1st in Entertainment
Reviews for 1st in Entertainment
I liked how Sean took the time to get a feel of the crowd and the music that they liked to hear. He played everyone's requests. I received a lot of compliments for him from my guests. Text message requesting was a hit!
GUEST
Sean helped MC when ours was too intoxicated. Also great assistance with the entertainers.Overall good experience.
GUEST
My sister asked Nolan to play an Enrique Iglesias song and he was very up front in telling her that he only had the uncut version. Trish was extremely grateful that he told her ahead of time, as she chose not to have it played because we had a group of young kids, some smaller children, and several older people at our dance. In fact, she called Nolan 'gracious' and helpful! We also found Nolan very understanding, especially when he had to wait for 1/2 an hour (with us) until the person with the key arrived to open the hall door. He never grumbled or made us feel badly about the mix-up. We were extremely impressed with the pricing for your services. We couldn't afford a lot, and our daughter had decided to just use an iPod for the dance. I checked out DJ's and 1st in Entertainment was the best price and- ultimately- the BEST music! We were very impressed with the incredible choice of songs, and the fact that Nolan offered to let our small band (who did 5 songs for the Bride and Groom) plug into the sound system, made me feel really comfortable. I sure wish we'd have taken him up on his offer! Our dance floor was full the entire night and everyone had a wonderful time. We are still hearing compliments about the great music, and I will DEFINITELY recommend 1st in Entertainment to anyone needing a DJ. In fact, if we put on another function, you're hired! Thanks for the fabulous evening, Nolan- it was everything we hoped for!
GUEST
Nolan made it an extremely easy process. Communication was great, and he gave us a great deal on such short notice!
We did not have a very good experience with this DJ company on our recent wedding. It was hard to communicate with them in the planning process, then we had asked for mostly top charts hip music, because our wedding consisted of mostly younger people. They played oldies all night.. Most people left early because they were getting bored. They played our "last dance" song in the middle of the night. During our first dance, the sound quality was so bad we had to ask them to fix it.
The list goes on... They were not worth the price, we would have had a better time with just having an ipod playing.
About 1st in Entertainment
True Professionals
1st in Entertainment is owned and operated by Sean Goebel and Nolan Sontag. Sean is a graduate from the University of Calgary music program and an active local musician. Nolan has a joint degree in commerce and psychology at the University of Calgary. Sean and Nolan value integrity, honesty, reliability and service.
FAQ for 1st in Entertainment
So you have to hire a DJ for your wedding and you don't know where to begin. How much should you expect to spend? What kind of questions do you ask? How do you know you're hiring a professional? This section provides some useful tips that will help you make the right decision about hiring a DJ. These tips are not designed to persuade you to buy our services. We hope that by providing honest advice, that you will realize that 1st in Entertainment is an honest, professional, and reliable DJ service.
Tip # 1: Ask Friends and Family
Do you know anyone who has been married recently? Were they happy with their DJ? These kinds of referrals are useful because they give you an idea of how well the DJ actually performed. Ask how helpful the company was in the planning phase and during the ceremony. Try and ask for specifics as to what was good and what wasn't. Not everyone will consider the same things to be important when rating a DJs performance.
Tip # 2:Check out testimonials
While they are not quite as good as a personal reference, testimonials will tell you that the DJ has impressed clients enough in the past that they were willing to take the time to sit down and write something about the DJ. The downside of course, is that testimonials are usually made available by the DJ company - so they are going to be a little tailored. When reading testimonials pay attention to how specific they are and how enthusiastic they sound. Even when people are eager to write a testimonial, they usually do it quickly and don't worry too much about making it sound good. Solicited or semi-sincere testimonials will usually say something like "thank you for your superior performance, the DJ was great!" They are usually vague and sound contrived.
Tip #3: Ask lots of questions
This may sound obvious, but it's amazing how few questions clients actually have for the DJ when planning a wedding. Usually it stops at "how much?" and "how long have you been in business?" However, the clients that ask the most questions tend to be the happiest because they have communicated what they need very clearly. Asking questions allow you to get a feel for how committed a DJ is to his job. Does the DJ have short, closed answers, or does he or she thoroughly explain and clarify things. The DJ should also be asking YOU a lot of questions, or giving you a clear idea of how he goes about the preparation process. Clear communication and gathering as much information as possible is a sign of an experienced, committed, and professional DJ. Can't think of any questions? Try the following:
* How much experience do you have? More is usually better, but a single DJ who has been in the business for 20 years might not have an up to date music collection or posses strong motivation.
* Can you provide me with references? Sometimes DJs don't want to do this for privacy purposes, but it can't hurt to ask.
* When is the last time something went wrong? What did you do? This is a great question to ask, because most DJ's won't expect it. It gives you a chance to test their honesty and get a feel for the extent of their experience.
* Do you take requests? Believe it or not some mobile DJs don't!
Tip #4: Ask about backups and contingency plans
What happens if some sound equipment fails? Does the DJ have backup equipment? How many DJs are there in the company? Will there be a backup person if your DJ is unable to attend for some reason? Having ready answers to such questions is a sign of experience and reliability. Asking "what if..." is the first step in preventing problems.
Tip #5: You get what you pay for...to an extent
We have spent a lot of time pricing out DJs in Calgary, and have heard a lot of feedback. Here is the bottom line: there is a HUGE range of prices for DJs in Calgary, from $300 on the bottom end to well over $1500* at the top. Our advice is to aim for the middle of the road, as many DJs at the top end inflate their prices to make you think they are offering something better. Your DJ should be offering better service (online planning tools and personal consultations), better sound and lighting equipment and possible live music options for a top dollar package. Expect to pay a minimum of $500 for even a basic package if you want a decent DJ. You should be able to keep it under $800 in the majority of cases and under $1000 in almost any case. Some exceptions to these rules are gigs with: very elaborate requirements, very large sound systems, live music, or long traveling distances outside the city.
*Please note that prices do vary by region.
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