We booked with Soundwaves because of their reviews and had high expectations. At first, everything was great. Stacy was wonderful during our initial meeting. She explained everythi...ng thoroughly, answered all of our questions, and made us feel confident in our decision. Their online planning portal was also fantastic.
Unfortunately, things started to go downhill about a month before the wedding. I had to reach out multiple times just to find out who our DJ would be. We finally had our planning call less than a week before the wedding with Chip. During the call, he complimented the playlist I had spent months creating, so I left feeling confident.
Then, just four days before our wedding, Stacy called to review final details and informed me we'd owe over $200 in additional fees for pre-ceremony music and a third setup because our ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception were in different spaces. My issue wasn't the fees themselves, it was that none of these details had changed since we booked over a year earlier. Everything had already been discussed, entered into our planning portal, and paid in full weeks before. Finding out about extra charges four days before the wedding was frustrating and avoidable.
On the wedding day, Chip seemed unorganized during our introductions. He announced part of our bridal party entrances incorrectly despite reviewing them beforehand. He then unexpectedly handed my husband and me a microphone to pick a winner for the entrances which was something we had never discussed. You can actually see me shaking my head "no" in our wedding video because we had no idea what was happening.
After dinner, they played only a couple songs from our playlist before going completely off script. They played several songs we never requested that honestly felt inappropriate for a wedding, and the dance floor emptied. Guests even asked if I had picked the music because it seemed so out of place. My husband asked Chip to stick to our playlist, but they continued with their own choices. After I asked a second time, Chip seemed annoyed but finally told his DJ to follow our playlist.
As soon as they did, the dance floor filled up and stayed full the rest of the night. We just shouldn't have had to ask multiple times for them to play the music we had already planned.
After the wedding, Stacy called to follow up. I appreciated the call, and she apologized, saying this wasn't how they train their staff. She also said they'd be "sending us something in the mail" to make up for our experience. Over a month later, we've received nothing.
Chip also texted my husband afterward saying he "had to work a little to get everyone on the dance floor," which wasn't accurate. The dance floor only emptied while they were playing songs we never requested. He also offered to send us videos he had taken that night, but over a month later we still haven't received those either.
What surprises me most is that Soundwaves has hundreds of five-star reviews, which is exactly why we booked them. Maybe our experience was the exception, but it was disappointing enough that I felt it was worth sharing. We only booked DJ services and I can't help but wonder if that affected the level of attention our wedding received.
This isn't a one-star review because there were positives. I just wish we hadn't had to spend part of our wedding night asking them to do what we'd already planned together.