Vendor Spotlight - DJ R-J Vida

This is our second interview in our series of vendor spotlights that we are featuring on our blog. This time we talked to R-J Vida, a local wedding DJ who owns his own DJ company as well as event production company. R-J is one of the DJs we like to recommend and work with because of his professionalism, his responsiveness, and his talent for putting on a great party! Read on to find out more about R-J and to get some great tips as well, and visit his website here.

1. Business Name- Advance Entertainment Productions Inc.

2. Job Description- Owner / DJ

3. What is your hometown? North Arlington, NJ

4. How did you get started in the business? At 16 I DJed a teen club in New Jersey. After my relocation to Florida I was discovered by a local entertainment agency who thought I would be great at weddings. Over time their chance turned out to be a great investment.

5. What are the popular songs right now for a bride and groom first dance? Brides are really trying to think out of the box. Songs like I’m Yours by Jason Mraz and Better Together by Jack Johnson are making their way into many of my beach-style weddings. On the classic side, At Last by Etta James is still a favorite by many. If alternative rock is what you like, many times the songs that may not be appropriate for a first dance can be found in their acoustic version which works very well.

6. Have you witnessed anything really crazy happen on the dance floor? I have seen nearly everything over the years...some of which is not even appropriate for me to say. However I just recently did a wedding at the Marriott Waterside that even took me by surprise. The bride and groom also hired my sister company, The Production Crew, which specializes in LED up- lighting and custom GOBO’s, and we had over 30 LED fixtures and 2 custom GOBO’s to accent the two rooms. They went all out on every aspect- string quartet for the ceremony, acoustic guitarist for the cocktail hour, and myself for the reception. We also provided the sound for the ceremony. When I arrived, I was shocked to see two dance boxes on either side of my riser. Yes, even at this 5 star wedding we had dance boxes. When the dancing came around we had a packed floor for over 3 hours. At one point even the mother of the bride got on one of the dance boxes. Go figure, and I thought I had seen it all.

7. If you could only play one song for the rest of your life, what would it be? Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman’s "Come What May" (I guess I am a bit of a Romantic)

8. Do you have any advice for brides and grooms when it comes to selecting music for their wedding? Remember that it is your wedding and it should reflect on the two of you. Any good DJ will be able to integrate music that you enjoy. At the same time don’t go overboard picking out every single song for your wedding because you are now hindering your DJ’s creative talent in which you hired him for. A good DJ should be able to read a crowd and constantly think on their feet by maintaining a consistent dance floor by playing to your guests tastes.