Sutherland Entertainment

We chose Spencer based on a recommendation from another vendor that told us that if we wanted a Dance Party...to hire Spencer. Wow...was that the truth!!!Spencer was completely professional, responsive and helpful during the planning process. He was accommodating and patient with any budget constraints and gave me a lot of great advice.As for the day of...he played the guitar for the ceremony beautifully and then was nimble enough to switch over and make sure to play the songs we needed from his sound system for our recessional. He came and scouted our location the day before (because we hired him to play down in L.A.) and was totally fired up and prepared to make sure everything went smoothly. He did a fantastic job of MC'ing the wedding...not talking too much but just making sure the guests knew what was going on.He helped us pull off a fun choreographed first dance on an entirely different dance floor and even helped my husband surprise me with a serenade by having a sound system/mic ready for that... and he kept the secret!!! :DHe kept our dance floor absolutely PACKED all night!!! We thought that was going to be difficult because our dance floor was on a slant and we thought guests would not dance...forget about it! Spencer had them dancing so much that we actually pooled money together and paid him to stay an extra 3 hours (and he even threw in an extra half hour for us because he is so cool!)You can't worry about every little song that is played...if you do, then you should have an IPOD list and hire a friend to man it. Spencer has the gift of music and the ability to read a crowd. Let him do his thing and you won't be disappointed!!!

I hired Spencer on the recommendation of a friend. I thought that the overall VALUE of his services was great. I read the other reviews, and I will say that there were some songs from my "must play" list that I do not remember hearing. Spencer is professional, and accomodating, I think that he did a GREAT job, both in his guitar playing and as a DJ, he was also REALLY REALLY excellent on the announcing/MC part of my wedding. Would I hire him for another event? - ABSOLUTELY! Would I recommend him? ABSOLUTELY! Again, I think that his whole package is a great value and worth the price.

My husband and I hired Spencer Sutherland to play the acoustic guitar for our ceremony. We also requested two songs we wanted him to play specifically for our wedding, which were not on his standard play list so he charged us extra for those two specific songs. What he charged us was more than what we expected, but in the end, the songs worked out beautifully in our ceremony. Spencer is a very talented musician.

Choose Spencer! Spencer was simply fantastic from the planning to the execution! He was extremely professional, punctual and makes the daunting task of planning wedding and reception music really, really easy, and even fun.He played guitar for the wedding and cocktail hour, and then DJ'd for the reception. The guitar playing was absolutely perfect. My only request for the reception was our guests have a good time. Boy did Spencer deliver! He played songs from our request list, but definitely played music appropriate to the age group. He really pays attention and plays music to the crowd on the dance floor, which was awesome. He is respectful of your desires for your wedding and does everything he can to make sure his part of your day is nothing less than perfect. Related to this review is that I planned my wedding and worked with all the vendors. Spencer was consistently the most responsive, and required the least amount of "checking-in". It was an absolute relief to have him as a part of my wedding day. Without any reservations, I highly recommend Spencer Sutherland.

Spencer is the best! From the time we met him, we knew he was the one we wanted to DJ at our wedding. Spencer is a multifaceted entertainer. He DJs and plays guitar. He played guitar prior to our ceremony and for the cocktail hour. He also helped me playing a song during the ceremony. He is not the average DJ. He played to the crowd and made our reception a true success.

Spencer had a lot of challenges on our wedding day! Our venue had many noise constraints because of its proximity to homes. Spencer was extremely professional when working with the venue staff and staying within the limits. We also got a very late start with the dancing, so some of the songs we requested got cut out. I was disappointed, but I understand that he had to work with the time he was given. He apologized the next morning for not getting to all our songs. We were very pleased with his professionalism and would definitely hire Spencer again!

If I could give Spencer more stars I would! We hired Spencer to pay Latin guitar at our ceremony/cocktail hour and then DJ the rest of the reception. Not only was the guitar amazing, Spencer kept the dance floor packed (packed!!!) all night! He was courteous, helpful, and professional. I had a million questions leading up to the wedding and he was patient with me. He has planning software on his website which is so helpful because you can take your time filling out the timeline and developing your song lists and save as you go. I would highly recommend Spencer for anyone who wants to have a great reception!At MOTB - the wedding day isn't about playing what the parents want to hear, it's about what the bride and groom want. One way to kill a dance party is to play a waltz!Hire Spencer ladies and gentlemen! You will NOT be disappointed! :)

Spencer plaid for our ceremony and cocktail hour and was fantastic. I requested a few specific songs, which he learned and played beautifully! I highly recommend Spencer if you are looking for a great guitarist.

Spencer did a great job at our wedding reception; he played guitar during the cocktail hour and provided DJ service for dinner and dancing. He was super helpful during our first meeting, giving useful tips to help us choose our play & do not play lists, and even sharing recommendations for caterers and other vendors during our early stages of planning. Our reception presented a few challenges for any DJ . . .For instance, our venue had a very strict noise policy, and we were warned several times by our venue manager that the DJ absolutely must adhere to it. Spencer patiently answered my questions about this, and during the reception made sure we had music everyone could hear and enjoy without incurring the wrath of our venue manager.We also had a pretty mixed group of guests, with some wanting after-dinner conversation and others wanting to dance - Spencer kept both groups happy and kept us happy too. I especially appreciated the way he checked in with us during the last hour just to make sure there were no songs we especially wanted to hear that he had not played yet. Thanks for everything Spencer!

Spencer of Sutherland Entertainment did an absolutely fantastic job in every way. Our event was very challenging in that he had to perform in four different locations in five hours. We read our vows to his romantic Spanish guitar and closed the night to the famous New Orleans Second Line. Spencer has range and was a true pleasure to work with.Our guests were from all over the country as well as some from abroad and all sang praises about the music.Best of luck!!!R & S

Spencer performed at our wedding at Oceano Hotel (Half Moon Bay) in August. Overall, his role as a guitarist was well received by all and the music sounded beautiful. He was very organized and professional at all times. As a DJ, I would have to report that he was our least favorite of all of the vendors. After I created the "must play" list for our reception, I found that he played a number of songs not on our list that didn't go over so well with the crowd (dance floor empty). I expected that he could read the crowd better than I, however, his songs did not necessarily bring people out to dance (which begged the question as to why he wasn't playing any of our requested songs at that time). In addition, many people had requested songs and later came up to me to report that he refused to play these songs (sometimes indicating that I didn't want those songs played-untrue). For the record, I did not have any songs on my "do not play" list. Some guests were not very happy with him. I had also requested that he announce two of my guests' anniversaries during dinner. Spencer did not want to do this and recommended that he hand me the microphone to announce it myself (which I preferred not to do). When I inquired about the announcement he reported back that he had done so, however, not one of our guests even heard the announcement, especially the intended guests. In addition, I had made note in my paperwork that we may want to extend our reception for 1 hour (to 11pm), yet at 10pm he played the last song and shut down without ever contacting us first. The dance floor was packed at the time and by the time the song ended, he had taken off his equipment and was starting to wrap up. We were pretty disappointed and would have definitely kept the party going for another hour had he checked in with us.

We couldn't have had a better experience. We asked Spencer for the "Gold Package": live guitar for the ceremony, and then DJ music for cocktails, dinner, and dancing. From a planning point of view, using Spencer for all of our music and sound system needs was incredibly convenient.I worked as a caterer for more than 10 years, so I've seen hundreds of wedding DJs, most of which are fairly underwhelming. Spencer, on the other hand, is EXACTLY what a wedding needs. He struck the perfect balance between being totally present and on-point for the necessary logistics, while being seemlessly in the background at all other times. He worked the crowd by being a great DJ foremost, not by being some kind of wedding goofball. There was no YMCA and no chicken dance, just people dancing endlessly to music they were excited to hear. Spencer respected our requests, and got the mood of the crowd perfectly. A number of our guests were people who care about music (and DJs specifically); they had nothing but great things to say.Our wedding space (Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin) was logistically challenging; it required quite a bit of advanced set up as well as timely movement from room to room. Spencer handled it totally. The timing and execution of transitions from ceremony to cocktails, cocktails to dinner, and dinner to dancing were flawless.And to the most important point: the dance floor was packed all night, and no one wanted to stop dancing -- exactly what you want at your wedding.Spencer is very, very good at his job. Get him for your event.

Spencer was our dj at our wedding reception this past January 2009 and I can’t say it enough - he was incredible! He obviously loves music and is just so talented. We had so many guests comment on how awesome the music was at our reception. Spencer was extremely professional to work with. He made sure to understand what we wanted and also recommended music to us. At the end of the day, we had a few requests and we let him do his thing and he had hit after hit – classic, old school to current music. It was awesome. He can definitely read a crowd and knows which songs are crowd pleasers. We had all age groups at our wedding and everyone was dancing! Also he did a very good job as MC at our reception. It was a wonderful night and we are really glad we picked Spencer for our dj. I highly recommend him.

My fiancee and I booked Spencer for our wedding reception at the Park Chalet restaurant at the recommendation of the event manager there.After checking up on several other DJs, we picked Spencer because he offered a well defined service and seemed quite professional. Sure, i could have saved a few bucks by renting my own speakers, bringing an ipod, and putting one of my friends in charge of making sure the tunes kept coming but with Spencer, all of this was taken care of for us.I'm no music guy but I definitely appreciated the service and professionalism Spencer offered. Via his website, we sent him a list of music we wanted played (mostly 80s at the request of my wife), a list of music that we didn't want played (chicken dance and all of the cheezy wedding standards), and list of people to speak and times. Spencer called me to confirm the pronounciation of names, double check the schedule, and then took care of the rest. I didn't have to worry about anything else and my guests did appreciate the energy he brought to the dancing and drinking after dinner.Best part of the night? I didn't have to hear the chicken dance once.Thank you, Spencer.-gPS. His latin guitar music is quite good. We played it during the dinner hour.

Spencer was our dj at our wedding reception this past January 2009 and I can’t say it enough - he was incredible! He obviously loves music and is just so talented. We had so many guests comment on how awesome the music was at our reception. Spencer was extremely professional to work with. He made sure to understand what we wanted and also recommended music to us. At the end of the day, we had a few requests and we let him do his thing and he had hit after hit – classic, old school to current music. It was awesome. He can definitely read a crowd and knows which songs are crowd pleasers. We had all age groups at our wedding and everyone was dancing! Also he did a very good job as MC at our reception. It was a wonderful night and we are really glad we picked Spencer for our dj. I highly recommend him.

I would have to strongly disagree with aleewonder and agree with chersimon in that Spencer was very nice to work with.

Spencer also played acoustic Spanish guitar during our ceremony, which sounded beautiful and also during the cocktail hour.

He announced us and those who toasted us with class. He is not a cheesy DJ which we were so afraid of having.

He was very good and very professional and kept everyone dancing all night! I actually had one of the groomsmen come up to me and comment on how it was actually good music that was being played. He was very prompt in returning emails too. The only one thing I wished he would have done was to stick a bit more to my playlist because I had worked really hard on it. For example, I had said that I wanted a lot of 80s played during the reception and I didn't get too much and I also noticed a song was played that was on my do not play list.

Other than that, I think the night went very well and I would, and have, recommended him to other brides.

Worst experience I have ever had with any professional. The guitarist did not show up for the ceremony, and the DJ appeared to be drunk or high, or at the very least extremely unprepared and unprofessional. The DJ showed up wearing a dirty t-shirt and shorts, hair messed and looking like he hadn't taken a shower. Moreover, the DJ was not confident in his position as MC, which made everyone around him have to help get the reception moving. He seemed confused and out of place in his role as a leader. This company nearly ruined our wedding, and whatever parts of the music at the wedding that were good were because of the incredible amount of planning I did beforehand. I hope that this company gets out of the business if this is what they provide future clients.

Additionally, Spencer himself was very pushy about receiving his payment, threatening to not provide the music if the payment was not made the night before the wedding. His company was responsible for the payment not being made, as my mother had sent the payment to him a week-and-a-half earlier to ensure payment. Spencer blamed this situation on me and my family, as if we were intending to use his services and not pay. It was very insulting and added tremendous stress the night before the wedding. I, the bride, didn't even go to sleep that night until around 2 AM because of the situation he created. I am sorry to have ever come across this company as music is something I absolutely love and wanted to be special for our wedding.

NOTE: I WOULD NOT EVEN GIVE THIS COMPANY ONE STAR, EXCEPT THAT GIVING AT LEAST ONE IS A REQUIREMENT TO POST. THUS, MY REAL RATING FOR SPENCER SUTHERLAND IS ZERO STARS.

Very fun and easy going. People literally did not stop dancing all night. It was the most fun I have ever seen at a wedding (If I do say so myself!) Spencer also played acoustic guitar for the ceremony and cocktail hour, which sounded great during the ceremony, but I was busy during most of cocktail hour and didn't hear it. He is very nice to work with and provided exactly what I wanted in a musician and DJ. He guided the flow of the evening without talking too much or being annoying. I left all DJ control up to him, which seemed to be a good choice since people kept dancing.

I can not say enough good things about Spencer Sutherland and his company. I found him online and was a little leary as I was not referred, but after emailing back and forth he put me at ease. After listening to clips of his guitar playing, I knew I wanted that for my ceremony music, it is beautiful. He also has other bands as I wanted a band to play for our cocktail reception. He had some cool sounds on his site, but I wanted something a little different. He recommended this Gypsy Jazz group, they were also so wonderful. Spencer is very professional and courteuos and a wonderful musician. I let him pick the songs to play during our ceremony and they were just right.

I just realized I never reviewed my DJ. We used Spencer for our ceremony music and DJ for our reception. EVerything went fine, we didn't have any problems. Spencer was the actual one on our wedding.

re: aleewonder review. The only thing I can say is that I ALWAYS tell my friends to make sure you are getting the OWNER of the company! Be it your photographer or DJ, make sure you get the actual person who is running the company otherwise you risk the chance of getting an employee that is not as invested in the process.

Spencer played the guitar beautifully, was easy to communicate with, and kept the dance floor hopping!

Spencer is great! He not only knows how to keep the party going, but is completely professional. He is prompt with return emails and is very organized. From live guitar for your ceremony to DJing your reception, I highly recommend Spencer for all your wedding music needs.