I cannot say enough great things about Sounds Abound. They are accommodating, the DJs are talented, fair pricing and overall above and beyond my expectations. We were contacted by Rufus Cathey from SA who was referred to us by one of our other vendors. After our initial chat on the phone, I had a good feeling and we went to their Naperville studio where we met with Kyle (the owner’s son and also a DJ).

State of the art is a good way to describe them. They showed us their website first and where we can login to view their huge library of music and also how use the music planner. If they don’t have a song, they get it through Spotify (at no cost to you) or you can provide them with a copy. After reviewing their packages, we chose to sign on for a DJ and an MC, and got to choose Rufus for our MC. A few months later we upgraded our package to include more time and even though it was $100 per extra hour, they gave it to us for $75 per extra hour. Kyle was able redraft our contract the same day I contacted him, and we paid our balance the next day.

We met with Rufus two weeks before the wedding to finalize details. He listened to our thoughts and suggestions and offered his own as well. We kept him there past closing time and he was really nice about it.I gave him a USB drive with music for the procession, Bridal entrance, recessional and one “just in case” song on it. They were instrumental classic rock songs. Rufus called both of us a couple days before the wedding to check in with us.

Our wedding was outdoors and Rufus and his assistant set up in the ceremony area so we could have sound there but stayed off to the side so no one really noticed them. At one point, our officiant felt faint from the heat and needed to sit for a moment. Rufus didn’t miss a beat and played the “just in case” song for a few seconds while she recovered. All of the music was right on queue. Our recessional was All You Need Is Love and when those horns started as we shared our first kiss it was magical!

They moved their equipment to the reception area and played a mix of rock, blues and big-band for cocktail hour, and as per my husband’s request, Rufus played Irish Folk music and classic rock during dinner. My husband was very pleased to hear his favorite songs, and I was happy that he played several songs from my favorite band. The music during dinner was so good that guests asked us to hurry up and do the first dance so they could start dancing.

Rufus acted as MC and did the introductions of the bridal party as well as made announcements throughout the night. They took requests, too. Rufus did a great job of making sure the energy stayed where it should all night. At the end of the night (when my guests and I were pretty drunk) he played some 80s and 90s throwbacks that were a lot of fun to dance to. For the very last song, he asked what I wanted to hear and I told him anything by U2. He played The Sweetest Thing 🙂
This is a man who is damn good at his job, and a company well worth your time and money.