Reviews of Spotlight Events – Music & More (Event Planner)

Emily Gordon

My husband and I are coming up on our 10 year anniversary this September and although it's been a while since our wedding day I can still vividly remember the quality of service that Russ and his team provided my friends and family with! Entertainment at a wedding is paramount and Russ took all of our preferences in to account when planning for our BIG DAY! He listened to what our expectations were for the event and made sure to deliver. I still have friends and family that rave about the time they had at our wedding and I owe thanks to Russ and his team for following through on their promises. Great company if your looking for a quality DJ!

Cassandra Pitts

Spotlight Events/Russell did a fantastic job putting everything together for our wedding, he went above and beyond to make everything perfect! Not just perfect but better than I could ever imagine, he through in some surprise voice messages from love ones that couldn't make it to our wedding (which brought us all to very happy tears). I recommend them to everyone! If you are looking for an entertainment that will go over and above all of your expectations, Spotlight Events is where you need to turn! Russell, pours his heart and soul into making your special day perfect. He really helps you to plan a timeline for the day of your wedding. Russell really focuses on what your expectations are for the reception. We wanted a memorable reception where everyone was dancing the entire night dancing, we had our wedding on new years eve and it was nonstop dancing and celebrating with a new years countdown! Russell did such an amazing job with fun and upbeat music selection that was fun for all ages. We also did the voice-over/love story for our first dance it brought everyone to tears and surprised all our guests who wished they could have had something so special for their wedding. He was even involved in our ceremony making a special song cut of "lava you" and the music from "UP" to fit in to our disney/pixar themed wedding based around the movie "UP". Since he has so many years of experience he told us that we should do our first dance right after the grand march. Spotlight Events had the lighting system absolutely perfect. Russell made a special playlist for our guest to enjoy during our pre-ceremony gathering we had for those to go to before our wedding so our guests never had down time and were constantly entertained, enjoying our celebration even when we weren't able to be around. Kept the whole wedding moving with a seamless flow. He made sure to make announcements as to when we were arriving, cutting cake, etc. Spotlight Events was the absolute best DJ service I have ever experienced when attending a wedding. Want your wedding day to be perfect, you can count on Russell, I highly recommend his services!

Kyler Wiegel

From the moment my wife and I connected with Russ about possibly providing the entertainment for our wedding, our experience was nothing but wonderful!!! After meeting with Russ face to face and talking about our day, we knew that he had to be our DJ. From there on out working with him was so wonderful! It's been said before and we will say it again - he is SO MUCH MORE than a DJ. He basically helped us plan our entire day out and offered us some of the best, useful advice. If you're wondering about which DJ to choose, choose Russ! I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

Daniel Nelson

Russell and his crew are very professional. They put every effort into their performance as if it is their own special day. They are very organized and on knowledgeable of the specific atmosphere trying to be attained at specific events. Expect the services to be a full production, not single services.

William Atkinson

Working with Russell from Spotlight Events was an absolute pleasure. As a best man to one of two joyful brides planning a wedding on only 6 weeks notice, I found his expertise as a planner, master of ceremonies, and entertainer to be invaluable. The services he provided - including playlist and activity customization, multimedia recording and editing, and follow-up - genuinely blew me away. Russell's first priority is to tie the emotions of such a big, important day in to his shows while demonstrating sincere caring and respect. In this case, he was highly successful! The ladies' reception was one of the happiest and most fun parties I have ever been to, and, being on New Year's Eve, there was some anxiety about guests leaving early. We needn't have worried! The reception was engaging and family friendly without being childish, and Russell continued to perform after his scheduled departure time, as about two-thirds of the guests remained until the final song. Though he may cost a little more than other options, I found Russell and Spotlight Events to be worth every penny.

Katelynn Coughlin

Russell is so great at getting wedding guests involved throughout the night. He has a ton of interesting and different techniques he can bring that can make your night unique! He is extremely attentive and knowledgeable to the whole wedding process. If your looking for a person who can provide insight, cool stuff, and great music, he is your guy!

Nicole Untiedt

Words cannot express how thankful we are that we had Russell a part of our wedding day. We truly appreciate everything he did for us during our wedding reception and even the months leading up to it. He has some of the best ideas we’ve ever seen! Russ is very gifted and we are grateful that he shared his talents with us and our guests. The reception was everything we imagined and more! We definitely have him to thank for that! We received more compliments than we ever expected and are still receiving them!! (2 years later!!) We still have friends and family telling us how much fun they had and are still laughing about the table chase and mini-bicycles. The sing-a-long was a hit too! So many great memories!!

Cassandra David

Russ was truly the backbone to our wedding. He coordinated with our other vendors and kept things running smoothly so I didn’t have to worry about anything. Our guests loved the photo booth and beautiful lighting he provided, and when my husband and I didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the Voice Over Love Story during our first dance, he coordinated with our parents to do Voice Overs during our father daughter and mother son dances. Family is so important to us and we loved that he knew that and was able to incorporate it so beautifully into our day. He had a variety of music choices and went over everything with us in advance to make sure we kept the party going all night. He was even able to incorporate some of our weirder music choices so our reception was very “us”. I would 100% recommend Spotlight Events to everyone!

Alex & Kayla Feldmann

You could say we didn't have the most typical wedding we had a star wars themed wedding. Our MC Greg dressed up as a Jedi master to set the mood! There was not a minute that the dance floor was not full. They interacted and everyone just loved it! All of our guests said our wedding was one of the funnest weddings they had ever been too. Throughout the night every so often you/d hear a Wookie or r2d2 chim during the song to go with our theme. Russell set up appointments with us multiple times before the wedding getting an idea on what we all wanted for our special day. He didnt rush anything he actually sat and took his time with everything. It wasn't like just give me the money and I'll show up. They actually care and are passionate about what they do. We had the voice over done during our first dance and there was not one dry eye in the room. Everyone absolutely loved it and was amazed. Russell gave us so many ideas to go with anywhere from times we should do or having things done at to this would really compliment that if you did this. They help us in so many ways other than just Djing. Greg made the dinner fun and helped us out. One of us is allergic to Gluten so we couldn't kiss after the dinner due to dinner rolls. We weren't going to do anything at all. Greg gave us the idea to have a bucket with blank pieces of paper (he provided) to call out names and they had to come up by the head table and kiss every time the clanking of the glasses started. he gave us score cards and we got to rate the kisses. Everyone made it eventful and fun to watch. Thank you Spotlight Events! You made our wedding day amazing!

Sheena Bliss

A great DJ makes a great party and wedding reception. Russell Welch is that great DJ and then some! He is so much more than a DJ... actually you do not need a wedding planner. He helps you with the timeline for your special day takes care of all your guests and has the best music in town! We have used Russell Welch - Spotlight Events for two of our children's weddings. In fact if he was already booked for the date our daughter chose for her wedding we would have moved the date in order to have Russell. He is so flexible and has great ideas to add that special touch to fit you and your guests. The voice over on the first dance is so special, all our guests commented after that they had never experienced anything like this before. They came away really knowing the Bride and Groom and how they met. Russell keeps everyone dancing from the first dance to the end of the night. I highly recommend Russell and will not use anyone else! Sheena B

Nate Volz

We got married at the Madison Masonic Center in October. We chose Spotlight Events without much debate. We had the pleasure of knowing Greg ("Mr. O") prior to shopping around for vendors for our wedding. He is one of the most knowledgeable, easiest to work with music professionals we met. He was able to answer all of the questions we had, suggested appropriate ideas for our entertainment, and provided top-notch MC service on the night of our wedding. We opted for the Love Story add-on for our first dance and had a wonderful time with him while recording it and were incredibly pleased with how it turned out. The up-lighting was great, and after a minor miscommunication, was easily adapted to our event. We received nothing but positive remarks about the music selection from all of our guests we spoke to. They had a nice blend of classics and modern music that got just about everyone out on the dance floor. Greg is a wonderful person overall and was great to work with. You are absolutely in good hands if you choose Spotlight Events.

Ryan Clark

Every one of our guests told us about how much they loved DJ Russell. He had everyone on their feet dancing the night away. He was a pleasure to work with. We couldn't have asked for a better wedding DJ. Highly recommend!

Scott Allen

Great experience...took the time to learn about us. Offered good suggestions on schedule for the day. Our guests had a blast. Would highly recommend.

Adam Heal

Excellent Job. They spent as much time with us as needed ahead of time to make sure that every detail was perfect. The dance floor was packed all night and they played all great songs! the lighting was awesome as well. Lights all over the room all synced to the music. They also created a first dance love story for us which was really special and everyone really enjoyed that. We were very happy with their performance and would highly recommend their DJ services.

Clark and Cindy Gustin

Let me start off by saying that this is the first time I've written a review… ever… for anything.All the personal touches they added for the wedding, the dinner all the way to the reception. All our guests said what an amazing DJ they are. Our guests were on the dance floor all night long as well as us (parents of the bride) - the bride and groom. We are so grateful to Greg and his team for all their hard work, dedication, and attention to detail. It is because of Spotlight Events DJs that our daughters wedding night was the best night of our lives. For example our daughters wedding was a star wars theme. Greg showed up in a Obi-Wan Kenobi costume. It is those extra touches that make them worth every penny. The Mirror photo booth was one of a kind. Everyone absolutely loved it! Everyone kept saying they had never seen anything like it. The Bride and Groom dance the way they did it brought tears to many of my friends eyes it was amazing. This is one wedding plan detail you will not regret. I just want to thank Spotlight events for making our daughters wedding memorable.

Claudia Lewis

We knew we wanted an outstanding DJ to make our party memorable, so we hired Russell (Spotlight Events) for my daughter’s event in August -- mission accomplished! Everything was meticulously planned and Russell gave us great advice about timing various activities and unique and interesting touches to make the party stand out. The photo booth was unlike any other we’ve seen, and our guests had so much fun with it! The Spotlight Voice Over during the Father/Daughter dance got such an emotional response from our guests that people are still talking about it. The dance music got people out on the dance floor and kept them involved all night long. With Russell, you get more than just a DJ - he is an entertainer through and through, and his experience and sense of fun made our event memorable, personalized and exciting for us and for our guests. Our overseas visitors were wishing that Russell could bring his brand of magic to the UK because they’d never had so much fun. We couldn’t agree more!

Gretch and Jake

We met Russ, of Spotlight Events, at the Bridal Expo in Madison just after getting engaged, about a year and a half before our wedding. We were just going to get ideas with no intention of choosing anyone or anything on that day. Russ politely caught our attention and brought us in to hear about something “you wouldn’t see anywhere else.” Our interest was piqued, but we weren’t sure if it would live up to the hype. Russ had us listen to another couple’s first dance song - with the twist that the couple did a voice over telling their individual love story throughout the song. The outcome was sentimental and touching. Fast forward a year and we have a date, a location, almost all of our vendors booked - except for a DJ. We immediately thought of Russ and the great impression he made on us that day. We set up a meeting with Russ and booked him that same day. We were impressed by the level of one-on-one customization he was willing to go through and the personal touches he made to make us feel like our wedding reception would be a hit. We are both introverted people and our biggest fear was that the dance floor would be empty. Russ reassured us that would not be a problem and we fortunately made the great decision to trust him. We met with Russ a number of times leading up to the wedding to work on our playlist and custom First Dance / Voice-Over. You really need to hear an example of his work to realize how special this is. Fast forward again, to our wedding day, and Russ continued to go above and beyond, for not only us, but for all of our guests. Our cocktail hour was outside and it was a warm 80+ degrees and he was walking around making sure everyone had a drink in hand, offering myself and my husband a number of much needed glasses of water to keep us hydrated! Our First Dance was a hit and saying there wasn’t a dry eye in the house isn’t even an exaggeration! Everyone was so impressed and wanted to hear more about how we had done it! As a bonus, if you’re nervous about your first dance - you don’t have to be, with Russ executing your song like this, everyone will be so captivated by the romantic moment that they won’t notice your lack of dance skills :) After dinner, the start of the dance went off without a hitch, as Russ engaged our guests and got them all, and I mean ALL, out on the floor! We have the pictures to prove it! And to think we were genuinely concerned that no one but our closest friends would be out there with us! Russ had a number of surprises and activities that flowed smoothly and kept everyone entertained. By the end of the night, we were so pleased with how well everything had gone and didn’t want to let it end - in big part to Russ’s involvement! We are so glad that we trusted him and invested in such a skilled DJ, so that we could have such a perfect night. Spotlight Events was worth every penny!

Thomas Roth

We cannot begin to thank you for all your help with the wedding. You were not just a DJ, but an entertainer with great advice! I’m glad we listened to your input & suggestions. Our day went very smoothly and everyone had so much fun. We both have had so many compliments about how great a job you did. You felt like more of a wedding planner to us because you made everything so easy. We would recommend your services any day & already I’ve had 3 people ask for your phone number. We look forward to listening to our voiceover. Perhaps we will make it a yearly ritual on our anniversary. The music played during the reception was exceptional because you played all the songs we wanted to hear. Music definitely makes an occasion & everyone wants us to have another celebration down the road for anniversaries because they had so much fun. Even my grandma was dancing; I’ve never seen that! Our friends kept saying after the wedding how they’ve never had as much fun as they did at ours. Truly memorable! We can’t thank you enough and are 100% satisfied for the services we received. Thank you, Russell, for creating such a wonderful day for us! TJ & Katie Roth

Maggie Swenson

DJed a wedding I attended in April. Very fun and receptive to the crowd! Played a great mix of new and old hits.

Andrew S

They did a great job getting our relatively reserved audience engaged and made our reception fantastic!

Jenny Townsend

Russel with Spotlight Events was absolutely wonderful. We are still getting compliments on how great our DJ was. He made planning our event so easy and flexible, and kept the party going so our guests were entertained and having a great time. Weddings are stressful and it was so nice to not have to worry about our DJ.

Jason Bender

We booked Russell for our wedding this past weekend and we could not be happier! His preplanning for the big event pays off when the show begins. We walked through the wedding start to finish with him; he had some good ideas and suggestions that made the day so much better. He set up early and tuned the sound to the room perfectly. The voice over love story was amazing and everyone loved it. The dance floor was never empty and he kept the party going until the very end. He is more than just a DJ; he is a party concierge! Thank you Russell for making our day even better!!!!

Todd Mellen

My Daughter and her Husband hired Spotlight Events for their wedding this past summer. Russel and Greg really kicked the wedding up a notch with not only a great DJ service but a really fun photo booth as well. These guys went out of their way to add a personal touch to my daughters wedding. I highly recommend them.

Sara Allen

Working with Russ was a breeze! He works so hard to ensure that every aspect of your event goes smoothly. He has such an amazing energy and really knows how to get the whole crowd on their feet and having a great time! Russ goes above and beyond all expectations and it is very obvious that he cares so deeply about all of his clients. I would highly recommend his services for any event you may have.

Deborah Kabler

Russell Welch of Spotlight Events is outstanding! He is an experienced wedding DJ and it shows. While working with him from out of state, my daughter and her fiancé were very impressed by his good communication and friendly manner. Together, they crafted Must Play and Must Not Play lists and discussed how the music would progress throughout the evening. At the event, the sound system for the speeches worked flawlessly and Russell helped transition smoothly from one talk to the next. When it came time to dance, Russell knew what to play to keep our group on the dance floor having fun, and he even joined us for a polka! It was wonderful to find a DJ who could be fun and entertaining, keep the night moving, all while keeping the focus on the bride and groom. Spotlight Events could not have delivered more!

Amanda Inman

My husband and I loved working with Spotlight Events for our wedding in March 2016! They were so much more than a DJ - they were a whole wedding planner. They worked with us through every single detail so our wedding schedule and music were perfect. They even had drinks waiting for us when we got to the reception! The best part, by far, was the first dance voiceover. They did such an amazing job. We highly recommend Spotlight Events!!!

Katie Little

Heard about Russell at Spotlight Events through a family member who highly recommended him, and she was right! Russell was fantastic to work with, and comes with a lot of experience. He helped us with scheduling our big day and keeping us on track. The dance floor was never empty, and he's amazing at reading the crowd and keeping it fun! (And we had 250 guests!) Our day went so smoothly, and he was a huge component of that. I would highly recommend Russell for your wedding/event!

Bobbi Ostrowsky

I admit, I'm biased, but IMHO, Russell and Greg are simply THE BEST at planning, executing, and rocking a wedding or similar event.

Kevin Schewe

Russell and Greg did a great job start to finish and kept those who attended our wedding out on the dance floor. They were set up and ready to go with plenty of time before the ceremony. Following the ceremony, they brought us champagne during our pictures and helped usher the attendee's to the proper location. They were energetic during our introductions and kept us on track as we did our first dance, mother son dance and father daughter dance. Greg enthusiastically introduced those giving speeches and got people on the dance floor right after dinner. We had a great time and didn't want the dancing and fun to end. My wife and I highly recommend Russell and Greg for your event.

always smile

We had Spotlight Events at our wedding, and words cannot describe how wonderful everything turned out. They are very experienced and had great recommendations for so many different aspects of the wedding. This is not just a DJ service, it is a true entertaining experience. Russell went above and beyond making sure everyone was participating and having a great time. There was never a dull moment on the dance floor and our pictures showed everyone truly enjoying themselves. The magic mirror was amazing and the personal love story was both an emotional and unforgettable moment at our wedding. Spotlight Events is worth every penny for the experience. I highly recommend Russell for your wedding!

Jodi Lyon

Spotlight Events did an awesome job at our wedding. We knew they would be good, but they really exceeded all expectations. All our relatives told us how wonderful they were and that they made our wedding so fun!! Highly recommend this company!

Adam Ryan

I cannot give enough stars for Russel and his performance at my wedding this last December. Every detail was planned and thought out so there were no surprises and everything went smoothly. Our dance floor was packed start to finish and we probably had 200 of our guests still at the reception at 11 p.m. My wife and I had the absolute perfect wedding and the DJ service was a huge part of that.