My daughter is getting married in Cleveland in the summer (northern hemisphere!) of 2014 and she is looking for a DJ for the reception. The catch is that she has not lived in this area since 2004 and so does not know the local music scene. And of course I am a total washout when it comes to knowledge about DJs or dance music or popular culture in general.
So are there any readers of this blog who could recommend good DJs in this area? We are looking for someone fairly mainstream, not too avant-garde, provides good service, and is easy to work with.
My daughter has heard of two DJs Rock the House and Selective Sound Entertainment. Feedback on these two or any other suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks in advance.
http://packymalley.com/ ” Packy Malley’s Wedding DJs are the alternative to the loud and overbearing DJ. The Bride and Groom are the focus, not the DJ. We want to provide you with a classy wedding reception that has everybody up and dancing and smiling all night because the music is great for everybody! Our company is a member of the American Disc Jockey Association and COSE (Counsel of Smaller Enterprises). You are working with a professional DJ company. We also give a portion of all of our fees goes to support the music in schools program called “Save the Music.” ”
Honestly Mano, this DJ is so good. My niece was married in August and used him. He plays music for all ages to dance to. He does not play the music so loud so when you are sitting at a table talking to someone you have not seen for years you do not have to shout. He gets a good feel for the crowd. His name is short for Patrick. He is the best DJ I have ever seen, be it weddings or bar/bat mitzvahs.
I have a friend that DJs professionally (weddings) -- probably not what you have in mind but just throwing it out there :]
She doesn’t have a website that I know of but I’ll double check.
An alternative is what we did at our wedding: we prepared our own playlist and just rented a set of speakers and PA amp, and ran the whole thing off a laptop. Itunes even cross-faded the songs automatically (~8 seconds was nearly always fine, IIRC). Ipod backup in case of computer crash; not needed. Cheaper (~60 quid, US$100), and you get exactly the tunes you want, in the order you want them. Definitely no Birdie Songs or Ladies in Red!
s.
Wow. I haven’t been to a wedding in forever. I just noticed that because of your request. And I wish I had some information for you.
Thanks, Mary Jo!
Alas, this does not help me, since our business does not serve the Cleveland area… but consider renting a photo booth for the wedding as well. They are loads of fun, and people tend to cut loose for that in a way that they don’t for the official photographer. Compared to the cost of a typical wedding, it doesn’t add very much expense either.
If you have a photo booth, make sure it’s a T.A.R.D.I.S. photo booth:
Why not get a small band? It is much nicer to have live music. Rock bands are easy to find, and you could probably also easily find some classical music students who could use a gig. Either way, congratulations!
We used a great DJ company (http://somethingnewentertainment.com/) when we got married three years ago in Cleveland. They’re based in Akron, but it was easy to meet up with them and no problem to have them come up. They really made the evening great -- I don’t think I’ve been to another wedding where people were chanting “one more song” at the end…
That said, my sister-in-law met with them recently, and their prices seem to have gone up a bit since we hired them. We had the best experience with them, but not sure they’d be in our price range if we were getting married now. Still, they are excellent people, very professional and very skilled, so worth checking out.
They also have some articles on the blog about the issue of DJ versus iPod (for one: http://somethingnewentertainment.com/why-hire-a-professional-dj/), if that’s of interest. Personally, I’d prefer someone there to handle any issues as well as to make a judgement call about how the evening’s songs are flowing into one another (which ours were excellent at), especially since the music is a significant factor in how fun the event is (and a general sense of fun or not is what people remember more than specific details). But worth thinking about what makes sense.
Some friends of ours just got married this year and had a really cool band, and I could drop them a line and figure out who to call, if you’re interested in that.
It was hard to find information about DJs when we were looking. Photographers were much easier since their work is up online. (And I couldn’t believe how poor some of the pictures they had up were…made my life easier, though.) The only DJ we found that sent a demo reel (a DVD of a reception he did) was very clear — to the point that we immediately knew he wasn’t for us. Stuck in the 80s with the tacky vest and the tacky introductions, ugh. So good luck with the process, since we just took our sense that the folks were professional and decent sorts and it worked out, since it’s difficult to find info.
If you need any other suggestions, happy to help. Just let us know!
I was recently married and used Jerry Bruno Productions (Cleveland based) to find a small band to play my reception. We provided an ipod with cocktail hour and dinner music, and the band provided music for dancing later. They played a variety of music that various ages appreciated, and they give you some control over their setlists. RadioNow was the band’s name. I have also seen Radio Active play at a friend’s wedding. Similar band. Both were wonderful and very professional.