F.A.Q.’s
Q: How soon do I need to book my entertainment?
A:The sooner the better. Entertainment services, especially the reputable ones, book the more popular dates very quickly. Even if you do not have a venue picked out yet, you should still secure your entertainment services and then work out the times and details as the date draws near.
Q: How do I book your services?
A: There are several ways. We will be happy to meet with you at a place of your choice to discuss all of the details of your wedding. Or, you can sign up for more information on our website, check availability and book everything online, or any combination of the two. We try to make it as convenient as possible for you.
Q: How do we stay in touch with you once we have booked?
A: You are welcome to call us at our offices and we will be happy to assist you. You can also email us, include any other recipients in the cc: field and we will respond back to all of the recipients. Our goal is to make the coordination of your wedding as easy as possible, even if there are several other people involved. You can also contact us through our form online if it is more convenient.
Q: Do you accept credit cards?
A: We do! You can make a payment securely through our client tools on our website.
Q: Do we get to meet with the person with whom we will be working with the night of our event?
A: Yes! Planning an event takes time, preparation and communication. You should feel comfortable with the person whom you will be working with and they should understand your every wish.
Q: How important is it that we get everything in writing?
A: Extremely important. In general, contracts are written between two parties so that a mutual obligation is created. With entertainment services, it should be clearly outlined what you can expect from your entertainment as well as what your obligations are to the company whom you are booking. It prevents any misunderstanding and provides you piece of mind knowing they have a legal obligation to you also.
Q: Do you carry backup equipment?
A: Yes. Electronics, just like anything else, have a tendency to fail. It is just a fact of life and something we hope will never happen but we are prepared if it does. We have many ways of troubleshooting and fixing problems so that it does not disrupt the evening. Truthfully, that is one of the main reasons why we have our setup times set the way they are on our contracts. It is not because it takes a long time to setup. It is just in case something does not work when we arrive at the venue. It gives us time to take action. Most problems will occur upon our arrival and are easy to fix with the backup equipment we bring with us. We have also written our contracts in such a way that you are financially protected in the event that we cannot get our equipment working again. We use professional grade equipment and we have done exhaustive research to find the most reliable equipment. Also, we retire our equipment long before it begins to have problems and we also enjoy offering the latest technology to our clients.
Q: What kind of music do you have?
A: All styles and we cover every era from the 1930’s to the latest music you hear on the radio today. We are also constantly adding music from around the world as we book events that require it.
Q: How do we choose our music?
A: There are several ways. Whether you choose a few, several or many songs, we use our knowledge and experience to ensure everyone has a great time. We also have helpful guides which can help you choose songs for a first dance, father / daughter dance, groom / mother dance and bridal party dances.
Q: How can we be assured you will have the music we request? What if we do not see it in the music list?
A: We do everything possible to have the music you request. There is format guide which we have you fill out. It is due back 30 days before the event date. We do have extensive resources to find songs if we do not have them in our main collection.
Q: Can I come see you play somewhere?
A: In the same way we would never invite strangers to your private event, we could never invite you to someone else’s private event. Also, the type of music we play and the individual attention we give to each event we do is very different from the next. We just do not take a “cookie cutter” approach to the way we perform. For example, if you walked into a room with us leading the chicken dance and that is a song you would not want to hear at your event, you would think that is something we do at every event. You would get wrong impression of us. That might have been a song our client specifically wanted played after dinner. You would see it out of context. Or if the type music our client chose was something you would not want to hear at your wedding, you would walk away wondering why we would play music like that.
Q: Do you have a demo video?
A: We have considered this in the past but we just could not figure out an effective marketing video that would cover everything we do sound and lighting-wise as well as the different ways we perform and keep people dancing. That relates back to “Q: Can I come see you play somewhere?”
Q: How do you get the music you play?
A: This is a question that really touches on the grounds of morality. Lately, there has been quite a bit of controversy in the way of music sharing and downloading. First of all, we own every single cd of the music we are playing. Secondly, we use a subscription service very similar to the service radio stations receive. Our collection grows by leaps and bounds every single week. We input all of the music into our master database as the cds come in and file the music away. We then compile recordable cds regularly of the latest music as it hits the charts. We also carry the foundation of all of the popular older songs since the great and most requested songs of those eras never change. We maintain lists of past requests and roll select songs from other purchased original cds onto new recordable cds so we will have them onsite for future events as well. Those combined three elements is what we bring with us. Think of it as a popularity-driven music library. We can go to any event even with no pre-existing music list and satisfy 95% of song requests. The extra 5% is what is covered by the format guide that we request 30 days prior to your event, just in case there is something you want to hear which we would not normally carry with us.
On the other hand... Many other companies will illegally download music and not pay for what they acquire. Any company who gets their music in this fashion is breaking the law, and a customer should question themselves about the merit of their services. In addition to that, mp3 quality is not nearly as good as cd quality (since mp3 uses compression). This is a minor point when music is heard on headphones but becomes very apparent on large, professional systems. To draw a parallel, consider taking a picture with an inexpensive camera and then enlarging it to billboard size. All of the clarity of the picture is lost and the overall quality suffers.
Q: Do you use computers to play music?
A: Not at this time. We have not been able to find any computer which can even remotely match the quality or the reliability of the professional cd players we use. Although we use computers with a great degree of frequency in our offices (we could not do business without them), we are not willing to gamble the success of your special day on technology that is relatively new to playing music. The cd players we use actually have field-replaceable decks so we can switch them out if necessary. Call us paranoid.
Q: What happens if you cannot make it to the event?
A: All of those stipulations are covered under the contract. In brief, you get all of your money back. Since we make our living by performing every weekend, you can rest assured we will be there no matter what it takes. We stake our reputation and income on being entertainers so we would never even remotely consider not being there. By the time your event date comes around, we have invested many hours preparing and are both excited and honored to be a part of it.
Q: Why are you more expensive than most of your competitors?
A: In order to give you the best possible service and the personal attention you deserve, we are committed to be one of the few full-time entertainment companies. That means we do not have another day job and this is a career for us. We have an administrative office to handle the phone calls, emails and contracts, as well as data entry, cataloging and equipment maintenance. Although the visible work is on the weekends, there is over fifteen times as much time spent behind the scenes on a recurring basis during the week. We possess all of the elements to ensure nothing is forgotten on your special day and we have done everything in our power to make your night a success.
