I just got married this past weekend at the Casa Marina in Jacksonville Beach. Wow, what an exciting time and whirlwind weekend. For our DJ and sound system, we used McGee Entertainment and Carlton gave us Nate for our DJ for the night. This is what I thought of the service. First of all, I should say that the entire event went off without any problem. My fiancé and I planned the wedding within 3 months, so we really needed simple and reliable service for everything. I spoke with Carlton over the phone and he communicated well what was included in the package. I booked the date and made a reservation payment online very easily. A number of weeks later, about 2 – 3 weeks before the wedding date, he sent me a link to his website where we could order up the music we wanted for the ceremony and reception. A few days after that, the DJ(Nate) sent me a word file asking for the same information. I opted for the word document and followed up with a phone conversation with Nate to confirm everything we wanted. A week later I made a few changes. No problem. Then a few days before the wedding, Nate contacted me letting me know that there was a problem finding some of the ceremony music. I chose some music that was difficult to find(I knew this) so we worked out a couple of contingency plans. Long story short, we found a different version of one song that I liked even better, and I swapped another song with a backup I had thought of. The day of the wedding, Nate showed up early as we planned and we talked things over. Nate(and McGee) have a lot of experience setting up at Casa Marina, which is a fairly unique venue — the dance floor is outside and the same location as the ceremony. The reception dinner is inside off to the side. He confirmed the setup with me to make sure it didn’t interfere with any preference I had(like volume of music during dinner), and he clearly communicated the pros/cons to each setup. Nate was really great to work with during the setup and very knowledgeable of the venue. Now it’s game time. The ceremony went off without any problem. It was perfect. Music played on cue and volume was good. During the cocktail hour, I asked that Nate play music of a typical«New Orleans bar on Bourbon Street». We were taking pictures at the rear of the venue, but could still hear the music. Still super excited from getting married, that music he picked was awesome! He helped announce to our guests where they needed to be(on the beach) and at what time to launch wish lanterns. Our introduction that he made was simple and enthusiastic but not over the top — really good. During the dinner, he played smooth Jazz music in the background. The father of the bride who is hard of hearing asked to turn the music down a bit, and Nate complied. He was really out to please us. If I had asked him to turn it up, he would have done so. Speeches went off perfectly with his portable mic. No feedback or any problem. Then cake cutting and first dances — all went off without a hitch. We had a rather small wedding and small contingent of young people, but I think quite a few of them were dancing and had a great time. Nate would transition songs that didn’t work and change tempo when necessary. At the end of the night, he gave me two CDs of some of the music he played and a few songs he was going to play but either didn’t have time or make an audible not to play. Overall, the service was very good and the price was very reasonable. For your wedding day, you place a lot of faith on a few services like DJ/sound system, event location, catering, photographer, officiant, etc. You just hope they come through. For us, this service delivered exactly how we had hoped. If I could say anything negative, it is only that Nate notified me of the ceremony music issue a few days before the wedding. I did, however, have all of this music on my ipod that we could have used as a plan B option, so I wasn’t stressed or worried about it at all, but we worked out the changes I mentioned that made the ceremony music even better than the original plan. Another negative is that the terms of payment required that I pay the final payment 1 week before the date. Given how much trust there is that the service is delivered as promised, I think the final payment should be made after the service is delivered as expected. Again, this didn’t cause me a problem, but I can see that it might for someone else. Finally, I was given the option of using the website to specify my music choices, timing, etc. AND Nate emailed me a word document(I chose the word document). I was never confused by this, nor did one or the other cause me any problem, but I can see that someone might be confused that 2 channels of communication was offered and it might lead to problems. RECOMMENDATION: You only get married once, but to a bride/groom to be, I would definitely recommend his service and I definitely would recommend Nate as a DJ.
Natalie B.
Place rating: 5 Jacksonville, FL
McGee Entertainment was our selection for our wedding reception. The owner, Carlton McGee, was our DJ. He is incredible fun and professional. The quality of his service is 5 star. He has an amazing selection of music and a great sound system(Bose). His setup is clean and non obtrusive. He doesn’t need silly things like smoke machines to showcase how talented he is. Our guests loved him and he knew how to appeal to the diverse crowds! He even got out and taught our guests the Cupid Shuffle! Awesome. His prices are reasonable and he has several packages to fit your different needs.