play, I love that.
Same with DJs.
I think DJ's light.
Electronic like, like yourlove letters, the smokes, the
fogs, all that extra stuff.
It all really does make sense.
(08:59):
You guys, as DJs, I knowthat you're part of that
planning process too.
I remember looking atthe timeline going,
Okay, there's a lot of startsand stops to a wedding, so it's
really important that you alsoare engaged with the bride and
the, the first dances and all.
What do we call those, Theevents throughout the wedding?
Ed (09:19):
I can't, I can't tell you.
There's a differencebetween, So whenever I do
my introductions welcomingeverybody, I let everybody know
I am the host of the evening.
There's a difference frombeing a DJ and being a host.
A lot of DJs, especiallythe lower cost ones that
you find on Craigslist orwhat have you, they'll play
the music, but you don't.
Dare put 'em on a microphone andhosting the wedding basically
is, I take the timeline and I.
(09:41):
Keep everything moving alongthe . I think that's a big
thing because companies likemine and others that are
fulltime, that's what we do.
We literally host it andkeep things moving that way.
The bride does nothave all that stress.
Crystal (09:51):
You said something about the, You don't dare
put them on a microphone,and since we are on the rant
portion of this episode, , Ihave rants for days.
I will save us time on that, butI could not agree with you more.
There have been more than onescenario case scenarios where.
Certain DJs that are not hostshave gotten on a microphone.
(10:13):
And I finally, because Iwas MCing at that time,
said, You know what?
Why don't you just play themusic and I'll take over
from here . Cause it wasterrifying and I just never
knew what they were gonna saynext, and how quickly they
can easily offend someone.
And so for you to say that youannounce yourself as the host,
(10:35):
I knew exactly what your pointwas on that, and I love that.
Cathy (10:38):
So you're Ed, you're basically guiding them
through the entire wedding.
The guest, you're informingthe guest of what's next.
When you say host, that'sreally what you're doing.
You're just keeping them engagedand from start to finish, right?
Ed (10:51):
Yeah, and how I explain this to brides is when they have a
coordinator is I will tell them,So my job is for the ceremony.
The coordinator is runsthat, the ceremony, and
my job is to back up thecoordinator with anything
I need to and anything she.
On the reception, thecoordinator backs up the dj.
I'm the one with a microphoneand I'm the one making
all the announcements.
But before we do anything,I obviously check with the
coordinator, making surewe're on, we're on time.
Cathy (11:13):
Okay, so perfect example.
When the DJ has the hopand dance floor and the
coordinator comes over andsays, Hey, we need to stop.
They're ready to do.
Something really slow.
You've got everybody hypedup on the dance floor and
you've got this person saying,Wait, we have to stop this.
When coordinators work wellwith DJs, they recognize
(11:34):
that, Hey, we finally gotthe dance floor packed.
Let's wait about 15, 20 minutesand then we can do this.
Ed (11:40):
Exactly.
, Cathy (11:41):
Cause I know Crystal and I work together
would take a while.
Sometimes it'd belike, Wait, not yet.
And Crystal was reallygood about saying no, we
finally got everybody to.
The alcohol's kickingin or whatever.
Let's not stop the party.
Crystal (11:54):
Oh yeah.
Prime examples is my favoriteis when the mother of the
bride or mother of the groomalways want to choose the
worst timing for whatever.
Random non-planned specialthing that they want to do.
And, and to your point, Ed,backing up the dj, that in that
moment is the responsibilityof the coordinator or wedding
(12:16):
planner to say, You know what?
I love your idea.
That's an excellent idea.
Now's not the right time,but let me get with your
DJ and coordinate a goodtiming so that way we can
execute this flawlessly wheneverybody's paying attention.
Okay?
That's how a wedding plannerand coordinator should
be backing up the dj.
Ed (12:32):
Yeah.
Cathy (12:33):
So what do you do, Ed, when they don't
have a wedding planneror a wedding coordinator?
I'm sure you, since yousaid you work with a lot of
bride, they're on a budget.
They probably don'treally have that one.
Maybe they have a venuecoordinator, but that's it.
How do you work with them
Ed (12:48):
On those?
Basically, I do timelinemanagement is what I call it.
I don't pin booters and all thisfrilly stuff that coordinate
You don't want me doing that.
I don't decorat tables.
But regarding timelinemanagement, I literally have
been at the back of ceremoniesplaying the music and I would
just wave them down when it'stime for them to come down the
aisle and that kind of thing.
So I help in that respectbecause that takes a lot
of stress off of them.
(13:08):
That is about as much as you'llget outta me cuz I can't do all.
Other FRI stuff.
Cathy (13:13):
Yeah, you're a dj.
You're not a weddingcoordinator, but
I love that word.
I love that word, timelinecoordination because it's
like you said, that goes backto the host of you making
sure that the event or thewedding runs really smoothly.
Ed (13:25):
The other thing I do on that is, I've actually
just talked to a coordinatornot too long ago where she
worked with the dj, is thatshe, he went by the timeline
and just started announcingstuff, but nobody was ready.
My thing is, before I goon the next thing, I make
sure that the bride's ready,the photographer's ready,
everybody's ready beforewe go on to the next thing
when everyone's in the room.
Cathy (13:42):
Yeah.
Cuz if they're hiring aphotographer and we can't
capture that picture, thatawesome moment or that
first dance or that toast.
And I know that happens.
But again, that goes back towhen you hire a professional dj.
You've got that experienceto know that those things
could or can happen.
Ed (13:59):
Yeah.
And, and with all thatbeing said, I will tell you.
If a bride really is,just as an example, their
parents are having a reallyhard time, they're having
pay for it by themselves.
I have no problem with inmy mind for them to say,
We can support us $300, andso they go find a DJ that
can accommodate that becausein some situations they
just have to take that risk.
(14:19):
Usually for the well thoughtout brides that are planning
a good size wedding and reallygoing through the process,
then yeah, I would say more aprofessional would be a better,
Crystal (14:28):
Absolutely.
Cathy (14:29):
Yeah, I agree.
Absolutely.
That's one thingwe can all agree on,
Crystal (14:35):
especially can happen in the worst.
Case scenarios because of thelack of budget or funds and
then when somebody does have it.
But it's really important thatwe educate our brides that
you can still afford things.
There's ways to work aroundit in areas that are where
(14:55):
you should put your moneyat, and maybe some areas
where you can cut budgets at.
And as a planner, I wouldalways explain those reasonings
to my brides and say, Do youreally need this much flowers?
Look how expensive that isversus less money on your
dj who's gonna be talking,hosting your entire wedding.
Let's kinda like counterbalancethis out and rework that.
(15:18):
But not everybody has thebudget or funds to have a
planner to help them navigatethrough those things.
And I think it's why thesetypes of podcasts are so
important so they can hear itfrom the professional, the true
professional, to tap into theimportance of it's okay to spend
a little bit more money here.
It's probably in your.
Other than going withthose 300, $400 DJs.
(15:39):
So one more thing, Ed,as while we're on the rant, we
got, we got the price going.
Another thing that I actuallyhad the experience of having
was, and, and this might besomething worth talking about
for brides, have you ever had aguest, or this could have just
only been me in my lifetime, um,which probably made me retire.
(16:01):
No.
But have you ever had a.
That had a friend who could singon a guitar and they wanted them
to sing a few songs at theirwedding , or you've plugged
them into your equipment.
So just like last minute,not planned or once
so once to get on themicrophone and sing a song.
Ed (16:23):
So I have had that a few times.
I actually recently had awedding where someone literally
walked in with a guitarcase and I immediately went
right up to him and said.
Are you playing tonight?
And he said, Yes.
And so I actually went tothe bride groom and they're
like, Oh yeah, I forgotto tell you about that.
But my thing is, I'm weird in,in this aspect is that even up
(16:44):
until the event happens, youcan do whatever you wanna do.
We basically made arrangements.
We couldn't sound checkit because he got there
right at time to start.
If they bring in a guitarand I got connections with my
speakers, I'm okay with it.
So I, I just do it anyways.
Thrilled with it, but I don't,It's a bride's day, so if
they really want him to doit, then I'll let him do it.
Cathy (17:02):
Absolutely.
The, I think the problem I hadwas that the friend when he
was ready to play was reallyhammered and it was at the peak
of everybody drinking, and whatended up happening was they were
very adamant about letting himplay, so we turned it on and let
(17:23):
him play and all the guests leftand went to the bar next door.
Ed (17:29):
So if I was in that situation, I would've let
him play without my system.
Cathy (17:36):
Like, unplug it.
Yeah.
Cause I, I would not, Yeah,that would not be good.
But
you're absolutely right.
I believe it is allabout the bride.
It's all about their day.
But they also haveto trust you as a dj.
To know the time and the place,and when it's time to let the
guys sing and telling him,Hey look, it's gonna
take a few minutes.
I'll play this song.
(17:57):
We'll do a quick sound check,and then we're ready to go.
And I have no doubt youdo that with complete
professionalism becauseyou're there for the bride.
And that's what I love.
If you could give everybride advice, What
would you say to them?
Ed (18:11):
The first thing I would tell the bride is for, the
first thing you have todo before anything else
is to create your vision.
What do you want to see?
What is your expectationof all your vendors
that particular night?
And then as fordj, I know if you.
If they do an inquiry onthe knot, they get slammed
like with 20 or 30 peopleand it gets confusing.
But my advice is to anytimethey get an inquiry or
(18:32):
interested, find three DJs,only three, and don't just
interview 'em and over thephone and everything else.
Meet 'em in person.
It's very important that youclick with that dj and there
are, I will be honest with you,there are some very low cost
DJs that are super, super good,but there's also some
very expensive DJs.
They're also bad, so itjust depends, but Right.
But I would have.
Meet with every each of the DJs.
I know it's time consuming,but it is very important that
(18:54):
they click with the DJ becausethat personality is going
to reflect their vision thatnight, and also that the DJ
can carry out that vision.
I've done full Korean weddings,Persian weddings, all kinds
of different ethnicities,but I, but I spend a lot of time
working on their vision, so thatway that day it's, it all comes.
And I've had this happento me before, which I think
is pretty cool, is theywant to hear my mic voice.
(19:17):
They want . That's awesome.
It's funny, but when I worked,I used to work for a DJ
company and I had auditionedfor 'em and I had to use a mic
voice to announce somethingthat I've never done before.
I thought those neat, andthat's another thing that
they need to look for is thatthere are DJ companies and
DJs out there that will use amic voice, and it sounds like
a game show when they do thisis, it's very coming up next.
(19:38):
It's very weird.
I, I make sure Ilet them know that.
My mic voice is very naturalbecause that's what they're
gonna hear all night long.
I don't need to
Cathy (19:46):
wait.
So real quick, give us anexample of your mic voice.
Ed (19:50):
Oh, you would say that on the spot,
Crystal (19:53):
oh, come on.
You got the P gallery over here.
Ed (19:56):
Just, just as my, I'll do my welcome
announcement as an example.
I'll say, and my voiceis pretty, pretty natural
the way it normally is,but I'll say good evening,
friends and family.
Welcome to the Springs den.
My name is Ed.
I'll be your host this evening.
If you have any requests,please let me know and I'll
be sure to try to play those.
And now we are gonna introducethe wedding party and
then we do introduce 'em.
It's just more of a hypedup version of my normal self
(20:16):
because my thing is also, andthat's another thing about,
is when they pick a dj, they,a lot of them want energy.
Some DJs will go there and itall, it is just a job to 'em.
They work for somebodyelse, which of course, I.
Situation too, but theydon't have that energy and
it's very important forthe bride to look at that.
If they're just very humdrum,yawning all the time, there's
(20:37):
no interest there and youdon't know how they're gonna
react it to at the wedding.
Crystal (20:41):
I think also though, cuz I do know that you
have a team of DJs, but itreally, like in any business,
it starts from the top.
So if the leader fromthe top has require.
Policy expectations andyou're making sure that
the DJ's, your team, that'sa part of all Access.
DJ understands what the,what your philosophy is and
(21:01):
what all access stands for.
Then those are the DJsthat are gonna be out there
doing the right things.
If you have a company.
That doesn't put as muchpassion and emphasis on the
details that we've talkedabout today and what you're
stating, then you're gonna havea completely different effect.
But I just wanted to putthat out there cuz I know
your great, your reviews arejust amazing and the feedback
that you get a lot too.
(21:22):
People are just love you.
Cathy (21:24):
And another thing, Ed, don't you have, if
it's not you doing thewedding, don't you have your
DJs meet with the bride?
Ed (21:30):
I give them the option.
Most of the DJs will actuallyliterally meet, either meet
with them or do a Zoom.
I try to tell 'em to stayaway from phone calls.
I want that face toface react interaction.
Yeah.
So in some of our DJs we'restill coming a little bit
outta Covid, so some of 'emreally don't wanna do face
to face, which is fine.
And we are, and youdidn't even know this, but
today we just launched adivision in California.
(21:52):
Woohoo.
All right, so awesome.
So that's today it launched.
So we're gonna see how thepersonalities out there
are with our DJs out there.
Well, I tell my guys when theygo to a wedding, I said, I want
them to see your personality.
I want them to see your.
The first moment you walk inthe door, I walk in and I'm just
like, Hey, how are you doing?
Really excited becauseI want that energy to
(22:13):
flow into the evening.
Cathy (22:14):
Your emotion too.
The DJ's having a bad night.
Guess what?
Sos Every single day.
Cause I, I remember lookingat Crystal sometimes when
I would just be beat tiredand I'm like, I need to
walk away for a second.
I need to wake up.
I'm the.
Gonna bring this energy.
I gotta go drink aRed Bull or something.
.
Ed (22:32):
My only thing is they've can make or break the wedding
because based on what the,how the DJ does announcements,
follows guidelines, playsthe music, it's either
gonna be a very big successor it is gonna be a flop.
I think when bride's researchDJs, they have to be very
careful and not only, notonly just interview 'em,
but also read the reviews.
I know on the not and wedding.
(22:54):
It is almost impossibleto get reviews removed.
So if those are on there, thenthey're gonna stay on there.
Google, you can finaglethat a little bit.
Yeah, so I would recommend them.
Just look at the reviews.
Here's another thing is I'vehad brides tell me, said,
We wanna go seeyou at a wedding.
I politely tell 'em that it'snot fair to the bride at hand
that we do that because, andwe tell 'em everything is
customized to your wedding.
(23:15):
We have rides allthe time asking.
Do you have a video youcan send us of your work?
No, because what they'regonna see is not their
wedding and it's not gonnare reflect their vision.
Crystal (23:23):
And I think that's a good point.
Ed (23:24):
And I tell 'em that even at the bridal shows, I say
our whole thing is to createyour vision that you have is
to just carry out your vision.
It sounds, people makeit sound complicated, but
that's really all it is.
We just listen to the bride.
We meet with the bride asmany times that they want.
We just make sure wecarry out that vision.
Cathy (23:38):
And I love that aspect.
Taking care of the bride.
I love it cuz it'snot your wedding.
It's not my wedding, it's notCrystals, it's their wedding.
Ed (23:45):
I've also had it to where brides would inquire with me
and then they get surprisedbecause there's, How many
songs can I choose my wedding?
And I said, Portal holds upto a hundred, but you can
email me more if you need to.
They're telling me that someDJs also only allowing 20 songs
or 30 songs, and they want,DJ wants to pick out the rest.
That's why our slogan prettymuch is, it's all about you
because we want brides tofeel, at least with us, and
there's a lot of DJ companiesthat do the same thing we
(24:07):
do, but we just wanted themfeel like with us, they can
create that vision and have.
Music and whateverthey want to do.
If they give us very little,then that means that we just
need to step in and help.
But if they give us a wholelot, then that's their vision.
That's what we do.
Cathy (24:19):
So I think definitely if I was a bride, I
would hire all access dj.
Crystal (24:25):
I'm ready to, uh, have a party.
So just so I can hire him.
. . I'm motivated now.
Ed (24:31):
Oh, that's another thing.
The one thing also about the,sometimes about the lower
cost DJs, higher percentagethat they're gonna cancel.
Crystal (24:38):
Oh yes, it has happened.
Oh yeah, that'stime and time again.
Ed (24:41):
I'm dealing with two clients right now that their
DJ had canceled and they'retrying to get DJs for one
was for this Saturday.
And then one is forgosh, in November.
So, so we're trying to, we'retrying to work with them
and get them taken care of.
Brides have told me that,well my DJ canceled cuz they
got a better offer somewhere.
And that's such a shame thathappens where a professional
full-time dj, they aretruly invested in the bride.
They're not gonna justgo somewhere else because
(25:02):
they get more money.
I know.
Crystal (25:03):
Where's the integrity that's, I've had brides
call me in the past withsimilar circumstances and my.
It just falls for thembecause I'm like, how can a
professional person do this?
Oh wait, he wasn't professionalor she wasn't professional.
Ed (25:16):
A lot of times there's a friend of a friend or
something that does that.
Um, Oh yeah.
And I'm all for a friend.
DJs the one thing I really willnot dj, personal friend wedding.
I did one time, I didher and her daughter's.
All weddings I did.
It's hard to keep a professionalstance when you're teaching
your friend's wedding.
Could you get a little.
Lenient and lax.
I would prefer the friend justto enjoy the wedding and hire a
professional that isn't reallyrelated to anything to be able
(25:38):
to focus on, on everything.
I have found that with brides,they are very excited when we
have been to a venue or we'vedone a wedding at a venue,
that they're gonna marry that.
Crystal (25:47):
Oh yeah.
Ed (25:48):
Because we, we know the venue and I, we have a venue
that we're going to for the.
First time on October 1st.
I'm actually gonna takea tour of them next week
so I can see what thevenues, what it's about.
I try to do sitevisits whenever I can.
Uh, we're gonna have awedding at a venue I haven't
been to, but I'll be honestwith you, there's not many
venues I have not been to.
Cathy (26:03):
So since Covid now we got a new, a lot of new opening
venues, which has been nice.
Ed (26:09):
A lot of venues closed too.
That's true.
Cathy (26:11):
Lots of closed, Lots of opened.
It's, I think it could bereal interesting to see
what happens this next year.
Yeah.
I did read an articlethat more and more people
are looking to get intothe wedding professional
world, and it said that in2022 it was one of the top
businesses to get into really.
So we wanna definitelymake sure that all the
newbies coming into this.
(26:33):
At least learn from theoldies in the business.
Ed (26:36):
And that's one thing when we have a newbie coming
in, it would be nice if theywere welcomed instead of
criticized or bashed becauseof what they're doing.
Crystal (26:43):
I agree with that, we should all be helping
somebody hone in theircraft if we already have.
And if.
Experience skillset in that area.
Take them under your wing,show 'em some tips and tricks.
Show 'em.
Be honest.
I felt that this is how Iovercame that and teach them how
not to do those same mistakesbecause it's only helping the
bride out and helping them growin and hone in their craft.
Ed (27:02):
People have come to my company, they call me the
training company a lot of,because I basically will taken
in DJs and have their equipmentbut don't know really much how
to use it or whatever, and thenthey'll go and be successful.
We become respect.
In the industry, but welike to, we try to help.
We've had DJs that haveactually worked for me for
a while and then they thenuse that talent to build
their own companies, whichI'm, I am not ashamed
of at all, is the onlycompetition is myself.
(27:25):
I love that.
I'd rather work withpeople than against people.
Cathy (27:27):
Here's what I always say.
Often imitated never replicate.
So you can teachsomebody everything,
but they'll never be Ed.
They'll never beEd . It can't be Ed
Crystal (27:38):
One of a kind!
Cathy (27:41):
Ed for being a guest on Rant and Resolve.
We're super excited.
I've spent a little bitof time with you today.
Thank you for taking time outof your awesome, busy day.
We appreciate you being here.
Ed (27:52):
Thank you for having me.
Crystal (27:53):
It's always a pleasure talking with you, Ed.
If you liked what you heardtoday, it would like to
get in touch with Ed foryour next event or wedding.
You can reach him at all.
DJ dfw.com, or if you livein California, you can reach
him at all Access dj ca.com.
Make sure to go and like andfollow all their socials.
They always have somefun stuff on there.
(28:13):
We'll also make sure toinclude all of those links in
the description, all accessdj, where it's all about you.
Thank you for joiningus in today's episode.
We'll see you on the next one.
In today's episode, we will be talking with
Ed at All Access dj, whereit's all about you coming up
next.
Cathy (00:20):
In today's rant today we're gonna talk about the
bride and couple's rant ofconsistently seeing different
prices for DJ services.
They see it from 500 to2,500, so what we wanna do
is help educate them on theseprice points and really steer
(00:41):
them in the right direction.
Okay.
And so we've got Ed with us withall Access dj, who is a DJ Pro.
He's been doing this for years.
I thought you would be theperfect person to bring
on to really help us.
I know Crystal worked inthe wedding world too.
When Crystal, I knowthat you saw these.
Prices all overthe place as well.
Crystal (01:03):
Absolutely.
So I'm very excitedabout this topic.
He's a pro.
He's a pro in this industry.
I've been having the pleasureof working with him in the
past when I needed a DJ forbride's corporate events.
I think he's a perfectperson to help us break
down the price barrier.
The fear that some DJsin my experience are like
always concerned aboutpricing structures and
(01:25):
then the brides, How muchis, should I pay for a dj?
How much should Inot pay for a dj?
So it's gonna be reallygreat to delve into that
a little bit deeper today.
So Ed, when a bride callsyou, have you gotten
this from them before?
Like they're just so confused.
Ed (01:40):
I really haven't.
Confusion.
What I've gotten is thatthey would say that they're
having like a small,intimate wedding and they
can only afford so much.
I've gotten a lot of thatand it's increased recently
where price is more of afactor than anything else.
They're just lookingat the bottom line.
Cathy (01:57):
Yeah, so it's not about the discrepancies
of price, you're justsaying, Hey, in general,
price is more of a concern.
Ed (02:05):
Yeah.
I have actually had bridescontact me and just basically
when I ever, and that'safter I give 'em the quote,
then they say, they say,Well, I went to this
other company and theyquoted me this, which is
about half of what I did.
And so what I always encouragethe bride to do is to
compare apples to apples.
because a lot of it is basedon experience and a lot of,
(02:25):
and I've looked at Craigslist alot and a lot of DJs on there.
They'll do six hours for$300 and that kind of thing.
But they're hobbyists.
They're just, they have afull-time job and they're
just doing this on the weekendto make the extra play money
to go on trips and that kindof a thing where a lot of us
that do this a lot are fulltime and this is all we do.
So for me, Seems like we havea little more focus on the
(02:46):
bride then someone who justdoes it on the weekends and
then just has a full-time
Crystal (02:49):
job.
So absolutely, becausethere's a lot of planning
that wedding DJ specific orcorporate DJs specific have
to do in the planning detailsto execute a flawless wedding.
The DJ really doesmake the party.
You can make things lookpretty all day long, but
if your entertainment isn'tthere, then what's the
Ed (03:08):
point?
And I've had a bride, ormore than one bride, and.
See my quote and say, Goodgrief, why is it so much?
All you're gonna be is you'regonna be there for four hours.
You're gonna bethere for five hours.
How can you charge thatmuch for that time?
And so I literally will typeout a whole laundry list of
what you know we do anyways asa DJ about downloading
music, purchasing music,spending 20 hours a week on
a wedding, getting everythingdone, making sure that
(03:29):
everything's sound checked.
There's a whole laundry listof things we do before we
even get to the wedding, andthen we get it there early.
I get to the.
Four hours early, just becauseI like to make sure
everything's working.
There's a lot to do other thanjust be show up and run the
thing because we gotta makesure all the music's working.
Cathy (03:45):
When I was DJing, Crystal would always be like, Why do
you wanna get there so early?
And I just remember thinking,what if something goes wrong?
I have time to run to the store.
I remember the first weddingI ever did was at White Rock
Lake with the big stage.
I can't remember.
That was called.
Remember that Crystal?
And we decided to add video and
Crystal (04:06):
Oh, yes.
Ed (04:07):
That's, that's, Oh my gosh.
That was my firstvenue as all X is dj.
Cathy (04:11):
Oh, wow.
The, you know what I'mtalking about, The one with
the stage, it overlooksthe lake at White Rock.
I just can't remember it.
Not the filter building.
It was the other building.
Crystal (04:20):
Yeah, I was thinking culture, but Oh yes.
I cannot remember whatthe name of that facility.
Cathy (04:26):
I remember being on the stage, we set up all this video,
we had all this lighting andmy Mac cord went out when, and
we had an hour and a half andit was the video cord and they
had given me tons of photosthat they wanted me to show.
And I was so rememberI was so stressed out.
I was like, I've gotta leave.
I'll be back.
And you're like, What?
Crystal (04:48):
I was stressed out too and I was like, I
dunno how to do any of this.
Cathy (04:52):
But no,
Crystal (04:53):
it was.
Winfrey Point
Cathy (04:56):
prolonged time.
But then it was really funnybecause as I was leaving, one
of the guys that was thereactually happened to have an
iPad audio cord in his backpack.
And remember he ended upgiving me that to use.
And I just rememberthe stress of that.
Wow.
And I thought tomyself after this,
I'm never going to show upan hour or two hours before
(05:16):
thinking I've got it covered.
Ed (05:18):
And the other thing is I drive a full size van and
in there is every single.
Piece of equipment Icould possibly own.
So I've had it where weddings,something would go bad
and if I had you, a lot oftimes I'll have it, my, my
van and I would just go outand get a replacement or
something and then go tothe store for the next day.
Cathy (05:33):
Yeah, and it's interesting because I think
that a lot of brides, they'reso focused on the ceremony,
getting down the aisle,crystal, they're focused on
the food and they really.
See a lot of things thatgoes on to prep for their
wedding or even a corporateevent on the back end.
I think that they just don'tsee it, and so they just
don't think it's there.
(05:53):
They don't,
Crystal (05:53):
I would agree with that, Kathy, but in
addition to that, and I thinkalso to your point, Ed is.
Another factor is thecustomization of music.
Mm-hmm.
is, in my experience of therehave been times as a wedding
planner and this, I think, fitsthe point that you're making so
much to the $300 DJs where maybethe DJ was hired before I became
(06:14):
on board as a wedding planner.
And the first thing Ialways wanted to do was
connect with the dj, cuzI'm gonna be communicating
throughout the entire wedding.
Specifically with the DJ,more than any other vendor,
or at least a good weddingplanner, should and I would
always be so fearful of whatkind of DJ I would get because
I have worked with the greatDJs that know their job, know
(06:37):
what they're doing, and the onesthat are either one, learning
their craft, doing it as ahobby club, DJs that should not.
Be in the wedding world ofmusic because every wedding
is different, and so thecustomization of music,
I think is a huge point.
And does your DJ know how todo the starts and stops that
you wouldn't otherwise do ata club or just playing music?
(07:00):
You're not just plugging inan iPod saying, Hey, let's go.
There's a lot of finesseand skill that I have seen.
The difference between your$300 DJs and your 15 to
$2,000, DJs, it's just nightand day, and it really does
make a huge difference in theflow of how the wedding goes.
And people don't realizethat music really does
(07:22):
create the environment.
It takes them on a happytrip or a sad trip or love
trip, all of those things.
Cathy (07:28):
Another thing too is companies like yours, I
see this happening a lot indifferent industries, not
just the wedding industry,where businesses are doing
more, they're offering more.
So for example, you're offering,you do things like a photo
booth, and I think I, You'vegot a lot of things that you
offer, and I think that a lotof times that the brides or
(07:49):
couples, they want those things.
You know what I mean?
And I think those extrasalso affect the price point.
Am I wrong?
Ed (07:56):
No, you're right.
It does affect the pricepoint because there's all,
everything is an add on,but it's an extra service.
The one thing that some DJs aredoing and some are not, but some
are trying to go outside therealm of a DJ and photo booth
type thing outside of their.
I don't know if they're theirskill set, comfort zone skillset
to offer other stuff that theyhave no idea what, They just
(08:18):
see money, they don't understandhow it all works together.
For a long time, weoffered a coordination.
We had different coordinators,but it just didn't, it
didn't feel like it wasworking to do that, so we
just stopped doing that.
But yeah, adding.
Everything.
Cause we have, we doofficiating, we do love
letters, we do dancing on theclouds up, lighting, all that.
And so that all doesadd into an extra cost.
Cathy (08:38):
Yeah.
And so the bride, whatit's awesome is they can
do that one stop shop.
I love the fact that when Isee a bride can hire like a
videographer and a photographerand their team and they
come into play, I love that.
Same with DJs.
I think DJ's light.
Electronic like, like yourlove letters, the smokes, the
fogs, all that extra stuff.
It all really does make sense.
(08:59):
You guys, as DJs, I knowthat you're part of that
planning process too.
I remember looking atthe timeline going,
Okay, there's a lot of startsand stops to a wedding, so it's
really important that you alsoare engaged with the bride and
the, the first dances and all.
What do we call those, Theevents throughout the wedding?
Ed (09:19):
I can't, I can't tell you.
There's a differencebetween, So whenever I do
my introductions welcomingeverybody, I let everybody know
I am the host of the evening.
There's a difference frombeing a DJ and being a host.
A lot of DJs, especiallythe lower cost ones that
you find on Craigslist orwhat have you, they'll play
the music, but you don't.
Dare put 'em on a microphone andhosting the wedding basically
is, I take the timeline and I.
(09:41):
Keep everything moving alongthe . I think that's a big
thing because companies likemine and others that are
fulltime, that's what we do.
We literally host it andkeep things moving that way.
The bride does nothave all that stress.
Crystal (09:51):
You said something about the, You don't dare
put them on a microphone,and since we are on the rant
portion of this episode, , Ihave rants for days.
I will save us time on that, butI could not agree with you more.
There have been more than onescenario case scenarios where.
Certain DJs that are not hostshave gotten on a microphone.
(10:13):
And I finally, because Iwas MCing at that time,
said, You know what?
Why don't you just play themusic and I'll take over
from here . Cause it wasterrifying and I just never
knew what they were gonna saynext, and how quickly they
can easily offend someone.
And so for you to say that youannounce yourself as the host,
(10:35):
I knew exactly what your pointwas on that, and I love that.
Cathy (10:38):
So you're Ed, you're basically guiding them
through the entire wedding.
The guest, you're informingthe guest of what's next.
When you say host, that'sreally what you're doing.
You're just keeping them engagedand from start to finish, right?
Ed (10:51):
Yeah, and how I explain this to brides is when they have a
coordinator is I will tell them,So my job is for the ceremony.
The coordinator is runsthat, the ceremony, and
my job is to back up thecoordinator with anything
I need to and anything she.
On the reception, thecoordinator backs up the dj.
I'm the one with a microphoneand I'm the one making
all the announcements.
But before we do anything,I obviously check with the
coordinator, making surewe're on, we're on time.
Cathy (11:13):
Okay, so perfect example.
When the DJ has the hopand dance floor and the
coordinator comes over andsays, Hey, we need to stop.
They're ready to do.
Something really slow.
You've got everybody hypedup on the dance floor and
you've got this person saying,Wait, we have to stop this.
When coordinators work wellwith DJs, they recognize
(11:34):
that, Hey, we finally gotthe dance floor packed.
Let's wait about 15, 20 minutesand then we can do this.
Ed (11:40):
Exactly.
, Cathy (11:41):
Cause I know Crystal and I work together
would take a while.
Sometimes it'd belike, Wait, not yet.
And Crystal was reallygood about saying no, we
finally got everybody to.
The alcohol's kickingin or whatever.
Let's not stop the party.
Crystal (11:54):
Oh yeah.
Prime examples is my favoriteis when the mother of the
bride or mother of the groomalways want to choose the
worst timing for whatever.
Random non-planned specialthing that they want to do.
And, and to your point, Ed,backing up the dj, that in that
moment is the responsibilityof the coordinator or wedding
(12:16):
planner to say, You know what?
I love your idea.
That's an excellent idea.
Now's not the right time,but let me get with your
DJ and coordinate a goodtiming so that way we can
execute this flawlessly wheneverybody's paying attention.
Okay?
That's how a wedding plannerand coordinator should
be backing up the dj.
Ed (12:32):
Yeah.
Cathy (12:33):
So what do you do, Ed, when they don't
have a wedding planneror a wedding coordinator?
I'm sure you, since yousaid you work with a lot of
bride, they're on a budget.
They probably don'treally have that one.
Maybe they have a venuecoordinator, but that's it.
How do you work with them
Ed (12:48):
On those?
Basically, I do timelinemanagement is what I call it.
I don't pin booters and all thisfrilly stuff that coordinate
You don't want me doing that.
I don't decorat tables.
But regarding timelinemanagement, I literally have
been at the back of ceremoniesplaying the music and I would
just wave them down when it'stime for them to come down the
aisle and that kind of thing.
So I help in that respectbecause that takes a lot
of stress off of them.
(13:08):
That is about as much as you'llget outta me cuz I can't do all.
Other FRI stuff.
Cathy (13:13):
Yeah, you're a dj.
You're not a weddingcoordinator, but
I love that word.
I love that word, timelinecoordination because it's
like you said, that goes backto the host of you making
sure that the event or thewedding runs really smoothly.
Ed (13:25):
The other thing I do on that is, I've actually
just talked to a coordinatornot too long ago where she
worked with the dj, is thatshe, he went by the timeline
and just started announcingstuff, but nobody was ready.
My thing is, before I goon the next thing, I make
sure that the bride's ready,the photographer's ready,
everybody's ready beforewe go on to the next thing
when everyone's in the room.
Cathy (13:42):
Yeah.
Cuz if they're hiring aphotographer and we can't
capture that picture, thatawesome moment or that
first dance or that toast.
And I know that happens.
But again, that goes back towhen you hire a professional dj.
You've got that experienceto know that those things
could or can happen.
Ed (13:59):
Yeah.
And, and with all thatbeing said, I will tell you.
If a bride really is,just as an example, their
parents are having a reallyhard time, they're having
pay for it by themselves.
I have no problem with inmy mind for them to say,
We can support us $300, andso they go find a DJ that
can accommodate that becausein some situations they
just have to take that risk.
(14:19):
Usually for the well thoughtout brides that are planning
a good size wedding and reallygoing through the process,
then yeah, I would say more aprofessional would be a better,
Crystal (14:28):
Absolutely.
Cathy (14:29):
Yeah, I agree.
Absolutely.
That's one thingwe can all agree on,
Crystal (14:35):
especially can happen in the worst.
Case scenarios because of thelack of budget or funds and
then when somebody does have it.
But it's really important thatwe educate our brides that
you can still afford things.
There's ways to work aroundit in areas that are where
(14:55):
you should put your moneyat, and maybe some areas
where you can cut budgets at.
And as a planner, I wouldalways explain those reasonings
to my brides and say, Do youreally need this much flowers?
Look how expensive that isversus less money on your
dj who's gonna be talking,hosting your entire wedding.
Let's kinda like counterbalancethis out and rework that.
(15:18):
But not everybody has thebudget or funds to have a
planner to help them navigatethrough those things.
And I think it's why thesetypes of podcasts are so
important so they can hear itfrom the professional, the true
professional, to tap into theimportance of it's okay to spend
a little bit more money here.
It's probably in your.
Other than going withthose 300, $400 DJs.
(15:39):
So one more thing, Ed,as while we're on the rant, we
got, we got the price going.
Another thing that I actuallyhad the experience of having
was, and, and this might besomething worth talking about
for brides, have you ever had aguest, or this could have just
only been me in my lifetime, um,which probably made me retire.
(16:01):
No.
But have you ever had a.
That had a friend who could singon a guitar and they wanted them
to sing a few songs at theirwedding , or you've plugged
them into your equipment.
So just like last minute,not planned or once
so once to get on themicrophone and sing a song.
Ed (16:23):
So I have had that a few times.
I actually recently had awedding where someone literally
walked in with a guitarcase and I immediately went
right up to him and said.
Are you playing tonight?
And he said, Yes.
And so I actually went tothe bride groom and they're
like, Oh yeah, I forgotto tell you about that.
But my thing is, I'm weird in,in this aspect is that even up
(16:44):
until the event happens, youcan do whatever you wanna do.
We basically made arrangements.
We couldn't sound checkit because he got there
right at time to start.
If they bring in a guitarand I got connections with my
speakers, I'm okay with it.
So I, I just do it anyways.
Thrilled with it, but I don't,It's a bride's day, so if
they really want him to doit, then I'll let him do it.
Cathy (17:02):
Absolutely.
The, I think the problem I hadwas that the friend when he
was ready to play was reallyhammered and it was at the peak
of everybody drinking, and whatended up happening was they were
very adamant about letting himplay, so we turned it on and let
(17:23):
him play and all the guests leftand went to the bar next door.
Ed (17:29):
So if I was in that situation, I would've let
him play without my system.
Cathy (17:36):
Like, unplug it.
Yeah.
Cause I, I would not, Yeah,that would not be good.
But
you're absolutely right.
I believe it is allabout the bride.
It's all about their day.
But they also haveto trust you as a dj.
To know the time and the place,and when it's time to let the
guys sing and telling him,Hey look, it's gonna
take a few minutes.
I'll play this song.
(17:57):
We'll do a quick sound check,and then we're ready to go.
And I have no doubt youdo that with complete
professionalism becauseyou're there for the bride.
And that's what I love.
If you could give everybride advice, What
would you say to them?
Ed (18:11):
The first thing I would tell the bride is for, the
first thing you have todo before anything else
is to create your vision.
What do you want to see?
What is your expectationof all your vendors
that particular night?
And then as fordj, I know if you.
If they do an inquiry onthe knot, they get slammed
like with 20 or 30 peopleand it gets confusing.
But my advice is to anytimethey get an inquiry or
(18:32):
interested, find three DJs,only three, and don't just
interview 'em and over thephone and everything else.
Meet 'em in person.
It's very important that youclick with that dj and there
are, I will be honest with you,there are some very low cost
DJs that are super, super good,but there's also some
very expensive DJs.
They're also bad, so itjust depends, but Right.
But I would have.
Meet with every each of the DJs.
I know it's time consuming,but it is very important that
(18:54):
they click with the DJ becausethat personality is going
to reflect their vision thatnight, and also that the DJ
can carry out that vision.
I've done full Korean weddings,Persian weddings, all kinds
of different ethnicities,but I, but I spend a lot of time
working on their vision, so thatway that day it's, it all comes.
And I've had this happento me before, which I think
is pretty cool, is theywant to hear my mic voice.
(19:17):
They want . That's awesome.
It's funny, but when I worked,I used to work for a DJ
company and I had auditionedfor 'em and I had to use a mic
voice to announce somethingthat I've never done before.
I thought those neat, andthat's another thing that
they need to look for is thatthere are DJ companies and
DJs out there that will use amic voice, and it sounds like
a game show when they do thisis, it's very coming up next.
(19:38):
It's very weird.
I, I make sure Ilet them know that.
My mic voice is very naturalbecause that's what they're
gonna hear all night long.
I don't need to
Cathy (19:46):
wait.
So real quick, give us anexample of your mic voice.
Ed (19:50):
Oh, you would say that on the spot,
Crystal (19:53):
oh, come on.
You got the P gallery over here.
Ed (19:56):
Just, just as my, I'll do my welcome
announcement as an example.
I'll say, and my voiceis pretty, pretty natural
the way it normally is,but I'll say good evening,
friends and family.
Welcome to the Springs den.
My name is Ed.
I'll be your host this evening.
If you have any requests,please let me know and I'll
be sure to try to play those.
And now we are gonna introducethe wedding party and
then we do introduce 'em.
It's just more of a hypedup version of my normal self
(20:16):
because my thing is also, andthat's another thing about,
is when they pick a dj, they,a lot of them want energy.
Some DJs will go there and itall, it is just a job to 'em.
They work for somebodyelse, which of course, I.
Situation too, but theydon't have that energy and
it's very important forthe bride to look at that.
If they're just very humdrum,yawning all the time, there's
(20:37):
no interest there and youdon't know how they're gonna
react it to at the wedding.
Crystal (20:41):
I think also though, cuz I do know that you
have a team of DJs, but itreally, like in any business,
it starts from the top.
So if the leader fromthe top has require.
Policy expectations andyou're making sure that
the DJ's, your team, that'sa part of all Access.
DJ understands what the,what your philosophy is and
(21:01):
what all access stands for.
Then those are the DJsthat are gonna be out there
doing the right things.
If you have a company.
That doesn't put as muchpassion and emphasis on the
details that we've talkedabout today and what you're
stating, then you're gonna havea completely different effect.
But I just wanted to putthat out there cuz I know
your great, your reviews arejust amazing and the feedback
that you get a lot too.
(21:22):
People are just love you.
Cathy (21:24):
And another thing, Ed, don't you have, if
it's not you doing thewedding, don't you have your
DJs meet with the bride?
Ed (21:30):
I give them the option.
Most of the DJs will actuallyliterally meet, either meet
with them or do a Zoom.
I try to tell 'em to stayaway from phone calls.
I want that face toface react interaction.
Yeah.
So in some of our DJs we'restill coming a little bit
outta Covid, so some of 'emreally don't wanna do face
to face, which is fine.
And we are, and youdidn't even know this, but
today we just launched adivision in California.
(21:52):
Woohoo.
All right, so awesome.
So that's today it launched.
So we're gonna see how thepersonalities out there
are with our DJs out there.
Well, I tell my guys when theygo to a wedding, I said, I want
them to see your personality.
I want them to see your.
The first moment you walk inthe door, I walk in and I'm just
like, Hey, how are you doing?
Really excited becauseI want that energy to
(22:13):
flow into the evening.
Cathy (22:14):
Your emotion too.
The DJ's having a bad night.
Guess what?
Sos Every single day.
Cause I, I remember lookingat Crystal sometimes when
I would just be beat tiredand I'm like, I need to
walk away for a second.
I need to wake up.
I'm the.
Gonna bring this energy.
I gotta go drink aRed Bull or something.
.
Ed (22:32):
My only thing is they've can make or break the wedding
because based on what the,how the DJ does announcements,
follows guidelines, playsthe music, it's either
gonna be a very big successor it is gonna be a flop.
I think when bride's researchDJs, they have to be very
careful and not only, notonly just interview 'em,
but also read the reviews.
I know on the not and wedding.
(22:54):
It is almost impossibleto get reviews removed.
So if those are on there, thenthey're gonna stay on there.
Google, you can finaglethat a little bit.
Yeah, so I would recommend them.
Just look at the reviews.
Here's another thing is I'vehad brides tell me, said,
We wanna go seeyou at a wedding.
I politely tell 'em that it'snot fair to the bride at hand
that we do that because, andwe tell 'em everything is
customized to your wedding.
(23:15):
We have rides allthe time asking.
Do you have a video youcan send us of your work?
No, because what they'regonna see is not their
wedding and it's not gonnare reflect their vision.
Crystal (23:23):
And I think that's a good point.
Ed (23:24):
And I tell 'em that even at the bridal shows, I say
our whole thing is to createyour vision that you have is
to just carry out your vision.
It sounds, people makeit sound complicated, but
that's really all it is.
We just listen to the bride.
We meet with the bride asmany times that they want.
We just make sure wecarry out that vision.
Cathy (23:38):
And I love that aspect.
Taking care of the bride.
I love it cuz it'snot your wedding.
It's not my wedding, it's notCrystals, it's their wedding.
Ed (23:45):
I've also had it to where brides would inquire with me
and then they get surprisedbecause there's, How many
songs can I choose my wedding?
And I said, Portal holds upto a hundred, but you can
email me more if you need to.
They're telling me that someDJs also only allowing 20 songs
or 30 songs, and they want,DJ wants to pick out the rest.
That's why our slogan prettymuch is, it's all about you
because we want brides tofeel, at least with us, and
there's a lot of DJ companiesthat do the same thing we
(24:07):
do, but we just wanted themfeel like with us, they can
create that vision and have.
Music and whateverthey want to do.
If they give us very little,then that means that we just
need to step in and help.
But if they give us a wholelot, then that's their vision.
That's what we do.
Cathy (24:19):
So I think definitely if I was a bride, I
would hire all access dj.
Crystal (24:25):
I'm ready to, uh, have a party.
So just so I can hire him.
. . I'm motivated now.
Ed (24:31):
Oh, that's another thing.
The one thing also about the,sometimes about the lower
cost DJs, higher percentagethat they're gonna cancel.
Crystal (24:38):
Oh yes, it has happened.
Oh yeah, that'stime and time again.
Ed (24:41):
I'm dealing with two clients right now that their
DJ had canceled and they'retrying to get DJs for one
was for this Saturday.
And then one is forgosh, in November.
So, so we're trying to, we'retrying to work with them
and get them taken care of.
Brides have told me that,well my DJ canceled cuz they
got a better offer somewhere.
And that's such a shame thathappens where a professional
full-time dj, they aretruly invested in the bride.
They're not gonna justgo somewhere else because
(25:02):
they get more money.
I know.
Crystal (25:03):
Where's the integrity that's, I've had brides
call me in the past withsimilar circumstances and my.
It just falls for thembecause I'm like, how can a
professional person do this?
Oh wait, he wasn't professionalor she wasn't professional.
Ed (25:16):
A lot of times there's a friend of a friend or
something that does that.
Um, Oh yeah.
And I'm all for a friend.
DJs the one thing I really willnot dj, personal friend wedding.
I did one time, I didher and her daughter's.
All weddings I did.
It's hard to keep a professionalstance when you're teaching
your friend's wedding.
Could you get a little.
Lenient and lax.
I would prefer the friend justto enjoy the wedding and hire a
professional that isn't reallyrelated to anything to be able
(25:38):
to focus on, on everything.
I have found that with brides,they are very excited when we
have been to a venue or we'vedone a wedding at a venue,
that they're gonna marry that.
Crystal (25:47):
Oh yeah.
Ed (25:48):
Because we, we know the venue and I, we have a venue
that we're going to for the.
First time on October 1st.
I'm actually gonna takea tour of them next week
so I can see what thevenues, what it's about.
I try to do sitevisits whenever I can.
Uh, we're gonna have awedding at a venue I haven't
been to, but I'll be honestwith you, there's not many
venues I have not been to.
Cathy (26:03):
So since Covid now we got a new, a lot of new opening
venues, which has been nice.
Ed (26:09):
A lot of venues closed too.
That's true.
Cathy (26:11):
Lots of closed, Lots of opened.
It's, I think it could bereal interesting to see
what happens this next year.
Yeah.
I did read an articlethat more and more people
are looking to get intothe wedding professional
world, and it said that in2022 it was one of the top
businesses to get into really.
So we wanna definitelymake sure that all the
newbies coming into this.
(26:33):
At least learn from theoldies in the business.
Ed (26:36):
And that's one thing when we have a newbie coming
in, it would be nice if theywere welcomed instead of
criticized or bashed becauseof what they're doing.
Crystal (26:43):
I agree with that, we should all be helping
somebody hone in theircraft if we already have.
And if.
Experience skillset in that area.
Take them under your wing,show 'em some tips and tricks.
Show 'em.
Be honest.
I felt that this is how Iovercame that and teach them how
not to do those same mistakesbecause it's only helping the
bride out and helping them growin and hone in their craft.
Ed (27:02):
People have come to my company, they call me the
training company a lot of,because I basically will taken
in DJs and have their equipmentbut don't know really much how
to use it or whatever, and thenthey'll go and be successful.
We become respect.
In the industry, but welike to, we try to help.
We've had DJs that haveactually worked for me for
a while and then they thenuse that talent to build
their own companies, whichI'm, I am not ashamed
of at all, is the onlycompetition is myself.
(27:25):
I love that.
I'd rather work withpeople than against people.
Cathy (27:27):
Here's what I always say.
Often imitated never replicate.
So you can teachsomebody everything,
but they'll never be Ed.
They'll never beEd . It can't be Ed
Crystal (27:38):
One of a kind!
Cathy (27:41):
Ed for being a guest on Rant and Resolve.
We're super excited.
I've spent a little bitof time with you today.
Thank you for taking time outof your awesome, busy day.
We appreciate you being here.
Ed (27:52):
Thank you for having me.
Crystal (27:53):
It's always a pleasure talking with you, Ed.
If you liked what you heardtoday, it would like to
get in touch with Ed foryour next event or wedding.
You can reach him at all.
DJ dfw.com, or if you livein California, you can reach
him at all Access dj ca.com.
Make sure to go and like andfollow all their socials.
They always have somefun stuff on there.
(28:13):
We'll also make sure toinclude all of those links in
the description, all accessdj, where it's all about you.
Thank you for joiningus in today's episode.
We'll see you on the next one.
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