We’ve compiled a list of questions that we’ve been asked over the years in order to help you get answers to the questions you may have and give you answers to other questions you should have. If you have questions that aren’t addressed here, please contact us!
Do you offer a professionally written contract?
Yes we do require an entertainment agreement for each of our events. This ensures that we have both agreed to set terms and protects you as well as us from cancellation problems. Once you decide to book us, we’ll send you a copy of the agreement and give you 3 weeks to review it. We hate it when companies hide things in the fine print, so we give you plenty of time to review everything and never pressure you to sign.
Who will be our DJ?
Unlike most DJ companies, we wait to assign your DJ until after you’ve completed most of your planning information through our website. We have a great staff of DJs (who exclusively work for DJ4U and are employees, not contractors) that have gone through extensive training to make sure they know how to create a great party for you and your guests. By waiting to assign your DJ, it does several things:
- Allows us to match one of our DJ’s personalities with the type of reception you want to have. For example: If you want a lot of interaction from your DJ and really like rock music, we would assign a DJ from our staff that best fits your party. The reason we’ve never had an unsatisfied client is because of our method for matching the perfect DJ to the perfect party.
- The entertainment business has historically had a high turn-over rate. While we’ve been very fortunate to have the majority of our staff working for us for 5 – 10 years, we don’t feel comfortable making any promises that we cannot keep. Since most events are booked out a year or more in advance, the possibility exists that one of our DJs who is available for your wedding today, may actually not be available a year from now. We want to be completely transparent with our clients about our process for selecting a DJ. Once your DJ is locked in (about a month before your event), they will indeed be the one who is entertaining at your event.
- While most companies rely on the individual DJ to assist in the planning of the events, we do not. We have a team of professional event planners who are here to assist you with all of the details of your entertainment leading up to the big day. We help you organize your event through our website portal and then we meet one-on-one with your assigned DJ the week of your event to review all of your planning information. Your DJ will also call you the week of your event to review any last minute planning information they need and finalize any last minute details.
May we meet with you before we sign a contract?
Sure! You can meet with us at anytime at our office in Peoria, IL or via FaceTime or Skype. However, most people find it unnecessary after seeing our extensive planning website and learning how we can keep in touch with you during the planning process. In fact, the large majority of our clients only work with us via email, text and phone. We’re always available to meet if you want to discuss details face-to-face, but we don’t require it.
Will we talk in person before our event?
Yes! The week of your event, your assigned DJ will call you to review all of your planning information on the phone. This call usually takes about 15 – 20 minutes and is merely a review of the information we’ve been planning with you along with pronunciations of names that need announced and any last minute details that may need discussed. We want to make sure we have all the correct information and that it’s fresh in our DJs minds the week of your event.
How long will you hold our date for us?
Our dates are assigned on a first come, first served basis. It’s the only way to be fair to the large number of clients that are interested in booking our services. Once you decide you’d like to book us, we will mail you a welcome kit along with your contract and planning password for our website. At that point, we hold your date for 3 weeks so you have time to review the contract and mail it back to us with a required deposit to lock in the date.
Do your DJs work exclusively for this company?
Yes. Our DJ staff only performs for DJ4U. They have a contract with us that prevent them from DJing for other companies or working for themselves at clubs, etc without our permission.
How long have you been in business and how many events have you done?
DJ4U was founded in 1999 and we entertain at over 200 events every year with the large majority being Wedding Receptions and Corporate Parties.
How many weddings do you do each year?
We average right around 100 wedding receptions each year. Some years we do a few more and some years we do a few less. The wedding industry is our primary business and we focus thousands of hours on our wedding clients each year.
How many other types of events do you do per year?
We perform at 200+ events per year. These events are comprised mainly of wedding receptions, but also include corporate parties, large school dances and a few private parties and events. We are a company with 20+ years of experience in Central Illinois and we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
Do you perform for more than one event in a day? If so, what’s your limit?
We have over 25 DJs on our staff and enough sound equipment to do 5-6 DJ events in one day. When you add in our photo booths and decorative lighting services, you may see us at 8-10 different locations during a busy weekend. However we know our limit and don’t take on more events than we can comfortable handle.
What makes you different from your competitors?
We know that it’s not our party. It’s yours. Every wedding or event we do is different and every client we entertain for are the focus of the night. We won’t ever force you to do anything and we’ll always answer any questions to help you make it the perfect night. Our slogan says it all. It’s Your Night, Your Party and Our Specialty. The other thing that sets us apart is our communication with our clients and our planning assistance through our website and online channels.
Do you act as the “emcee” and make all of the announcements?
This is up to you. We almost always send 2 team members to each of our events. This allows one of our team members to act as the Master of Ceremonies and make announcements, while the other team member is playing the music. Because of this, we never have to take a break, we always provide a backup in the event that one DJ would be sick, or have an emergency come up, and it makes it easier to interact with your guests.
What do you do to motivate the crowd if nobody is dancing?
We are able to teach interactive dances in the event we need to get people to the dance floor, we also have some other “ice breaker” type things that work well to bring more people to the floor. The truth is, we rarely have an empty dance floor because of the way we structure our playlist. We can talk more about that in person if you’re interested.
What if something happens to you and you can’t make it to my event?
With over 25 DJs working for us, we have never had an event that we’ve had to cancel in our 20+ years of serving Central Illinois. We typically send teams of 2 to each event. In the event one person can’t make the event, there is already another person scheduled to be there. We’ve never had a problem in the past, but on the off chance one of your scheduled DJs is sick, we already have a plan in place.
May we visit you at an upcoming event to see your setup and style?
We get asked this question frequently and our answer is always no. Our clients book us to provide a service for them and only them. We respect our client’s private events and on that same note, we will respect your event. You’ll never have to worry about us bringing an uninvited guest to your wedding or party.
Can you provide us with references?
Yes! We can get you in touch with clients who have used us in the past so you can ask them firsthand what it was like working with us.
Or you can browse the hundreds of reviews on The Knot, WeddingWire and Google through our Testimonials Page.
How do you keep your music collection up-to-date?
We add over 400 new songs to our library every month from a professional music service just for DJs. In addition, we follow the music charts for Top 40, Rhythmic, Country and Adult Contemporary (Hot AC) to ensure our DJs are familiar with all new music that is becoming popular, before it’s popular. If there is a song you want that’s not in our library, we can typically purchase the track from iTunes on-the-fly at your event. With the technology available today… it’s very easy to keep our music library up to date.
How involved can we be in selecting music for our event?
It’s up to you. Some of our clients pick out every song they want played, while others pick out a few songs they absolutely want to hear and then let us pick songs that keep the crowd dancing. Often times, we’ve found that clients who let us pick most of the music will have a more packed dance floor than those who pick every song themselves. Since we entertain at over 200 events every year, we have a great handle on what music will keep people dancing. But again, it’s completely up to you. It’s your night and we want it go exactly as you want.
When do we need to submit our music requests and event details?
You can start working on your music selections and planning form as soon as you book us. Every time you save the forms on our website, we get notified that you’ve made an update and we can plan along with you. The final planning details are due the week of your event, but don’t worry, we’ll keep in touch via email and remind you to work on it. Since everything is done through our website, even if you don’t submit your final details, we always have access to the information you do have planned and can work with you via phone or in person to finish it up.
Would you take requests from our guests?
It’s up to you. We’ll never tell a guest NO, but we are careful with how we chose our words with a guest. If a guest comes up and requests a song that’s on your do not play list… we simply tell them that we’ll try to find the song for them. (Of course we won’t play anything that you don’t want us to, or any song that is inappropriate or will kill the dancers on the dance floor)
May we submit a “Do Not Play” list?
Absolutely. In fact, a do not play list is built into our planning system for you. The music you do not want played is equally as important as the music you do want played.
When do you arrive to set up for our event?
We arrive about 2 hours before your first guests will arrive. This allows us to make sure all equipment is working and be ready to start music before anyone even enters the room.
What will you wear to our event?
Typically our staff will dress in a full suit with dress shirt and tie. However, we’ve done specialty weddings that request we dress differently. It’s all up to you. We’ve worn Halloween Costumes to a Halloween wedding (the Bride’s request) and we’ve worn Hawaiian shirts to a Hawaiian themed wedding (again the Bride’s request). The bottom line is that we’ll always be dressed appropriately for your event.
When setting up and tearing down our equipment, our staff will wear a black DJ4U company polo and Jeans or Shorts unless you request something different from us. Professionalism is important to us even while setting up. We’ll always be changed into appropriate attire for your event long before your guests arrive.
Do you require a deposit to secure our date?
Yes. Once we hold your date on our calendar, a significant amount of work goes into planning for your event. We prepare your contract, configure our planning software, organize transportation logistics, review staffing assignments, purchase necessary music, etc. Because of this upfront work, we require a non-refundable reservation fee to secure your date on our calendar.
The fee is typically a small percentage of the overall contract and the exact amount is available from us upon request. This fee is applied to your final balance.
Do you require a meal if our guests are eating?
Meals are not required, but definitely appreciated. Since we’ll arrive at your reception to set up around 2 or 3p.m. and not be heading home until after midnight, most events with food service provide our staff with a meal. In the event it is cost prohibitive to do so, let us know and we’ll make arrangements with the catering staff to purchase our own meal.
Are you insured? If so, do you carry liability insurance?
We are fully insured for up to 1 million dollars in liability coverage from Town & Country Insurance (An agent for Cincinnati Insurance). We carry this high level of coverage because many of the high end venues we entertain in require it. We’ve never had a liability claim on our policy, but the protection is there in the event something unforeseen happens.
Do your DJs take any breaks?
No. Our digital music and multiple team members allow us to keep the party going all night.
What is your policy on alcohol or smoking during the wedding?
We hire non-smokers to work for us and we have a no smoking and no alcohol policy for our employees while on duty. You are more than likely not allowed to drink at your place of work and the same is true for all of our employees.
What kind of equipment do you use?
We use professional equipment at every event. Our equipment includes JBL & QSC speakers, American DJ audio mixers, Apple Mac Laptops, American DJ & Chauvet Lighting equipment, etc. The important thing is that our equipment is designed for mobile entertainment. We can assure you it isn’t being used in some teenager’s basement before it comes to your wedding reception.
Do you have backup equipment incase something breaks?
Yes. We’ve built redundancy into our DJ systems so backup equipment is almost never necessary. Backup equipment is available to our crew at a moment’s notice, however our detailed maintenance program always keeps our primary equipment working at every event.
Do you have a wireless microphone?
Yes. We only use Shure SM58 Wireless handheld microphones. We also have a backup corded microphone on-site in the event that the wireless microphone is getting some interference. We use Shure wireless mics because of the high level of quality they have and rarely do we have any problems with them. With that being said, we’re always prepared in the event we do.
What kind of light show do you have with your music?
We offer a standard dance floor lighting show with almost all of our packages and we have additional room lighting packages available as well. Our dance floor lighting consists of LED flashing par can lights and computer controlled “intelligent” lighting. Our dance floor lighting system stays off during dinner and only gets turned on when the dancing starts to add fun and excitement to the party. Our elegant room lighting is different. It’s designed to transform the look of your wedding reception. Just ask us for more details on room lighting. It can be added on to any DJ package.
Do you set up a sign or banner with your equipment at wedding receptions?
Absolutely not. While signs and banners may be appropriate at school dances, they are incredibly inappropriate at wedding receptions. We’ll ensure that nothing we do takes the focus off of you and the amazing reception that you’ve spent months planning and preparing.
Do you belong to any professional associations or trade groups?
Better Business Bureau (A+ rating)
Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce
DJ Advisory Network for Content Evaluation (D.A.N.C.E.)
When we contact you (email, call, text, etc.) when can we expect you to get back to us?
You’ll usually hear back from us within one business day. (often times much sooner) If you don’t, please call our CEO directly at 1-800-592-DJ4U ex. 709 and Jason will make sure you get taken care of right away. We’ll always try to email you back unless you specifically ask that we call you. On Holidays and weekends our offices are closed.
What is your cancellation policy?
This is outlined in our contract which you can review before booking us. Once we hold your date on our calendar, a significant amount of work goes into planning for your event. We prepare your contract, configure our planning software, organize transportation logistics, review staffing assignments, purchase necessary music, etc. Because of this upfront work, we require a non-refundable reservation fee to secure your date on our calendar. This fee is non-refundable regardless of the reason or timeframe in which you need to cancel.
In the event you have to cancel within 30 days of your scheduled date, we reserve the right to bill you for the entire amount due because we could have freed up the date for another client. We rarely have this happen.
