Music By Design and Photo Booth

Jim RAN THE SHOW! Literally amazing DJ and MC. He completely made our wedding stress free! Not only did every one of my guests note the great music and how they didn't leave the dance floor all night, but he worked super closely with our videographer, photographer and us to make executive decisions that helped make our day stress free! I am so grateful for Jim! He was WONDERFUL!

We used Music by Design for our wedding and they did a fantastic job!! They played all of the music that we requested and took requests from the audience as well. Our DJ was super friendly and funny and he helped us throughout the evening with our schedule. We got a lot of compliments from our guests on how much fun they had during the dancing portion and that they loved all of the music that was played. I was a little nervous at first hiring a DJ instead of a band, but honestly it does not make a difference and I would always choose a DJ going forward. We had an amazing night, thanks to our DJ!

We had Kevin as our DJ for our wedding and he was incredible! The dance floor was so fun all night long. He knew how to play to our crowd. Communication with Music By Design was wonderful and the planning form was amazing. Highly recommend MBD and Kevin!

We booked Music by Design as our DJ for our June 2024 wedding and could not have been happier. Our DJ, Jim, was awesome. He was so attentive and responsive to everything that day, including starting the party early when the kids were ready to dance during dinner! As the night went on, he knew exactly what to play to keep the party going until the end, mixing our requests, guests requests and what he could tell we responded to in the moment. I would absolutely recommend MBD for your wedding DJ.

I wished we had gotten Dave, who was our originally assigned DJ. The overall planning process was great. The team was very nice and easy to work with. Our DJ did not come with high energy as I had requested on the DJ planning forms. He came and did a job, we tipped him appropriately. The photo booth attendant was great. She received the same tip as the DJ for a lot fewer hours worked. We didn’t request a ton of songs as our “must play” and we made it clear that we wanted him to direct the party appropriately. We gave him the creative ability so to speak, and our music ended up being the biggest thing that I regretted on our wedding day. My advice is, if you’re expecting a high energy DJ, make sure it’s communicated and in writing. The DJ’s job is to hype the group. Not to treat it as though it’s a retirement party. (Unless you’re hiring them for a retirement party, of course).

Our DJ, Stephen was amazing! The ceremony was flawless and we got so many compliments on the sound quality and music. Our ceremony was outdoors but everyone could hear perfectly. Our guests LOVED the reception music and the dance floor was full all night. Highly recommend!

We loved working with Music By Design. The online planning forms were intuitive and easy to use. Our DJ, Jim, did an amazing job and had great energy. Even with our atypical requests, he absolutely nailed it. He was friendly and captured the spirit of what we were going for. Thank you, Jim and Music By Design!

I loved the planning form, and our DJ did a great job keeping everyone on the dance floor.

Our DJ was David, his Attitude and overall effort was a 5. However, I think some of the mixing of songs wasn't what we envisioned. Even with that being said David still kept everyone on the dance floor. We appreciated his effort. In addition, the planning form was a huge benefit and david still did an amazing job with helping with the ceremony songs and even our entrance songs. I would still highly recommend music by design.

We loved working with Music By Design! They were fabulous from our first call until after the wedding! The planning forms online were super easy to fill out and I needed to change a few things after the deadline and they were very quickly able to get things changed with ease. Jim, our assigned DJ, was great! He had fabulous energy and kept the good vibes going! There were a few songs played off our do not play list but I told him the most important thing was keeping everyone dancing and I think he did a great job catering to everyone on the dance floor!

They were awesome! We had Eric as our Dj, and we had a LOT of musical requests for him. Not just songs, but very specific start/stop times, a special dinner playlist of our bridal parties wedding songs, etc. he was able to knock it out of the park! He was able to do our ceremony music with a satellite system, the easily worked into cocktail hour and our reception. Highly, highly recommend working with this company, they were great!

We LOVED working with DJ Jim. He followed our reception requests to a tee, and the guests were absolutely tearing up the dance floor because of him. As a whole, Music by Design was very professional and so helpful during the wedding planning process/day of the wedding.

One of the best wedding DJs we have ever had. Our guests did not leave the dance floor the entire night. He mixed our songs with popular hits and classics perfectly.

We got married back in September of 2023 and I am so glad we went with Music by Design. Our DJ and Emcee for the night, Kevin, was truly amazing. He played every song on our must play list, most on our play if available and none on the do not play. I’ve been to several wedding were the couple was not as lucky to have their wishes upheld. The dance floor was PACKED all night and we owe that all to Kevin. He was reassuring throughout the night to make sure our details were being executed and that if there was any delay or confusion, he handled it perfectly. A true professional and a delight to have as a part of our day. Not to mention the planning portal that is a part of the contract was a lifesaver. I would recommended this company a thousand times over all because of Kevin.

Music By Design was the DJ that our venue, Riverside Receptions, recommended. We were very happy with both the DJ and the photo booth attendant! Jim was our DJ, and he did a great job coordinating with us before and during the wedding. We told him that we were fans of scream-singing bangers from the 2000s, and he delivered a great playlist throughout the night that kept the dance floor fun and crowded. The photo booth was also great, and we love that we got an album of all the photo strips as a keepsake. Music By Design performs at Riverside Receptions all the time, so it was comforting to know that the vendors worked well together and knew exactly how to game plan the day. Thanks for doing such great work!

We had our wedding at Venue 5126 and Music by Design was one of the recommended vendors. I highly recommend MBD. Jim our DJ was wonderful and such a pleasure to work with. The music planning portal is very easy to use and truly made for a stress free part of our wedding planning. Our guest had a great time dancing all night to the music that the DJ selected from the information we provided to him in our planning forms.

Our experience with Music by Design was a mixed bag at best and a near disaster at worst. The assigned DJ missed the 3 hour call window during the wedding week to discuss final plans, then bailed the day of the wedding and required a replacement sent. Noah did is best to make good on a less than ideal situation which only turned worse when the system that Music by Design uses went down and all our music (guest entry, recessionals, processional, and first dance) were not available to be played. We made the best of this and the show went on. Luckily the venue worked with us and a member of their staffed stepped in with an Aux cord so we play our first dance song on the venue speakers when we found out about this issue 5 minutes before our dance. The music the remainder of the night was great and everyone had a blast on the dancefloor. I reached out to MBD and their email reply ensured us that they will have a new system in place that DJ's will not miss future calls, and that a backup system will be implemented as "this was the first time this has ever happened". I hope they mean that and our negative experiences can help promote change and ensure other's weddings go off without a hitch.

They did amazing! They played every song we wanted and we got so many compliments on the Playlist! Perfect choice!

Working with MBD was extremely easy. They clearly communicated due dates, and their online planning forms were straightforward. Andrew was our DJ, and he did a perfect job playing all the songs we asked for: ceremony through the end of the reception. At one point during our reception, almost all our guests went outside on the patio. I think Andrew handled it well, because the remaining guests were inside still dancing and having fun, and once I came back in I noticed that a song I asked for was already playing. Overall, he was very professional and personable. We didn't give him a setlist that lasted the full duration of the reception in the planning forms, and he did a flawless job reading the vibe of the crowd and filling in. MBD is highly recommended.

MBD was wonderful to work with, and we would definitely hire them again. Every person we spoke with was courteous and professional. Any questions we had were answered very quickly. The online portal was a great way to keep track of our music list and it was easy to use. The music library was expansive. There were lists of popular wedding songs that we used when we needed inspiration. MBD was also able to play a Ukrainian song at our wedding that was not in their library. We wanted specific versions of songs during our ceremony, and MBD was able to accommodate that. We also felt like the price was reasonable. Our wedding DJ was Charlie. He was awesome! We received so many compliments on the music, from cocktail hour to dinner to dancing. We told him generally what type of music we liked and the ambiance we wanted, and he hit it out of the park. Charlie was familiar with our venue, so we did not have to worry about him setting up. He was flexible when we made last-minute changes. Overall, we would not change a thing about our wedding day. We highly recommend Charlie and MBD.

Steven was an awesome wedding DJ! The process of using the online system for logging information and songs was so easy and helpful! Our guests were dancing all night and many said Steven was one of the best DJs they had seen in awhile! Would highly recommend this company and Steven! We also used the Photobooth service which was super fun!

We are overjoyed with our choice in going with Music By Design as our DJ for our wedding. Jim was our DJ, and he was absolutely phenomenal. He got in contact with us a couple days before the wedding to make sure that our music selection was correct. They even downloaded the correct songs, so that the right version was playing at our wedding. Jim was incredible. He was truly better than our wedding planner and constantly checked in with us to make sure that things were on track. If something went off plan, he let us know so that we were kept in the loop. He knew the right songs to play and when to play them, as the dance floor was full the entire night. Any songs that we said we absolutely had to hear that night, we heard and could not have had more fun. We would definitely recommend them to anyone planning a wedding that is looking to use a DJ. Thank you so much, Jim!

We couldn't be happier with choosing Music by Design for our wedding day. Our DJ, Charlie, was so kind and so helpful the entire ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The dance floor stayed packed and everyone raved about the music. I highly recommend them!

We used Music by Design for both our DJ and Photo Booth! Both were fantastic. The Photo Booth was fun and easy to use for guests. Space for 10 people to fit in there! DJ was great at fading between songs and playing songs we wanted. He went over pronunciation of everyone’s name at our pre wedding meeting and right before we all did our grand March. So happy with everything!

Excellent and very responsive communication, right on time, great music all night that kept the dance floor going! Their online platform was easy to work with. Kevin with our DJ and he did a great job! We loved working with Music by Design!

Our DJ James was amazing! I filled out a form that asked which songs I wanted and what the timeline was for the wedding. He did a great job keeping our wedding on schedule and he had a great playlist using the songs I requested. He was great at handling song requests from guests and he some funny improv songs inbetween speeches.

Music By Design was so amazing! They accommodated our first dance song, read the room and got everyone on the dance floor the whole night! Not one person sat down the whole night.

Great communication and great day off! Would highly recommend!

Andrew was our DJ for our wedding and did a great job! Very professional and our guests loved the music. Music by Design lets you create your own playlist if you have specific song needs! Easy to work with, straight forward, good pricing and good product!

AMAZING! Our wedding was 5/27/23. We had Jim as our DJ, and he was great! Jim played amazing music-perfect for our crowd. We had a lot of older guests and he played a lot of music catered to them. Then as the night went on he played more 90's, 2000's music for the younger crowd that stayed. We made a couple of adjustments throughout our wedding and he was so flexible and chill about it. My dad wanted to transition to songs during the father daughter dance and Jim did it beautifully. I wanted our exit song for the ceremony to start at a certain verse and he did it so easily. Jim was great and pleasure to work with. Music by design was so easy to work with as well! My husband and I actually were going to book another DJ who was not communicative with us, told us one thing one time and another thing, another time, had hidden fees. When I was booking with music by design, Music by design actually told me what the hidden fee was for (event insurance). Music by design was the complete opposite, they were straightforward and up front about their policies and procedures. Very reasonably priced and I was able to chat them before my wedding to ask a few questions. Also, they have this website that you input all of your musical selection into-it was so easy.

We had a great experience with Music By Design! Our original DJ had a family emergency and wasn't able to make it, but they had two replacements ready and waiting by the time we got to the reception hall. After a brief intro and questions they were able to run through the schedule that we had planned and everything went smoothly from there. We wanted our reception to have a strong focus on the guests and their entertainment, and as MCs, our DJs were able to smoothly transition between the different elements of our reception and did not pull attention away from the main event. They played the songs that we had requested through the planning tool and filled in the rest of the time with appropriate selections like we discussed. We had a few comments from guests saying that the music and dancing were great and they felt like the music selection got them on the dance floor significantly more than at other weddings. We would recommend them to others!

We loved our DJ Jim! Not only was Jim a great DJ, but he did a great job keeping the night on track. He let us know where to be and when to keep us on schedule, if it wasn't for him we would have been very behind. DJ Jim was extremely personable and kind. He listened to all of our request and last minute changes. He played great music and kept the dance floor alive.

Our DJ Jim was excellent! We basically said "DJ Choice" on the planning forms and he chose perfectly! He kept the crowd dancing the entire reception! Highly recommend!

My experience with Music By Design was excellent! DJ Jim kept the dance floor going all night and seemed to enjoy the music himself in the process! He helped organize the evening and suggested appropriate edits to make the evening flow more smoothly. Music By Design was patient with me throughout the planning process even when my communication on my end was a little delayed due to my crazy work schedule. Their planning forms and easy to access web portal made me feel comfortable doing planning on my own time. They were readily available to answer any questions I had and did not shy away when I asked if a song that I could not find on their site be played. My *favorite* question on the planning form was 'how involved do you want your DJ to be.' We have ALL been to weddings where the DJ gets a little carried away MCing, but Jim followed our wishes exactly and interacted with my guests accordingly. The wedding party's entrance was blocked by some tables, but Jim helped us plot a course prior to announcing us into the reception hall. All of my weddings guests said how fabulous the music was. No one even noticed our controversial lack of line dancing which Jim remained very respectful towards. I truly cannot recommend this company enough. They will work through your contract to make everything feel custom to you and they do not push you to upgrade anything. Communicate your dreams and this company will strive to fulfill them.

Music By Design was not only flexible, understanding, and clear in the lead up to our wedding: they were ***perfect*** at our reception! Our DJ, Charlie, kept things moving literally and figuratively. He communicated with us very well, and I in particular was very happy with him keeping us up to speed on time (he coordinated with other vendors like our photographer, and the reception hall very, very well). Very professional and accommodating! Great communicators all around! The day of is full of details, and these folks are detail oriented -- we got comments on how much fun it was, and we truly appreciate that we were able to show up, enjoy ourselves, and let them do their work without needing to interrupt or intervene. Absolutely recommend them!

Music by Design was the perfect choice for us, everything was so easy to plan with their online tool that our music was perfect all night! Jim did an amazing job keeping the party moving and discreetly communicating with us when necessary, highly recommend!

When some dear friends needed to cancel their wedding due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they generously gifted their DJ deposit to us for use at our own wedding. We are so grateful that they did, because we absolutely loved our experience with Music by Design! Planning and communication was speedy and professional throughout our entire time working with them. We were also thrilled with the DJ that was assigned to us, DJ Pete. The company arranged for a video call with Pete ahead of our wedding so we could run through the details and have a chance to meet each other. We immediately clicked with Pete and knew we were going to be in good hands. On the wedding day itself, our experience with our DJ was smooth from start to finish. Pete masterfully managed the music during our ceremony, and he did an excellent job at keeping a good flow on the dance floor. He made sure to incorporate our “must plays” while also reading the room and adding his own creative flair. The energy on the dance floor was amazing, and we received so many compliments on the music. We cannot recommend Music by Design enough!

Phenomenal. I'd recommend them to anyone. Stephen, our DJ, was very attentive, respected our wishes, and showed that he very much cared about our experience. He was flexible and adaptable to our wishes. I have no reservations and would recommend him and music by design to anyone.

Music by Design was an okay choice for a DJ. They offer a very detailed form to help the DJ understand preferences, however, we did not feel as if it was followed. We felt that we would have been on the dance floor more if the DJ followed our preference sheet more closely.

Kevin did an AMAZING job at our wedding, I would recommend him to anybody! He kept people on the dance floor all night. We received so many compliments throughout the night for having such an incredible DJ. The online planning form was a huge help. We were able to sit down and really think and choose the songs we wanted and didn’t want. We had a great experience with music be design through the whole process.

Music By Design and DJ Charlie were fantastic for our wedding! Charlie kept my new husband and I up to date with the flow of the Cocktail Hour and reception and did an awesome job curating a play list that appealed to our guests and the vibe of the night. Sound quality was fantastic and the available music library couldn't be beat!

Jim from Music by Design was great! We coached us on the timeline ahead of time as well as made sure our bridal party had clear direction on reception lineup and speeches! He also kept our dance floor full all night! Thank you Jim for helping us keep the partying going all night!!!

I recommend booking Andrew from Music By Design for your wedding day! I had dreamed of a fun and classy DJ and I got just that. Andrew took all of my requests and helped plan my day down to the minute and then executed everything perfectly. He had the best and most timely announcements and was personable but never too much for the crowd. He always kept the dance floor FULL AND PARTYING and he made my wedding dreams come true! I am so thankful for his intentionality and his fun spirit. 100% the best ever!

Our DJ Jim was incredible! During the initial planning process and talks over the phone, my husband had an easy time communicating what we wanted for our wedding and Jim was responsive to all of our wishes. They chatted for about 20-30 minutes making sure we were both on the same page regarding the music and timeline. He worked with us for both our ceremony and reception, and we are very thankful for his timing and accuracy with our ceremony choices. Before our introductions, he took the time to verify everyone's names and correct pronunciations, giving our bridal party a nice moment to also get to know him and feel comfortable. He timed our intro music perfectly, followed by our cake cutting, and when we were seated during our reception he was attentive to what we wanted as well as making sure we gave the OK for additional speeches/music requests. Before the speeches and the first dances, he spoke to us to verify who our speakers would be so that he could then go and talk to each person individually. It was incredibly courteous and professional, and it helped our maid of honor and best man get an idea of what to do before coming up to speak. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention how well Jim did during our dance hours. We had a lot of songs chosen for the planning website, and he hit all of our songs perfectly. We tried to give a good amount of room for him to play with, and for any song we didn't personally request, he maintained the theme of our playlist and chose songs that suited our taste and guests perfectly. Our dance floor was packed the whole time and we have only heard positive comments from our friends and family about the music. It's pretty obvious we only have good things to say about Jim, so we definitely recommend Music by Design and Jim to anyone who is still looking for a DJ!

Stephen and Music By Design did such an amazing job at our wedding! He did such a great job of customizing the music to our requests and playing a mix of songs that everyone loved. All of our guests have commented on how great the music and dancing was. So thankful to have them at our big day!

Steven was our DJ and he was outstanding!!! People say a DJ can make or break your wedding, and he absolutely nailed it. Everyone was dancing and having fun the whole night thanks to the great tunes. Flawlessly executed day of and easy to contact throughout process. Felt very confident from start to finish with this company and Steven particularily. Throughout the event he was right there with all the timeline cues and keeping everyone on track and prepped. Thank you so much for helping make our wedding dreams come true!! Perfect master of ceremony! YOU ROCK!!

I can't say enough great things about Music By Design!! Just wow! We had our wedding at Hotel Baker in St. Charles last weekend, and our DJ, David, absolutely rocked it from start to finish. Our guests can't stop talking about how great he was. He knew how to read the dance floor perfectly; there were tons of people out there the whole night. He absolutely nailed the music for our ceremony, introductions, and the dinner music. He played our many requests, even the obscure ones. We're so impressed!! He was also extremely professional and polite, and even came to talk to us to check in throughout the night about various details (if it was okay to play explicit music we requested, if our parents were present before starting our first dance, etc.) So amazing. Communicating with the company was stress free, clear, and efficient as well. If music is super important on your big day like it was for us, absolutely hire this company!

This review is LONG overdue as a NYE bride, but Jim knocked it out of the park. We wanted to kick or dance floor part of the evening off with Carnival or La Hora Loca. In our prep call with Jim, we shared ideas with him for this part of the evening and we had so many guests tell us that they have never seen a dance floor fill faster. Jim was also mindful about the fact that our wedding was New Year's so we had some very important songs to pick, the one that plays as soon as midnight hits, and the last song of the night around 1am. We were married almost 8 months ago and people still bring up our dance floor to us when we see them. Our goal of the day was 1) get married (of course) and 2) throw and awesome NYE party. Jim helped with that second goal of the day and made it amazing.

Steven was fantastic! He kept the floor full all night long. Everyone had an absolute blast and the company was super easy to work with. Their system helped us to express our desires and target audience without a hiccup. It truly felt effortless. Would recommend them to any family or friend. People came up during the reception asking for their contact info and how we heard about Music By Design. We are HUGE fans! Rates were incredibly reasonable too.

Music by Design was referred to us by a friend, and they showed up on time, our DJ called us before the wedding, and made sure that all of our final details were set. They played most of our requested songs, but not everything we would have liked.

We used MBD for our July 16 wedding. The pre-planning was done via an online form that allowed us to choose our music for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. They did not have any of the ceremony music we wanted in their database, but they had it for the day of our wedding. Charlie was our DJ. He was great! He called us a few days before the wedding to make sure he had all the information we needed. The ceremony music was perfect. He played all of our must play songs and made announcements we asked him to make throughout the night. We had asked him not to take requests from guests unless he cleared it with us and he made sure to do that. Everything went off without a hitch! We loved having MBD (Charlie) as our DJ!

I really liked the online planning tool. It helped put my mind at ease that everything was organized and taken care of. Pete, our DJ, was absolutely fantastic! He did a great job - just what we wanted and played our requested songs. The dance floor was packed all night!

Music By Design was great to work with! Their platform was extremely easy to use and they were easy to communicate with. Our wedding day DJ, Jim, was great at reading the room - we got so many compliments on the music and everyone was on the dance floor all night! 100% would recommend!

Our DJ Kevin was INCREDIBLE! He met with us the week of the wedding and discussed all details and expectations. Throughout the night, he kept the dance floor packed and would smoothly transition songs if it felt as if people weren't into them. He asked Brett and I about specific requests throughout the night and did a great job communicating. The only reason I giving 4 stars is the planning form website was a bit outdated. I was able to add in the timeline, names, must plays, and do not plays pretty easily but it was just a bit older. I would still absolutely recommend Music by Design!

We could not be more happy about our experience with Musicbydesign. The entire planning process was painless and super easy. They were so pleasant to work with and catered to all of our specific requests. Charlie Vasseur was our DJ and he was absolutely amazing. He gave us a call a couple days before to go over details. We gave him a list of requests to fill an hour or two of the reception. His picks for the rest of the time fit perfectly with our preferences and our wide variety of guest ages. Our guests are still talking about how amazing Charlie was. The dance floor was packed the entire night. He even played “Firework” by Katy Perry during the Navy Pier fireworks show visible from our venue. The photobooth was a hit and came with a lot of props and a photo album to take home. Thank you Ani for making sure our guests knew how to use the booth and for putting our album together.