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 »
Come Meet our DJs at the Bridal Premier Showcase at Westlake Hyatt January 15, 2012
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement, Wedding Planning
It’s that time again! Wedding Season is just around the corner and thousands of Brides and Grooms will be attending Bridal Showcases in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks and all over Southern California. Our Wedding DJs at Elegant Event Entertainment will be exhibiting at the Bridal Premier Showcase in Westlake Village, which we’ve done for many years now.
Our DJs have already booked over 60 weddings for 2012, but we have many more dates and DJs available and we would love to add you to our growing list of over 600 extremely satisfied brides and grooms who’ve chosen us as their Wedding DJ in Los Angeles and Southern California since 2007.
Come by and say hello to our founders DJ Chris Mortillaro & DJ Jason Jones (check out our Headshots and Bio’s before you go so you’ll recognize us) and speak with us about our services, or set a time to meet with us in a one-on-one, quiet setting. Feel free to fill out our online contact form as well and make a note that you’ll be attending the Showcase.
And if you need Uplighting for your Wedding in LA, we’ll have our exclusive Wireless LED uplights on hand to demonstrate. Once you see them, you’ll definitely want them at your Wedding!
The Bridal Premier Showcase is located at Westlake Hyatt and takes place Sunday, January 15, 2012, 11 AM to 3 PM
Hyatt Westlake Plaza, Westlake Village
880 S. Westlake Blvd.
Westlake Village, CA 91361
please contact Bridal Premier for tickets!
Add Cheese to your Burger, say NO to the Cheesy Wedding DJ!
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
Our Los Angeles Wedding DJs recently exhibited at the Bridal Premier Showcase at the Hyatt in Westlake California, as we do twice each year. Every Bride or Groom we speak with at these shows and elsewhere seems to have 1 common concern about their wedding DJ, and that is, “We Do NOT Want a CHEESY DJ!!!”
So, if that’s truly the case, I wonder why so many DJ companies still present themselves as the same old Cheesy, bad joke telling guys forcing you to endure an overkill of personality with silly props and flashy lights and 80′s costume jewelry. I suppose it stands to reason why our company is doing so well, because simply put, we are not cheesy. We’re a bunch of regular guys with an extraordinary passion for music, an extremely high level of experience in providing a top level DJ/Emcee service for our clients, especially Brides & Grooms and their families, on one of the most important days in their lives.
I say we’re regular guys, and I mean we don’t have to dress in costumes, wear makeup and flashy jewelry, tell jokes with horrible punch lines, or sell you crap you don’t need. I admit, I’m not a used car salesman, none of us are…we develop packages and upgrades that people need, and we won’t force you to spend money on fluff that cheeses up your wedding.
We do offer a very classy, fun, yet low profile lighting option, such as our NEW Wireless LED Up-lighting, which has been a huge seller for us and makes any room or space look amazing. There’s no big silver metal trusses and a bunch of tape and wires all over the room!
When our DJ’s are in front of all of your friends and family, we look our best, always well groomed and wearing a suit and dress shirt, sometimes a tie, depending on the location and style of your wedding. Let’s face it, if your wedding is in a garden or outdoor location, it should have a more romantic, elegant yet relaxed, fun, and even perhaps a rustic appeal. There’s no need for all the Club lighting and a DJ wearing a tuxedo with a sequin vest (heaven help me! I’ve seen DJs still wearing this early 90′s get-up in 2011!) Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Choosing Music for your Wedding Reception, tips on picking the Songs for Special Dances.
Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice
If you’re planning a wedding, you know how many different things there are to think about, and Choosing Music is a Major decision. Whether you’re hiring a Band or DJ, you will need to choose music for at least some of the following special moments: First Dance, Bride & Father Dance, Groom & Mother Dance, Cake Cutting, Bouquet Toss, Garter Removal and Toss, and other special moments that you might include such as an Anniversary Dance, Money or Honeymoon Dance, Last Dance, etc.
Elegant Event Entertainment decided to compile a list of all of the music our 2010 Brides and Grooms (all 98 of them) chose for their Wedding Music special requests. Over the course of several days, we published a new blog article highlighting the songs that were requested in 2010 for a particular Special Moment or Dance in the Wedding Reception. We’ve published this Blog to lump those other articles into 1, to make it easier for you. We hope these lists help you find a song that’s appropriate for your wedding in 2011 and beyond, as many of these songs are timeless! If you want to choose something entirely different, by all means, go ahead, it’s your wedding, make it unique!
Below is a list of links to the articles with Song Lists. Have fun planning your wedding and choosing your music and special Wedding Dance Songs!
Father-Daughter Song List
Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement 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. Here are the details: BRIDAL PREMIERE- Wedding Showcase 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. Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement 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. 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 » Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement We recently held a contest for our Brides and Grooms who had videos posted by us on Youtube. The Brides and Grooms with The Top 3 Wedding DJ Videos, or videos with the most views (counted on December 15th, 2010), were awarded prizes. Read more about our Wedding DJ Video Project at the bottom of this article, after the videos. And Here Are The Winners!! 1st Place: Chris & LaShelle Bay with 356 total Views!! 2nd Place: Katreena & Michael Colato with 332 total views! 3rd Place: Shannon & Tom Brennan with 308 total views! And an Honorable Mention to Cheryl and Michael Mio with 299 views! Cheryl and Mike’s wedding was awesome! So great in fact, we published a blog about their wedding, and the Video is there for you to see! Click the link to check it out : Old Ranch Country Club Wedding We implemented a new and exciting feature in 2010 for many of our select clients. Using the technology of HD video cameras that fit in your hand, and quick editing software “iMovie” for Mac, our DJs were able to secretly capture some of the key highlights of many of the weddings we performed, and with an hour of so of editing, we published those videos to Youtube and posted them on Facebook, for our clients, friends, family and others to see. Using Social Media as a tool to get video footage of the highlights of someone’s wedding online in less than 48 hours in some cases, our clients and their friends and family were able to see the video using Facebook and linking to Youtube. We received so many amazing compliments from our Brides and Grooms and their guests, most of whom had no idea we were shooting any video. We provided this as “icing on the cake” for those clients, and it was a win-win-win situation, which is what we’re all about! The venues that are showcased in the video as well as other wedding vendors, and our services as DJs, really helps show potential clients what we’re all about. And of course, it makes a great gift for the Bride and Groom. In all, we cranked out about 46 little Wedding Videos in 2010, which was about half the number of total Weddings we performed. We apologize if we weren’t able to make a video for your wedding, but, we simply didn’t have time to make one for each and every wedding. We are very pleased to say, Your videos were viewed over 7,000 times as this article was published! We’ll try to continue to make these short videos for weddings in 2011 as time allows, and we hope you enjoy them! To see the rest of our Wedding DJ Videos, click here LAWEDDINGDJ Youtube Site Happy Planning! Posted by Jason | Filed under Wedding DJ Advice 1.) All You Need Is Love- Beatles Posted by Jason | Filed under Announcement Here’s a Press release from WE TV (Women’s Entertainment) who recently contacted us to see if we knew any Wedding Horror stories or Brides who had some kind of nightmare happen at their wedding. Lucky for us, we have never had any horrible Weddings or Disasters happen at weddings we DJ’d. But, if you or someone you know has, WETV wants to hear from you. Please contact WE and let them know about your Wedding Disaster and tell them you found out about them through Los Angeles Wedding DJs, Elegant Event Entertainment in Los Angeles. Good Luck!! Did you suffer a wedding disaster that put a damper on your big day? Does your wedding video play like a blooper reel? Do you wish you could do it all over again and have the wedding WEtv WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!! WEtv is casting dynamic Southern California couples who deserve the ultimate DO OVER…a dream wedding celebration the way you’ve always envisioned it. What happened to ruin your big day? Did your ex show up and object in the middle of your ceremony? Did a storm knock out your power or prevent most of your guests from attending? Were you forced to elope instead of having the great white wedding you dreamed of? If you live in Southern California and have your disaster caught on tape, you could get a second chance to have your dream wedding! If you’d like to be considered for the show, please email us with photos of yourselves and the big day as well as your contact information. Danielle GervaisBridal Premier Hyatt Westlake Plaza Bridal Show January 2011: Come meet our DJs
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.
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.
Sunday, January 16, 2011, 11 AM to 3 PM
Hyatt Westlake Plaza
880 S. Westlake Blvd.
Hyatt Westlake Village, CA 91361
Happy Planning and Best Wishes on your Wedding in 2011 or beyond!2010 Year in Review from Elegant Event Entertainment
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.
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!LA Wedding DJ Makes Videos for Brides and Grooms as a surprise gift. Top 3 videos win Contest!
Wedding Date 5/23/10
Location: Calamigos Ranch
Wedding Date: 6/19/10
Location: Westlake Village Inn
Wedding Date: July 10th, 2010
Location: Maravilla Gardens
Wedding Date 7-31-10
Location: Old Ranch Country ClubTips for Picking a Song for the Cake Cutting
I bet you didn’t event think about needing a special song to play during your Cake Cutting, but, it’s fun to pick a Cake Cutting Song based on lyrics that might be a pun for Cake, or eating, or Sugary Sweets…or to choose a song for the cake cutting that exemplifies the love that the Bride and Groom have for one another and the joining togehter of two loving souls! To make it a little easier for you, we’ve compiled a list of the top 38 songs that over 98 Brides and Grooms who hired us in 2010 chose to play during the cake cutting at their wedding.
The song serves merely as background, and honestly a lot of people won’t even pay attention to the song…but if it’s a clever choice and a song you like, everyone will enjoy it, especially the Bride and Groom! If you aren’t familiar with one of the songs listed below, simply follow this link to Youtube and search for the song by artist and title and listen there, then head back to our site for more planning tips. Best Wishes to you and enjoy your cake!
2.) Angel- Shaggy
3.) Another One Bites The Dust- Queen
4.) Belle- Jack Johnson
5.) Better Together- Jack Johnson
6.) Candyman- Christina Aguilera
7.) Collide- Howie Day
8.) Cut The Cake- Average White Band
9.) Eat It- Weird Al Yankovick
10.) Grow Old With You- Adam Sandler
11.) Hit Me With Your Best Shot- Pat Benatar
12.) How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You- James Taylor Read the rest of this entry »WE TV is looking for Ultimate Wedding Disasters
Do You Have The Ultimate Wedding Disaster Story?
you originally dreamed of?
Sr. Casting Producer
Ish Entertainment / WE tv
Phone: 212.377.4543 / Fax: 212.414.5956
IshTVCasting.Danielle@gmail.com
IshTVCasting.com
If you are an experienced wedding DJ who loves working to serve the needs of your clients, 