My husband and I got married three weeks ago, and we used DJ Erik at The Park Loft in Oceanport.
Before I deep dive, I’d like to give some context. My husband and I worked for hou...rs, literal hours, on curating and creating a program that would seamlessly move throughout the decades, throughout the night. We were like mad scientists working to make an event that everyone would enjoy. It was a huge undertaking, and, as the wedding got closer, we felt our original DJ would not be able to understand and successfully produce our vision. SO! One night, two MONTHS before the wedding, I feverishly went on the Knot.com and started looking at local DJ’s. Many DJ’s I found seemed like they would be able to play our program, but review after review said the same thing, the thing that I dreaded, “our DJ only played 15 songs from the list we gave them”, one DJ even responded to a review saying that they would ONLY play a limited number of suggested songs from the bride and groom because that was their business model. Many reviews reminded me of my husband and I; couples sent over playlists they worked on, and the DJ played only one piece of it, and they were sad. I got sad for THEM! I kept on reading, and I found him! DJ ERIK of Point Pleasant. I found his website, listened to him talk, saw his reviews, (people were happy)- I checked to see if he had the date open (he did!), and I sent him a message! He responded so quickly- and I gave him the lo down. Later that week he talked to me, then he talked to my husband, and we decided to switch DJ’s. We opted for a very traditional package, and because I booked late I got a little last minute coupon (yay!) which he has set up through The Knot.
Now... to the good part. Erik is an artist, in every sense of the word. We didn’t have to painstakingly explain ourselves and hope that he would understand what we were going for, because he GOT IT. On my first phone call with him, I told him that we wanted to call our songs a program and not a set list, and he never once referred to it as a set list after that . I know it might sound silly, but it was important to us that he could see what we saw! The week leading up to wedding, we had a long call with him, while we talked through our program. He liked our choices (which made me happy and confident that people would have a good time), and again, HE GOT IT. Because he is a true artist and knows the job, he works to create the vision that his customers have. Had we said, “Please don’t play this, but you have free reign to do whatever the heck you want to do”, he would have. He isn’t in it for himself; he works with people to heighten the evening at the level it needs heightening. For us that meant our program, no substitutions and no wrestling match style announcements. Now, for those of you reading, some of might think, “This sounds very boring” ... well, I can assure you, it was not. We had a full, and I mean a full dance floor, all night long (except for dinner... when we WANTED people to sit and eat, which they did). People were so happy, and that’s all we wanted. We wanted people to be happy and to dance.
Erik helped us create that joy, that palatable joy. It was magic, and we would not have been able to do it without him.
Before I close, I’d like to say, on a more personal note, that Erik is kind, genuine, patient and he listened to us. That made a difference. He was with us from the start, and if that’s what you are seeking, reach out. You won’t regret it.