Guest Blog: Weddings are a Team Sport by DJ Austo

Guest Author: Southern California Wedding DJ Austo,  Austin Boyd

As a full-time Southern California Wedding DJ, I’ve worked a lot of weddings. At every wedding, there are vendors.  Then, there’s what I’ll call the “main vendors” which include the coordinator, the photographer, the DJ/entertainment, and sometimes a videographer. There’s more vendors, too, like the florist, rental company, caterer, etc. but since those vendors typically don’t stick around for the entire length of the wedding, I’d like to focus just on these “main vendors” to represent our “vendor team”. 

I say “vendor team” because working weddings REALLY is a team sport! The Coordinator runs the show, the DJ hosts the show, and photographer and videographer document the show. If any one of those vendors isn’t doing their job correctly, it’s going to impact the wedding, which is often one of the most important events in the bride and groom’s life!

What I’m saying is— we RELY on each other in keeping our clients (the bride and groom) happy! It’s preparation, and communication. It’s energy. We are all putting into practice skills that we’ve acquired and we expect a certain skill level from one another. We are also sharing the same experience and interacting with the same group of people. The energy each of us gives off can be felt by one another and impacts the quality of our work. 

I worked with Laura at a wedding in 2022 and it was just a VIBE. (Check out the wedding we did together on her blog HERE) The couple was amazing, it was a beautiful day at a beautiful San Clemente venue. But it was the fact that all the vendors were all on the same page all night that made that wedding run so smoothly.

For the bride and groom, the photographer has to take the right pictures and capture the essence of their day. They need to find the right areas of the venue to shoot their romantic photos. They need to capture all the memorable moments from both the couple and their guests. 

As the DJ, we need is the photographer to be communicative of where they are and what they need. We need the photographer to stick to the timeline and be ready when it’s time for the next moment. Beyond the physical and tangible things, it’s nice when we’ve got a pleasant human behind the camera as well. Someone who you can share laughs and smiles with. 

Laura was all of those things and more. It’s for that reason that I can say she’s one of my favorite wedding photographers I’ve had the pleasure of working with! And I guess she likes me too— she hired to me DJ her wedding. (Click to read about Laura’s wedding!) The most flattering compliment a wedding vendor can give to another is ask them to work for them. Love you, Laura!

-Austin Boyd, DJ Austo

Check out DJ Austo’s website: djausto.com

Visit DJ Austo’s instagram: www.instagram.com/djausto

Photos from my wedding:

Photos by: Sarahyatesphoto.com