Sound by Design

Our DJ was very confident in our meeting right before the wedding, however, he did not really deliver on the day of the wedding. He was incredibly nice and very friendly, but he didn't play the songs we wanted. We requested specific songs for cocktails and he didn't play any of them. I walked up and asked him to play a special song for my grandpa, so that I could dance with him and he didn't play it right away. He said he wanted to play it later. So, my grandpa and I had to wait until 11:30 for the DJ to play our special song. By that time, people were trying to leave and we kept getting interrupted. Dancing with him to that song was something that I had really looked forward to and I was frustrated that he wouldn't play it when I asked.

best dj, best lighting! i was amazed by it all! one moment stood out that i will never forget. john, the dj, and i had discussed this song by janet devlin. he told me that he knew i wanted the song played and he completely understood why because her voice is hauntingly beautiful making the song send chills down your spine. he asked me if it would be ok if he would pick when it got played...maybe right before my groom and i said goodnight?! i don't know what he did to make this happen, or if it was a God sent coincidence. anyways, every bride knows that from the moment she walks down the aisle on, her groom and her will not get a moment alone. but, all of sudden, john played "the" song and my groom and i were the only 2 anywhere on the dance floor...in fact anywhere near the dance floor. we danced to the song as we held each other tight and i cried because it was the most perfect moment where we were the only 2 in the world and we transformed into husband and wife. what dj can get the dance floor going, and yet create this moment? thank you!

Paul was great to work with! We had a packed dance floor all night and he was super flexible. He had great suggestions and made the night prefect. He customized our night just the way we wanted. I would highly recommend working with them!

We used Sound By Design for DJ, extra lighting and a projector for our video. We were less than impressed.

DJ: They sold a lot a delivered very little. I would rate them average against every DJ we have seen at receptions which was extremely disappointing. That is not what they told us we would get if we signed up with them. We even let them 'read the crowd' and play what they wanted to get people out on the dance floor. We got the typical playlist that took forever for people to get out to dance, occasionally cleared the floor with bad choices and heard very few songs from the last decade. Also, the music was loud for the venue and the sound for the announcements was terrible. We were at the back of the room when they announced the video and could barely understand what was said. We were very disappointed since the DJ was recommended by our wedding planner.

Lighting: We added to the lighting package Sound By design included. Not only was that a waste of money, they might as well have left the other lights at home also. SBD never worked with the venue to maximize the impact of the lighting so the house lights were too bright and just drowned out the additional lighting. The only way I knew the lights were there is because I kept tripping over the boxes on the floor every time I walked by. We ended up with a bright white room with tripping hazards, not the great pictures on the site. I would recommend you meet with them at night in your venue. We didn’t.

Video equipment: This was your run of the mill equipment. We had a long narrow venue with the screen on one end. There are high definition projectors out there that would WOW the people watching up close and at least not be blurry for the people in the back. We did not get high def. The screen was big enough, but the quality was just ok.

We were disappointed with SBD. They oversold their service. Our guests said it was fine, but we wanted awesome. We didn't get awesome.

I used Sound by Design for DJ, uplighting, and a Gobo (a light that projects your names on the floor). I found they were a bit pricey compared to others around the area, but they were awesome to work with and were totally upfront with you. I did have an issue a week before the wedding with the Gobo, but they reordered it and made sure it was at my venue on time. I would recommend.

We chose Sound By Design as our DJ. By far they were the best value for a DJ. Torie was great to work with, he replied to our questions quickly always. He really made it his job to get to know us and our music tastes which are very different from each other.Torie himself was our DJ. He worked to use all the different kinds of music we liked throughout the day. He was super helpful with setting up microphones for our singers in the ceremony, and was able to have music outdoors for the cocktail hour and then moving it inside for the reception. He also set up lighting and video equipment as a last minute request a few days earlier. Once the dancing started the dancefloor was packed! The music was awesome and people danced all night. We received so many compliments on the music and dancing, and we have a lot of dancers in our family and friends who know what they're talking about :) It was a great experience working with Sound By Design. I highly recommend them for your event or wedding!

David was super cool, fun, played all the right music and kept our friends dancing all night long, of all ages!!
Use them!!!

Great DJs, kept people on the dance floor all night! A bit strong sales attempts on the "extras"-photo booth, travel agent, lighting, etc.

David did an awesome job with our wedding music! All of our guests had a fun night! He handled getting our wedding party all lined up and introduced! WE really enjoyed Sound by Design! Also the lighting was so beautiful!

Great choice for DJ
Overall I was very happy with Sound by Design as our DJ. The dance floor was packed all night long- and I was happy with the mix of music that he played. The reason I am giving a 4 out of 5 is because there were a few flukes. Our DJ somehow missed one of the couples for the Grand March entrance, so when he announced us as the Newlyweds, our last couple from the bridal party was still walking in. That was a bummer, but in the scheme of things not that big of a deal. Also- a few of the songs I had requested on the online website, I had indicated a specific version of the song but they did not play that version. That also could be my own fault for not sending them an mp3 of the song... What I really appreciated from them is they stick to how they market themselves- they really do read the crowd and play music that keeps people on the floor. Also, I appreciated that the most important thing to the DJ was keeping the bride and groom happy. When guests wanted songs that the DJ didn't think we would want, he handled it well and did not play them. That was great. Overall- I was super happy with this DJ- our guests said they loved Sound by Design and that it was one of the best wedding DJs they'd experienced. I agree- they were wonderful!

The DJ was great. I took a few days to get a reply when emailing or calling our DJ but I have to say the wait was worth it! Torey did an amazing job; he read the crowd great and played music that kept people dancing all night!

Sound by Design, We had our wedding at the Milwaukee Athletic Club on 09.24.11. Josh was our DJ and he was amazing!! We could not have asked for a better DJ. He made sure everything was on schedule and met all of our requests. And his shirt even matched our colors (not sure if you did that on purpose) :) :) Everyone told me how impressed they were with the DJ. AND the lights! The lights were worth every penny. It helped set the mood and looked amazing in the ballroom. Everyone danced, all night and when midnight came around no one wanted to leave, but we had to :) Thank you Zak for mixing our surprise first dance!! I can't thank you enough for being part of our special day! Thank you again! I would recommend you to anyone!

Even our high expectations were exceeded! These guys are as good as they advertise - even better! We were so fortunate to book SBD when our original DJ disappeared. Recommended to us by our photographer, her description was simply, if you want the best, hire Sound By Design. We couldn't agree more.

My Last Minute Larry...

My husband had the task of choosing and coordinating our wedding DJ (Yes, he only had 1 task). Despite only have one vendor to work with during our wedding planning, he left all the reception related music details until the last minute. It was literally 2 days before our wedding, and I was sobbing (partially due to all the stress) how he still hadn't told our DJ all the important music details for the big day (1st dance, mother/son dance, father/daughter dance, what not to play, dinner music genre, etc)! Needless to say, I made sure he met with our DJ that following day to get it all straightened out. Thankfully with the capability of the internet, the short amount of time until the reception (at that point less than 36 hours) to procure the music selections needed was not a huge deal. The guys from SBD got all the important stuff just right; and we let them run with the rest. They had our guests dancing all night-- even the ones I'd never think would be cutting a rug out there! I have to send a big thanks to SBD for the great time everyone had and for putting up with my last-minute Larry!

Torie from SBD ROCKED our wedding! He kept people dancing even though we had an outdoor terrace and the weather was gorgeous!! Keep up the good work guys. My only complaint was the lack of music during the fireworks. A few of our guests went inside and complained that there was no music played when most of the guests were outside. Some nice background music would've been nice. But other than that, good work!

They are amazing! Our dancefloor was packed all night long! The music they played appealed to all ages, and everyone had a great time! They listened to what we wanted, but they didn't need much guidance. They know what they are doing and how to keep a party going. They are the best there is!!!

Bar none the BEST DJ you can get. If you want a DJ service that listens to what you want, plays what you want and keeps the party going. Sound by Design is the company to go with.
We had some pretty obscure songs we wanted to play during dinner and Ramsey without hesitation found them and played them all! The dance floor was packed all night long and thats exactly what we wanted! We also had the LED package added and man it was worth the little extra money. It made the room transform into a nice soft mood for dinner but once the dance started it turned into a downtown club. It was awesome, many compliments from our guests and we can not say enough great things about them! You want the best, then hire Sound by Design.

Paul and his team were great!! John was our DJ the day of and he was great at keeping the flow of the reception going and taking charge of things. Everyone had a great time at the reception and the dance floor was usually full, which is what we were looking for. Sometimes in the planning process communication was a litle tough, but we got it all figured out. We also used Sound by Design for their lighting services and it really transformed the room from a beautiful room, to totally stunning venue!

The guys at sound by design were wonderful! they were very professional and tailored the whole night to our requests!

sound by design is by far the best dj in milwaukee! i met with paul at a bridal show because choosing a dj was the hardest thing for me in all the planning. after being bombarded by one too many cheesy dj's, paul and his brother david really stood out from the crowd...and there's a reason for it. they are so professional and really know how to read a crowd-they know what works and what kills the mood, so TRUST THEM! our dance floor was packed all night-my mom is still talking about how she's never seen a dance floor so crowded at midnight! plus, all my bridesmaids really enjoyed the cute eye candy :) (thanks again david! you were great!) they were really reasonable for our friday night wedding and also set up the equipment for our slideshow-seamless and professional.

Overall great DJ service! We were very happy we went with Sound by Design for our wedding-the dancefloor was packed all night-literally! It was so fun to look over and see everyone having a great time. Slightly disappointed we didn't get to hear all the songs on our "must play" list but I think we just ran out of time. They also provided our lighting for an additional cost which we were also very happy with-the lighting looks really cool in the background of all of our pictures! Overall a great choice.

Sound by Design DJ's did an amazing job at our wedding. The dancefloor was full up until midnight! All of our guests had a great time and all we kept hearing was how great the DJ's were. Sound By Design has done many of my friends wedding as well, and I would definately say that Paul Hackbarth and his team are by far the BEST throughout the greater Milwaukee area!

Hands down best DJ in Milwaukee!! We were so pleased with their services. They did their job - played music - without trying to be the entertainer at the wedding. SBD was recommended to us by a friend, and we definitely are passing them along to everyone else we know getting married!

Sound by Design did a great job at the wedding. I definitely thought they should have contacted us sooner before the wedding to get everything situated, but the day of, everything was smooth & we got what we asked for. Their website is great to add songs and specific dances that you want or do not want, however I am not sure how much they went off the list. All in all, everything was good though, no one else knew but me that certain songs were not played. The music was great, the DJ did a WONDERFUL job in keeping things "grown up" and not CRAZY. Everything the day of was great.

When we first met with Paul, we couldn't help but feel at ease knowing that Sound By Design would help us have a great reception. We really liked the online feature where you could put do not play and certain songs you wanted to hear. However, we really ended up not putting much on our list, and our DJ Ramsey always chose the right songs at the right time. Our dance floor was always packed, right up to the last dance & everyone had a blast! It was also really great how Ramsey just took control of the reception, we really didn't have any idea of the order of things or when we needed to do what, so he did a great job of directing us and making things progress smoothly. The only negative thing I can even think of is just a delay in e-mailing/calling back on occasion, and the price was a little higher than we were planning on paying-however it was totally worth it!!!! Thanks Sound By Design!!!

Our DJ's did a great job! Our dance floor was never empty and they catered to all ages and were very responsive to what everybody wanted to hear. The music is the one part of the reception we wanted to make sure was good and they came through. Also, having hundreds of things to do that evening, it was refreshing to have them run the show and kept things on time. We also put a together a photo montage and they brought all the equipment for us and it looked great.
Highly recommended!

Sound by Design was AWESOME. They provide classy but fun entertainment and our dance floor was packed the ENTIRE night. They have a great online system where they set you up with an account so you can add songs you want played and ones you DON'T want played. You can also add your first dance song, father-daughter song, etc. They are one of the few companies we spoke with who actually let you meet your DJ ahead of time. They are a little hard to get ahold of sometimes, which was the only draw back. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a great time who doesn't want something cheesy.

Sound By Design is the most classy, no-nonsense wedding DJ available. They are with the times and play music that is appealing to all age groups. Our dance floor was filled the entire night, from start to finish. Would highly recommend!

Excellent job!! We loved our DJs!! They did a great job with ceremony and reception music. They played great music, and if they ever sensed that a song wasn't going over well with the crowd they faded it and moved to another song. Great job selecting music and always checking with me and my husband about what we wanted to hear and playing our selections immediately. I would love to go to another wedding that they are djing at. We had at least two guest ask for their business card for their upcoming weddings!

Great DJ - did a good job. Listened to Bride & Groom's wants and also catered to the crowd.

Great DJ service. My family loves to dance and they kept them dancing all night! The guys were really fun to work with and our DJ even met us before the wedding to go over some questions we had. They let you choose which songs you don't want to hear and which songs you do want to hear with a convenient website tool. I would totally recommend them. (Tip: Try haggling the price for a better deal ;-) ) They were generally quick responding to emails but one time I had to email twice. Not a big deal though because they took care of the concern in no time.

Very easy to work with. He let us give him quite a bit of music to play at the reception and did a great job working it in throughout the night. His website made selecting our special songs, must-play and do-not-play lists very easy!

Paul was very accommodating to our needs; when we unexpectedly changed our reception time and venue two months before the wedding, he was able to renegotiate our contract and work with us. Sound by Design had the best reviews from coworkers and online, and they didn’t disappoint at the reception. Our DJ worked with us at the last minute to put together a song list that kept all the guests happy.

He really tuned in to the vibe of the crowd and the dance floor was full all night long. I have never been to any event where people danced to every single song. He was very professional, not cheesy or intrusive. He was a little slow in responding to phone calls and emails before the event, but we were able to sort everything out to our satisfaction.

Overall they were great, but we were a little disappointed that he did not completely stick to our "must play" list. But they are definitely not the cheesy, annoying kind of DJ.

The music was exactly what I was looking for. The DJ was cute to boot. Their questionnaire ahead of time was very helpful. They played everything we asked and didn’t play what we didn’t want to hear. Their prices were quite competitive. They were worth every penny. I would highly recommend them.

They were great and super courteous, these are the tasteful DJs that won’t show up in a tux and a red bowtie! LOVE their music, very classic. They were also great about checking in on the night of the event. They do ask for gratuities in their contract, I guess that’s standard.

Sound by Design did an excellent job. I loved the fact that we had 2 DJ's who were friendly and played songs we suggested. They have an excellent website that the wedding couple can go to before the wedding and enter all of their desired songs as well as the personal songs of the night. All of my guests had a great time, and I wish we could do it all over again.

Amazing!

We booked this DJ two weeks before my wedding when my other DJ canceled on me. The DJ was willing to accommodate me on such short notice. He was very professional on the wedding day. He did not do anything corny like DJs are known for. It turned out to be a very elegant event.

This company only DJs for weddings. They are extremely professional and tailor their work to the couple's style and event. There is even a personalized website where each couple can add enter information about the wedding, and your "must play" and "do not play" lists. We met with our DJ a few weeks prior to our wedding, and we were able to call/email him whenever we needed to ask questions or make changes. Throughout the evening, our DJ checked in with us every hour to ask us how everything was going, to check if we needed to make any changes. Our guests loved the music and danced all night! We were both very happy with the whole experience.

Very willing to accomodate and also very nice to work with. Got the job done.

Ben was awesome. We did not want a cheesey DJ and Ben was definitely not that. He didn't spend a lot of time on the mic, he just played songs to keep people dancing all night. He played requests and kept the dance floor full and everyone happy. That's exactly what we wanted out of our DJ and that's what he gave us.

We were very happy with our DJ. It was important to us that we got the music we wanted and NONE of the music we didn't, and they were very accommodating. We were able to meet with the owner before booking and then again with our personal DJ before the wedding. We got a huge amount of complements on our music and the DJ was responsive to us and to the mood of the crowd. One of the most fun features was an online site that we were given to input music we did and didn't want as we planned.

Did everything we asked for, couldn't be happier with the outcome. Allows input for music online which is very helpful.

The DJ ROCKED and we couldnt be happier with these guys!

This company has DJd at many weddings I have attended, and they always do an outstanding job. I, however, did have some difficulty reaching them to finalize things for my wedding. They did eventually get back to me, after a week or two of leaving several voicemails. They did a great job at my wedding, and we had a wide variety of people on the dance floor. They are also in tune with your preferences and do a good job at playing the genre of music you enjoy. The only other complaint I would have is that they were late in setting up at the reception site, which was a bit disconcerting, but they set up quickly once they had arrived and did a very good job.

Paul and Ramsey are great dj's you wont be disappointed.