“Our entire evening was PERFECT!!! Music played a HUGE part of that and we THANK YOU from the Bottom of Our Hearts!!! EVERYONE should use Scotia Entertainment for their events!!”

Terry Holdershaw
Scotia Entertainment Services
Professional DJs, Live Entertainment & Audio-Visual Services throughout Mississauga, Toronto, Kitchener, Muskoka & Surrounding Areas.

LL Cool J was a great choice as the host and he did an excellent job, they should have let him perform over half the other performances they had though.

Bruno Mars had a very cool performance… nothing like any of the music he has ever released before so didn’t make much sense to me. Very retro, cool stage, real musicians and a great show though.

Adele made her come back to performance and thank god she didn’t sing Someone Like You. Everyone seems to love her… I’m personally not a fan of her music, but she did do a pretty good job with ‘Rolling In The Deep’. She also did take home 6 Grammy awards!

Chris Brown’s first performance was sort of like a bunch of monkeys jumping around on a huge stack of cubes. The lighting and visuals crew put on a better performance than he did. When he came back later to perform with David Guetta,  they had a great performance though. Throwing the Foo Fighters in between Guetta and Deadmau5 was a bit odd and Deadmau5 should leave the Dub Step to Skrillex and play what he’s good at. Dave Grohl of Foo Figthers managed to perform on stage 3 times. Why did they put the Rock & Dance show in a tent in the parking lot anyway?

Nicki Minaj was absolutely brutal and by far the all time worst performance on the Grammy’s. I’m not sure how that made the cut to get on the program? With all the double and triple performances this year I’m sure glad they limited Nicki’s stage presence to one performance.

Paul McCartney put everyone to sleep with his first performance and came back to close the show with some Beatles B-Side songs to end the show. The guitar jam at the end was pretty cool, Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen got to show off their talent once again. At least the show didn’t end with someone lip syncing or performing an exorcism.

Oh Yeah… were there any awards anyway… does anyone care about them anymore?

Click Here For All The 2012 Grammy Award Winners

The bottom 2 photos are credit of Mode Function Event Design

Check out the video below from American DJ showcasing the H20 Light

Scotia Entertainment provides Professional DJ, Entertainment & Audio-Visual Services for Weddings, Corporate & Social Events throughout the Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Muskoka & Surrounding Areas.

“I just wanted to let you know that Stevie did an amazing job at our wedding!!! We were so pleased with how everything turned out with him playing the bagpipes out of the chapel and then again when we were entering into the reception area. Thanks for organizing everything and we will definitely refer you to anyone we know who may be planning a wedding.” – Carolyn Todd, December 2011

The average budget for a 2011 wedding in Canada was $23,330 up from 2010’s average of $20,129.

Here is a suggested budget percentage breakdown for weddings.
Venue, Food & Beverage 40 – 50%
Photography / Video: 10 – 15%
DJ / Entertainment: 5 – 10%
Bride & Groom Attire: 5 – 10%
Decor & Centerpiece: 5 – 10%
Flowers: 5 – 10%
Wedding Planner / Coordinator: 5 – 10%
Wedding Rings: 3 – 8%
Cake: 2 – 3%
Transportation: 2 – 5%
Invitations: 1 – 5%
Officiant: 2 – 3%
Hair & Makeup: 1 – 3%
Favours & Gifts: 1 – 3%
Miscellaneous: 1 – 3%
Unexpected Expenses: 5%

When it comes to the entertainment for your wedding ceremony and reception, it is often over-looked until after the fact. Researching your entertainment options is very important before simply booking with the lowest price or a referral from your venue. The internet has made researching wedding vendors quite easy for wedding couples. It is also quite easy for people that may not be so experienced or professional able to advertise themselves as wedding professionals with a little to zero investment. Taking a good look at your DJ or Band’s website is a good start to your research. Does it look professional? Are there event photos? Are there real testimonials? Do they seem like a good fit for what you are looking for in a DJ or Entertainment? It is also a good idea to look at third party testimonial sites and if possible view original testimonials or direct testimonials from their past clients.

What will your guests remember from your wedding? Statistics show that close to 40% of your guests will remember the entertainment the most over anything else about your wedding reception. Check out this chart from Modern Bride Magazine.

Here are a couple of real life scenarios to think about.

Scenario #1 – You ask your cousin to play your ceremony and reception music on an iPod and paid $100 on a sound system rental. Your cousin gets delayed at the rental company picking up the sound equipment and has very little experience setting up this type of professional equipment. The ceremony is now delayed by 15 minutes while guests are watching your cousin try to get the sound working. When it comes time for you to walk down the isle, your cousin plays the wrong song. At your reception, the majority of your guests leave early because there is no flow to the dance floor and the pre-programmed music lists aren’t the type of music your guests want to dance to.

Scenario #2 – You hired a DJ from a classified site without properly researching the DJ or company. It’s now your wedding day, the DJ shows up 2 hours late wearing jeans and a golf shirt. As he finishes setting up throughout dinner and speeches it is now time for the dance with your father. After a few minutes of dead silence, the DJ apologizes for not having the right song. You are upset, leave the dance floor and don’t have that special dance with your father.

Scenario #3 – You have your DJ narrowed down to two choices. The first choice had a modern website and you felt really comfortable when you met with them. The second choice has a really outdated website and you weren’t able to meet them in person due to lack of flexibility in their schedule. The second choice is about $500 cheaper than the first choice and they claim to have over 30 years experience, so you hire them. When you show up to the reception on your wedding day the DJ’s equipment looks outdated and visually unappealing. During speeches the wireless microphone cuts in and out making it impossible for anyone to hear.

The average price of a Professional DJ varies due to regional area, experience and reputation. In the Greater Toronto Area, average starting rates are typically $1000 – $1500 for basic DJ Services. Professional DJ’s in Canada should carry an AVLA license which allows them to play music in public commercially. DJs and Bands should also carry liability insurance as well.

I reached out to find couples who wished they would have researched their wedding DJ’s a bit better. Here are two examples of these couples:

“I got married 7 years ago and thought I had done my research, but I don’t think I did enough.  My DJ was very nice but not on the ball, for the price we paid I think we got ripped off.  It took forever to have a meeting with him, finally he decided to come to my house but at the last minute called to tell me he had his 2 young daughters with him. One under 1 and another about 3 years old and wanted to know if he could bring them.  At this point I had to say yes because I had no time to wait for him or look for another DJ.  He promised me that I was the only wedding for him that day and that he the owner was going to do my wedding not one of his employees.  On the day of our wedding everything was going smoothly until I arrived at our reception and was just ready to do the intro when in walks the DJ, he had booked himself that morning and it had run late and instead of being set up before we arrived he was setting up when we were doing the congrats line. There was a couple songs I requested that he chose not to get for me, which bummed me out.  I would never go with that person again, I found out after the fact that he over booked himself and his employees all the time.” – Michelle Roberts

“I just wanted to give you our experience with hiring a DJ for our wedding last year. Tash said they were really accommodating to our needs and wants, and worked well with our budget.  They supplied their own equipment and music, and followed our request and our guests requests.  My biggest issue with them is they did not use the correct version of our first dance song.  We requested a specific artist and song, but what they played was not the correct version.  I’m sure if we had more of a sit down formal meeting with them, this would have been averted.” – Kev and Tash MacIntyre

The best thing I can recommend is to do your research when hiring a DJ or Entertainment for your wedding. Be weary of low prices, do your research, have an in person meeting, ask your other trusted wedding vendors for referrals and ask your recently married friends and co-workers about their experiences. This is your special day and you don’t want to be stressed out or disappointed because the DJ you hired wasn’t professional or dropped the ball.

Terry Holdershaw, Entertainment Specialist & DJ
Scotia Entertainment Services
www.ScotiaEntertainment.com

Scotia Entertainment provides Professional DJ, Live Entertainment & Audio-Visual Services for Weddings, Corporate and Social Events throughout Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Muskoka and Surrounding Areas.

We welcome your comments and wedding stories below.

This was the second year that we provided DJ Services for Continental Ingredients Canada at The Crooked Cue in Port Credit, Mississauga. This was another great party that started out with cocktails followed by a buffet dinner, pool tournament and the party ended off with dancing right up until closing time!

Here is what they had to say…

“Michelle,
WHAT A BLAST!!!
Terry was fantastic.  I’m so glad I stayed as long as I did, Dancing was “da bomb”.
I made up for last year ‘cause I couldn’t stay very long.
Thanks so much for your expertise!”
- Hilary R. Henry, Executive Administrator for Continental Ingredients Canada

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! All the best in 2012!

Terry Holdershaw & Michelle Clayton
Scotia Entertainment Services

Congratulations to all of the winners!

Clean & Green: Loyalty One
Business Person of the Year: Dominic Meffe, Monte Carlo Inn
Small Business of the Year: Globeways Canada Inc.
Large Business of the Year: triOS College
Employer of the Year: Nealanders International
Corporate Social Responsibility: Holcim Canada Inc.
Technology & Innovation: UCIT Online
New Business of the Year: Napoca Restaurant
Not-For Profit Organization: The Community Foundation of Mississauga
Sam McCallion Small Business Community Involvement: Antonio’s Hair Zone

Right Click Here To Download MixTape 2011

Or Stream Online Here…

Scotia Entertainment provides Professional DJ, Live Entertainment and Audio-Visual Services for Weddings, Corporate & Social Events throughout Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Muskoka & Surrounding Areas.

Happy Listening!

This demo mix is for promotional use only.

* BOOK BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND GET OUR 2011 RATES + SAVE 5% ON ALL NEW BOOKINGS *

New Package Details:

Cocktail DJ Package
- Up to 4 hours of service with Professional DJ & Digital Music Library
- Clear Sound System for up to 150 Guests

Standard DJ Package
- Up to 8 hours of service with Professional DJ & Digital Music Library
- Clear Sound System for up to 150 Guests
- 2 Semi-Intelligent Dance Lights
- Wireless Microphone
- Online Planning Form

Premium DJ/MC Package
- Up to 8 hours of service with Professional DJ/MC & Digital Music Library
- DJ/MC Assistant
- Clear Sound System with Sub-woofer for The Best Sound
- 3 Semi-Intelligent Dance Lights
- Wireless Microphone
- Online Planning Form

Ultimate DJ/MC Package
- Up to 8 hours of service with Professional DJ/MC & Digital Music Library
- DJ/MC Assistant
- Clear Sound System with Sub-woofer for The Best Sound
- Intelligent Moving Head Light Show on Upright Truss
- 3 Semi-Intelligent Dance Lights
- 10 LED Up-Wall Lights
- Wireless Microphone
- Online Planning Form

For more information, pricing & to book please contact Michelle Clayton at michelle@scotiaentertainment.com or 905-999-8892

Scotia Entertainment provides Professional DJ, Live Entertainment and Audio-Visual Services throughout Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Muskoka & Surrounding Areas