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Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

The Best Songs From 1980 For Your Wedding Playlist

As I prepare to put together a "Best Of" about 80s music for wedding playlists over the next few weeks, I've come to realize that I've never shown any love on my blog to 1980. In doing the research for this post about the music of 1980 for your wedding playlist, I think you can easily make the case that music was in a transition period in 1980. At the beginning of 1980, disco was still "in", but quickly fading fast. Michael Jackson was riding high at the start of 1980 with his masterpiece album Off The Wall. MTV was over a year away from introducing America to iconic images of music videos that would forever be etched into our minds. While MTV would also usher in an 80s British Invasion of music, 1980 would introduce us to a lot of those artists that now show up in Yacht Rock playlists. 1980 came with it a lot of "Soft Rock" artists with some country crossovers from Kenny Rogers and Eddie Rabbitt.  Since I grew up in the 80s, 80s music is my jam, but I'm gonna have to say that 1980 might be one of the weakest years of music in the entire decade. You be the judge.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Why You Should Find Your Wedding DJ And Vendors Organically

For my first post and wedding DJ podcast of the year, I felt like it was a great time to speak directly to those modern brides and grooms who recently got engaged over the holidays.  Congratulations!  I would like to try to take this time to comfort you.  If you are like many couples, you might be quickly approaching panic mode because you've never had to search for a wedding DJ or all of your other wedding vendors for that matter.  I'm here to tell that it's not as difficult as you might think. Clients who have found me "organically" and not in a contrived manner have made for the most memorable experiences for me as a wedding DJ over the years.  You might be asking what it means to find your wedding DJ / vendors "organically".  I am going to blow your mind. Finding your wedding DJ and other vendors is just as easy as doing a Google search.   The fact you reading this right now is nothing short of amazing.  It's not that I don't think you know how to read, it's just that the internet may have reached overload status when it comes to wedding websites.  Since you have found me, I don't want to let you go. You are precious to me already. :)

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Trending: The Private Last Dance For Your Wedding Playlist

Over the years, modern brides and grooms who have made the decision who to hire as their wedding DJ have sought to make their wedding unlike any they have been to previously.  Some traditions like the bouquet toss and garter toss have been kicked to the curb, mostly because younger millenials and Gen Z think they are cheesy. And let me tell you, they are not wrong at all. I have never been so burned out of hearing "Single Ladies" by Beyonce in my whole life. Sorry Bey. In keeping with the the desire to make their weddings different, I am always happy to see new trends develop. In recent years, a lot of my clients have requested a "private last dance" be placed into their wedding playlist. In this post, I'll not go into why this should be a part of your wedding playlist, but I will also provide an amazing playlist of song selections that would be perfect for this moment.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

The Modern Hip Indie Pop Cocktail Hour For Wedding Playlists

Perhaps its the musical tastes of my clients that may have rubbed off on me, but at this stage of my life, I would have to say that Indie pop is my favorite musical genre as we round out 2023.  Listening to the best radio station in Charleston, SC might also have something to do with it too. 105.5 The Bridge is an adult album alternative (AAA) station. This format caters to the ultimate music lover. On any given day you might hear classic rock songs from the 70s, new wave of the 80s, 90s grunge, yacht rock, Indie pop, and so much more.  Programmed by veteran, major market program director Bryan Schock, the Bridge occupies most all of my new music discovery. While my radio listening keeps me current on what types of new music is being released, it's my clients who also keep me on my toes and tend to introduce me to so much new music. Most of the selections you'll see on this playlist have been in my catalog since their release, as I have taken an interest in Indie pop probably for the past 15 or more years. You'll want to definitely read on to check out this very hip mix of music that is perfect for the modern bride and groom who are into the best of Indie pop.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

The Mike Bills Podcast To Make A Return For Modern Weddings

It seems just like yesterday. I'll never forget how excited I was back in the fall of 2019.  Back then I was putting together something that at the time was not being done in Charleston.  At the time, it was the perfect marriage of my skills as a professional wedding DJ and an experienced producer of audio. On November 1, 2019, the Mike Bills Podcast was launched.  Being an experience producer of audio, I knew what it took to put together a professional sounding podcast. In the months leading up the launch of the podcast, I was listening to other podcasts to get a feel for how I could be laying out my own.  What I learned pretty fast was how great the level of effort was to put together the Mike Bills Podcast.  For someone who attacks most everything he gets into wih passion, the podcast did not take long to become an albatross around my neck.  Why was this?  How are things going to be different this time around as I put together NEW podcasts for the modern bride and groom?  You'll want to read on as I lay out my plan to resume The Mike Bills Podcast.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

The Best Wedding DJs Create A Good Flow For Your Reception

You are marrying the person of your dreams and assembling only your closest friends and family at a world class venue in one of the beautiful locations on the planet! There are people coming to see you get married from all over the country. If you do everything right, your wedding day will quickly become one of the most cherished and memorable days of your life.  And now I bet you are asking. "What do you mean by doing it right?". Well, in this post, I'm going to discuss one of the most important ways to ensure your wedding day is going to be the best day possible.  Making sure your wedding day is the best day possible has everything to do with the "flow" of the day.  Let's face it. The end result of months of planning this day is you, your family, and your guests on the dance floor having the time of their lives.  But, we've got a lot to accomplish before we get to that point, and if the flow of the evening is not designed properly, your wedding day may quickly become a day you'll soon want to forget.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Guide To Selecting The Best Wedding DJ For 2024 And Beyond

You know if we stand on our tiptoes, we can begin to see the first day of 2024. Perhaps you are in the beginning stages of planning your wedding. If you are like any modern bride or groom, you are going to begin to be bombarded by all types of wedding vendors. In a world where everyone is a wedding planner, a caterer, a florist, a photographer, a wedding DJ, or lighting specialist, there must be a way to weed out all of the low hanging fruit and spam. There has to be a way to sort through all of the inexperienced wedding vendors who are trying to undercut the seasoned wedding vendor veterans. Instead of turning you off by a lot of unnecessary emails, I felt like this would be a good time to introduce myself to you again. Maybe this blog post is your first introduction to me. Welcome to my website and blog. I hope I can help you find the best wedding DJ in 2024 and beyond. You deserve the very best for what will become the most memorable day of your life.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Best 90s Music For Weddings: The Top 1993 Songs Playlist

Most all of the content created for this blog over the years has been created by inspiration. Perhaps I've come in contact with a concept or viewpoint pertaining to wedding DJing that I believe needed another angle?  Maybe it was one of my incredible clients who had such a gorgeous event that I just had to write about? You don't have to spend too much time on this blog to realize that music is my life.  My life revolves around music, as it should for most all professional wedding DJs.  Inspiration for this post came from an innocent view of a reel on Instagram. While I'm not incredibly active on social media, I do check out some of the reels and stories and the one I saw to inspire me for this post instantly took me back 30 years to the year 1993.  Ace Of Base, which burst onto the scene in the late summer of 1993 was probably one of the biggest musical groups to emerge from Sweden since ABBA. "All That She Wants" would be released late in the summer of 1993 and become one of their signature songs. Hearing this song "inspired" me to take a deeper look into 1993. When I took a look back at 1993, there was so much going in the world of music. The research I've put into this post was a quick reminder how much was going on in the world of music in the early 90s.  For the millenial who might have been rolling around the floor as a toddler, you might remember some of these songs. 

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Why I Am Still A Top Wedding DJ Without DJing Full Time

Attention modern brides and grooms. Someone sent me an excerpt of a blog post that had been put together by a DJ company outside my market.  I got to thinking how I've been able to be very successful as a wedding DJ, while having a full-time job. You read that correctly. I am not a full-time wedding DJ. But you know what? It's ok. This post had insinuated that not hiring a full-time wedding DJ could be a mistake.  You don't need to click past my website, which I have spent thousands of dollars on over the years to try to find YOU. In 2023, I don't know anyone who has not diversified their income in some way. Perhaps someone has a side hustle that may include a part-time position as an Uber driver,  a bartender, or a waitress to generate additional income in this world of constant high inflation. Ever since I began my journey in this crazy, oversaturated wedding industry, I've poured my heart and soul into making sure each client of mine is treated the exact same way.  Let me make myself crystal clear. Your wedding day is very important to me.  I never look at anyone's wedding as a "gig", but instead look at it as the most memorable day of your life filled with the music you know and love.

| Mike Bills | Charleston Wedding DJ Blog

Gen Z Should Add These Songs To Their Wedding Playlist

As an experienced and seasoned wedding DJ, it is my duty to ensure that modern brides and grooms and their guests have the time of their lives by putting together the best wedding playlist. I also believe that if you have the means of a great platform (i.e. wedding DJ blog) to provide quality content and even push the envelope, you should not be afraid to do so.  What exactly do I mean by pushing the envelope? Well, I gotta be honest with you, here in the fall of 2023, the new music inventory is about as bad as its been in my entire life. And if you've been paying attention to this blog, you know that I just turned 50. And actually part of the inspiration for this blog was due to my 50 th birthday.  With the lack of new music inventory available today to start mixing in for weddings, I truly believe that this is the ideal time for experienced professional wedding DJs to begin to dig deeper to freshen up the wedding playlists across the country.