Michael recently DJ'ed our wedding. While there were things he did well, overall we were fairly disappointed with our experience and expected more of a positive impression.
Things... he did well: He was easy to communicate with and responded quickly to texts/emails. He showed up on time and began music at the start time we discussed, with good quality equipment and sound. The uplighting was great and created a nice atmosphere. He kept the dance floor full the later half of the night after we requested that he only play songs from a particular playlist.
Things that we were not happy with:
-He only wants to meet with couples to discuss songs/playlists/details of the event the week of the wedding. The week before someone’s wedding is such a busy time! He even suggested meeting the day before the wedding as an option! Waiting until the last minute stressed me out. It would be nice if he was more willing to meet with
couples and start the planning process earlier.
-Every call we had there were kids yelling in the background and interrupting
-He called my Mom "Julia" instead of "Julie" when he called her up to give the mother of the bride's speech, even though he was given the names of family members prior to the event. Embarrassing.
-He played our last dance song 15 minutes before the reception was over. My husband had to run over to the booth and tell him to stop playing the song!
-He played a slow song (almost clearing the dance floor) when asked not to play any. Another instance where my husband had to run to the booth
-He took too many song requests when we asked him to mostly stick to our playlists
-He started our recessional song at the beginning of the song (which starts off slow) instead of 40 seconds into the song like we asked
-He was not effective at getting people to their seats when the cocktail hour was over to keep the reception timeline moving. We had to hide for at least 10-15 minutes standing in a corner of the venue waiting to make our grand entrance.
-He didn't bring a lot of personal touches or energy, didn't seem that interested in learning about us and making our reception personalized
-Our contract said the total balance of our package was due the day of the event, but he asked for it 1 month before. It wasn’t an issue, but it's unprofessional to not know what’s in your contact. It’s a lot of work for a couple to keep track of vendors and when payments are coming due, asking for a couple thousand dollars a month early might not be doable for everyone
-We added an hour of coverage to our original contract because we moved up our ceremony start time. When we had the planning call with Michael the week of the wedding, he thought we hadn't paid him for the extra hour. I assured him I did, to which he said "oh but that's ok, I'm not trying to nickel and dime you guys" making it seem like we
were trying to get out of it or underpay him. I had to go on my banking app while I was on the phone with him to verify that I did indeed pay him for the extra hour. I know everyone is human, but it felt unprofessional.
To be honest, he didn't seem invested. He showed up, played music, and didn't do much else. It felt like he was squeezing us in around his family camping trips and time at the lake. I realize everyone has their own lives, but I would have expected better customer service. A DJ is a huge part of someone's wedding day, and we were disappointed. We still had a great wedding, but sadly I would not recommend Varsity Rock.