A2Z and DJXL Made Our Wedding The Best Ever - said Everyone!
Anyone can say the DJ made their event great, and most do. But when many, many people tell you it was the best wedding they have ever been to, you know something special happened.
My bride-to-be (now Wife) and I were already in our 50s in January when we started to plan our wedding in Portland, OR, and list the nearly 100 guests who form a very diverse group - from our 2 year old Ringbearer, to my mother, who would be mad if I put her age here. We included at least 4 generations of family, proud Texas, native Floridians, Portlandians, high-school friends from California, employers, musicians, left wing, right wing, reborn Christians, Atheists, deep seated Democrats, staunch Republicans and more.
I've known David Jones (DJXL) close to 15 years and never once saw a bad set from this consummate professional. He tolerated me constantly looking over his shoulder watching him work and doing the cardinal sin of requesting songs in the mix. Well, in all honesty, I wasn't really looking over his shoulder. I had to peek around the side. They don't call him DJXL for nothing. When he added vinyl back into the workflow to lead the trend of blending Old-School techniques with the modern technology I went to Cassidys to see the new set up and he rocked it like it was 1989. Knowing his work, and meeting Delia, who does the hard part of wedding coordination for A2Z Mobile Music, I knew I wanted to have them involved in our wedding.
A this point we were all ready watching this event balloon into a major to-do. To complicate things, this wedding was being planned 3,000 miles from our home in Florida, and 1,500 miles from DJXL in Fort Worth. With rentals of 2 audio systems, stage lighting, fog machines, trusses and projectors I asked A2Z if they would even consider coming to the PNW to work the wedding. He was polite and said while he would love to accept the event, it would cost more than he cared to say. Thankfully, we worked out a price that worked for us both. We had to negotiate air travel, hotels, etc. But he worked to make it happen!
Once there, he attended and choreographed the wedding rehearsal, helping time the events, providing input in pacing of the procession/recession, placement of the wedding party and officiant. He helped with set up and testing of the audio equipment both outside for the ceremony, and inside with a LOT more equipment for the reception. This man even worked with the DMX stage lighting to get more of it working, since I had run out of time for setting up the things I had planned. That wasn't even part of the deal. He just did it to make the event better!
We had a little fun with the ceremony, having a little surprise in the Bride's procession, and he worked with us to perfect that. Couldn't ask for more.
He MC'd the event and got the guests involved, getting speeches from so many people, timing and coordinating our Grand Entrance, leading the guest in toasts, lining up for photos at the Sweatheart table with us, cueing for the buffet, our first dance, dancing, more dancing, playing Thriller for one of the guests to dance to, even handled the mixing for Karaoke the last hour!
We can tell you with 100% confidence that A2Z Mobile Music is more than a wedding coordination business, more than a DJ, more than just background music for an event. They want your night to be amazing. They will work to get it right. From the rehearsal, through a legit sound check, until the lights went out and the equipment was all packed out, DJXL was there, making us look great and impressing our guests. Thank you, David and Delia!
P.S. I tried to find more photos of DJXL doing his thing, but there just weren't many of him. Trust me when I say he made his way around and got to see everyone!