John Woods always has loved being a disc jockey. He started his business in 1983, as a part-time venture. Ten years later he made the decision to turn his passion into his livelihood and gave up his day job. When he married Megan in 1997, she came on board, and together they evolved the business beyond disc jockey services. With their talented staff they expanded into a complete event planning and entertainment company offering full lighting design and event planning services. In other words, it is a one stop shop that is not only an asset to brides but also popular with corporate clients. I was able to see an event they planned which featured a top-name band and was held at the Pacific Athletic Club in Redwood Shores. SoundSation used lighting to project a logo on the floor of the entrance, up-lit enormous palm trees with colored lighting, and spot-lit the pool with an artificial island in the middle of it. They rigged 90 Japanese lanterns over a large outdoor area where 2,000 guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’œuvres. SoundSation Productions provided a disc jockey, spectacular lighting for the dance floor, and professional dancers to entertain the crowd after dinner.

When I met with John and Megan, I got a big surprise: I learned that my husband’s sister had booked John as a DJ for her upcoming wedding. It turned out to be an excellent decision. Just a few hours before the ceremony, she learned of a major glitch in the plans for the reception. One of the two adjoining ballrooms contracted for the reception was not set up. It had been double-booked and was unavailable to her. Instead, 100 of her 200 guests would have to sit at tables set up in the lobby, where they would be unable to see the dance floor or the DJ. John made a judgment call and wired the lobby for sound so that guests could hear everything going on in the ballroom. Thanks to his quick thinking and preparation with additional sound equipment, no one missed the first dance, the toast, the garter toss, or the cake cutting. What made the reception an even bigger success was the fun music John mixed for everyone on the dance floor. He had young and old dancing until 1 a.m.