Up Close and Personal - The importance of a DJ's placement in the reception room

This past Saturday I walked into the beautiful Dolce Valley Forge Hotel in King of Prussia to DJ John & Jennifer Falvo’s wedding and was greeted by Katie Kienle, the hotels Catering Manager. It was the first time I had been in Dolce since the renovations and they did a marvelous job. I kept hearing about how nice the ballroom looked when the sun sets, and I finally got to experience it myself. It’s amazing the way they strategically placed the windows in the ballroom to capture the sunset.

After greeting Katie I began to unload my equipment by the “assigned” DJ table as I normally do. To my surprise I was placed all the way in the corner, which was a far distance from the dance floor. I knew logistically I was fine, being able to run the speakers to the dance floor, but my concern was being able to read the crowd and feel their energy during dancing.

To me, one of the most important aspects of being a DJ is experiencing each song with the crowd as the night progresses. It is nearly impossible to feel their energy when we’re placed so far away. Katie was gracious enough to allow me to move my table closer to the dance floor. This ultimately played a vital role in the reception because I could tell when one genre of music was working and one wasn’t. Some say that reading a crowd is counting how many people enter and exit the dance floor when a new song comes on. I personally believe that the DJ should be able to read the crowd before they leave the dance floor. At that point it’s too late.

From the first course to the last song the dance floor was packed. Thank you Katie for allowing me to move closer as it made the reception 100% better.

-Matt

Good Morning America

Earlier this month Synergetic Sound and Lighting was on Good Morning America (GMA). We had a meeting with a potential client who was being followed by GMA for a segment they ran about the recent rise in "Groomzillas."

Check out the segment below for Jason's TV debut!

-Becky

Youngshin and Samir

Youngshin and Samir had a beautiful reception at The Abington Art Center and we were lucky enough to do the lighting for them. We did amber up lighting ad leave washes on the cieling. Youngshin and Samir are such a fun couple and their personalities really came through in the wedding deisgn and pictures. We wish you all the best!


Thanks so much to our friend Heather Fowler, Heather Fowler Photography, for these awesome images!

-Becky

DJ vs. Dessert

A DJ’s number one goal is to make sure that the Bride and Groom have the time of their lives. Most of the time this is attained by having each formality flow with the rest of the reception and keeping their guests on the dance floor. Generally, I find it easy to to keep the dance floor busy by playing the right music. However there is one variable at each wedding reception that always plays an integral part in the dancing portion of the evening, the dessert.

Every wedding I battle the dessert for the guests attention. It’s a running joke with me to see who is going to win the guests over. On the one hand, I’m playing great music that guests want to dance to. On the other hand, the sweet fragrances of wedding cake and other assorted pastries draw the guests in.

Being able to recognize the type of crowd you're working with is key to winning this battle. If the crowd seems to be enjoying their dessert and wants to relax for a few minutes, then the DJ needs to realize that and play music accordingly. Nothing is worse than grandma trying to enjoy her cake and coffee while listening to "Bust a Move." This is where the DJ’s experience level comes in to play; an experienced DJ would then save then better dancing songs for after dessert. If the crowd is on the dance floor reacting to each song as if they wrote it, then you would not want to slow the music down for desert.

Dessert is key to the food service at a reception, so obviously the bride and groom want people to eat it and enjoy it, but a packed dance floor is much more sweet!

-Matt

Andrea and Zach

Andrea and Zach had a bright, beautiful reception at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ. They used yellow as their main color - from the bridesmaid dresses to the candy buffet to the flowers at the reception. The room looked absolutely beautiful and we're so glad we could be a part of it! We up lit the room in yellow and hung yellow lit lanterns over the dancefloor.

Congratlations Andrea and Zach, we wish you all the best!

Thanks to Scott from NYLA Photography for the awesome pictures, you can see more from this wedding on his blog!


-Becky

Tracey and Doug

I recently had the pleasure of working with Tracey and Doug Kaminski for their wedding at the beautiful Mercer Oaks Golf Club in Princeton, NJ. In speaking with Tracey in the months leading up to the wedding she had several ideas of what she wanted to have at her wedding. Most brides make the decision early in the planning whether to have a band or a DJ for entertainment. Doug and Tracey wanted both. Frogger, a local NJ cover band played for an hour and we DJ'd the rest of the evening. The couple also added a martini glass shaped ice luge with their monogram engraved on the side. Being that the color scheme was predominately red we decided to add some red gels under the luge to give it a red hue.


Tracey and Doug also added red up lighting, conventional breakup patterns, and a photo montage to be played during dinner. Let’s just say that Samantha Boudinot (Event Coordinator at Mercer Oaks) and I had our hands full with so many different variables throughout the evening. When all was said and done the room looked amazing, the food was delicious and most importantly Tracey and Doug had the wedding of their dreams. Congrats guys! We wish you the best!

Thanks to to Jay at Trenton Photographers for the images!

-Matt

Open House

Last nights Lighting Open House at the Radisson Valley Forge was a success! Thanks so much to Clem and the rest of the staff at the Radisson for all of their help! We showed off our lighting and draping abilities and I have to say, our guys did a great job! Also, a big thanks to the following vendors for participating as well, Jenn , Jennifer Childress photography, Darlene, Precious Petals, Erin, Proud to Plan, Steve, All Occasion Video, and Brian, Accurate Transportation.

Thanks so much to Jenn for the pictures! You rock!


-Becky