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FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

There are many factors that differentiate Elation Entertainment from other DJ companies. The biggest and most important difference comes in two words: we listen.

We get to know you, we ask questions to learn about your tastes, your preferences, your style, your vision, and what you have planned for your event. Your event is personalized through the valuable input you provide to us.

There is no cookie-cutter approach taken to our performance and no two events are ever the same. Our only agenda is your satisfaction through a fun, memorable event in which we play our part.

John has hundreds of events under his belts over 20 years having performed at weddings, private parties (e.g. birthdays, anniversaries), corporate events, school dances, and in bars and clubs. The diversity in experience translates well to his ability to entertain in most any setting.
Absolutely. We’re happy to meet in-person, have a virtual meeting over Zoom or other convenient online platform. Of course, we’re happy to talk on the phone, e-mail, or text too!
For weddings, you should be considering your DJ as you are booking your wedding venue, photographer, videographer, and other event professionals. Some DJs book 12-to-18 months in advance and it’s not uncommon for popular wedding dates to book 2 years in advance. For private parties and other events, plans sometimes don’t come together for many months or a year in advance. It never hurts to make an inquiry even in the very earliest stages of planning.
When meeting and talking with DJs, the most important factor in choosing is determining the one you feel the most comfortable with. This will manifest itself in a feeling of trust based on how well you have ‘connected’ with the DJ. This is very good advice to consider for any event professional you are looking to hire. There’s no one specific factor that describes the ‘vibe’ you’ll get from those with whom you meet and talk. You will know. The best event professionals are going to take more time to listen to what you are looking for instead of going on the offensive of them telling you everything they can do for your event before they even take a moment to ask about your vision, tastes, preferences, etc.
It has become increasingly common for venues to require event professionals that work on-site to have liability insurance. We are covered for any event we host and perform and can readily provide a certificate of liability insurance for any venue requiring it.

Prior to your event, we provide access to our online music database so that you can create ‘play’ lists and ‘do-not-play’ lists. For many folks, this turns into a very fun activity. In the request process, you can make special notes about songs for our awareness. We don’t limit the amount of requests you make. We tell our clients to provide us with notation of songs that are very important and we use the rest of the list to help guide the curation and programming of music for the event.

We are also happy to take requests from your guests unless we are instructed not to. With that said, we are very careful not to play something that is on your do-not-play list or that which borders around other general guidance provided around music (ex: “we don’t want any line dances”). Our goal is the same as those that hire us to entertain at their events – to keep the dance floor full!

Our music library is expansive spanning the 1950s to the today’s hits on Billboard charts. Over the years, we have collected more than a thousand CDs of artists from numerous eras and genres and subscribeto several different record pools that also service radio stations providing us the latest music often before they become hits. We guarantee to have any special songs for your wedding or event even if we don’t have them.

We’ll take as much guidance as you want to give us. If there’s something you’d like us to say, just let us know. We’re even happy to help in areas where you might not know what needs to be done or said.

When we receive little or no guidance, we generally work with the “less is more” mindset using simple, concise, professional announcements, that don’t annoy guests, or detract from the event. We’re always about less talking and more dancing!

The short answer is no. When navigating our web site, you will see that we have come up with several different packages that fit the needs of many events we have done. We structure the packages to be all-inclusive because we want to make the search for a DJ as easy as possible.

We also don’t want our clients to worry they are being nickel-and-dimed (e.g. be charged for a ‘wireless microphone’). All client services including event preparation, client consultations, equipment set-up and break-down, performance, and travel time of 90 minutes from Littleton, MA is included.

The only circumstances in which additional fees apply will be when we must travel more than 90 minutes outside of Littleton, MA (the Route 2 / Route 495 corridor). For perspective, 90 minutes brings us as far west as The Log Cabin in Holyoke, MA, as far north as the Lakes Region in New Hampshire, and very deep into Rhode Island and Connecticut when going south. Additionally, if you want us to stay longer than the original contracted time, there is a nominal fee for each additional hour.

When you book us, we send out a contract to be signed, and take a 50% non-refundable retainer with the signed contract. The remaining 50% is due 2 weeks before your event date. You are free to make payments at any point. For our client’s convenience, we take payment by check, cash, credit card, or PayPal.
If your event is cancelled, the retainer is non-refundable. If the event is cancelled within 90 days of the event date, 50% of the remaining balance will be due. If the event is cancelled within 30 days of the event, 100% of the remaining balance is due. While these are our company policies, we take every one of these circumstances on a case-by-case basis. We’ve had postponements and cancellations due to deaths in a family, and other extenuating circumstances. We’re not afraid to be human in legitimate cases as doing the right thing is always the right thing.
Tips are never expected, but always appreciated!
We simply need a single 6-foot or 8-foot table with linens that match the rest of the room and located with electrical outlets within 10 feet away of our set-up.
Absolutely. A written agreement is intended to represent the interests of both you as a client and Elation Entertainment as a service provider. This agreement secures our obligation to you and lists exactly what is required and expected for the event’s success. It will explain the entertainment setup requirements and other factors related to the company’s performance. This document will also clearly state the fee structure for payment of the services provided, and any additional services being provided by Elation Entertainment.
In addition to high-quality DJ entertainment, we offer event lighting, uplighting, Photo Booths, and more.

This is arguably the most difficult question to ‘entertain’ as it is understandable why one wants to see a DJ ‘in action’ before deciding to hire them.

Something to take into consideration is no matter the scenario you see the DJ, they might be executing on a plan orchestrated for their client that happens to be the complete opposite of what you want. That’s not uncommon and wouldn’t necessarily be a fair representation of the DJ.

Moreover, we’re not in the business of ‘entertaining’ client prospects at events for which we’ve already been hired. Our focus is always 100% on our client and their special occasion!

We bring a minimum of two sets of equipment to every event with redundancy in mind for every piece of equipment in the unlikely event of failure.
Some DJs portray the fact they’ve played a specific venue as a greater qualification to another DJ service. It is impossible for DJs to have played every venue and offers no true advantage for their service over another. Elation Entertainment has played at hundreds of venues and has encountered its share of logistical issues on-the-fly that were handled with professionalism, largely unbeknownst to the client, due to our degree of preparedness. No power at the wedding ceremony spot? No problem. Is the closest power outlet 100 feet away? No problem. These obviously aren’t ideal circumstances, but we’ve dealt with our share of logistical complications presented in the moment that we’ve had no problem dealing with. These circumstances are also very far-and-few between. Nonetheless, we are prepared.
It’s very uncommon for DJs and other event professionals not to be offered food and drink while performing. However, we never expect to eat on our client’s dime and come prepared for that circumstance. We do, however, very much appreciate being considered in these circumstances. However, we do not ever expect to have or ‘require’ a meal as some DJs and other event professionals do.

Feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have!

With more than 20 years of entertainment industry experience, we are in the business of creating special events for special people.
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