As we started to plan our wedding, we dreaded having to look for and select all vendors. It’s a stressful process, which takes time, and includes a large element of risk. On top of that, we heard all these horror stories about unreliable vendors, vendors who fail to understand what the couple is looking for, or vendors that are totally unresponsive. And music is one of the things that my wife and I love, we can’t live without it, and we knew right away that our wedding needs to have a perfect soundtrack.

A couple of friends recommended Jon to us so we reached out to him. From the
beginning he struck us as very responsive. He cared about the quality of our relationship from the very first time we contacted him. When we met in person, we immediately liked Jon. He thought through the various elements of his responsibility in a quality way. He truly believed in the importance of having great music at a wedding.

Jon has a strong sense of ownership. We could simply trust him to take care of everything. We never had to follow up, he was on top of everything, and it was he who proactively gave us updates and told us what he needed from us.

After we went back and forth on what we needed, we saw that Jon “got” our style. It was important for us to make sure the music fits in with everything else, and Jon asked thorough, thoughtful questions and his suggestions understood our vision completely. We gave Jon songs we liked and wanted to be played but it was important to us to have a DJ who could turn a mere list of songs into a coherent evening of music. Jon made it happen.

We have a high quality bar for execution and quality of music. We had specific songs we edited for the ceremony and we had to trust the person who would understand how we want it to fit in with the rest of the ceremony.

Jon was precisely that person. Jon was incredibly professional, which is rare in the industry. He immediately clicked with our planners and other vendors to ensure the location of his booth, the equipment etc. was all taken care of.

Jon created a consistent, fantastic vibe. His ability to make the room dance was very impressive. Our guests loved the music and commented on that throughout the evening, and afterwards. He’s been fantastic to work with. We strongly recommend DJ Gatsby!

DJ Gatsby was the DJ at our wedding in NYC. We had wanted a band, but ultimately chose a DJ because it was just more flexible in terms of types of music we could play. And of course, more affordable. We are both pretty picky about music. And the bride can safely say she was picky about every detail, including the vendors. Picking the right vendors and service providers can make a wedding event the best ever.

Our wedding ceremony was outside, so DJ Gatsby had to manage the music at the outdoor ceremony, the transition to cocktail hour (which was both inside and outside), the move upstairs to the reception/dinner area, and finally, the move downstairs to an after-hours party.

DJ Gatsby had a thorough consultation with us about the type of music we like and how we could translate this to our wedding. This put both of us at ease. Our style was simple. We didn’t need a loud MC. We just needed someone to play awesome music and make the few announcements that were needed.

Besides the consultation, the best thing we can say about DJ Gatsby is that people were literally dancing all night. Right after our first dance, we went into a big dance set and that set the tone for the night. After the reception, Gatsby played 2 hours at our after party where he got to let loose a little with his spinning, which our friends loved.
People are still raving about what a great time our wedding was and we know that DJ Gatsby was a big part of that success and was definitely the right choice.

When Sean and I decided to get married, we had already been together for 13 years.  Needless to say, we know everything about each other. When it came to planning the wedding, I knew the toughest part would be the music. My husband is a total music snob, and once DJ Gatsby (Jon) and I got to emailing each other about music options, I could immediately tell we’d be in good hands.
Jon met with my husband in person; they spoke about music styles and exchanged ideas. As we got closer to wedding time, Jon sent me a list of songs to consider so he could really understand what we were looking for, (and NOT looking for), specifically. We spoke on the phone several times and Jon made me feel like it was his personal mission to make the wedding music perfect for our special day.

I knew I wanted classic jazz during the cocktail hour, but didn’t know EXACTLY what I wanted. So I just explained the mood and vibe I wanted to create and Jon just knew immediately what I was looking for. It’s like he translated the sentiments I wanted to share with my guests into his music list. He was amazing. I feel like he truly loves music.

Then for the reception we wanted some funk, some old school fun hip hop and just great music to dance to but NO “pop” music. Everyone had a BLAST! We even had people come up to request songs but my husband gave Jon specific “do not play” list and Jon didn’t cave in. He stuck with the vibe we asked him to stick to and we couldn’t have asked for more. He was SO GREAT to work with. He really made our day memorable. Thanks Jon!!!

Jon was the DJ at our recent wedding, and significantly contributed to it being the best wedding ever. My husband and I felt very strongly that we did not want the same old stuffy wedding/bar mitzvah playlists; we wanted no part in any electric sliding or YMCA’ing. We wanted personal, special songs for the ceremony; quirky, earthy music for the cocktail hour; and lively mix of fresh, fun music for the reception that would appeal to both our friends and our parents’ guests. Jon was receptive to every request, meeting with us several times to discuss our vision and how he could best execute it. By way of example, he was so in-tune to our needs and desires as a couple that during the ceremony when the music had to pause because the rabbi began speaking and then there was an opportunity for it to resume, I looked up at Jon, made eye contact, and he understood that that was a cue to resume the music, and so he did. Perfection.
Jon even made several suggestions we ultimately used for very important songs like the father-daughter dance and the song my husband walked down the aisle to, drawing on his keen music savvy and encyclopedic song knowledge. The best way I can describe him is as a music nerd. And I say that with love and admiration. He’s very cool, but has that element of perfectionism that you definitely want in someone in charge of the soundtrack to your most special day.

Jon coordinated seamlessly with the caterer and wedding coordinator to work on the timing of the day and equipment set-up. He was ever-professional, and I now consider him a friend. Anyone passing him over in favor of another DJ would be making a serious mistake.

Jon (DJ Gatsby) was fantastic to work with for our wedding. I (Lindsay) work in the event planning industry and professionalism is very important to me. Jon was the most organized and collaborative of the bunch. (No offense to our venue, our decorator and our photographer!)

Jon really took the time to understand our tastes, the atmosphere we wanted to create, and the flow of events. We never felt obligated to spell out every song he should and should not play. We gave him genres we liked and the vibe we wanted to create at different points in the wedding, and he just ran with it. Our cocktail hour was upbeat and modern alternative, with a splash of ’90s rock. And our reception was a party that mixed great dance songs, throwbacks to our college years, and some current guilty pleasures.

Our hope for the wedding was that we’d spend most of our time on the dance floor: eat a little, dance, father-daughter moment, dance, toasts, dance, cake, and dance.  He kept the energy at the right level all throughout the night. We truly believe that he had a lot to do with just how much fun our guests had – and they had a blast!
If your musical tastes and the atmosphere you want are anything like ours, we can wholeheartedly recommend Jon. If you plan to handpick every single song in your wedding, you’re probably wasting Jon’s talent.

Let Jon run with it and cross off one thing that you don’t have to worry about on your wedding day.