1st Class DJs.org

We would NOT recommend 1st class dj's for your wedding. We have had pretty positive experiences with all our vendors except in this case.We hired Karrie in July for our May 2009 wedding. We were both busy and unable to meet, so she wrote on our contract that we could have ALL of our deposit back if we were not 100% happy with our initial consultation. Our contract also said she would notify us immediately if she was unable to DJ our wedding. I contacted her in October to meet, and she said she was busy with weddings and could not meet. I contacted her again in December. She wrote me back and told me she was going to wait until after the holidays to tell me she was pregnant and due in May and would be unable to DJ our wedding. She said she had lined up someone to DJ our wedding instead, without our consent, and a complete stranger who I still don't know was a real DJ or not. I was upset she had not told me right away. Also, if she is due in May she had to have known she was pregnant months ago before I emailed her.

I emailed her back asking for our retainer back. I wasn't happy the way things were handled, and rather than waste our time meeting this new person, I requested for our money back as per our contract if we were not 100% happy after our initial consultation. I let her know it was also a breech of contract for not letting me know immediately that she was not able to perform the services we had paid her for. Her email back was rude, unprofessional, and she refused to give me my deposit back! She said it had taken her time to find someone else and so she would only give me back half. I know for a fact DJ's have a list of people they can make one phone call to to find replacements. My fiance is an attorney and tried negotiating with her, but she would not budge. We now have to go to small claims court over the matter. It has been such a nightmare. For someone who is based on referrals I don't know how they are able to survive treating their clients this way. It is just not good business. She will probably try to right a remark about this, but go to yelp and you'll see more negative reviews by other unhappy customers.

I really hate to write bad things about vendors, but I just want to let others know so they aren't left 4 months before their wedding DJ-less and without a deposit to hire a new one.

Kerri was our dj at our 4/21/2007 wedding. My husband and I loved her! She has a great voice and fabulous energy. Guests made the same comments and also loved that she paid attention to their reaction to the music. If a song drove people off the dance floor, Kerri was quick to change to another song. But the bottom line is, we and our guests had an awesome time at the wedding. We definitely recommend Kerri!

I wrote this review specifically after our wedding in case we heard anything else, but have not. And I hate to give out one-stars - and am wondering what 1st Class DJs may write about me after this review like the others - but after several attempts to get our deposit back, I feel that other brides in the position I was in should know. I was the usual bride who just wanted a beautiful and fun wedding at an affordable rate.

We hired Kerri to DJ and Coordinate our wedding about a year before our wedding date (May 23). We decided to go with her since she was the least expensive option and in person, she seemed terrific. We really got a long! She was a riot! After going over the contract, she stated in front of my mother, my sister, and I, that if something happened to her we would be able to get 100% of our $499 deposit back if we were not satisfied with anyone she had found to replaced her - but also not to worry since she would be there unless she "was hit by a truck". I thanked her since I was very careful about choosing vendors, but unfortunately trusted her enough and did not get it in writing - even though I had witnesses. (ug!) She was the first vendor I had hired, so after I became much more experienced in this.

Fast forward about 5 months to Christmas time around the 28th, we received an email from her saying that she wanted to *wait* to tell us after the holidays (which was in void of her contract anyway), but that she could no longer DJ/Coordinate our wedding since she became pregnant and was due on our date. She also wanted us to meet with someone she found to replace her.

Although stressful for us, we said congratulations and decided to meet with this new person to see if we 'meshed' (as the DJ/MC is one of your most important vendors). It turns out that (although very nice) he was not the same caliber of DJ - he even admitted to us that as of then, he had never DJ'd a wedding by himself. He also did not know how to do some of the usual DJ things that Wedding DJs usually know (like different intro songs, or mixing one dance song into another so there is no void) and could not provide us with reviews. After hearing this, we obviously did not feel comfortable about having him at our only wedding. After telling Kerri that her replacement was not up to par since he had not even done a wedding alone and could not give us referrals - she proceeded to tell us that we were basically out of luck, we should have just taken her word on him and that only half our deposit would be refunded. This did not make any sense since *she* was the one who cancelled on us. (And how were we supposed to take her word on anything now?) Kerri came back with how it took time and money to find another replacement - but as her "replacement" told us, he worked next to her at a Credit Union so we felt we were being duped. After viewing another bride's review (that used to be up on yelp and is on project wedding), we found that we were not the only one's she had done this too. This other bride had stated the same thing where 1stClass Djs waited to tell them about the cancellation, and then refused to give all of their deposit back. For a business who is all about "referrals" I could not believe that they would let $250 stand in the way of this and good business.

Per our contract, we would have gotten all our deposit back if our date was booked, but as our date was almost month ago, I have yet to hear back about this. (As of today, their website even states: "Please Note: We are completely booked through June 2009") Before, her assistant (who we have never spoken with before) even went so far as to email me that *we* cancelled on them, when I have proof of every email we sent out, saying they cancelled. I told her assistant that we would like to hear from Kerri since she is the owner and the one we were dealing with - and have not heard back from any of them since.

Bottom line: if you do anything with this company - make sure EVERYTHING is in writing and signed. A handshake and promise is not good enough anymore.

I don't mean to attack or be negative - I just wanted to state the complete truth. It is very unfortunate since we already had a small budget and something like this definitely affected us. It just really puts a bad taste in your mouth and I really wished that this company would have been professional enough to take a $250 loss in order to make their clients happy - and have potential referrals in the future.

I was highly disappointed in Karri as my DOC and as my DJ for my Oct 18th wedding. I understand that everyone has bad months or alot on their plate but I feel that if you are going to be in the wedding business you need to treat every bride as this is going to be her most special day and nothing else matters.

I never got that feeling from her. She had to back out of going to the rehersal the week that it happened due to family/coworker issues, and I feel that on my wedding day you could tell we were not insync. You hire a DOC to be your "right hand man" so you can take the day to appreciate all the hard work you put into planning it. I could never find her, she didnt even have a bag of goodies. I specifically asked her if she would have one befor I hired her becaus I knew I was going to be far away from home and wanted to make sure someone had my back if I forgot something.

Thank God for Brooke with the Nestldown and Michelle with the Pruneyard who really stepped up with the event. I dont know if it was just that month and she had to much going on or if it is maybe shes burnt out on working with brides. I hate to write a bad review but I feel that it is necissary that other brides understand all views of a vendor.
She did not have pins to help the guys put on the bootniers (my friend had to help them with it becaus no one could find Karri), she didnt have safty pins to help my girls with there dresses, she did not have a pen for the officiant to sign the license. There wasnt any champaign in our toasting glasses when the toasts were being said, she didnt even say goodbye when the night was over and explain to me where she had put everything.
The thing that upset me the most was the fact that she started cleaning up befor our rental time was over, at both locations. We were taking pictures still when she started sweeping up my isle, I still wanted pictures with the leaves. We had discussed befor the wedding that becaus it was going to be such a long day for our guest if the reception looked like it was dieing early we would cut things short. I had not problem with that if everyone was tierd. But no one was, everyone was still partying and having a good time when about an houre befor our rental time was up Karri started taking down my center pieces and putting stuff away. I dont like that in my last dance photos my tables look bare. I also dont like that she didnt give us any warning when she was going to do something (cake cutting, bouquet toss..ect) "like in 5 min we are going to do this....". I have alot of family that smoke and they missed out becaus no one warned them things were about to happen.

I had a wonderful wedding and I hate to say anything bad about it but I was so dissappointed in Kari that I had to say something.

Kerri & Melissa was our DJ/DOC for our May wedding and they definitely did an amazing job! Our guests were having a blast! Kerri is so easy to work with, not to mention funny! Everything ran smoothly on our wedding and everyone was saying how she was so entertaining. She definitely knows how to respond to the crowd and everything worked out perfectly. Highly recommended!

We used 1st Class DJs for our wedding on 8/23/8 for DJ and day-of coordination services. They were great. Everything ran smoothly without any involvement from us. The music was great and we received many compliments on our great DJ. Kerri's energy and enthusiasm were much appreciated!!

Kerri was our DJ at our May wedding. We also used her company for the DOC services (our DOC was Debbie). Kerri was a great MC, DJ, and even added some live vocals. She sounded great but the background music skipped a bit. The music selection was perfect and had our guests dancing the whole night. The DOC services worked out nicely. Having the DJ and the DOC work together helped keep the night running smoothly. A little more coordination before the event on the DOC side may have been helpful. Overall I would recommend Kerri as a DJ and DOC.

Kerri is amazing! Honestly, she does DJ work and day of wedding planning and with such ease. She is totally organized and when things go a little off schedule, she is great about bringing it all back in and making the day flow perfectly. There is no way our wedding would have been so wonderful w/o Kerri's help - we can't thank her enough. She was super accomodating with our music list and set up the ceremony and reception sites beautifully!!!

I have worked 1st Class DJ's for many years. Kerri and her staff always amaze me with their professionalism and attention to detail. Working with Kerri is always a pleasure. She is easy to work well organized and keeps her vendors well informed with the events time-line and any changes that may take place. My clients who use Kerri are very happy and always comment on how Kerri has handled every detail.

As a DJ, Kerri is the best female DJ I have ever worked with. Her voice is beautiful. She is quick witted and responsive. I'm always taken back at how talented she is. The dance floor is always full and very few people leave early because Kerri is so good at reading her crowed and plays great music. We worked a wedding with over 250 guests and the Bride and Groom wanted her to play BINGO during the meal. I have never laughed so hard in my life and the guests did as well. The wedding was a total success because of Kerri;s ability to make everyone feel welcome and at ease.

I would recommend 1st Class DJ's in a heartbeat.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing this letter, completely unsolicited because I was so impressed with the absolute professionalism that 1st Class DJs provided for my wedding reception last fall. Our DJ was Kerri, and she was truly a fabulous MC for our party, and she was really a lifesaver as well!

Not only did she keep the party hopping, but also she actually jumped in behind the bar and helped our wedding coordinator serve our guests beer and wine during our cocktail hour when our bartenders didn't show up! She was phenomenal!

She was very sweet, helpful, pleasant to work with, accomodating, and everyone loved her! I actually had many guests remark on what a fun DJ she was, and that she was perfect addition to the festivities.

I couldn't recommend her more highly! You can rest assured that she will be an asset to your team and will go above and beyond to make your event a success!

Sincerely,
Monica Rodriguez
(see www.1stClassDJs.org/Gallery.html for more testimonials)

Dear Kerri,

Jeremy and I would like to thank you so very much for making our special day so fun and memorable. We were thoroughly pleased with your DJ/MC service. :) Feel free to use us as a reference for potential clients. Thank you again for everything!
With Love,
Christiane & Jeremy
(see www.1stClassDJs.org/Gallery.html for more testimonials)

Thank you so much for the wonderful job you did at our wedding! We had many guests say they enjoyed you as a DJ & loved the music. I apologize for the miscommunication about going to my car. I truly appreciated your help! :)

Thank you again, Joe & Amy
(see www.1stClassDJs.org/Gallery.html for more testimonials)

Thank you so much for everything you did for our May 28th Wedding. Everything turned out better than we could have ever hoped! You really went above and beyone in making our day special...every wedding should be that way! We had such a great time and we hope you did too. We will make sure to forward pictures as soon as we get them!

Really, Thank you again...you really made our day perfect.
Love,
Jackie & Anwar Atalla
(see www.1stClassDJs.org/Gallery.html for more testimonials)