How Was Your Experience With Dj Max? (Karisma/azul/lomas)

LeanneP · January 3, 2017

My fiancee and I were originally planning to do an ipod wedding for our small group to save on costs. However, we changed our minds and decided to go with a DJ after all as we don't think we have the time to put together a playlist and no one in our group is tech savvy enough to jump in if there are any ipod problems at the reception.

We've selected DJ Max through Karisma but haven't been able to locate any reviews whatsoever.

Are there any past Karisma or Azul brides that used DJ Max and have comments? FYI - We are a bit of an older group that likes classic rock, etc.

Any feedback (no matter how brief!) would be greatly appreciated!

ashhtayy · January 8, 2017

@@LeanneP

A lot of brides that I had interacted with on this site that had gotten married just before us used the wedding DJ app and loved it. Since my husband and I love music and knew music would make or break the party we went for the DJ. I can't remember if we had DJ mix or DJ max (I think the difference was only the MC). Either way, we went with the non-MC DJ because we had MCs and it was the best decision ever. Our friends still rave about how amazing our music was - one of my bridesmaids even said that she wishes she could have them for her local wedding.

They will send you a massive excel file with all their music and you go through and fill out a form that says what your entrance songs are, what your first dance song is, etc. If there is any music you know you want that isn't on the list you can add it to a particular section and they will download it.

Because we are crazy we downloaded every song we wanted that wasn't on the list and brought it on a USB. We made folders for dinner music, party music, etc. I can't be certain they played every song we asked for but we put our top songs on the list and neither of us can recall them missing a key song. This is totally not necessary but I would do it if there are songs you want for bridal party entrance, special dances, etc that are not on their list.

One bad thing - which in the end did not really matter...our first dance song was A Thousand Years Part Two. The DJ played the original - only we knew that though. One other thing is because we had 4 special dances, we wanted three of them cut to two minutes and the DJ didn't do that. This could we avoided by making this clear to your Wedding Coordinators. I had it in the set-up document I gave them but I don't recall specifically asking for it so I wouldn't fault the DJ.

The DJ also had a whole bunch of balloons he throws out towards the end of the party. Initially I thought this was lame but everyone loved it! Made for great photos too!

Our wedding was also supposed to end at 12 and we were having way too much fun so we gave them our credit card and extended until 2am. The DJs didn't complain and kept going.

They were the best. You'll have no regrets!

Edited January 8, 2017 by ashhtayy

LeanneP · January 10, 2017

@@LeanneP

A lot of brides that I had interacted with on this site that had gotten married just before us used the wedding DJ app and loved it. Since my husband and I love music and knew music would make or break the party we went for the DJ. I can't remember if we had DJ mix or DJ max (I think the difference was only the MC). Either way, we went with the non-MC DJ because we had MCs and it was the best decision ever. Our friends still rave about how amazing our music was - one of my bridesmaids even said that she wishes she could have them for her local wedding.

They will send you a massive excel file with all their music and you go through and fill out a form that says what your entrance songs are, what your first dance song is, etc. If there is any music you know you want that isn't on the list you can add it to a particular section and they will download it.

Because we are crazy we downloaded every song we wanted that wasn't on the list and brought it on a USB. We made folders for dinner music, party music, etc. I can't be certain they played every song we asked for but we put our top songs on the list and neither of us can recall them missing a key song. This is totally not necessary but I would do it if there are songs you want for bridal party entrance, special dances, etc that are not on their list.

One bad thing - which in the end did not really matter...our first dance song was A Thousand Years Part Two. The DJ played the original - only we knew that though. One other thing is because we had 4 special dances, we wanted three of them cut to two minutes and the DJ didn't do that. This could we avoided by making this clear to your Wedding Coordinators. I had it in the set-up document I gave them but I don't recall specifically asking for it so I wouldn't fault the DJ.

The DJ also had a whole bunch of balloons he throws out towards the end of the party. Initially I thought this was lame but everyone loved it! Made for great photos too!

Our wedding was also supposed to end at 12 and we were having way too much fun so we gave them our credit card and extended until 2am. The DJs didn't complain and kept going.

They were the best. You'll have no regrets!

OMG! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Ashhtayy!

You just gave me a TOTAL comfort level with our decision to go with a DJ. We've received the massive excel file and song list but haven't had a chance to go through it in detail yet (next on the to do list). On a cursory glance, we were concerned that it was missing alot of songs we like. We were also toying with the idea of loading up a USB to hand over and knowing you did the same makes me feel SO much better.

I've been waffling on the decision for ages now - cost savings vs. hassle. I feel much better that the cost is worth it to avoid any additional stress and work for us. Since I couldn't find any reviews, I was just afraid he'd play lame music and it would be a disaster. Though, I keep trying to remind myself that DJs are professionals and they know what gets the crowd dancing and what doesn't. Hearing your first hand account gives me peace of mind. Thank you!

Did you meet with him ahead of time or just trust that with your completed song sheet, all would work out fine? (Our group is older and more into rock, not really a Beyonce type crowd so I want to make sure they know this.)

You are officially my favourite person of the day today!

ashhtayy · January 10, 2017

@@LeanneP

We love old school hip hop, rap and r&b and the list didn't have a lot of what we wanted either. Our USB did and he played it all. Bring your favs with you on USB and you'll have zero regrets.

We did not meet the DJ ahead of time. I submitted the file which listed all the songs we wanted that he didn't have to the wedding coordinator before we left (idea is that he will download all the music he doesn't have) and made sure I had a copy of the file and my music with me for my coordinator meeting in Mexico.

Note: the list you were sent, and me too, was probably so outdated. I bet he has a million songs on his computer that haven't made it to the list yet.

I had a lot of little hiccups before my wedding while we were in Mexico but our wedding day was PHENOMENAL. The staff at the resort make you and your partner their number one priority on your big day. We felt like royalty.

Roll with the punches. Your big day will be perfect. I'm still saying that after everything I planned had to change! Don't stress. It'll be amazing!

ludlows23 · January 17, 2018

I know that this is too late for the original poster, but hopefully it is helpful for other brides reading these forums....

We used DJ Max for our wedding at El Dorado Maroma in December. We picked him through the Weddings by Lomas group. He provided us with a huge pdf file with multiple song lists - which wasn't well organized at all and had songs duplicated throughout. But I didn't really use his list as I had a specific music theme in mind. He also provided us with a spreadsheet where we filled it out for the music throughout the evening - introduction of the bridal party song, first dance song, songs during dinner, first song of the "dancing" part of the night, etc. This was really helpful in thinking through the format of the evening. I ended up making a long list of songs that I wanted played after dinner - based a lot on lists throughout this site and others.

On the day of the wedding, DJ Max was awesome - everything went very smoothly and he played almost my entire play list but made it sound great - picking the order of the songs to keep everyone moving. Everyone danced almost all night long - it was a blast. My guests loved the music throughout the entire evening. Only once did a song come on that I didn't like and I asked DJ Max to skip to the next song and he did right away.

I'd highly recommend using a DJ. It took all the stress out of the evening and they really know how to make the night go smoothly. Do your research about songs you like and give the DJ a good list to go from - and they will take it from there. DJ Max also said that they could download any song they didn't have right there at the reception - if there were any requests that hadn't been on my list.

Here's my list of the "party songs" for the evening. We were an older crowd - all over 40, so we went with 70's and 80's dance songs.

Rick Springfield Jessie's Girl Kool & the Gang Celebration Michael Franti & Spearhead Say Hey (I love you) Sister Sledge We are Family Garth Brooks Friends in Low Places Van Morrison Brown Eyed Girl AC/DC You Shook Me All Night Long Rick James SuperFreak Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun Dexy's Midnight Runners Come on Eileen Abba Dancing Queen Michael Jackson Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough Billy Idol Mony, Mony Def Leppard Pour Some Sugar On Me Otis Day or the Isley Brothers Shout Neil Diamond Sweet Caroline Romantics What I Like About You Village People YMCA KC and the Sunshine Band Get Down Tonight James Brown I got you (I feel good) The B-52s Love Shack A-ha Take on Me Talking Heads Our House Joan Jett I Love Rock & Roll The Commodores Brick House Wild Cherry Play that Funky Music Lynyrd Skynrd Sweet Home Alabama Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville Chic Le Freak Cindi Lauper Girls Just Want to Have Fun Four Seasons December 1963 (Oh What a Night) Lipps, Inc Funky Town Murray Head One Night in Bangkok Peter Gabriel In Your Eyes Earth Wind and Fire September Bob Seger Old Time Rock & Roll Journey Don't Stop Believing Bee Gees Staying Alive Martha Reeve Dancing in the Street