Elle Music & Events

Brandon and Lisette did the lights in the courtyard at our wedding in August at the Garden Court Hotel. They turned out beautifully! One of the days we were touring our venue, they were set up for another wedding and had Italian market lights strung across the courtyard and it added so much ambiance. We asked our wedding coordinator who had done the lighting work and she put us in touch with Brandon. I compared the pricing with a few other companies and they were priced competitively and I was comforted that they knew the venue and knew what I wanted.
We got many compliments on the market lights! (Many people actually thought they were part of the venue — that’s how seamless it was.) Thanks Brandon and Lisette for being part of our wedding!

My name is Chris Michaels and I repesent The All-​Stars formily known as Keith Johnson All-​Stars Band. Because of horrible booking and misrepresentation from Brandon Cruz and Elle Music & Event, we no onger work, endorse or recommend this company…
Buyer Beware…
Should you need a DJ or Band fo your event, please contact our office diect for picing and our availability. The facts behind the full story is NOT worth explaination, many of the negative reviews reflect our exact thoughts. Each of you deserve better and a GREAT piece of mind for your specia day.

We booked Brandon Cruz for the lighting for our wedding in August. All of our planning meetings with Brandon were great, and he seemed to be in tune with what we wanted. However, the day of the wedding was a different matter.
We were supposed to have lavender area washes, but at the reception, everything was the wrong color and just looked amber. It looked nothing like the sample photos that Brandon showed us. We also had pin lights on the flowers, which didn’t show up very well since the ambient lighting wasn’t well controlled.
We were also told before hand that there wouldn’t be any techs on site as that would cost additional money, but that they would show the DJ how to dim the lights. At the reception, all of a sudden, there are two techs there unannounced requesting a meal. A bit unprofessional, but okay, we got them meals. However, it turns out that they did not show the DJ how to use the lighting, and ultimately, when we needed their help, they were nowhere to be found. At the end of the wedding, they had the audacity to ask if they could take home some of the extra cake.
After the wedding, we emailed Brandon with our concerns that the lighting didn’t come anywhere close to meeting our expectations that were set in our previous discussion. He had a quick reply that said he was out of the office and would get back to us… and it’s been 3 months since. Bottom line, Brandon did not take responsibility for what happen and didn’t seem to care once he was paid. I would not recommend him.
Note: I believe Elle Music & Events may have been absorbed into Associated Entertainment, or at least that’s what Brandon told us.

Hopefully this post stays on. Our experience has been horrible. We hired Elle to do our lighting and draping or our wedding reception. They failed to complete a number of contracted services, including failing to provide pattern washes, dimming the venue’s lights, and turning off certain of the venue’s lights. Also, they switched the contracted type of drapes on us.
At the end of the day, after much frustration, I at least got ½ my money back via my credit card company, since I put my deposit on my credit card. I’m still trying to recover the other ½ and have filed a complaint with BBB. Eventually, I plan to file a claim in state court. I’ll keep everyone updated on my progress and good luck to anyone else out there.

This was the worse vendor experience. Ever.
I have emailed Brandon multiple times to find out what happened at our wedding and have been ignored.
I used Elle since they were on the list of vendors at my venue, Kohl Mansion. They might need to rethink having Elle on their list of recommended vendors.
I had some trouble getting ahold of Brandon a few months before the wedding, but was told he just had a kid so I let that slide. Then, I had the worse experience with them on my wedding day.
We rented sound equipment from Elle and had them do our lighting. The lighting seemed ok. We had pin spots on the head table, up lighting around the banquet hall, and I believe a cake spot. I didn’t really notice we had lighting, but I think we did since our table looked illuminated in photos.
So, back to the sound. Since Brandon was familiar with Kohl’s equipment, he was able to tell us what we would need to rent for our friend speaker-​wise (the DJ) to play our dance music. I heard them working on the sound checks and everything sounded fine. However, when it came time to have our first dance, the music was barely audible. It was choppy, and sounded like it was static-​y and muffled. A vast difference from what it sounded like during their sound check. I was appalled. I didn’t know about the problem until we started our first dance. Our DJ knew and he and the wedding coordinator were trying to call Brandon to find out what was wrong. They couldn’t get a hold of him. So, you can imagine my disappointment when I had to dance to horrible sound during our first dance. I even told the DJ to cut the song since it was so embarrassing after the first two minutes.
I have emailed Brandon to ask what in the world happen and to give him a chance to explain what went wrong (come on blame it on Kohl or a loose wire or something) and he never responded. Very unprofessional. I would have liked my money back for the sound equipment I rented! I think I deserved that at least. I don’t mind paying for the lighting since it was fine, but the sound!!! Sigh.

Elle Music & Events handled the DJ and custom lighting for my wedding a few weeks back & did a tremendous job! The lighting transformed our venue into a nightclub/​lounge. Our DJ, Randy, was very professional from our pre-​meeting to the end of the reception at 1am. He kept our guests dancing until last call! I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone with a big event coming up. They do a great job and their prices are very reasonable.

Where do I start?
The short version:
We got married in May 2009 and booked our band and lighting through Elle. In the end, the lighting was good and the band was not. Everything appeared fine heading into our wedding day, and that’s when it fell apart. We spoke with Brandon at Elle at length after our wedding about all that went wrong with our band, and he agreed to refund us $ 1,600 of what we paid for the band since it was unsatisfactory. He asked if he could pay us in installments as the business was struggling. We agreed. Even after extensive follow-​up contact from us since he agreed to that (in July 2009), we have yet to receive a check. Now he’s ignoring our calls.
I’ve waited almost a year to post this review because I wanted to give Elle Music the benefit of the doubt. No longer — this has just gotten ridiculous.
By the way, if you go to their website (which after reading this I hope you don’t!), it now says this: «Formerly Elle Music & Events, now in partnership with Associated Entertainment Consultants and Mainstar Productions.» Just FYI so you’re not fooled.
The long version:
Issue #1: When we arrived at our cocktail hour we noticed immediately that the lead singers on the stage were not the lead singers we had chosen. I had repeatedly confirmed with Elle who our singers were to be and I was assured that that’s who we were getting. Imagine our surprise then when they weren’t on the stage as we walked into our reception. If there was a last minute change that had to be made, why weren’t we immediately contacted?
Issue #2: The Mother of the Groom/​Groom dance never happened, and neither did the Groom’s Parents and Bride’s Parents dances. Again, both of these were on the itinerary that Elle signed off on and confirmed with us. Imagine how my in laws — who paid for the band — felt about this. This is a really special moment that you can’t do over or get back. It’s gone.
Issue #3: We were supposed to have an anniversary dance in lieu of a bouquet toss, but they just announced all the married couples should dance and didn’t narrow down the crowd as you should do with an anniversary dance — where the couple married the longest is the last couple dancing, and they get the bouquet.
Issue #4: When the announcement of the bridal party was made as they entered the reception, we had written a little comment describing each person to be read by the band leader. When they were announced, it was like he was reading them for the first time, and it was really awkward. Intros were botched and worst of all, my mother-in-law’s name was pronounced incorrectly. Her name is Marie, not Mary. How can you mess up something so simple? She was rightly not pleased about that.
Issue #5: I also thought that our rep from Elle would be there for the reception as he said he would be. He was not. Instead, I ended up going up to the stage and speaking with the band a few times about when things were supposed to happen, and I don’t think the bride should have had to do that at her own wedding reception.
Please protect yourself and your special day by taking your business elsewhere.

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE. DO NOT USE FOR AN EVENT THAT MATTERS TO YOU.
I met with Tristan months before my wedding and after discussing ideas and looking at a photo slideshow on his computer, I felt comfortable booking him. After that consultation meeting, I basically never heard from Tristan again. As my wedding day grew closer, I became increasingly concerned about the radio silence from Tristan and Elle & Co.
Finally, after weeks of silence, I was told Brandon would take over in place of Tristan. Brandon met with my fiancé at the hotel ballroom and told us that he would do an amazing job, beyond what Tristan would have done. We were so excited to work with Brandon and he said that «sunset» colors were his specialty. He even promised to use more lights than we had originally planned, without raising the costs.
Fast forward to our wedding day. When the grand moment came and my husband and I walked into our wedding reception, we looked around the ballroom expecting the lighting of our dreams. What we saw was a half-​assed attempt to throw a little bit of color here and there in the ballroom. The design on the dance floor was completely off center. We were in disbelief. Brandon had led us to believe the lighting was going to transform our reception. It was, instead, the most disappointing aspect of our décor.
A few weeks later we emailed Brandon and others at Elle & Co. to express our deep disappointment. We asked Brandon to do something to make it right — meaning, at least some nominal refund. As usual, Elle & Co. was slow to respond, and when Brandon finally responded, he refused to refund even one penny.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. If I could rewind time, I would never have booked Elle for the most important day of my life.

Two words: EPIC FAIL
I feel like I’m the only person so far who has had a very negative experience working with Elle Music & Events. But if my review can help just one person, it will be worth it!
I first spoke with Tristan Flores over the phone regarding lighting for my wedding day. He was very attentive, helpful, and really knew his stuff about lighting. He would return my phone calls and e-​mails in a timely manner. I felt pretty confident in Elle Music & Events this time and asked for a quote.
1 week passed and still not quote. I called Elle about it and left a message. Brandon Cruz called me back and said he would have my quote within the next 24 hours. 24 hours passed and I still had not heard back from them. I called and spoke with Brandon again. Turns out they got my name completely wrong, but they finally sent me a quote. That probably should have been warning sign #1, but we did end up booking Elle for lighting for our wedding reception
About 3 months later, I decided to e-​mail Tristan to follow-​up on our lighting plans. I waited 3 weeks with no response. I decided to e-​mail the other ladies in finance from Elle to see if they knew what happened to Tristan. Someone finally got back to me and informed me that Tristan had to leave due to family circumstances. That is definitely understandable, but we wished we could have gotten some sort of notice.
From this point on it was about 1.5 months to our wedding day and we were told that Brandon Cruz was going to take over as our lighting consultant. Every bride knows, the last month up until your wedding is crunch time. I called Brandon on his personal cell number to go over our contract since I had previously been working with Tristan. He was busy at another event and informed me he would call me back later that night, but he didn’t. A week goes by and I still have not received a call from Brandon. I knew that he was really busy with other events, but if you are a business that is suppose to be a part of someone’s special day, I would expect you to be professional and easily accessible. This should have been warning sign #2.
I decide to call the number for Elle’s office. First time I call, no one answers so I leave a message. No one returns my calls. I call a second time and someone answers but says that Brandon is in a meeting and that he would call me back. But he never did. It would go on like this multiple times. I finally did get a hold of him by phone once. I asked if it was possible for him to meet me at my reception venue to go over our contract and to make sure he was familiar with the space. Brandon assured me that he had been to my reception site and had done weddings there before so he was very familiar with it. He sounded very confident so we never met in person and never had an on-​site consultation. This is warning sign #3.
The week leading up to our wedding, Brandon was all of a sudden back and very reachable by e-​mail. This sort of calmed my nerves a bit and sort of restored the little faith that I had in this company. My day-​of-​coordinator was also in close contact with him, which made me feel better.
WEDDING DAY
When my husband and I arrived to our reception venue and looked inside we were shocked in a BAD way. We arrived about 20 minutes before the reception was suppose to start and Elle had not even completed setting up. They were suppose to arrive 3 hours prior, which should be enough time to set up.
It turns out that the person that was suppose to bring all the lighting and materials to set up came 1 hour late. Our guest started arriving and the team got a bit flustered and anxious, since they were already pressed for time, and in my opinion sort of gave up and did a poor job.
We were suppose to have paper lanterns hung in the center of the room above the dance floor — but that didn’t happen. They had them all laid on the floor and couldn’t or didn’t even try to hang them up so it became sort of a hazard for our guests. We also rented draping from them but it was the wrong material, sheer instead of opaque, and the wrong size. Only half the uplights were setup and in the wrong color. We were also suppose to have a floor wash on our dance floor, spotlight on our cake and sweetheart table but we didn’t.
After the wedding, we contacted Elle to work out the situation. We only received ¹⁄₃ of what was stated in our contract. We requested ²⁄₃ of our money back and they agreed. They said they would refund us in 4 increments. We waited 2 months and still no check. We e-​mailed them again and they said they would send us a check in the next week. It’s been 6 months since our wedding and we still haven’t received one check.
Yes, Brandon and his wife Lisette are really nice people, but from a business standpoint, they are not professional. It has always been difficult to reach them, they don’t follow-​up, and they don’t follow through. Be careful before you book Elle. I would highly recommend meeting them in person first.

Elle is on my venue’s preferred vendor’s list so I gave them a call a few month ago. Answering machine came on so I decided to call back another day. Throughout the past 2 months, I would randomly call when I had a break from work. No one EVER picks up the phone. I submitted the «Info Request» online form, no reply and it even says someone will reply back within 24 hours. LIES! I left a voicemail, still no reply.
I’m not sure how they run their business or generate new business when no one answers the office line nor reply back to messages. I guess I can take my $ 2K lighting budget elsewhere! I’m hoping this review will get their attention, but another reviewer said they never replied back to her. No surprise there!

A+++++!!! Brandon from Elle Music and Events made my wedding extra special. No words can describe the magic touch Brandon was able to provide to my wedding. I did not expect to see the reception hall light up the way it did. My guest, family and husband were and still are truly impress with what Brandon was able to do to the room. Thank you Elle Music & Events for making my wedding a dream come true!!!

I’d really appreciate it if Unilocal doesn’t remove my review of Elle Music and Events! This review is to act as a precaution for future brides, so stop taking it down!
After unsuccessful attempts to get my reimbursement, I had to get my credit card company involve in the dispute. With the power of a big company, I was finally reimbursed. I’m so happy I didn’t pay by check.

It took me a long time to finally hunker down and book our lighting. We didn’t think of it as a priority for our small wedding budget but now that the wedding has come and gone I’m so glad that we went ahead and got the lighting. The uplights changed our venue from blah to fabulous! The paisley design on my dance floor wasn’t as great as I had imagined but it made the dance floor look like somewhere you should be DANCING and tied in a few of my wedding details.
Elle had the best prices on lighting that I could find. And Lisette was so helpful at all hours of the night. I’m a night owl, I like to take care of creative endeavors after midnight. I swear she should have gone crazy from all my emails over months. I told her that we were dropping lighting from our budget twice and she still answered my emails when I revisited the idea and revised our budget to include lighting. Lisette patiently helped me to rework a package that I could afford and then let me change my mind about colors and designs a dozen times.

We hired Brandon to do the lighting for our wedding reception and he did a Fabulous Job! He worked very hard to find/​make exactly what we wanted and the event was a complete success! We highly recommend hiring Brandon for any event that needs lighting.

I first met Elle Music & Events @ the Modern Bridal Show in San Francisco 5 years ago. At that time, I wasn’t looking for a lighting vendor yet. But this is a LOOOOOOOOOONG overdue raving review for one of the Best Vendors in the Bay Area Wedding Industry.
Today and Tomorrow, I highly recommend Elle Music & Events.
Last December 2008, I organized a Charity to event to benefit a non-​profit in San Francisco. Without hesitation, Brandon stepped up to the plate and assisted us with our Lighting Needs.
Brandon Cruz & his wife, Lisette Penaflor Cruz are:
= AMAZING. (Easy to work with)
= DEPENDABLE: (With 10 plus events going on @ the same time, he still has the time to get back to my email/​phone calls)
= HONEST: (He’ll tell you what works and his recommendations)
= NETWORKED: (He knows everyone in the business! He passed a few names and contacts that I used for the event)
= AFFORDABLE: (Need I say more?)
the bottom line is…
= a KEEPER: (I’ll never use anyone else for lighting services.
During the whole planning process, the team was GREAT to work with! They accommodated all of our wants and needs, as well as gave us advise and feedback! He was always professional and responded to my emails in a very timely manner!
On the evening of the event, the The lighting @ Hotel Nikko never looked as beautiful as it did. Gorgeous color to compliment the room. Lighting does make a huge difference and can completely transform a room.
Without hesitation, I would highly recommend Elle Music & Events.
A very, very satisfied client.

This company is very unprofessional and overrated! I talked to Brandon Cruz and met with John Francisco of Elle to discuss their DJ/​lighting services for my wedding and was very disappointed with the outcome.
Here’s a copy of the e-​mail I sent to them recently:
«I’m very disappointed with my experience with Elle. I was promised a quote over a month ago and I still haven’t received it. I’ve followed-​up numerous times and received an apology each time, but never any follow-​through. I was really looking forward to the possibility of working with your company but the hassle of having to constantly request information I had already been promised is too much to deal with while planning a wedding and hiring other vendors. I can’t imagine how much of a hassle it would have been if I had actually hired Elle for our music and lighting. If you didn’t want our business in the first place, I would have been more appreciative if you would have just told me rather than wasting my time. Hopefully this email will prevent your future potential clients from such an inconvenience.»
They have yet to respond to me. I’m still so upset with the service I received. If anyone has any wedding DJ recommendations, send them my way!

If I could give them negative stars I would. I ended up hiring them because they were reasonably priced and always kept in constant contact over the year and a half I was engaged. They were also reccomended to me through several other people who had used them on the Knot. After reading their reviews and my initial consultation I thought they would do a good job.
I was wrong.
1) I had the room for my ceremony from 9am until 1am and it specifically stated in my contract that the lighting should be done no later than 4pm. Needless to say they were STILL setting up during my 6PM cermeony!
2) I never got to see the room beforehand. Originally I was told they would bring 3 colors to the reception. The one I chose, a shade lighter, and a shade darker. Then, I would get to see them all and decide what would look best. The 3 colors were NEVER shown to me.
3) my name on the monogram was spelled wrong and the guy setting up (only 1 guy for what was supposed to be almost 47 lights) had the odacity to say to my bridesmaid, «Well the bride sent in the paper work.» DARN straight I did and I used the same PDF file I used to make my invitations. I think I know how to spell my own name! I looked back at the email I had sent (thank you hotmail for saving all my sent messages) and INDEED my name was spelled correctly on the file I sent them. AND I also had a follow-​up email stating you keep spelling my name with an ay and it is EY, please make that correction… but no they are too incompetent to check their work!
4) we were to have a gazillion lights to turn our reception room entirely blue and I was very clear and specific with my expectations from our initial meeting. Because of the wood and mirrors at the venue, I knew it would be difficult to do, but they insisted that it could be done. I said I would do whatever it needs. I did not have the wall washes as promised, no ceiling washes I paid for, the floor washes I paid for, the blue lights in the wall scounces or the bar area. Half of the lighting I paid for was never set up and the guy setting up did a horendous job because he arrived too late!
5) We paid for a cake spotlight and never got it.
I sent a long letter this morning expressing my deep disappointment, The room looked atrocious, nothing like we had originally discussed. the room actually looked BETTER before the lighting. We spent over $ 2,000 and I insisted on a full refund by the end of the week. We will see what happens.
I am so upset because I told at least 3 other brides to go with them and they did a poor job at best! I told them I could no longer reccomend their services and I feel horrible for other brides who have already booked them since their deposits are non-​refundable. It was really disappointing.
YES we are married, it was a great ceremony, good food, and a fun party, BUT when details are important to you and you have a vision in your head for over a year and to not get what you paid for (literally) was really disheartening.
STAY AWAY!!!

We hired Elle to do the pipe and drape for our wedding at the Green Room in SF, and this was probably one of the BEST investments we made for that day.
Other vendors (Got light, Classic) quoted me thousands for pipe and drape to fit the 28′ tall ceilings. Elle’s quote was a fraction of this cost and with zero compromise on the quality and beauty they provided. I was a little wary at first because of the huge price difference, but what they ultimately delivered totally wowed me.
If I ever need pipe and drape again, I will definitely give these guys a call. They also offer very reasonable packages for lighting and are very familiar with the specific regulations of working in SF. If we hadn’t committed to another vendor for an entire package, we would definitely have gone with Elle.

All I can say is this is an awesome vendor. I worked primarily with Tristan but I did get to speak to Brandon on a few occasions. I developed a bond with Tristan that went beyond just business, he truly became a friend through this whole process. Elle took a blah room at a run of the mill venue and turned it into something that many of our guests had never seen before! Our wedding photographer even blogged that it was the most beautiful wedding that she has seen. Tristan and Brandon were able to deal with my ever changing mind and never made me feel like I was asking too many questions or making too many changes. They were able to turn over the room at my venue with lightening speed and never sacrificed the integrity of the design. I can’t say enough about this company! If I can find use for lighting and rentals again I would only consider using these guys! They have a client for life!

I would definitely recommend Elle & Co to my friends, and here’s why:
They are inexpensive and Brandon Cruz is really, really nice.
I found Elle & Co because they represent the band we wanted to play at our wedding. Said band, Martini Straight Up, played at my cousin’s bar mitzvah, and they rocked it. Despite the fact that the band was expensive, the other things Elle provides (such as lighting) were pretty inexpensive. We also got a discount for ordering multiple services through them.
I’m not sure that they are as creative as Got Light?, but they are MUCH less expensive. I already knew what I wanted for lighting, so I gave Elle a picture and they were able to duplicate it. I think Got Light? is very artistic and you definitely get what you pay for, but our room looked fantastic and I’m not all that picky about lighting… so in our case, I didn’t think Got Light? was priority enough to take up that much of our budget.
Brandon always new my name and my fiancé’s name when I called to talk to him. He is very friendly and I really liked him. I talked to him about hiring a string quartet for ceremony, and he was totally honest with me: he told me that he didn’t think we needed a quartet for our ceremony venue, and that a trio would save us money. I told him I was considering hiring students (which I eventually did), and he told me the things to ask them to make sure our ceremony went smoothly. I really appreciated his honesty.
So why only 4 stars instead of 5? There was a bit of feedback on the sound system during toasts. I’m not sure why this happened, but I felt like it shouldn’t have. Also, we ordered a cake spotlight (in addition to uplights and a floor wash), and we didn’t get it. I called Brandon about this a few weeks after the wedding, though, and he promptly refunded it. :)