We are a small company that strives to make your wedding day one that you and your family will remember for a lifetime. We go the extra mile to make sure you and your family can sit back relax and have a wonderful time at your reception. We will take care of everything. We will make sure everything is ready before announcements are made, we will clean plates and trash from the head table and immediate families tables so trash will not be in the p ...hotos. We make sure you know ahead of time when the dances will start, toast will begin and cake cutting will start, that way you and your family will not miss a second of the event. We work with all the vendors to keep the flow going smoothly, we even go as far as going to each table to release them for dinner so that the caterer can have time to restock the buffet. We try to form a relationship with the client so we can get to know them better. The more we can get to know a client the better the reception will be. For example when we got to know a prior bride and groom we found out that they met though their fraternity and sorority. When the frat brothers and sorority sisters arrived at the reception hall we spoke with them about doing their old step routines. We announced the bride and groom to the dance floor and called out their sorority and fraternity and had them do their step routines for all the guests. The bride and the groom were very excited of course they messed up, but at the end of the night they thanked me numerous times for putting it together. If it wasn't for getting to know the bride and groom I would have never known about their past times in college. This is a job all our DJ's love, although we don't really think of it as a job but more as a stress reliever. When we get to see the faces of the bride, groom and families it makes us very happy. Call to set up a time to speak with us to see if our company and DJ's would be a fit for your special day. We do not have any prices on the website because every event is customized to the event. Call any time to set up an appointment. Listed below are 40 frequently asked questions to help you get to know us a little better.
1. Do you offer a written contract?
To protect our company and yourself every event is required to have a written
contact with a signature from the bride/groom and a representative from our
company. At the time of signing the contract a $100 deposit is due to hold the
date of your event. The rest of the amount is due by the day of your event. All
deposits are refundable prior to 60 days before the contracted event.
2. Will you be the DJ at our wedding?
Your wedding day is a very important day. We currently have 5 DJ’s and 2 that
are trained fully to complete a wedding on their own. You have the opportunity
to request the DJ you would like at your event. Sometimes due to the busy
schedule a DJ that you have requested may already be booked. All DJ’s are
personally trained by the owner and are not released to DJ a wedding until they
can “mimic” the owner at an event. You will always have the opportunity to meet
your DJ before signing a contract. Usually the owner and DJ try to meet with you
to verify that everyone is under agreement what is expected for your special day.
3. May we meet with you in person before we sign a
contract?
Every client is welcome to meet with us before signing a contract. I suggest
meeting with us. A wedding is a very unique day that is one of the most
important day in a persons life. I want to make sure that we are the perfect fit
for each and every couple.
4. How long will you hold our date for us?
When a contract is signed your DJ and date is saved indefinitely. It is
understandable that one person is not in total control of a wedding. So many
times after a client calls us they have to go speak with a fiancée or family
member. We pencil in the date in question and hold it for 72 hours unless
otherwise agreed differently. After we meet face to face with a client we give
them the same 72 hour hold unless otherwise agreed upon at time of meeting.
5. Do you work exclusively for this company?
All our DJ’s are solely employees for Northern Lights & Sounds. With time in
training that is spent with each and every DJ we do not want anyone to pick up
any “bad habits” from another company.
6. How long have you been a DJ and how many
weddings have you done?
Steven North has owned Northern Lights & Sounds for 9 years and worked for
Complete Music for 2 years prior. Over the past 11 years Steven have completed
over 300 weddings, 60 city events, 90 large fundraisers and 200 school events.
Our other DJ’s have worked with the company from 3 months to 6 years. Steven
also has his officiantes license and has married 18 couples.
7. How many weddings do you do each year?
Currently we have on average 3 weddings a month. Last year alone we had 88
contracted wedding. We are currently training more DJ”s and by 2014 will be
able to DJ 6 or more weddings a month.
8. How many other types of events do you do per year?
Most other events we have are reoccurring events that we have done for 5 or
more years. We DJ for all of Goddard’s city events, Models for Miracles, Man and
Woman Of The Year (Leukemia Lymphoma Society), and school events.
When we do a wedding all our focus is put on that event. We devote all day to
the event so if something may happen and you need something we will be a
phone call away.
9. Do you perform for more than one event in a day?
When our DJ’s have a contracted event they will not work another event. When you
hire our company you hire a right hand at your event. We have had calls last
minute that a singer or pianist could not show up for the ceremony and since we
devote that whole day to our client we are able to show up and play the music
for the client at the ceremony.
10. What makes us different from our competitors?
The owner has prior background in wedding planning so every event that we do
we incorporate the wedding planning side into your event. We make sure the
photographer/videographer are prepared and ready to go before any
announcements are made, we let you know prior to dances, toast, cake cutting,
etc. and that this is the time fame and you have time to smoke, go to the bathroom, or say bye to that special family member. We make sure that immediate family
knows the timeline so they will not miss that special moment. During dinner if it
is a buffet style we release every table to go through the food line so there is not
a cluster by the food table and the caterer has a chance to replenish the food
quickly and easily. We go above and beyond to make sure that your event goes
perfectly. Many vendors that we have done an event with have stated that they
enjoy working with us because our company took control and made the evening
flow smoothly and easily.
11. Have you played at our reception site before?
During our time in the Wichita area we have worked at many reception sites
before. If you are looking at a venue that we have not been at before we try to
make an appointment with the vendor to check out floor plans, rules, and make
sure that the vendor feels comfortable with use being at their venue.
12. Do you act as the “emcee” and make all of the
announcements?
All our DJ’s host the event. We make all announcements no matter how small
they may seem. We do our best to take all the stress off you and your families
shoulders. Your wedding day should be a happy day not one of stress and worry.
13. How would you define your "style" when making
announcements?
Most of your DJ’s have the “radio” voice, but every event is different so our DJ’s
handle each and every event differently including their voice.
14. What do you do to motivate the crowd if nobody is
dancing?
That is a tough questions because all events and all groups are different. Most of
the time we play a group dance song and get out on the floor and help teach
anyone the moves to the dance. Some events we have different games we can
play. It just depends on your crowd and what you and your DJ have spoke about
for your event.
15. What if something happens to you and you can’t
make it to the wedding?
In 11 years Steven has not missed a wedding. He has been there after having a
Child at 3 a.m. and once while running a 102.3 temperature. Neither one of these
events the client or the family knew until the end of the event. Everything can
not always happen that way. If there ever was a case that the contracted DJ
would not be able to make the event, we always have a reception planner that is
filled out by the client and scanned into the system so if a DJ can not make it we
have all the basic information to cover the event. If the client was not satisfied
with the replacement DJ’s performance we would make sure to make it right
with the client.
16. Will we meet again before the wedding?
I always try to meet with a client at least twice. It is a must to have contact with
the client 1 week to a month prior to the event. Many times due to peoples
schedules it may be by phone, Skype or face time. This will be when we collect
the planner from the client. A meeting in person is nice but is not required from
the client.
17. Can we visit you at a performance?
Unfortunately we do not allow prospective clients to see us at another wedding.
This is not that we have something to hide but that it may appear inappropriate
to have someone show up to a current clients event on such a special day. We
do not want to be associated as someone that invites “wedding crashers” to the
event. As a prospective client I am sure you do not want someone you don’t
know showing up at your event, eating the food you paid for and dancing in your
group. If you would like to see the equipment we can invite you to see it prior to
the start of the event. I don’t mean to sound rude but every event we do is
special and unique and we do not want to hinder someone’s special day.
18. May we speak to your references?
We have some clients that have given us permission to give their phone
number out to prospective clients. Never do we just give out a prior clients
number with out their permission. Many of our previous clients post commets on
our wall on Facebook, website or other internet forums.
19. How do you keep your music collection up-to-date?
All our music is licensed through multiple different vendors that specialize in
supplying music for DJ’s.
20. How involved can we be in selecting music for our
event?
Your evolvement is crucial. This day is about both of you without knowing, the type
of music you guys like it would be very difficult to make you completely satisfied.
21. When do we need to submit our music requests and
event details?
Usually we obtain the planner from you at our last meeting with all the event
details. A music list can be given to us on the day of if need be. We have done
enough events that if plans have changed since our last meeting we will
overcome and make sure everything is corrected.
22. Do you take requests from our guests?
That depends on the client. Most clients usually want us to take requests and make
sure that all guests have a wonderful time. Depending on the clients request from
the planner any request that are made by guests can be overridden by the clients
notes. We never use the phrase, “ the bride and groom do not want that played.”
Because at that point all they will do is come up and bug the bride and groom
till they get the song played and that is not something we want to happen.
23. Can we submit a “Do Not Play” list?
This is your event we do not want to be playing any songs that bring up bad
memories or songs that you just don’t want to hear. On our planner there is a
option of music you do not want to here sometimes clients add a typed sheet of
music they want to hear and music they do not want to hear.
24. When do you arrive to set up for our wedding?
We like to be at your event at least an hour prior to the first guest that arrives,
even if that requires us to set up and leave or stick around and wait for awhile.
We try our best to never have to set up while guest are around. This gives us
proper time to do sound checks, clean up, tape cords, etc.
25. What will you wear to our wedding?
Every wedding is different and each client gets the option to customize their DJ,
even down to the clothing. Most wedding is dress shirt, black slacks and tie.
Some are a little more casual and some require a tux.
26. What will you wear when you set up and break
down your equipment?
Our DJ’s will be dressed in pants and a polo shirt with our company’s logo.
Typically we wear jeans of khakis to set up in typically we tear down in our
dress wear, depending on the weather. This is typical for our company unless
the bride states otherwise. The reason we do not set up in dress clothes is
because we want to look professional and clean when your guests arrive.
27. How much of a deposit is required to secure our
date?
All that is required for a deposit is a $100 and a signed contract. This $100
secures your date and is taken off the total amount due on the day of your event.
28. What is included in the cost of my event?
This depends on what package you select. As we have stated before every event
we do is customized for each client. All packages are customized from amount of
speakers to how many lights.
29. How much would you charge for overtime?
Overtime is a none contracted time and is up to the DJ. The average overtime is
$75 per hour and is due at time of agreement.
30. What do you require from us?
We bring everything that we need for your event. All we need is an outlet to plug
in the equipment. Most of our set ups are in portable DJ booths but some of the
smaller set ups are not. We have a table cloth and skirt that are black to cove
our tables, the only thing that we may need at this point is a table cloth if you
require us to match your colors.
31. Do you require a meal?
We do not require a meal. If there is extra it is nice to have a meal but is not
expected.
32. Are you insured?
Yes we have basic liability insurance that covers us for accidents.
33. Do you take any breaks?
We do not take breaks. Even if we eat we do so at the DJ booth away from
guest and out of visual sight.
34. What is your policy on alcohol or smoking during the
wedding?
Absolutely under no circumstance do we allow any of our DJ’s to smoke or drink
while being a DJ at your event.
35. What kind of equipment do you use?
95% of our lighting is LED which with the heat out put and energy needed to run
the lighting. Our speakers differ, we try to keep up-to-date on equipment as it
comes out so our equipment is constantly changing and upgrading.
36. Do you bring backup equipment with you to the
wedding?
We always have back-up equipment with us for the just in case reasons. All our
equipment is kept maintained and is checked regularly to help limit the need for
the use of our back-up equipment.
37. Do you have a wireless microphone?
We use wireless mics at all events. We use the mics for regular announcements and
the toasts.
38. Do you have a “light show”?
All events have the option for a lightshow. We suggest a light show at every
event it helps set the mood and gives an ambiance lighting in the room versus
the typical bright flourscent lights at that most venues have in their buildings. We
have the ability to do monogram projection, up lighting, and intelligent lighting.
39. Do you set up a sign or banner with your
equipment?
We do not put up a sign or banner at your event. This is not something that we
want you to see in the background of your photos years down the road when you are showing family.
40. Do you belong to any professional associations or
trade groups?
We do not currently belong to a professional DJ group, many of these groups set
prices we can charge at an event.
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