Why Hiring A Professional DJ Is So Important with Todd White

Michael Gaddie  0:00  
Doesn't a DJ just play music? I mean, it's not that hard, right?

Kristina Stubblefield  0:05  
What if a computer crashes? What if a mixing board breaks?

Sharon Rumsey  0:09  
Can they use your venues? Wi Fi password? No. Why not?

Kristina Stubblefield  0:15  
You're listening to The Ring The Bling And All The Things podcast. I'm Kristina Stubblefield, one of your hosts, along with my two good friends, Michael Gaddie and Sharon Rumsey. We are here to get you from down on one knee, down the aisle and into happily ever after. Our informative episodes, deliver valuable tips, trends, ideas, and advice covering everything from you saying yes to the i do's and all that happens in between and after. Now, let's get started with this episode. 

We are so excited to finally have a DJ in our studio. Sharon. Mike, we've talked about giving tips and information about choosing your DJ, your music, all kinds of things. And finally, I got my friend Todd White, with Spin Around Sound DJs. Now, I'm not going to tell you exactly how long I've known him. But we go back quite a quite a ways. almost 20 years but a while. Yeah, goodness. So Todd, thank you so much for coming in to spend some time with us. Thanks

Todd White  1:32  
for having me.

Kristina Stubblefield  1:34  
Mike, Sharon, do you all want to get a word in before I let him introduce himself?

Sharon Rumsey  1:39  
I'm just so excited to have Todd on and especially to have a DJ on a professional DJ because as a wedding planner. I think that's one of my absolute most important hires. It doesn't matter how pretty I make a reception. It doesn't matter how gorgeous Mike does the florals. None of that matters. Because people are going to leave that reception. And they're going to remember if they did not have a good time. It's honestly it's one of the absolute. I think major players in a wedding is that good DJ hire. I mean, Mike, you've been doing this longer than me. But they certainly they set the tone.

Michael Gaddie  2:17  
They set the tone plus they kind of run the show 100 sounds to the reception. That's where they kind of take over. So I'm excited to hear what Todd has to say that what he likes and doesn't like about running a reception.

Sharon Rumsey  2:31  
My favorite time of the night is when I know I can all the formalities are done. And I can look at that DJ and give him a take over and be there. All yours. That guy have at it. Don't get me so this

Kristina Stubblefield  2:44  
is Sharon we're from we're referring to kind of letting

Sharon Rumsey  2:47  
go. I thought if you have a good DJ, I can let go. Yeah.

Kristina Stubblefield  2:51  
Jerry, I'm glad we have this on film. But Todd, honestly, she set the bar high. She even I didn't call you a professional.

Sharon Rumsey  2:59  
There's a difference.

Kristina Stubblefield  3:00  
There's a there that is so important. Todd real quick. Introduce yourself to our audience. Absolutely.

Todd White  3:04  
So Todd White has been around sound. We have been in the business since 2000. So February of 2000, from southern Indiana, been here, lived here all my life. So we've just served from southern Indiana, this basically ever since we started this business back in 2000.

Kristina Stubblefield  3:23  
So, Sharon, what I really liked about heaven taught on is yes, weddings are a big part of his business. But he also does other types of events. And when you have someone that has done it for as long as Todd has, he's probably seen it done it heard about it all the way around and found a way around it, as I say. So where where do you want to start? Well,

Sharon Rumsey  3:47  
so if you are an engaged couple, and you're coming in, maybe you don't have a wedding planner, you don't have someone to tell you what to ask, what are some major things that a couple should know about their DJ before they sign on that dotted line?

Unknown Speaker  4:04  
Well, honestly, I think some of the major things they need to know is you know how long they've been in business? What kind of reviews do they have, you know, what areas they specialize in, and what all they're going to handle. So there's a couple of different types of DJs. In my mind, there's DJs that come in, they sit back behind their booth, and they pretty much let the bride and groom run the night and kind of ask them over and over. Okay, what do we do next? What do we do next? And then there's DJs that take the lead and run the show. If there isn't a wedding planner. You know, they take care of everything. So I think they really need to know, you know, who they're hiring, and what all they're going to cover and what all they're going to do for

Kristina Stubblefield  4:47  
them. Wow, that is really important because back in the day when I was actually a wedding professional. I hadn't even thought about it but there are a lot of DJ that just focus on the music they're playing. And okay, I'm supposed to make a few announcements. Sure. But what you're saying about taking the lead like that, that's really that emcee role, that I like how you said that about taking control. And really the flow of it. Sharon, you've said something about that before. That's so important to keep your guests entertained. Yeah, all the interaction happening that falls on that DJ, well, I've been

Michael Gaddie  5:28  
to a lot of weddings to where, like you said, some DJ stand behind the booth and just plays music, some people some DJs, take control and run the whole thing. I feel like it's a personality thing with the bride and groom's interview in you just like I interview a ploy employee. Absolutely. I mean, I would like to make sure that my DJ entertains not just pushes the button entertains and interacts with the gift and that kind of thing. And I just think that's really important to get that out there to let them know what they need to do. Sure. Instead of saying, Okay, we'll just call this person and let it be done. There's music and that's it. I try. There's more to it than just that

Todd White  6:08  
a ton more to it than just that. Yes.

Kristina Stubblefield  6:10  
So what I'm hearing you all say is for an engaged couple that's listening, you need to express or talk to each other about what you all want for your night. Do you want someone to take the lead? Do you want somebody that really leads the way so you all can enjoy the night? A lot of times we hear from engaged couples, they don't know what they don't know,

Sharon Rumsey  6:34  
I get asked all the time. You know, budgets a big thing. And brides will say, Well, can I just have a friend? Come and play music? What do you say about that? Todd? When I was praying a playlist? I know my answer, but you go ahead. Yeah. So

Kristina Stubblefield  6:48  
so when I bring my iPod, right,

Unknown Speaker  6:50  
right. Yeah, we hear that a lot. You know, it's like, well, I've got a friend that does it or I've got, you know, let me tell you, I'll tell you about an experience that we had, it was down in Florida. And it wasn't me it was a DJ of mine was in a wedding down there. So we weren't the DJ at all. He went down there. And it was a friend of the bride that was DJ in the wedding for him. And when they went down there to do this, the DJ basically came in set behind this booth, and really didn't do nothing. And my DJ basically, in the end, they ended up he ended up running the whole event, he was in the wedding. But once the wedding party started and they got to the reception, he basically had to take over, they ended up sending that guy home and they played through a Bluetooth house system in the

Kristina Stubblefield  7:39  
chair. Does that sound familiar? I know sometimes when I go to weddings, you kind of look around, we've been at one or a couple even together and we're like, who's lining these people up? Like, right? It's gonna restart in two minutes. It's hard to actually be a guest. Without all that stuff on I actually,

Sharon Rumsey  7:57  
I just changed my contract. Well, first of the year. And it now says in my contract that the DJ has to be a professional DJ licensed and insured. Because of exactly that. I mean, I'll be real people that listen to us a lot. No, I'm pretty blunt. And my answer to Can I have a friend? Play music is hell no, not with my name on your hell to the no, absolutely. Again, they don't know what they don't well, and that DJ again, like, playing the music is huge. That's a huge part of it. But it's literally like, to me not even the most important part. I think the hardest part for a DJ, the hardest part of their job is reading that crowd, knowing Oh, they're not dancing to this type of music. Let me switch it up and play this type of music for sure. Interacting with that crowd. Running the night, enter, you know, introducing the toast the cake cutting the first dances, knowing when a bride and groom are dancing, and they're done. And they want that song cut, you can read their eyes. And you know when to cut that song. I think that those are the things people don't think of when they're hiring a DJ like, it's an important hire.

Michael Gaddie  9:09  
Well, and another thing is not just the personality of the DJ, but the equipment itself. Oh my god, I've been to a wedding and it was very nice. spent lots of money. And the equipment was squealing. And you know, I mean, it was just not a good, good fit for them. Right. And afterwards, I've heard so many comments about that DJ. And that's just that's just something that you've got to live and learn. And you've got to not, and I think it was a friend. But that shows right there. And they lived and learned that no, we wish we wouldn't have

Sharon Rumsey  9:45  
wanted a friend to do it and said well, we'll rent equipment.

Kristina Stubblefield  9:50  
Oh, so let's have somebody show up and use equipment that they've never used before. And

Sharon Rumsey  9:54  
my question to you is, and again, they Mike and Christina tease me all the time because if we don't have anything thing to worry about. I'll make something up. Sure.

Kristina Stubblefield  10:02  
Amen.

Sharon Rumsey  10:04  
I'm the worrier. But it's kind of my job too. And I want to know if your computer crashes. Do you have another one? You can just pull out? Can we keep rolling? Are we done for the night? Because your computer crashed? Yeah. Like, what do you what do you recommend couples ask as far as equipment?

Unknown Speaker  10:21  
Well, I mean, you nailed it right there. Do you have backup equipment? So, you know, when we sit down or a bride calls me and tries to talk to us about their wedding, it's like, Okay, here's what all we do. And then once we get into the music portion of it, it's like, Look, everything is computerized. So we use MacBooks. For everything. We have backup MacBook that we bring. So we have two MacBooks that come to every show, we have an iPad that comes to every show. So we've got three forms of really music, right? And if worse comes to worse, I mean, God forbid, but we have our iPhones that would work as well, if we had to be an emergency. I mean, three go down in one night,

Michael Gaddie  11:00  
something's something's wrong.

Unknown Speaker  11:07  
But as far as like equipment, I mean, we have backup mixing boards, we have backup speakers, we have backup cables, you've got you cannot, you know, and back to your renting. You know, your point there that if you rent it, you know, you could go to a shop and rent it. But you get one cord, you get one mixer, you get two speakers. If that fails, you're done. I mean, your party

Sharon Rumsey  11:29  
and rental equipment probably has not been well cared for. Not at all, because no one owns it to put care into it.

Unknown Speaker  11:36  
Yeah. And I've been there. I mean, when we first started, we were going to a shop happily and reading all of our equipment. And I mean, that's just how we started. I mean, I started with cassette tapes. I mean, my first one was on cassette. Now

Kristina Stubblefield  11:47  
he's dating himself.

Unknown Speaker  11:48  
I know, right? I mean, it was cassette tapes, we would queue it up, and then we would have lasers, not a box, put our pinky and turn it back just a little bit. So you got a little bit. I mean, it's it, but it's we had to rent everything.

Kristina Stubblefield  12:00  
So when you're talking about equipment, because people listen to us from all over. And one of the things I hear you say is ask, what backup equipment do you bring? Not just, oh, we bring a backup computer because you just said cables, speakers, things can happen. Right? I know you personally have trailers. You know? Is it on site, you know? So I love that about the backup equipment, and especially things being computerized. I'm definitely familiar with computers. I think that's important to know. Okay, not only backup laptop, but you also have a tablet, things like that. There's nothing wrong with computerized music, like you said, I don't even know if people realize until it comes to it that most people is all computerized now. Sell backup equipment. What about insurance? What about do you feel like that a person should ask before they book a DJ, are you insured? Because license isn't really how mean? You can ask where they're if they have license or their accreditations and things like that. Yeah, but I think one of the important things there could be insurance.

Unknown Speaker  13:17  
Absolutely. Yeah, you definitely need to ask, Are you insured? You know, we we are insured, we're insured for every event we go to so you know, you never know what's going to happen. So you know, for some reason a you know, you didn't tape down a cord or hide record get enough for someone trips over, you know, you've got to be kidding, they hurt themselves. You got to be covered for that. If a speaker falls over onto some little kid because they're playing around with it or whatever. You got to be covered for that

Sharon Rumsey  13:46  
a lot of venues now I know you have to have you have to the wedding planner, I get asked to turn all that in together.

Unknown Speaker  13:53  
Yeah, I have to fax them every so often I have to get my my flyer to send them a form saying hey, these certificate of insurance. Yeah, so that is huge, huge.

Sharon Rumsey  14:03  
Todd, what if I'm interviewing a DJ and he says, I'm going to need your venues Wi Fi password for the night. Is that a red flag to me? Absolutely. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  14:14  
Why? Yeah. Well, you know, having internet access is nice. Okay, so you know, I hear a lot of DJs make a playlist before they go to a show. We are 100% against that, because every show is different. Every wedding is different. So you don't know what you're gonna play

Sharon Rumsey  14:31  
again that experience to read that crowd. Absolutely. So

Unknown Speaker  14:35  
you know, so back to you know, your Wi Fi, if you know Wi Fi is nice, but if they are 100%, depending on Wi Fi, if that crashes for the night, what are they going to do? Do they stream all their music during the event? If they stream all their music during the event? What happens if their Wi Fi goes down? I mean,

Sharon Rumsey  14:55  
you know all actually when I first started had that happen, yeah, and you know, and

Unknown Speaker  14:59  
some people probably don't think about things like this, you know, bride and groom's are 100% budget conscious, you know, and they'll call us and they'll say, Well, how much is it? We'll tell them our prices. And then they'll be like, well, you know, I'll let you I'll get back with you. And then I'll check in with them a couple of days later, and I can't we found somebody cheaper. And I'm thinking, you know, cheaper is not always the best thing. But I'm getting off track there. But back to the Wi Fi.

Michael Gaddie  15:22  
No, that really good. Yeah, it's good. Because when bride and groom's and this is why we do this podcast, we want to teach bride and groom's what they need to do and what they need to look for, for every vendor. Sure. And this is very important. Because I mean, you have no clue if they don't care, if you have Wi Fi, I don't care if you just have to plug it in the wall. They don't care if you just come in and turn on a radio, they want music, but there's so many more details that needs to go into it than just that.

Kristina Stubblefield  15:54  
So Mike Sharon, we've always talked about how much we hear people say, I never thought about that until I heard you all say it. And you said something while ago. And I think this should be noted, ask DJs that you're talking to if they stream music during the event. Now, when you were talking about this, I think to myself, well, what if somebody requests a really old song or, you know, something that I just wouldn't happen to have? I could see were having Wi Fi. It's not a make or break? God forbid that be? You should not definitely be downloading or streaming. Any of your dances depended? Correct. So I thought that was really important that you said that really,

Michael Gaddie  16:38  
if they want a certain song, they should tell you that way. And in advance, you could pass

Sharon Rumsey  16:43  
requested Oh, okay,

Unknown Speaker  16:45  
they should now speaking of that, sorry, but like my mic off.

Kristina Stubblefield  16:49  
So we're usually sharing every episode, Todd. So you're good.

Unknown Speaker  16:53  
So speaking of that, you know, I'll get into this in a little bit. But we do and I request now so we could talk about how requested songs work. But I like to think that we have 95% of every song out there. Now that's probably a little high. But

Kristina Stubblefield  17:10  
it also comes with how long you've done it as well, right? You've got a huge library, huge

Unknown Speaker  17:14  
library, but also the fact that, you know, we can download even though we're computerized if a guest comes up and says hey, you know, you've got this song or whatever. And we know for some odd reason, we don't, I can't download it via my cell phone, hotspot, or whatever. So I don't really rely on the videos hotspot or the venues Wi Fi. So I can download a song and have it played in about two minutes. I know

Sharon Rumsey  17:39  
is we're talking about equipment. Another thing that my clients never think about until the DJ mentions it, or I mentioned it is lighting. Sure. Oh, good. There are so many different lighting packages that you can get. And, you know, I've I've had clients that are like, Oh, I didn't think about that, right. But talk to us a little bit about lighting and what a professional DJ will bring in terms of lighting? And what why you want that?

Unknown Speaker  18:09  
Sure, sure. So, you know, there's gonna be probably people that that may listen to this and think this you know, this is kind of one sided. But here's my thought, here's my opinion, everybody has their own, but this is my opinion. Lighting is important. No matter what the bride or groom may think lighting is important. It sets the mood it kind of, you know, just the atmosphere of everything once the dance floor opens. But lighting we use all DMX computer controlled lighting, we you shove a

Kristina Stubblefield  18:42  
theory goes with those fancy term. I know,

Sharon Rumsey  18:45  
my husband used to DJ and I know the word shabby, right?

Unknown Speaker  18:49  
Yeah, right. So we use, you know, moving heads, we use wash lights we use you know, but everything is computerized. So we have to go into a venue, we have to aim the the lights to where they're going to go, how they're going to, you know, perform, and we set this all up. So lighting is huge. But you know, there's there's, there's lights out there that just they come on at the inside has a motor and they move left and right. And that's all they do. And it's it's just you know, that's what

Kristina Stubblefield  19:17  
you what you just talked about, though, I don't know that people realize. There's ways you set them where you set them, how they move, everything like that. And most of the time, professional DJs have worked at a lot of the venues where they're located to know how things are going to look. It's not really their first time. And I also feel like I've heard people saying about going out. Hey, that's a newer venue. I haven't went there. I want to go as a vendor. I want to go check it out and have a plan ahead of time.

Unknown Speaker  19:50  
Absolutely. Yeah. Well, they

Sharon Rumsey  19:51  
also when they go because I know I've done venue tours with DJs they're looking at things that I'm not necessarily looking for. I've learned Look, where you know, you can't just say I'm going to put the DJ against this wall. If there's no outlet correct, like you met, you want to make sure how far those speakers are from guests because they're going to blow them out of their chairs. They are. Oh, yeah, you don't set grandma by the speaker. But then you also have to make sure that they have electricity that they have what they need, are they going to need a table? Do they bring their own, you know, DJ booth, that kind of stuff. There's a lot that goes into

Michael Gaddie  20:28  
it. We're taught, I want to ask you to I mean, I know you were talking about lighting, but there's, a lot of times brides are coming to me, and I'll supply lighting for around the room. I'm planning a blow up lighting. I want to make sure that our guests know that the lighting around the room and the lighting that comes off the DJ booth or however the stage or whatever, that's two different things. But you supply both. Yeah, we do it all. I mean, a lot of times people think when you say lighting, and I've talked to brides before is they think it just other DJ is going to take care of the lighting because it's going to be shooting off your stage, spinning lights or whatever I get point. But you also take care of the room setting the whole mood for the room. And that's a big thing. Well,

Sharon Rumsey  21:12  
lighting and dance lighting. Yes,

Michael Gaddie  21:13  
it's two different terms.

Kristina Stubblefield  21:14  
There's the point right there, I was getting ready to say because Mike the up lighting your time that kind of goes with the whole decor how you're setting up the rooms, right?

Michael Gaddie  21:23  
And a lot of DJs, you know, do all that. Sure. And I'll be honest with you, I've kind of got now that I've said y'all take care, talk to your DJ, they'll do all that for you. So I mean, it just makes a lot easier for me.

Kristina Stubblefield  21:34  
So one of the things that I had written down, Sharon, I know you have some events that in maybe a quite a few of your events. But I know you've talked about this before people are doing their ceremony and the reception at the same place. And I think there could be some assumptions that happen. I've got my DJ, you know, do they have enough equipment for both areas? Are they going to have to move equipment during the ceremony into the reception? Like those are things I would the last

Sharon Rumsey  22:05  
thing I want as a planner is all that damn clanging and banging right.

Kristina Stubblefield  22:10  
Notice I was looking at her when I was saying no where I'm talking about. Yeah, that's disruptive.

Sharon Rumsey  22:15  
I totally I totally will ask because I don't want all that ruckus going on.

Unknown Speaker  22:21  
Let me say how many times I've I've talked to a bride and they're like, Okay, well, you know, I'm looking for a DJ for my wedding. Like, okay, great. So they want you to row your wedding and reception and are like, they're like, yeah, it's wedding reception. Okay. Okay, so is it in the same room? No, great. Who's taking care of your ceremony? Music? Oh, wow. I never thought about that.

Kristina Stubblefield  22:41  
Yeah. Or you're not?

Unknown Speaker  22:42  
Yeah, yeah.

Kristina Stubblefield  22:44  
Yeah. That some of those assumptions. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  22:46  
But I would say probably 90% of the people I talk to, if I say, who's doing your ceremony music, they're like, Oh, I never thought about that. Or, oh, we have we have a string quartet. Or we have a live musician. Great. Who's gonna mic the efficient so that everybody can hear you? You know? Oh, I never thought about that. So I mean, there's just a ton of things that, you know, just people don't think of that if they don't hire the right DJ service. It's going to I

Sharon Rumsey  23:12  
just had a conversation literally yesterday with a bride. He did not understand why her deejay was charging her a little extra for extra speakers for cocktail hour, because she said the ceremony will be over. Why can't he just bring the ceremony equipment to the cocktail hour and I'm like, through the middle of your gown like, well, and that's gonna take about 20 minutes or

Michael Gaddie  23:35  
so you don't tell your guests to go sit in the car and come back.

Sharon Rumsey  23:40  
I was like, He's absolutely going to charge you for extra speakers. You need the in, you know, to us, it's silly. But we do this for a living. This is how we take care of our families. To them, you know, it's not because they don't do this. And I think that's again, where we just on our podcast, we drive education so hard because you don't know what you don't know. And she said to me, Oh, I didn't think about that time.

Kristina Stubblefield  24:08  
Sharon, you put her thinking being present at her event. Truthfully, she wouldn't want 20 minutes to pass, but she had never actually thought through it. Right. That's why I wanted to ask Todd about, I'm assuming, and I'll ask, there definitely should be two different sets of equipment. No matter if it's gonna say, three, three, if you got a cocktail hour, because you move equipment, things can happen. You've already said it's computerized. You got writing involved. You it could be a recipe for other problems, not just the time of moving it. Sure.

Unknown Speaker  24:46  
Yeah, you've got to have like, we have three sets, so we could do three rooms every night. Each trailer has the same capabilities. So you've got to be able to have a ceremony area, a cocktail area and a reception area. You know, ceremony at cocktail doesn't take a huge system to make that happen. But you've got to be able to have Jeff have something. Sure. As far as you know, moving things, I just had a conversation with one of our brides coming up and she's like, well, we'd like to add music to our cocktail now, but ours, our ceremony is gonna be out here in the field. And then we're gonna have cocktails, she's like, can you just move it? And I'm like, No, I'm not gonna just move it. I'm gonna set up a system out there, I'm gonna set a system cocktail area, and I'm gonna set up a system in your reception area, what's the wedding ceremony is over, I'll strike that, but music is already playing as your guests are walking towards it. It just

Kristina Stubblefield  25:35  
the flow is so much better. Yes, there's not a break. There's not stuff being moved around. I know that makes Sharan twitch. When you talk about moving stuff with customer with

Sharon Rumsey  25:44  
help people donate. It's big equipment. I mean, those speaker poles are, what, seven, eight feet tall. Sometimes,

Kristina Stubblefield  25:51  
well, plus that you're delayed on moving stuff. Because if you have to be, excuse me, excuse me, if you can just think for a second and put yourself there as a guest. That whole experience would be affected by moving Swami jet

Unknown Speaker  26:04  
to that point. I mean, if there's times where I've got a guy doing ceremony and a guy doing the reception, and when the ceremony is over, you know, they're trying to sometimes they don't even strike that first system, they leave it there for a while, and just them trying to make their way back to the reception. If you didn't have I mean, sometimes just getting through that crowd is is right, a long time. That brings

Michael Gaddie  26:25  
up another point. And we did a wedding like this not long ago, where the DJ set up in the cocktail hour, the ceremony and the reception. But something else that you got to keep in mind is when it's time to tear down. And if you've got 45 minutes to an hour to get tear down after the wedding is over. The bride sometimes has to think about that. Is it enough time to tear down everything and they may have that bionic sharar,

Kristina Stubblefield  26:54  
because you don't want your DJ not. You know, even if there's two DJs and Todd, we can talk about this too. But even if you have to, they're there for a reason. Not one to be over tearing something down from another space and allotting enough time is really important.

Sharon Rumsey  27:12  
Well, when you walk into that cocktail hour space, or from cocktail hour into your reception space, I know one thing I don't want is I don't want dead air. So if he's over there tearing a system down, right? Who's starting the music in the reception or

Kristina Stubblefield  27:26  
something? You got to play lists playing? What if something happens? And you can't just people may think well, oh, it's playing? He could walk away and be doing that? Or she? Not? What if something happened? I will tell

Sharon Rumsey  27:38  
you it gives me a little palpitation. If I look up at the DJ trust, and there's no one there.

Kristina Stubblefield  27:43  
Are you? Just a little just a little? Okay. All right, Todd, let's so let's talk about is there any questions people should ask about one DJ or two? Who's showing up to do their event? What kind of questions would go there?

Unknown Speaker  27:58  
Well, we have we have a pretty big team. So you know, who's going to show up to do my event is probably a good question to ask. So they everybody want

Kristina Stubblefield  28:07  
to meet with that person, right? At some time, not just the owner, for sure. Okay,

Unknown Speaker  28:11  
so everybody that calls emails or whatever gets me. So when I'm talking to them, I always tell them, Look, we have a big team, I'm not sure who's going to be assigned to your wedding it. But as we get closer, we will assign that and those people will be reaching out to you setting up a meeting to meet with your talk to you just kind of make you feel at ease. Back to the one DJ versus two DJs.

Kristina Stubblefield  28:33  
Do you always do 200%? Okay, I thought so.

Unknown Speaker  28:38  
unless for some odd reason, it's a birthday party, or a small little birthday party or anything like Dana anniversary party, something that doesn't really need to every wedding, two people no matter what, is it cheaper if I do one? No, it's not I'm still gonna charge you the same our prices. equipments come in every time and you're getting two people.

Michael Gaddie  28:57  
Well, I think that's a positive for abroad and groups, we think and

Kristina Stubblefield  29:00  
I do but why I want to know why Todd is two people important.

Unknown Speaker  29:04  
So two people are important, for many reasons. But you've got to have a DJ and you've got to have an emcee. Your DJ handles all the music, they take care that's their only responsibility handle their music, no dead air, absolutely no dead air, I can't stand it. And then your MC is

Kristina Stubblefield  29:25  
the MC as your kind of

Unknown Speaker  29:28  
the MC is going to take care of, you know, they don't realize that like in our in our business, the MC takes care of, you know, lining people up, introducing them, making all their announcements, keeping the flow of the night going, making sure they have enough time to dance at the end of the evening. Making, dismissing tables. I mean, we go around and either dismiss tables, table a table or we we call them by table number however the bride wants to do it but the big thing is is that you know when you only have one guy I've got girl or girl. Absolutely. When you only have one guy or one girl,

Kristina Stubblefield  30:04  
you got it. You've got a girl on your team.

Unknown Speaker  30:07  
Multiple girls on my team. Yeah, yeah, I've got three girls on my team. So. But when you go to that, and you only have one guy, there's no one at the booth. So what happens if that computer just for some crazy reason just quits playing a song? I mean, things happen. So now you've got a guy that's in another room talking to a bride and groom and their bridal party can't wait to line them up. And now you have no music out here. And everybody's like, Yo, what's going on? So two people, there's, I could no

Kristina Stubblefield  30:39  
matter what happens, someone can keep something flowing, and keep the night moving. That's what I'm

Sharon Rumsey  30:46  
working with these DJ teams, as much as I do is like he just said, there's usually the DJ, that's, that's spinning their music. It's mixing and all that. But there's also that emcee. That's good on the mic. Sure.

Kristina Stubblefield  31:00  
Cheering Can I get a little demonstration for you to

do it for me, and Mike will talk to you soon.

Michael Gaddie  31:14  
That's not a good idea.

Kristina Stubblefield  31:16  
Todd, because you would lose all control. Because she wants to make sure it's 100%. I'm sorry, sharing in a

Sharon Rumsey  31:23  
way. There's usually someone that's more comfortable on the mic. Oh, yeah. And to me, that's important. Because that that represents that wedding. Don't be making sharing. Go grab that microphone. Oh, is there someone who's smooth on the mic comfortable?

Unknown Speaker  31:38  
Listen, I've got nine team members. And there's only three of us that are comfortable on them. All right. And I'm not going to you know, I we could talk DJ stuff for all day long. But I love talking DJ. I mean, you can't I will not put someone on the mic that has not been trained under me for at least six months. Yeah, because

Kristina Stubblefield  31:58  
it's not just talking. It's exactly just announcement reading names on a paper. Sorry, not sorry, an entertainer, right? I mean, they aren't your personality, you have to be able to adjust with the crowd you have bubbly all excitement doesn't always

Sharon Rumsey  32:15  
work with PJ about a year ago and God love his heart. Like I say, sweetie, this is not for you. Right? He has a personality this table, he literally would get on the mic and be like, Okay, now it's the first dance and and share it was more than they're like, Is this really happening? Like, you know,

Unknown Speaker  32:36  
because when you split up, put out the spin signal, signal, and then we'll come running.

Sharon Rumsey  32:43  
Know, Like with bridal party introductions, that's one of my favorite parts of the night, I like to go to the DJ meeting. And that makes me all excited. Yeah. And that's when you're gonna hype up that crowd. And that's when you're gonna get it going. Yeah, that sets the tone. So if you're going, Okay, now we're gonna announce the bridal party.

Kristina Stubblefield  33:02  
It sounds like you're at a corporate event.

Unknown Speaker  33:06  
Right? Think about it. If you come to this wedding, all right, this would be a big party at the end, you know,

Michael Gaddie  33:12  
once you know who you are out there. So please change your attitude, right.

Unknown Speaker  33:16  
So just think about it like this. If you go if you're at a at a wedding reception, and the emcee comes on, it says, gentlemen, welcome. You know, here's a few announcements for the evening. We're going to do this, do that do this. Or you know, ladies, gentlemen, welcome to You know, I mean, it's just a huge, it's a tone. Totally different. Totally different. And I just, look, we aren't, I'm going to toot my own horn and not toot my own horn. Right, right. So in my opinion, we're the best out there. But I know there are people that do things better than us. And I know there's people that do things a lot worse than us. So I'm not so you know, so hold on, we're the best. But I mean, you're going to be taken care of and your party is going to be 100%. Good. I mean, you honed your

Kristina Stubblefield  34:05  
craft for umpteen year, right? There's a reason you say that now. We have people that believe it or not listened to us and other countries. Now. I'm not saying that you can't have spin come to your event. You can contact Todd about that. But Todd has supplied so much information for you to take and ask questions of people that are local. Now, if you want to reach out to Todd, that's up to you. But Todd with what you're saying, you've got years of experience to hone your craft, build your teams and run your business the way it is. So you have every right to say what you said right?

Unknown Speaker  34:40  
And you know, I am always huge on telling everybody look, we have done probably enough wedding shows that I can count maybe on one hand, but possibly no more than two. I've not done what it shows since we've started it was t shirts, business cards and word of mouth. That's it. We do Like I said, we just did a couple wedding shows just because. But I could probably honestly count on two hands. How many wedding shows in the past 20 years we've done I just don't do it.

Sharon Rumsey  35:09  
It's such a relationship based business, right? Word of mouth is Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  35:13  
And I get it. I mean, wedding shows are good just because you keep your name out there and stuff. But I mean, I've got nine people on our team. And I mean, we're doing 125 shows a year. I don't. I don't want to sound like arrogant, but I don't need more shows. But I'll take more shows. here locally,

Kristina Stubblefield  35:30  
don't be surprised you don't see spin right? Around sound at wedding shows. And there's a reason for that not because you don't like wedding shows, right? It's not something you need. So, but what one of the things that I just want to talk about, you gave an example, in your voice. And it really made me think about, it's so important to make sure you click, you click with that person that's going to be doing your event, not because you're going to be hanging out at your wedding. You are expressing to them what you want out of that event. Are they listening to you? Are they going to take that in and remember it that that is what I mean by you want to make sure your personalities you click they're listening to you most important thing right there.

Sharon Rumsey  36:13  
I think the DJ meeting, like you were talking about, I always about six weeks out eight weeks out, I'll start doing final vendor meetings and the DJ is definitely on the list of people I want to let's grab a cup of coffee, let's sit down with this bride and groom. Because at that moment that DJ is going to help them craft their night. You know, maybe they they're down to three first dance songs and they can't pick one to rely on other than you. You know. So I think that DJ meeting with the person that is actually going to be DJing your event is huge. Yeah. I don't want to zoom it. I mean, we didn't we had to. I wanted in person to get those personalities clicking. So everybody feels good going into the night. Right.

Kristina Stubblefield  36:56  
Todd? I had one other thing written down that I wanted to ask about. We talked so much about toast introductions. Mike in the officiant Is there a question that you should ask about microphones? Like, I'm pretty positive. But again, I'm not a specialist in this. I'm pretty sure most people have wireless microphones. But is there any questions that couples out there should ask of their DJ?

Unknown Speaker  37:22  
I mean, I would always ask, you know, how are you going to mic? The efficient?

Kristina Stubblefield  37:27  
How are you doing this ceremony?

Unknown Speaker  37:28  
Yeah. How are you going to MC how's your MC going to mic? The reception? You know, is it all wired? Is it wireless? What is it? And then if they if the answer is wireless, okay, great. Is it you know, $100 wireless mic, or is it a $800 wireless mic? Now, why would that question be important because of the range? The sound? Everything, you know, I get, I get people upset, you know, they'll be out there dancing, and they're like, Hey, can I use your mic? I'm like, No.

Kristina Stubblefield  37:56  
I mean, they don't understand this is either it's probably been a few drinks involved.

Unknown Speaker  38:00  
There's this is $1,000 microphone, if you drop it. That's I mean, you know, I've got a $300 $400 mic that I don't care if they use but no, you're not using my microphone.

Michael Gaddie  38:12  
Well, I've got to tell you the story. We did a wedding down the Gillespie one day and when we can and they had a friend doing the DJ stuff. Sure. They DJ rented a cordless mic.

Kristina Stubblefield  38:24  
Oh Lord,

Michael Gaddie  38:25  
they've never even tasted may not even figure out how to fix this up. So here down at the glass, but you've got curtains. The minister shows up or the officiant shows up, was putting this mic on and could not figure out how to turn it on. And what does he say? Out Loud? And it was on and nobody knew it was on and he says How the hell do you turn this FM thing on? And it went all over again, guests were there while the guests were there the bride and groom was getting ready to walk down the aisle.

Unknown Speaker  38:59  
Yeah, cuz typically the official will come up to you till 10 minutes before okay me up.

Michael Gaddie  39:04  
But that shows again, how important to have a professional there to make sure it is done correctly.

Kristina Stubblefield  39:10  
Are you using your own equipment? Or do you have to go and rent equipment there could be a red flag

Sharon Rumsey  39:15  
when you're I had a DJ I was down in Bardstown. They've heard about this wedding since we started this podcast. But I was down in Bardstown and DJ had never worked with before and I asked him if he was going to have a mic for the officiant. He said, Yes. And, you know, wedding planner fail. I didn't ask what kind of mic right? And I walk in and I'm like, Is my officiant miked and ready and he said, Yeah, and I look up and there's a microphone stand. Right, right between where the bride and groom's gonna go with a mic on.

Kristina Stubblefield  39:46  
Is that a problem? And I was like, I was like, scuse

Sharon Rumsey  39:49  
me. Excuse me. This is gonna be in every one of their photos and he goes well, that's all I've got. But

Kristina Stubblefield  39:56  
right there yeah, with the bride and groom have even thought about that being in their photos.

Sharon Rumsey  40:01  
So I just told him to talk real loud, right? Because I didn't want that that's going around their photos.

Kristina Stubblefield  40:05  
So Todd, the other thing about venues with wireless microphones is how big the space is, like you said, the range and everything. And you get new equipment. You talked earlier about squealing or whatever the technical term is that it makes, you're given a toast, or it's during the ceremony that can be very distracting, and it can really kill a moment.

Unknown Speaker  40:29  
Okay, yes. And to your point. Another question you can ask then is how long? Or what time will you be setting up for the event? You're going to show up? 30 minutes before the event? Are you going to set up two hours? Three hours? What is when are you going to be there? So typically, I like to be there two hours, at the least. So um, you know, and it just depends on how big of the production it is,

Sharon Rumsey  40:53  
whether you've got one system to set up three,

Unknown Speaker  40:55  
I've got one system to set up. It's just in what room I can I can set up in two hours,

Kristina Stubblefield  41:00  
I bet you're gonna say because you can walk around and test the microphone or the seer of the officiant, yes. Or because like you said, he might not show he or she might not show up until 10 or 15 minutes before correct. But that doesn't mean you could or someone couldn't have put it on. And again, it

Sharon Rumsey  41:15  
just comes down to hiring that professional that does this for a living that knows what they're doing. Right? We could really talk about this. Questions are coming in my head as we talk to him. I know. He's not very

Kristina Stubblefield  41:27  
far away so that we can get him to come back. Absolutely.

Unknown Speaker  41:29  
So to the point to is the efficient it's always best when your DJ is the efficient because then they're already there. Just it's something

Michael Gaddie  41:39  
and that's another topic. That's

Kristina Stubblefield  41:41  
yeah, really good fun. God

Unknown Speaker  41:42  
ordained. You know, our DJs ordain. So we do we do a little bit of everything. That's

Kristina Stubblefield  41:47  
cool. Yeah. Okay, Todd, before we wrap this up completely. I know you introduced yourself a little bit at the beginning. But will you take just a couple minutes to share with our audience, even more details about spin what all you offer, the areas you service, things like that.

Unknown Speaker  42:03  
So we offer we we offer of course, DJ services, officiant services, photo booths, we've got live musicians that we work with that we can help you plan. We've got photographers, we've got videographers, we've got planners, I mean, just like you to hear the room, florists, and we've got all types of different areas. So I tell all my brides, look, ask me any question at all. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it's not about DJ service asked, we all have been in the industry. So. So you know, but we offer all I mean, anything that you need, we can have it covered. You know, we bring backup equipment to everything. Our reviews speak for themselves. I haven't checked Facebook, but the last time I mean, or Yelp or whatever. But the last time I looked at our Facebook reviews, there was I think, maybe 80 reviews on our business and we're still a five star review company. Huge. That's

Michael Gaddie  42:58  
awesome. That's amazing. That's huge. So,

Unknown Speaker  43:00  
you know, we service I'll go wherever. I really will. We've been to Cincinnati. We've been to Nashville. We've been to Muncie, Indiana, we've been? Let's see where else have we been west east? That's probably it. So I mean, we'll really Sebby we serve the whole area. Oh, Preston, Burg, Kentucky, right on the edge of West Virginia, down there for New Year's Eve party.

Kristina Stubblefield  43:27  
People can inquire from anywhere, depending on availability, because I know some people are even doing destination, weddings and stuff nail so that's always good to know.

Unknown Speaker  43:36  
Yeah. And I, you know, I, I worry a little bit about destination weddings, because unless you can take your equipment out there. You have to rely on renting the equipment. And then that comes into a whole nother, you know, photographer or a videographer. They could take a couple bags and do destinations. We've never done a destination. I'd love to do one. But you know, I would have to be honest with the bride and groom if they called me and said, Hey, we're going to get married in Oregon. Would you come out there? DJ, I'd love to. But I'd want to bring my own stuff, right? Sure. I wouldn't want to or you don't

Kristina Stubblefield  44:09  
want to rent equipment? No, I think we just talked about that during the whole episode. We did. We

Unknown Speaker  44:13  
did so you know, but we've got you know, we've got like I said nine nine people on our team. You know what if someone gets sick if you hire a DJ, that's just a one man person or two man? What if one of them gets sick? I mean, what's your backup plan that's goes back to I'm getting to Off topic we could spend no you're good but

Kristina Stubblefield  44:32  
no. So for anybody that wants information, I just want you give them your website all of the details you can connect with them on social media website will be in the show notes but your website, it's been around

Todd White  44:41  
sound dj.com

Michael Gaddie  44:43  
Awesome. Todd, the information that you have given us today is been amazing. So our listeners should walk away with hear from hear from with lots of information. So thank you so much for being Yeah, and

Unknown Speaker  44:55  
to your point, you know, to the listeners out there, if you don't want me if you've already had Have a DJ, and you have questions like, Hey, what should I call me? I'll be happy to answer whether you're using someone else or not, you know, post or listen to this podcast and they're like, Hey, I never thought about that. I'd like to know more about what he's talking about. Call me. I don't you know, it's no big deal. If you're not using us, I'll still help you.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:17  
That's awesome. Yeah. Team bride or team couple. Well, it's

Michael Gaddie  45:21  
right, Todd, thank

Kristina Stubblefield  45:22  
you so much. I knew you would provide a bunch of insight. I feel like I even have more questions due to from this episode. Part Two. Sounds like Part Two is coming.

Sharon Rumsey  45:32  
I appreciate you so much. Thank you for having

Todd White  45:34  
me. Well, thank you all so much. I really appreciate it.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:36  
Okay, for all our listeners out there. We greatly appreciate you tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and sharing what do you always tell them?

Sharon Rumsey  45:47  
If you like what you hear hop on and leave us a glowing five star review. We love them and appreciate them.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:53  
And even if you like Todd and spin around sales, you can still leave us a glowing five star review. Right, Todd? Absolutely.

Todd White  45:58  
Let's do it.

Kristina Stubblefield  45:59  
Let's do it. Alright, thanks so much.

Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Ring The Bling And All The Things. If you liked what you heard, make sure to hit the subscribe or follow button on your favorite podcast platform to get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also visit our website, ringblingallthethings.com where you can join our email list and get notifications about new episodes and other information. You can also follow us on your favorite social media platforms.

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