Los Angeles Wedding DJ Company Celebrates 5th Year in Business
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement
It’s hard to believe we are beginning our 5th year in business branded as “Elegant Event Entertainment”. I’m Jason Jones, the co-founder of this company, and I wanted to write a little bit about how we formed and what we’ve accomplished to date. Perhaps you’re a Bride or Groom looking for a DJ, perhaps this or other articles on our Blog will help you in making your decision. We hope you’ll enjoy and appreciate this short story of our recent successes and we welcome your comments and appreciate your support.
In February of 2006, I moved from a small town called Asheville, North Carolina to Los Angeles. I was self employed as a Wedding and party DJ in Asheville since 2000, I had been a professional voiceover actor since 1996, and I owned a small house painting business which I started in 2001. My businesses were beginning to thrive, but something was amiss in my life. As much as I loved my hometown, my friends and family, and the work I was doing, I felt I needed a change of pace. From the time I was a very young boy, I dreamed of moving to Hollywood. Obviously, a lot of people dream the same dream, but I felt I could come here and make it work out, whether in the entertainment industry, or some other type of business. I had no idea how big the wedding industry was in LA, but I would soon meet my business partner and we would be swept away in a stream of success in the world of Los Angeles Weddings. Read the rest of this entry »
Bridebop.com Interviewed Elegant Event Entertainment for tips on How to Choose a Wedding DJ
Posted by Jason | Filed under Tips for Hiring a Wedding DJ
In a recent interview published on prominent wedding planning website Bridebop.com, our very own DJ and co-founder Jason Jones was asked for his expert advice on “How to Choose a Wedding DJ”. After being chosen as the DJ for over 500 weddings of his own, and helping Brides and Grooms choose one of our other DJs for hundreds of other weddings, we’re pretty sure he knows a thing or two about the topic and Bridebop.com thought so too, and published this great article.
The interview includes tips and information such as:
- How to Determine the Style of DJ/MC you’re interviewing.
- Picking music with the DJ, what type of music he/she recommends, and about making requests.
- Learning more about The DJ’s Audio and Lighting Equipment and what you’ll need
- Pricing and Services offered by the DJ
- And lots more
Click Here To read the Full Article
Happy Planning, have fun searching for the Best DJ for your event, and Best Wishes to you!
The Alcoholic’s Guide to Weddings
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice, wedding tips
Did I get your attention with the title? I should begin by saying, I don’t mean to offend anyone by using the term Alcoholic lightly. I take alcoholism very seriously and have been personally affected by many problem drinkers who I care about. But I am seeing a lot of problem drinking at Weddings these days. There hasn’t been one specific incident that caused me to write this article, but rather a collaboration of numerous occasions where binge drinking at a wedding struck a personal chord with me and compelled me to write about it.
I don’t want you to think I’m a prude, believe me, I am nothing of the kind. However, as someone who has been a part of so many weddings and celebrations, I can tell you that over drinking never turns out well for anyone, no matter what. Even the slightest “overindulging” can really effect the outcome of one of the most special days in a person’s life. As a Wedding DJ in Los Angeles and Southern California, you can imagine I see a lot, especially over the course of a decade and almost 500 Weddings. But the one thing I see over and over again, is the “mistake” of over drinking at a wedding.
When I’m DJing a wedding, I’m stone cold sober, watching everything that happens with eyes wide open. My role as Wedding DJ is to help the people party, but not to “party” with the people. That’s our policy at Elegant Event Entertainment, No Drinking On The Job!
My biggest observation in recent years: It seems that a lot of people don’t know how to simply enjoy a few drinks, and rather, feel the need to binge drink when they’re celebrating.
I’ve seen Groom’s pass out in the stall of a bathroom before the 1st Dance, Father of the Bride falling down stairs, a Bridesmaid attacking another female guest, a Bride throwing up in the planter in front of a nice country club as all the guests were stepping over her to leave, an uncle trying to attack me and my assistant! The number one most common thing that happens at weddings is someone who is drunk will make an inappropriate speech or comment during a toast, which is sometimes funny but most of the time in bad taste. I heard about a photographer who got drunk and passed out in their car while photographing the wedding rings, and the Bride and Groom were sure she’d run off with their rings. I saw a groomsman kick out someone’s windshield. I once had a Groomsman tell me he was having his last hooray as he was knocking back shots, he was heading to rehab on Monday. I was actually happy for him, but also concerned that he wasn’t going to make it to Monday! In all my experiences, Never have I seen something go drastically wrong at a wedding where alcohol wasn’t involved, or wasn’t the Main culprit.
So what can you do as a Bride or Groom or as someone helping to plan a wedding, to limit the possibility of having your event marred by alcohol? Below is a list of things I think you should keep in mind, regarding alcohol, as you plan your most special day.
1. Do not encourage Binge Drinking at your wedding: This isn’t your bachelor or Frat party! Don’t start drinking heavily with your friends before you even arrive at your wedding. It’s tacky, and it’s setting you up for a failed wedding. This is one night where you need to pace yourself and limit your intake. In most cases, your friends and family will follow your lead and will also limit their intake.
2. If one of your Bridesmaids or Groomsmen brings a bottle of liquor or a flask, ask them kindly to leave it behind. This isn’t the time to have a hard liquor drinking competition. Utilize the drinks at the bar, there’s plenty enough there without needing to conceal bottles of liquor.
Read the rest of this entry »
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Weddings at the LA Music Center
Posted by Jason | Filed under L.A. Wedding Reception Venues
Our DJs have an opportunity to work at different Wedding Venues in Los Angeles nearly every weekend, and occasionally we like to write about some of the more interesting venues in LA. Recently, I had the opportunity to DJ a Wedding at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the LA Music Center in downtown Los Angeles and was pleasantly surprised by many aspects of this venue. As a Wedding Vendor, I have to admit, I often worry about the logistics of working events in urban areas and tend to prefer some of the Garden Wedding Venues out in the more rural parts of LA and Ventura counties. Obviously, the more commercial the venue, the more problems vendors tend to have with parking, traffic, load in, etc… However, the parking for the LA Music Center is quite easy. The Bride and Groom will need to reserve parking for their vendors and guests, but the parking attendants were very accomodating to my needs as a DJ with all my equipment to have to load in and take up to the 5th floor Ballroom where the wedding was held. The staff were all very nice and accommodating as well and I found the service, food, and atmosphere to all be really great.
And speaking of atmosphere, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is adjacent to the amazing architectural gem, the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry. The concert hall and the entire campus of the LA Music Center create endless backdrops for brilliant Wedding Photography, like these by our friend Heidi Ryder Photography. The interior of the ballroom is spacious and can be divided by air walls. You can host your both Ceremony and Reception here, and the floor to ceiling windows offer ther city scape in the background to accent the event throughout the night.
I’ve included a highlight video at the bottom of this post, that I put together for Bride and Groom Alexis and Mitch whose wedding was held at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion back in March. Take a look at some of the interior footage of the ballroom to see what your wedding might look like in the space. Add Wireless LED Uplights which we are now proud to offer to help accent the room with splashes of colored lighting.
Our thanks again to the staff of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the LA Music Center, please contact them for more information about their facility and if you need DJ services, we’d love to help! Happy Planning.
Wedding Music Mistakes and Professional Tips
Posted by Jason | Filed under Event Planning Tips
No matter what you’ve done to prepare for your Wedding, remember this: Music Enhances the Memories!
You’ve purchased a Beautiful Wedding Dress. You’ve spent thousands of dollars on Photography and Flowers and Food. You picked the absolute perfect Venue to host your amazing wedding. But after all of that, your Wedding will be judged by how entertaining it was and if the music was good or not.
Music is the most important enhancement of any event, especially weddings. So, if you’re considering a Band, a DJ, a string or brass group to play live music, or all of those combinations, here are a few tips to think about that will help you make decisions and add the great finishing touches to your Wedding.
1. Don’t dance alone for too long!
When it comes to those traditional pre-arranged dances such as the first dance or father/Bride dance, you don’t have to stay on the dance floor in the spotlight throughout the Entire song. The DJ/MC or Band can do several things to make this moment a little shorter without being obvious. Have them make an announcement to ask others to Join you on the dance floor, or the Emcee will simply ask everyone to applaud you as the DJ fades the song and moves right on to the next scheduled dance. If you’re asking people to join you on the floor half way through a song, be sure to ask a few couples ahead of time to be prepared to get up there and get the rest of the crowd into it.
2. Silence isn’t beautiful
Every Wedding Ceremony needs music, especially the crucial period just prior to the start of the ceremony, approximately 20-30 minutes. As your guests arrive, you need to have music playing, possibly a hired musician or the DJ playing pre-recorded music. If you choose a DJ, you can play anything you want! Sometimes our clients choose classical chamber music, or strings arrangements of Popular songs such as the group “Vitamin String Quartet”. You can also choose acoustic music like Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson, James Taylor, or Jazzy hits of the 20′s 30′s and 40′s. Either way, this sets the mood for what the evening is going to feel like, but Silence is not an option. Even in the most serene setting, a Wedding is a celebration and should be accompanied by great music!
3. Before you hire a musician, think about the Space!
If you are having a beach wedding ceremony and you hire a harpist to play, it’s possible and quite likely that unless the harp is amplified, the sound of crashing waves and wind will drown out the instrument. In fact, this could even be the case for a string quartet. Ask the Venue coordinator what the acoustic limitations of the venue are and instead of a harp, maybe you hire a DJ to play amplified pre-recorded music, or hire a sound system for the harpist to apply a microphone to her performance. These are things to consider no matter if you’re on a beach, a mountaintop, near a waterfall, or in a large church.
4. The Church has Rules!
If you’re having a Church Wedding Ceremony, remember, even if you’re a Member, it’s not just Your Church. There are almost always rules regarding music when it comes to churches and synagogues. Many locations require you to Read the rest of this entry »
Los Angeles Wedding DJs Elegant Event Entertainment win Wedding Wire Bride’s Choice Award 2011
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement
We’ve Won the prestigious annual WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 for Wedding DJs in Los Angeles and Southern California. This is the 2nd year in a row we’ve won this award!
Recognition for the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011 is determined by recent reviews and extensive surveys from over 750,000 WeddingWire newlyweds. Our past clients are among those that shared their experiences on WeddingWire, the largest wedding review site in the nation.
For more information on the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2011, please visit our Awards Page
The Best Garter Toss Songs
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
The Garter Removal and Toss is a very fun and sometimes “risque” moment in a wedding. Depending on how sensitive your family and friends are, you may choose to leave it out of the Wedding Reception itinerary entirely, or you might simply tone it down a little. Other couples might want to really put on a show, but remember, this is YOUR wedding, do whatever you like!
Generally it’s a good idea to choose a song to accompany the Garter Removal and Toss, and the DJ will play the song and immediately the MC will ask all of the “single” or unmarried guys in attendance to come to the dancefloor and stand by as the groom prepares to remove the garter from the Bride’s leg. Once the garter is removed, the groom will wait for the MC’s cue and will proceed to toss or flick the garter into the group of single men, who will undoubtedly all fight to get as far away from the garter as possible! No matter who catches it, there’s always a lot of laughter involved.
Picking the Garter Toss Song is not always so easy, so we’ve complied this list from Grooms who we worked with in 2010, these are songs they chose for the Garter toss. If you need a reference to listen to, we suggest going to Youtube and searching for the song by artist and title, and hopefully you’ll find one of these that you like. If not, we encourage you to pick whatever song you want, cause it’s your wedding! Happy Planning and have fun guys!
1.) A Little Less Conversation- Elvis Presley
2.) Animals- Nickelback
3.) Another One Bites The Dust- Queen
4.) Are you Going To Be My Girl- Jet
5.) Baby Got Back- Sir Mix Alot
6.) Bad Things- Jace Everett
7.) Cherry Pie- Warrant
8.) Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?- Rod Stewart
9.) Danger Zone- Kenny Loggins
10.) Fever- Peggy Lee or Michael Buble
11.) Girls- Beastie Boys
12.) Highway To Hell- ACDC
13.) Hoochie Koo Rock & Roll- Rick Derringer
14.) Hungry Like The Wolf- Duran Duran
15.) I want You (She’s So Heavy)- The Beatles
16.) Indiana Jones Theme Song- John Willams
17.) Legs- ZZ Top
18.) Lets Get It On- Marvin Gaye
19.) Minnie The Moocher- Cab Calloway
20.) Mission Impossible theme song
21.) Naughty Boy- Gunther
22.) Oh Yeah- Yello (Theme from Ferris Buller’s Day Off)
23.) Peek-A-Boo- Siouxsie And The Banshees
24.) Playing With The Boys- Kenny Loggins
25.) Rocky Theme
26.) Sharp Dressed Man- ZZ Top
27.) Short Skirt, Long Jacket- Cake
28.) Smooth Criminal- Michael Jackson
29.) Steeler Tune
30.) Stripper – David Rose Orchestra
31.) What A Man- Salt N’ Peppa
32.) When I’m Sixty-Four- Beatles
33.) Who Let The Dogs Out- Baha Men
34.) Wild Things- Troggs
35.) You Can Leave Your Hat On- Joe Cocker
36.) You Shook Me All Night Long- AC/DC
The Best Bouquet Toss Songs
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
The Bouquet Toss is undoubtedly one of the most well known wedding traditions at a Wedding Reception, and it can be a lot of fun as well as very unpredictable. Our DJs have seen girls falling all over themselves to catch the Bouquet, while others were running away from the flying floral display channeling the speed of Marion Jones. It’s not uncommon for the bouquet to hit something on the ceiling before it ever reaches the single girls, or to be overthrown with the likeness of a great NFL quarterback.
By Tradition, the Bride stands with her back to her single Bridesmaids and other Single ladies who are in attendance and when the MC instructs her to do so, the Bride tosses the bouquet behind her and whoever catches it is said to be the next girl to be married, which might explain why we see so many young ladies heading for the exits when it’s time for the Bouquet Toss.
To add to the excitement, it’s best to pick a fun song to play as an introduction and background song for the Bouquet Toss. If we were voting, we’d say that Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” would have to be the all time Number 1 most requested song for the Bouquet Toss, but we’re hoping many Brides will choose something different, although we love Beyonce, her huge hit seems a bit overplayed.
Here’s a list of some alternative choices for the Bouquet Toss Song. If you aren’t familiar with these songs listed here, just visit Youtube and search for the song by artist and title, then listen to the song to see if you might want to use it for your Bouquet Toss. Happy Planning!
1.) California Gurls- Katie Perry
2.) Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend- Marilyn Monroe
3.) Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Cindy Lauper
4.) Hey Ladies- Beastie Boys
5.) I Haven’t Met You Yet- Michael Buble
6.) It’s Raining Men- Weather Girls
7.) Last Night- Keysha Cole Fea. P. Diddy
8.) Milkshake- Kelis
9.) Pretty Woman- Ray Orbison
10.) Say Hey (I Love You)- Michael Franti & Spearhead
11.) Single Ladies- Beyonce
12.) The Sign- Ace of Base
13.) What A Girl Wants- Christina Aguliara
14.) Wishin & Hopin- Ani DiFranco or Dusty Springfield
15.) You Can’t Always Get What You Want- Krystal Bowersox
Bridal Premier Hyatt Westlake Plaza Bridal Show January 2011: Come meet our DJs
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement
Well friends, it’s that time again. Time for the Wedding Season to crank up after the Holidays have ended and all of the newly engaged couples set out to plan the biggest day of their lives! In an effort to make that process a little easier, many Brides and Grooms and their friends and family attend one of the many Bridal Shows in Los Angeles.
For the 3rd consecutive year, Elegant Event Entertainment DJ Services will participate as an exhibitor at the Westlake Hyatt Bridal Show produced by Bridal Premier.
In addition, this year, we’ll be announcing all of the raffles for Door Prizes, so make sure you stop by and say hi and listen out for your name to be called by our co-founder Jason Jones, a familiar voice that’s been heard in thousands of radio and television commercials all over the world.
Here are the details:
BRIDAL PREMIERE- Wedding Showcase
Sunday, January 16, 2011, 11 AM to 3 PM
Hyatt Westlake Plaza
880 S. Westlake Blvd.
Hyatt Westlake Village, CA 91361
For more info or ticketing information click here: Bridal Premier Website
Please come by our booth and say hi, pick up a brochure, and consult with our very talented and experienced Wedding MC/DJs. We’ll be offering great discounts to those in attendance. We’re located in the ballroom, right near the booths of our dear friends from Hartley’s Botanica Gardens and Maravilla Gardens.
Happy Planning and Best Wishes on your Wedding in 2011 or beyond!
2010 Year in Review from Elegant Event Entertainment
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement
On behalf of myself and our co-founder Chris Mortillaro, I wanted to write a quick 2010 year in review for our business and the Mobile DJ Industry in Los Angeles and Ventura County.
All I can say is “Wow, what a year it’s been!” In just our 3rd full year in business, Elegant Event Entertainment had a wonderful year, and we believe we’ve weathered the storm of the worst economy in decades. In 2010, our Wedding DJs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties performed at 97 Weddings throughout Southern California. In addition, our LA DJs were spinning music and helping organize the entertainment at over 20 corporate and private events. By those numbers alone, it’s easy to see that the vast majority of our business comes from Brides and Grooms, which we are very proud of, however, we’ve really tried to step up the corporate MC/DJ model of our business as well and that seems to be coming along nicely. I was surprised to see as many corporate Holiday parties this year as we had, considering that the past several years have been very barren for company parties in terms of hiring DJs and entertainment. This, we feel, is a good sign for economic recovery.
Overall, our DJs performed at 118 events, up from last year’s total of 98, and up from only 64 events in 2008. More importantly, we’ve done that with very little paid advertising. This is the thing I most want our readers and clients and shoppers to see, that our company is growing because of our grassroots efforts to build the incredible network of vendors and past clients who continue to refer us to friends, clients, family and anyone else who needs a DJ in Los Angeles or surrounding areas of Southern California. We’ve been blessed to work with so many wonderful people and I feel we’ve done a great job for all of those clients and vendors which is why they continue to refer us. Our DJs are among the best, the most experienced, the most passionate and knowledgeable in the industry and we’re proving that by our substantial growth and the impression we leave on venues, vendors, clients, and the thousands of people who attend our events.
I also admit that we’ve stepped up our Social Networking as well, and we certainly feel that has helped our business, and particularly our Brand, grow in the Wedding Industry in Southern California. If you haven’t joined our EEE Facebook Fan Page, please click the link and “like” us!
In other EEE News, I wanted to point out a few venues where we worked the most in 2010 and these are among our favorite Outdoor Wedding Venues in Los Angeles and Ventura County. The always beautiful Maravilla Gardens saw our handsome faces for 12 weddings and the magical Walnut Grove at Tierra Rajada Ranch saw us DJ for 14 Weddings. Thank you so much to those venues and their staff as well as Command Performance Catering for the great work they do at both of those venues.
As for music in 2010, a quick note, no pun intended. I loved a lot of the music that was Read the rest of this entry »
If you are an experienced wedding DJ who loves working to serve the needs of your clients, 