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Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 00:02
Hello, folks, and a very warm welcome to the Supplier Spotlight podcast. My name is Liam Ball, your magical wedding host, also known as the Gentleman Magician. And as I’ve said so many times before, this podcast exists to shine the light on the very best people in the wedding industry, the suppliers who don’t just turn up, but elevate your entire experience. Now as always, if you’re enjoying these conversations, do take a moment to follow, like, subscribe, and share the podcast with anybody who’s currently planning a wedding. It’s often the only way that these conversations get out to people, and they really do help people realize what is actually possible on their wedding day. Now today’s guest is a wedding DJ, but not the sort who simply turns up and plays a safe playlist hoping for the best. This is somebody who understands atmosphere, energy, and momentum. Somebody who works relentlessly behind the scenes to build a dance floor that feels electric. with nightclub level intensity, and still at the same time being perfect for a wedding crowd. Now, I’ve personally seen this DJ in action, and I can say without hesitation that the atmosphere created was genuinely out of this world. And the level of energy doesn’t happen by accident. It’s crafted and it’s worked for. So it is an absolute Pleasure to welcome Daryl from Sweet Vibe Events. Hello, Daryl. How are you?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 01:32
Yes.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:35
Thank you. How are you? Oh. Absolutely brilliant. Yes, absolutely fabulous. Just loving loving looking to a new year and and all exciting things to come.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 01:47
Oh, this is big, big one for 2026. That was a great intro, by the way. Thank you very much. Oh, do you know what? I was seeing it blushing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 01:54
Yeah, oh, mate. And and it it’s it’s funny, you know, everybody says that, but like I I try to make sure that all the information that I say about is is validated and true. So yeah, it’s it’s all absolutely fantastic. Well, listen, I’ll tell you what, let’s get into it and let’s start right at the beginning. Um, wedding DJ, great wedding DJ. How did DJing first enter your life and when did weddings become the focus for you?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 02:18
Okay, right. So we’re going to go way back. We’re going to wind the clock up now to when I was only twelve years old. And I’ve actually I’ve actually mentioned this a few times. You’ll see this about somewhere on the website and that where I’ve I’ve spoken about this before, but I was very young, 12 years old. And when where I used to live, I had a youth club. It was just like a place for youngsters to hang out. And there was a DJ booth and a dance floor. It was all blacked out. It’s a bit like this fire, but not as modern as what I’ve got going on here in my studio. But it was like a caged DJ booth, and all the older kids used to be in there. They would be having the vinyl, they used to have the Technics, twelve, tens take all their cases of vinyl up and they started off mix it away and I would just stare at them through this cage and be like, Wow, that looks fun. I r I really want to have a go And then One day one of the older kids saw me and kept coming up, kept coming up. Is that do you want to have a go, mate? And I was like, Yeah, all right, come on and we’ll have a little blast on it. And as soon as I started there, I fell in love with it. I was like, this is a bit of me. And then they would host the odd parties there. and I got to do a little s set one time and what that crowd response when you drop a song and everyone goes oh Like the bug just got me from that get-go. So, um, from that young age, my mum and dad saw how much it meant to me and how serious I wanted to take it. I was like, I I’ve found something I really want to do from a young age.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 03:51
Yeah.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 03:52
So, um, I mean, they they went out all out on me and they invested in decks, mixer, speakers, amplifiers, you know. And it was it’s not expensive, DJ. Sorry, it’s not cheap. No, he’s not no, it’s expensive. And back then, even though it was cheaper back then, and it was still really expensive. So I was very grateful for them for giving me that little step. on to the the fur sort of little step into into DJing. And then my dad, this I mean they’ve got to show my age now a little bit, but To advertise, we didn’t have social media when I was young. Everything was local paper, you know, the telephone directory and all that. So my dad would just pop a little advert in the little local paper, a little couple of lines in there. And I started getting the odd sort of birthday parties come in. And I was, obviously, I’m still young. I was still at 12, 13. So he used to drive me. to these little birthday parties and little you know, some of them were kids’ parties, some of them were like teenage parties, and it was just I I loved it. And from there, I continued to do that. I continued to do kids’ parties and stuff like that, and teenage parties, and where I loved it so much. I kind of just fell into it then. It was like a an every weekend, and my dad actually is in sort of the acting world and he knows he knows a lot of musicians and stuff like that. And he teamed me up with a wedding band that he knew very, very well. And this wedding band used to tour all over the country. And I Used to go with my dad. Obviously, we used to jigsaw Tetris all the equipment in his tiny little car. And we used to go and do weddings. So I used to do that. So I started done my first wedding. I was like 13, 14 years old. And I used to just do the infill bits for the band. So I used to just do a little 20-minute set, and the band would come on, do an hour, and I’d do another 20-minute set, they’d do another hour, and then I’d finish up with the last 20-odd minutes at the end of the night. And I really fell in love with weddings. Like weddings was awesome. Like I loved it. And then when I got to my teenage years I was like, it’s great and I still love it. However, I’m a teenager now and all my mates are going out. They’re all having a laugh. They’re going club in and he’s having these mad nights out and I’m stuck there doing weddings every weekend. So I was like, okay, let’s do the transfer then. So I kind of got into like pirate radio when I was young. I grew up with sort of the house garage club classic kind of era, the 90s. So I started mixing that and I started getting into bars, then into clubs, started doing some really cool places when I was younger. But although I loved that, the problem I had was I still loved weddings and I loved the atmosphere of a wedding. So it was really kind of. I mean, the money wasn’t great either doing the nightclubs. The nightclubs was always more of a you know, it’s it’s how much of a crowd you can bring. The money was never actually that great. And I and I still had the love for weddings. So eventually, when I got to sort of like my mid twenties, I was like, do you know what? I’m going to make the decision. So that was kind of how I got into it. And since going back to weddings, I’ve never looked back. I’ve just carried on, kept it going. And yeah, that’s kind of how it started up until pretty much now.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 07:27
Fantastic. So essentially, it’s. It’s always been like high energy because I mean, I can honestly say I’ve seen, obviously, I’ve seen a lot of wedding DJs, right? And I mean, a wedding, a wedding night and an even celebration, like that, they’re. I was going to say always 99% of the time, they’re brilliant. And then when I saw you arrive at that wedding, because we worked together recently, I saw you arrive at that wedding and I was like This guy’s a bit of something else, you know? And I thought when I was chatting to you, I was like, there’s going to be this, this is, this is going to be different. This is And and it it was it was genuinely it was probably the most nightclub-like experience that I’ve ever seen at a wedding. Um, because it’s I mean, sure, you know, like a lot of DJs might play the same music at the same volume, but I think it was, I think it was your personality and your. Your own atmosphere and energy, like behind the desk. You weren’t just there kind of pressing buttons and just going, Oh, yeah, yeah, strike. And you know, there was so much more that I saw that you were doing. Where did all that come from?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 08:40
Okay, that’s a great question. It’s a really good question. I’ve never actually been asked this, so I’m quite excited to say this. So when I was younger, I was shy. And I remember doing weddings when I was young, and someone would say, Oh, can you do this announcement? And I’d be like, oh no, like the thought of talking on a microphone would just kill me inside. I’m like, that embarrassment of everyone looking over. And I think over the years I used to do when you just do something a lot, you know, you you get used to it. It’s just practice, you know, practice, practice, practice. But Being young, even as a teenager, I mean, God, picking up a microphone, I was like, no, don’t want to do it. Anyway, even if I can get one of the bridesmaids to say it, I’ll be like, Can you just say the buffet’s ready? Yeah. So I did, yeah, I kind of I was very shy. And then over the years, you know, you just, you just get more confident, get a bit more confident on the mic. And I kind of did kind of see a bit of a gap in the market, I suppose. So when I got sort of like, when this was years ago. I’ve always been a very energetic person anyway. Like you anyone I speak to who calls me at eight o’clock in the morning, I’m like, what’s happening? They’re like What the hell? How are you this hyper? Like, my poor wife, she has to live with this and deal with this all the time. I genuinely have a lot of energy 24 hours a day. It takes a lot to sort of get me tired. Um, so yeah, I I think like I see a lot of DJs. Well, I don’t I don’t see I’ve I’ve heard from other people of what other DJs are like. I know a lot of other DJs and, you know, I’ve I’ve seen clips online over the years and You see, sort of the DJ in the background. They always look really bored. Some of them look like they don’t even want to be there. And I felt, do you know what? Like people enjoy that. And I suppose, you know, it’s more like the the nightclub scene. When you look at nightclub DJs, how they are very animated behind the desk, especially nowadays, you you go online, you see See videos of people in these huge clubs and the DJs going absolutely nuts behind the decks. It’s enjoyable to watch because if you are just simply stood there, you know, pressing a button It doesn’t make me want to dance. It could be the best song in the world, but you kind of look at the DJ and you’re like, oh, it looks a bit sad, looks a bit, you know. But if I’m having a great time and I’m enjoying it, it kind of like it just has this weird effect on people. They’re like, that looks great. It’s almost like they get FOMO. They’re like Yeah, well, I don’t want to miss out on this. They’re all having a great time. The DJ is going crazy. But I get, you know, that energy isn’t for everyone. And some people just aren’t like that. I think. It’s just the way I, I am. There’s a couple of others I know who are similar to me, who are just very energetic. And I think it’s it just it’s great. I think it it looks really good. I think it helps the dance floor. When when I’m having a good time, it you know, everybody looks at that and they go, Come on, I want some of that.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 11:49
Yeah, well it’s like there’s a whole process, isn’t there? L that that you’re sort of building and crafting there. So you’re taking a room from that that pleasant almost catatonic. After dinner, I could sit down and have a nap now.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 12:03
Yes.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 12:03
Atmosphere to absolutely electric, raising the roof. Everybody’s partying on the dance floor. The photos look awesome, the videos look awesome. I mean, like, how how how hard is it to create that atmosphere sometimes?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 12:20
When you’re used to it, I suppose it’s easy, but it’s taken time to understand. I mean, crowd reading is so important. And a lot of what I do is I get to know my couples really well. And I get a really good idea of the music that they want, because there’s no point going. You can play if the crowd are all like young and they want, you know, moderny, more like club classic and housey stuff. And that you got to know that, and then you got to play to the crown. If they’re a crowd that only sort of likes a certain type of music and you’re playing Cheese and Peter Andres and stuff and they’re just not into it at all, you’ve got to understand Who you’re playing to to be to be able to even start building it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 13:08
But I mean, I go in hard from the get-go, as you probably saw that night.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 13:13
We don’t save the big tunes till later because Well, you’ve got to remember they’ve all been day drinking, right? They’re already smashed. They’re well and truly ready to go. And a lot of DJs, they kind of go, oh, you know, we’ll start off with the first dance, then we’ll go into something, you know, cliche. You know, and then people would just clear the dance floor. Everybody walks off, and you’re kind of like, oh, so we don’t want that. We want to go, bang, this is what it’s about. This, the dance floor here, is where it’s happening tonight. And if you’re not on it, you are going to miss out. So. If you’re going hard from the get-go, bang, we show them what it’s all about and that holds them there and it kind of keeps them. And you just I just use my skills and my expertise in reading dance files along with the couple’s playlists. ‘Cause I get them to give me some samples of the bits they like. You know, some people give me loads of songs, some people give me no songs and just go, You do you. We trust you So you just it’s just it’s all experience, really. You just you just gotta know what you’re doing.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 14:13
So so here’s a question for you then. And I think there might be people who can relate to this. So you’ve turned up at the gig, you’ve set yourself up, the first dance is happening, the first dance has happened, and the couple have said to you You’re the DJ, right? You’re the expert. So, you do you. So, the first dance has been beautiful. It’s been emotional. Like, people are crying. You know, there’s tissues. Somebody wiping noses. You know, it’s been a wonderful moment. And now, and the song has ended, and you’re like, right, I now need to go from where we are and raise the roof. And it’s got to happen like now. It’s got to happen now. Yeah. Right. What’s your go-to track?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 14:53
My go-to track is normally Robin S. Show Me Love.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 14:59
Okay.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 14:59
Now, this may change over the years because obviously I’m getting older and brides are getting younger. So this might change but this has worked for me for a long time. A lot of people say it’s an absolute all-rounder. Everybody knows it. You know, it from whether you’re younger or older, it’s just one of those classics that you just whack on, and it’s just such a powerful vocal. And everyone’s like Straight in the deep end, is it? That ought finally as well is quite a good one. Anything really party, party, which Robin S. Show Me Love is probably my go-to. It’s one of the power ones that just lets people know. You know, like you said, you go from Slow dance, mirror ball, it’s slow, it’s soppy, it’s romantic, and then all of a sudden we need something just to go boom.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 15:45
Yeah
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 15:47
It changes the whole atmosphere. Everyone’s like, what? We’re going in there hard from early.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 15:52
Fantastic. Okay. And another music question, and I mean, some of these are probably a bit stereotypical for speaking to a DJ. Let’s say you’re again, you’re having an inquiry and somebody says, By the way, we don’t care what else you play, but you absolutely must play This track, and inside you go, What’s that track? What’s that piece of music?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 16:22
What something that I wouldn’t like.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 16:24
Yeah.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 16:25
If it was what if it was me, if they requested something that I can’t stand, there’s probably two two songs that I could give you. It’s just kill me. And I’m like one of them oops upside your head Yeah, no wedding has any right to be having that on the dance floor.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 16:44
That is just no round on a dance floor. that people have been walking through all day, walking outside, spilling drinks on like no nobody wants to do that.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 16:57
I just I hate it. And yeah, the whole sit down and the whole I just no, I can’t stand it. It really does make me feel sick. I can’t lie. I think I’m with you. The other one is DJ Casper Char Char slide. It’s just so a cringe. I get it, you know, people will get up and dance to it. Yeah. They do. And there are some couples, I still have to play it now and again because the. you know, the bride’s paying me and she says, you know, that is our jam. We need to get that one at some point. Or my daughter loves it and she, you know, we have to have it. So I’ll find the best time to slip it in, just get it done, get it out of the way, and then we can just move on quickly.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 17:43
But you still have to keep that energy high, right? Even if they demand those tracks.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 17:48
Yeah, and I say this to a lot of couples because, you know, I always say you have to think of your guests. Don’t just think of, you know, there’s some, some. Songs that appear on certain playlists. And I’m like, you know, I don’t know how I’m going to get that in. Like, it’s just it’s not a party tune. It’s either too slow. Or it’s so random that I haven’t even heard of it. And chances are, not many other people are going to hear it. So it’s it’s hard to to try and slip in. So I have to say to them, look, think about your guests. Don’t just, you know, think about What you like listening to in the car on the way to work because it’s a very different vibe. When you’re at a party, you need sort of high energy, you need fast Upbeat. Don’t get me wrong, you can still do like Motown and stuff like that. But there’s a time in the night when that works. So that will normally be a bit later on. Or maybe after the buffer, we’ll stick a few little Motown ones. get the aunties and the uncles up there, mums and dads and nans and grandnads. But yeah, it’s uh yeah Goddard, you’ve got to be careful.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 18:52
I mean, I think, and this is probably something that you might come across, right? I think a lot of people misunderstand how much work goes into something like DJ, right? And I think there’s probably still a lot of people out there who think But all DJs do is play music and press buttons, right? I mean, how hard can it be? I’ve had I’ve had this for years. Yeah. But of course, I mean, there’s so much more that goes into like curating and building that even even if they go, listen, we’ve got fifteen tracks, right? And then and you look at it and go, Yeah, these are all absolutely fantastic tracks. And then of course you’re going to build and curate a playlist around them. I mean, what’s the process that you would go through there?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 19:34
So, with the couples themselves, I have an online planner system. They can log in. They can, if they want, to fill out the songs. But it’s all like the meetings before, you know, we have WhatsApp groups with the couples so we can ping ideas and music stuff to each other and they can say, what about this song? What do you think of this for the first dance? Well, can you make me something like a remix for a first dance? Which I do. Oh, why am I? Yeah, yeah. So I d I do loads of, yeah, because I’m a DJ, a profit.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 20:02
Right, yeah. I mean, like, I think this is something people don’t get, is that a DJ is not somebody who just plays music. Like, you’ve got skills.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 20:11
I mean, there are, don’t get me wrong, there probably are quite a few up there that are just, you know, they turn up. You’ll give them a Spotify playlist with 400 songs, they press play, and they just watch the whole night. I hear this a lot, but you do get those tights, but obviously, with myself, it’s, you know, it is like it’s a passion. So I want to make sure that this is perfect in every single way. So I have to take, you know, the playlist. I take guests’ requests as well on the night. But yeah, it’s not just pressing pays, the mixing as well. The mix-in. Is like an art form where you’re going one song and smoothly transitioning it into the next song. Something many people can’t do. No. And I heard this recently. A lot of people tell me, I speak to a lot of photographers, videographers, and that, and they’re like, You know, this guy who just car crashed the first after the first dance, just played a song, and then he just all over the place into the next song, and it was kind of like there was no momentum, or they fade. And then they bring the next one in, so you’ve got that little pause. And when you get a pause on the dance floor, what happens is you lose that momentum for a minute, and they go, What, should we go outside and have a vape now? Should we go have a smoke? Should we hop to the bar? And it’s like you you gotta keep that momentum going to keep them on the dance floor. As soon as you pause that song or you know you have a little bit of a blip where you’re bringing in the next one, then yeah, you’re gonna you’re gonna lose them.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 21:31
Yeah, you’ve got to keep it going. And I mean, I think I think really, and kind of everything that we’re talking about now, and it aims to a point, doesn’t it? Is that the the product that you’re that you’re advertising, that you’re offering, and that then on the day that you’re delivering Is ultimately, in a lot of ways, it’s superior. And I think having seen it, I mean, and I said it before, you know, all or almost every wedding I’ve been to, the party night’s been fabulous. Whether the DJ is just somebody who’s just playing the track, you know, or whether I mean, like, you know, it it was it was it was it was a different level. When I saw you, but I think that’s probably the reason why, and it’s probably something to get to is that, I mean, like Do you just need to look at your website and scroll to the bottom of the page? I mean, let’s have a look. What have you got here? You won the Wedding Essex Awards for DJ of the Year in 2020, 23, 24, 26. The Wedding Industry Awards at a regional level 2019 and 2026. The national winner, so the best DJ in the country, 2026. The Hedgewedding Awards in 2020. I mean, I could go on. Like, there’s a litany of awards that you’ve won. And I was like, I can’t even fit all these on one screen. Like, what’s going on? Like, how does. How does that recognition make you feel and how does it change your offering and business?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 22:50
Oh, it for me is just you know what it is with awards, you know, it’s more of a pat on the back for yourself. To know that you’re doing something good is that recognition. You know, people can tell you, oh, you’re brilliant. You know, we love watching you. You’re very different, blah, blah, blah. And that’s lovely. But Getting recognized by something. I mean, for me, like the Essex Awards, the Essex Wedding Awards, and the Twiya, in my opinion, are the, you know, they are the daddies of the awards.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 23:21
Yeah.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 23:21
They are the most respected. They are the only ones that you actually go to a ceremony and collect an award on stage. And there is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes with these awards, you know, with collecting votes from all your couples. Putting your getting your business into shape where you’ve got to re-look at your website, make sure that’s all looking amazing. You know, looking at your social media, making sure it’s on point because you You know, you want to win, otherwise, there’s no what’s the point in doing it?
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 23:53
Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 23:54
Um, but it really does make you look at yourself and go, Right, what can I do? that’s different to everybody and how can I excel at what I do and give people an experience that you know no one else is doing like just Just blow it out of the park. So, um, yeah, I mean, I love the awards. Um, they are gonna be coming to an end for me very soon. Um, A, I’ve got not enough room on the website to fit any more on. I’m joking. No, I just I feel like you know once you’ve I’ve had a really good stint with awards and it’s been you know really good but you can’t it just gets a bit stale if we keep going and keep winning. It’s like, what’s the next thing? Like we need to we need to look at what I’m going to do next now and see what we can push now to doing something else.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 24:44
Very much about kind of stepping up what you’re doing, I suppose. Because at the end of the day, you’ve been there, you’ve made your mark there, you’ve done that. And I mean, to be honest with you, look at the number of awards that you’ve won, it wouldn’t surprise me if You’re now approached to say, Hey, would you would you judge for these awards as well? Right.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 25:01
I know that’s I mean, that’s that’s probably the next step for me would be that exactly that. And I’d love to do that. That for me would be brilliant. I mean, it would take the pressure off me having to keep entering.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 25:15
True enough. Well, keep pantrying and wedding, right? Keep pantrying and wedding.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 25:18
But keep coming back constantly. I’ll be like, no, do you know what? Yeah, we could just judge him now, which is great. I get you. And you know what? I love seeing other people succeed as well. You know, like I’ve got a lot of DJ friends in the industry and You watch them doing stuff and people doing things to their businesses, and I love it. And to be a judge would for me would just be amazing because I could watch and help. I could actually help people grow and be like, Do you know what? Have a look at this, you know. Maybe you’re doing this wrong. Like, if you want to win next year, like, this is what you got to do. And I can give advice and tips and say, look, You know, and and I feel like because I’ve got a few friends that are really good friends of mine who are really trying to change the industry at the moment with when it comes to DJs, because um I feel and they feel that, you know, DJs aren’t always sort of a serious part of the weddings that people don’t sort of value very much. Which is strange because you know everything else gets a lot of value put into it. Oh, you know, we want this, but DJs, you know, were the only in-house Person as a supplier that comes with a wedding package to DJ. Yeah. And they’re cheap as chips. Yeah. And they get, you know, disco, disco, Dave from the social club to come in and do them. And Yes, he gets the job done. Yes, he turns up every week. Does he excel and make it unforgettable? Probably not.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 26:47
You know, I find it the same, interestingly enough, the same with Toastmasters, right? Because a lot of wedding videos will offer a Toastmaster. Oh, yeah. And as you say, cheaper chips. And it’s somebody who’s going to turn up and just. They’re just gonna be there and it’s bare minimum. Yeah, bare minimum. Get your job done. Shame, yeah. Because it’s like it’s one of the most important days of people’s lives, right?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 27:09
Yes, I know. And you think, why not even just if you recommend something and say, look, you know, here’s a cheaper option and here’s an expensive option and Let people choose, but to just throw things in with the package. Because sometimes even couples, they don’t really think or they don’t they’re doing this for the first time as well. So they haven’t got a clue Yeah. They think, well, this well, you know, we’re spending like fifty, sixty grand on this wedding venue. Surely they’re gonna bring someone good in, and it’s gotta be good. Oh, look at the look at this venue, like, it’s gorgeous. But they they don’t and it’s like and they they just get this Sid bloke from down the road, and he’ll he’ll rock up. He’ll bring a little table in with his one speaker and his one little flashy light. And by the day it’s too late, you can’t, there’s nothing you can do. You you trusted the venue. And a lot of the times people won’t say anything either because it was still the best day of their life. Yep. They’re they’re not usually gonna then you know, is the damage is done now. I mean, I mean, unless it was Absolutely car crash like that bad when they had to make it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 28:11
I think probably as well is that is that in advance, maybe and it and in the moment, I imagine, that there are so many people that just don’t realize that there is A difference. Yeah. And I can only imagine it’s the people that, the fact I know actually, from my own, it’s people who get that exemplary service that turn around and go, do you know what? I thought I knew what you were going to do, and you’ve done all of that, and that was just the beginning.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 28:39
Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 28:40
Like what you’ve actually delivered has been so far beyond what we expected.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 28:45
Yeah. And that’s what I aim for. So that is like my whole philosophy right there. You know, you got people’s expectations. I want people to mess with me the next day and go, do you know what? We thought you were good. We’ve heard you’re good. We’ve seen that you’ve been good from other people. But wow, like you literally were next level. Like, I couldn’t. And one thing I get back as well, which I love this, is I am. So expensive, like price-wise. Not each to their own for this, but compared to others, others are here. My price packet is like here. In fact, it’s there. So it’s really you’ve got to be able to try and like differentiate yourself and see why you’re so different and why you are so much more money than the average. But every single one of my couples always says worth every single penny.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 29:38
That’s right. And you’re offering value. Yeah. You’re offering value and other people are focused on cost. And yeah, it’s a funny thing, right? It’s very similar to the magic industry. Like, there is, I know countless magicians who go out for two or three hundred pounds to a wedding. Yeah. And I’m like, that’s that is. It’s a race to the bottom. People are going, all sites like, like, you know, like Bark and it’s a absolute race of the bottom. To even edit that out, right? Just scrub that. Scrub that. Just scrub it. But I mean, give them the promo. Yeah, no, it’s crazy. But it’s like. There’s such a palatable difference from like using magicians as an example. Yeah. Like you’re going to hire somebody for 200 quid or 300 quid. And and and you could literally be getting a fourteen year old with a deck of cards.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 30:34
Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 30:34
Right. And and again, people people don’t notice the difference. And then a and then a pro walks in and they’re like, whoa. Yeah, that was different, right? So, okay, here’s another question for you. It’s the day of a wedding.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 30:49
Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 30:54
You’ve prepped, everything’s ready, you know what you’re doing when you get there. What’s your morning routine pre-your wedding?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 31:00
Oh, okay. To be honest, I mean, the getting ready part is the same like any other day. Yeah. I’ll get up, have my shower, I’ll freshen up. Once I’ve had my shower, I’m raring to go. Load the van up, but early morning. This is like really early morning. And On my way to a this is quite funny actually. On my way to a wedding to psych myself up, I will listen to all the stuff I used to listen to when I was younger. Yeah, so I’ll stick on garage playlists, club classics. Sometimes I’ll even put on a drum and bass bangers. Yeah. Just like going nuts on the way up there, just psyching myself up, getting crazy. But when the wedding’s done and I’m driving home magic all the way home Slow slow ballads, melodies I’m singing on to Whitney have to chill out Yeah. That wind down afterwards. Yeah. But yeah, as far as routine, I suppose it’s just, you know, your normal routine. But I do suck myself up because I’m. I get nervous still before every wedding, so I’ve got to just yeah, as every time, every time I always get those pre-show butterflies. That means you can though, right? That’d be exactly that. It’s so wrong. I’ve spent so much time on each wedding planning, prepping, making sure I know their names. You know, the last thing I want to do is and you do hosting as well. You know Bullworld. You spit your ass up their name. You’ve got to, yeah. I know. I know. You’ve got to just make sure all these. And when you do all that, yeah, just the butterflies go. I think once. That first dance is done. Yeah. I am literally sailing home from there. Like, I just once the music’s on, once we’ve got all the important bits out the way, then it’s just easy from there for me. But it’s just that, you know, those. bits, you know, and sometimes I do all the ceremony music and all that as well. That is a massive pressure for me. That scares the life out of me every time because they’re trusting me with that this is essentially probably the most important part of the day. I gotta make sure. So that’s why all these planning meetings I do with the couples, video calls, we I have to make sure that I’ve got all the right versions of the songs. Sometimes they want This song, and it’s like, you know, it’s sung by somebody else because it’s a cover version. So it’s like, I gotta make sure this is all sure it’s all there.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 33:24
Yeah. And then you check it a million times, right?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 33:26
No, I just I can’t have thought of something going wrong. So, yeah, I mean, I I’ve got backups in place, but you know, human error, I suppose, if you slip up, you slip up, you know, there’s not there was the one time it did happen to me a few years ago. I um I was introduced in the first dance, and stupidly, so I normally have their names anyway on the first dance written down in front of me. And for some reason, this day I didn’t. And their names were really their surname was really easy. It was something like Smith or somebody. And I knew it. I kn I bloody knew it. I I’d practice, I knew I knew them as as people. We’d already met like twice, and we’ve had so many video calls and WhatsApps and whatnot over the over the years that we’d been planning. And I introduced, and I was like, ladies and gentlemen, we’re all getting hyped up. And I was like, please welcome onto the dance floor for the first time as husband and wife. Please give it up to give it together. I’ll give it up for and I was like, Mr and Mrs. And it just went, See ya God just completely went out of my head. And annoyingly, I didn’t have my backup that I normally hear. I have no idea. Maybe I was just so overconfident that I knew that I wasn’t going to mess up. This is why I messed up. And to recover it, I just paused for a split second and went, the Bride and Groom. And if I went, yeah, it all went nuts. I was like, yep, swerved it. But, you know, that w it was so scary. It w it’s just horrible. It was such a horrible experience. But luckily, I know I redemptioned it well. But it wasn’t for me. No one else probably had a clue that I’d messed that up, but I did. And I was kicking myself the whole way home.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 35:17
You never forget it, do you? You never, ever forget it.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 35:20
So I’ve learned from that now, and I, no matter what, no matter how easy their surname is, that is written down in front of me just at a triple check. So if I need to just go boom, it’s right there. Get it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 35:33
So here’s a question for you, and I’m going to kind of start one up now, which is maybe a a great question. So, couples are planning a wedding. There’s loads of people out there planning a wedding. Hopefully, they’re listening to this podcast. They’re getting some great ideas about DJs, about what they should be looking for. So, let’s kinda let’s caption that and wrap it up. beyond go and book Daryl at Sweet Vibe event to the best party night ever, what should people really be thinking about and focusing on when they’re looking for a DJ?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 36:03
I think, first of all, prioritize how important the party is for you getting married. Some people have music and entertainment and party really high. When I got married, it was one of my biggest Outlays, and I was like, that is the most important part of my wedding for me. Party that obviously being a DJ, my wife’s a DJ, so together. We are just, yeah, party people. So I was like, that’s that’s the value for me is all in the party. So if it if it is in the party, then I would say, you know, go out and look and research and Try and make sure you find someone that is on your level, that is your vibe, that plays your type of music and is going to sort of guarantee to create what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for like a really vibey wedding, then yeah, you want to go all out on it. But if you’re not so bothered, if you don’t value the party, you think, you know what? Or if any comes with one, it’s already included in the package. So that’s money that we’re saving. And we aren’t really bothered if anybody dances. If they dance. Fantastic. And if they don’t, yeah, it is what it is. And that’s absolutely fine. You know, that that’s your vibe and the way you want to be with your with your wedding day, then yeah, that’s that’s absolutely fine as well. But definitely do a lot of research. There’s a lot of things that don’t just look at somebody’s website either because you know People’s websites are made by themselves, believe it or not. You can say what the hell you want about yourself. So always make sure, you know, you read in reviews, you need to look at videos of them. One thing I find really strange with a lot of DJs is you don’t actually if you go on pretty much most of Wedding DJs’ Instagram or Facebook pages, what you’ll see is a lot of DJ booths. That’s weird.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 37:55
Yeah.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 37:56
Because that’s like you as a magician just posting up pictures of cards.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 38:02
Yeah.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 38:02
Or hats. Yeah. Or you know, because the the booth is just an accessory So you want to see these people in action. So if I’m coming to you, if I’m looking for a magician and I’m looking at your page, I want to see people laughing their heads off. I want people with faces like this.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 38:21
It’s all about social proof, right?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 38:23
Yeah. I want to see you in action. I want to maybe even see some of your tricks. I want to see you blowing people’s minds. Yeah, and once I see those reactions of those people, then I’ll be like, Okay, well, he must be good then. He’s not just saying he’s good, I can see he’s good at doing what do you know what I mean? You’ve got that proof right there So I think, yeah, if you’re looking if you’re looking at, you need to go and watch videos. Don’t just watch videos. You know, anybody as well can play Freed from Desire. Or Mr. Bright side, my nan could drop that as a DJ and the dance floor would erupt. Yeah. So you don’t just judge it on, you know Obvious songs where DJs will have like every other post will be everyone trying free from desire. Yeah, because it’s going to happen no matter what. So you have a look at other videos, make sure they’re not Just sort of like that song, but they’ve cut the song out and dubbed a little other song over the top of it. Do you know what I mean? Where you can put add a song to it.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 39:16
To make sure it wasn’t a log, right?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 39:18
Yeah, that’s what I was saying. It’ll be just, yeah, just do a lot of research and just figure out your priorities on what exactly you want out of your wedding. You know, some people will spend 50 grand on decor. And they’ll spend a hundred pounds on the DJ, but that’s fine because they’re more into decor. They want the place looking.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 39:37
Yeah. I think so, right. I think you’ve got to focus on what’s important. I mean I I obviously I always think that entertainment at a wedding is probably one of the most important parts of the day For a lot of reasons, because at the end of the day, your wedding day is for you to share that moment with family and friends, and you want them to be entertained all day long. So last question, what do you think is the biggest mistake that couples make when they’re planning their evening entertainment?
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 40:09
Wow, that’s a big question. One mistake they make. Probably not booking me.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:17
I could agree with that. Right. I could agree with that. I think I would say in that regard is sometimes just not booking out.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 40:22
Me, that’s the biggest mistake they could ever make. No, it’s um Biggest mistake.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 40:27
Yeah, I mean, I I I would say, having been to a lot of weddings, probably the biggest entertainment mistake I’ve seen is just not booking enough. I’ve even had couples say to me, We’re not bothering with entertainment all day at our wedding because they’re adults, they can entertain themselves.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 40:44
And it’s like that’s how weddings work. And then you get loads of people. So I talk to so many brides. They’re like, oh, we went to my sister’s wedding, you know, last year and she didn’t have music throughout the day. She didn’t have no magicians walking around. She had literally nothing. There was nothing all day. No background music. And like it was just boring as hell. Like you have a few conversations with people and they’re just sitting around with literally nothing going on. But that doesn’t mean you have to sort of Over-conversing. Don’t go too mental either on entertainment because you can also overdo it and make it into a bit of a circus. But just something going on, like magicians walking around. I mean, magician, I loved you. Your magic was sick. I’m like obsessed with magic. If I wasn’t a DJ, I’d be a magician. Yes. Having that, just yeah, I swear to God, that’s that’s either that or a videographer. I also like making videos, but yeah. Yeah, that’s a whole other story. But yeah, just simply having a magician walking around, just keeping the energy up, having banter with the guests, people enjoying themselves, just little things like that with a bit of background music is fine. Some people go out, you know, they’ll have crazy golf, they’ll have, you know, you can you can go ridiculous with it, and there is no real end, is there, really, to fashion get for weddings nowadays. Yeah.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:00
Great. So I mean, I think that there’s like an easy takeaway message here, isn’t it? It’s that it’s not difficult to plan entertainment for a wedding if you’ve got dyes from Sweet Five events.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 42:13
I’ll plan it, or I’ll just be a wedding planner as well.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:15
Oh, mate. Fucked. Crap. Listen, Daryl. It’s been absolutely fantastic chatting to you. Thank you so much.
Daryl Quye – Sweet Vibe Events – Multi Award Winning Wedding DJ • 42:21
And yourself. Thank you very much. Let’s jump soon. Loving. Take care, mate.
Liam Ball – Your Magical Wedding Host – The Gentleman Magician • 42:28
And there you go, folks. That was a fantastic, insightful conversation about what really goes into creating an unforgettable partnee party evening at a wedding. Now if you’re planning a wedding and you want an atmosphere that feels energetic, immersive and genuinely unforgettable, as I said before, I can wholeheartedly recommend Darryl and Sweet Vibe events. You can find them online at sweetvibevents. co. uk and on Instagram at sweetvibevents. They’re both well worth a look. Loads of social proof there, as we talked about it. And do remember, if you’re listening or watching Thank you so much for being here. Please follow, like, subscribe and share this with people that you know who are getting married. Often, it’s recommendations and discussions like this that make a difference on somebody’s wedding day. Until next time, folks, make sure that you choose your suppliers wisely, and I will see you on the next episode of the Supplier Spotlight Podcast. Take care.