Wedding DJ & Entertainment Specialists

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Weddings are what we love, and we primarily cater to the wedding market. Though weddings account for the vast majority of our engagements, we do handle other life celebrations (anniversaries, birthday parties, etc), and corporate events as well (Christmas/holiday parties, harvest parties, winery promotional events, etc).

Of the weddings that we participate in, we handle music and/or amplification for the ceremony about 70-75% of the time (with the others being reception only).

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. We recommend taking the time to meet in person with wedding DJ's prior to engaging their services. In a wedding setting, the DJ usually plays the role of MC as well, which has a substantial affect on the outcome of the reception celebration. In many ways, the performance of the DJ/MC is one of the most memorable parts of a wedding (for either good or bad reasons!).... often disproportionate to the portion of your budget that you allocate for your entertainment.

If a wedding DJ is unwilling to meet with you, it should give you pause. As a key member of your wedding vendor team, you should feel comfortable with the personality and approach of your DJ.

We also recommend, when possible, working with a principle/owner of the company. We've found that the level of service, skill and commitment is elevated when working with an owner/operator as opposed to working with an employee.

It's also important to make sure that when you are comparing one company with another, that you compare "apples to apples". Some DJ's don't specialize in weddings, and just show up, set up, and sit and play music for dancing. Others (like us) are much more active- from the planning through running the day, and coordinating with other vendors- that level of involvement generally isn't provided by those offering the cheapest price.

If you are just looking for someone to show up and play music, then ability to get and keep a crowd dancing (when the time comes) should be your focus when shopping for a DJ. There is alot of "wedding" prior to the dance party, and we've found that most clients are looking for someone to handle much more of the wedding than just the dance party.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. Our approach is highly personalized- we don't do "cookie-cutter" weddings. For us to do our job well, we need to know our clients on a personal level, and that involves taking the time to work through the entire wedding, planning a timeline and transitions, layout, flow, music choices, and sound design.

As we work through this process, we gain an understanding of who our clients are and what is important to them. It allows us to accent their priorities, and make sure that the way we guide their celebration is appropriate and tailored to their personality and preferences.

We also take a very subtle yet effective approach to running weddings. We say that our job is to CREATE the party, not BE the party.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Creating and guiding people's wedding celebrations is extremely gratifying work. We provide our client's friends and family a way to celebrate a very meaningful life event, and in so doing, ensure that our clients enjoy their wedding day as well. We also get to work with incredible local vendors, working together as a team to orchestrate the celebration.

We also love the challenges that present themselves- our job includes a healthy dose of problem solving, and coming up with solutions on the fly. Some of our clients doubt that their guests will dance much- it is very satisfying when we are able to exceed their expectations, sometimes ending up with a raging dance party. Sometimes a clever setup option allows us to maximize our equipment's capabilities, providing a superior sound environment.

More than anything, we enjoy helping people celebrate important life events in an extremely meaningful way.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Many people open with questions about price, and what our services cost. Our answer is generally, "It depends." Because we don't do "cookie-cutter weddings", we put a custom package together for each client, based on the specifics of what they need. The most effective way to do this is to sit down for a brief consultation, in which we can review all the pertinent details, and get a good feeling for what a client is looking for.

Price is certainly one consideration when hiring a wedding DJ, but it is certainly not the only one. It's important to know what you get for the price, how involved the DJ/MC is going to be in running the wedding, how skilled they are, if they adhere to professional standards in business practices and equipment, and if their approach to weddings matches your expectations.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. The price you pay for entertainment is directly proportional to the quality you receive, which is directly proportional to the success of your event.

As a general rule, Good DJs aren’t cheap and cheap DJs aren’t good, but that doesn’t mean you can't find quality entertainment at an affordable price.

If you do choose to hire a DJ for your wedding (cause not everyone does), take the time to learn about what different companies provide, and the value that they can add. Make sure that when you compare prices, you are comparing apples to apples.

Realize that those of us who specialize in weddings usually do a whole lot more than just show up and play music, which has a noticeable, tangible effect on the success of your wedding celebration.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. The principles of our company know each other from swing dancing- most of us are swing dance teachers. We understand the power of music to move people, and to evoke emotion.

Requests to teach a dance lesson at weddings was the beginning of our involvement in weddings. After that, we received requests to play swing music at dancer's weddings... which eventually developed into a focus on weddings, separate from the swing dancing that we do.

We love weddings, and focus on them. There is something special about helping people celebrate this moment in their life.