Charleston Groove Factory

y must play songs! Guests are still telling me how much they loved the band and that the thing that set them apart from other bands is that they looked so happy doing their job. Coming from a family of musicians we know how much bands hate playing free bird, but it's a song that has so much sentimental value to my family. These guys learned and KILLLED free bird with under a weeks notice! They were practicing it during my first look and it was honestly my favorite part of the entire day because it wasn't planned but it was perfect because of how much the song means to me. I can not recommend them enough!! Y'all seriously rock and we can't thank you enough!!

Every guest said it was the best wedding they had ever attended. Can't stop smiling watching videos of the special night!!!! Highly recommend them for anyone wanting to have a super fun reception!

singer), and they were absolutely insane. Definitely recommend getting the upgrade, I'd say the additional vocals were the best ever, but tough competition w/ Ben bringing down the house as lead. Definitely book them for your wedding. Everyone at the wedding couldn't get over what a fun dance party it was.

f the wedding. We originally scheduled the band to perform during the reception and Ben to play solo acoustic during the cocktail hour. However, due to a family friend having to back out playing during the ceremony Ben was able to step in and play for that as well. The music from beginning to end was a highlight of the evening. We went with the full 7 piece band, and we highly recommend everyone to go this route as well. We had numerous guests tell us this is the best wedding band they’ve ever seen. The horn section added an amazing element and the female singer (known to the wedding guests as J Lo) was amazing! Stop thinking and just hire Charleston Groove Factory already. You won’t be sorry.

odating to all our requests. My husband is Polish and knew we would need some Polka to keep his side of the family dancing and boy did Ben and the Groove deliver! Ben was very easy to communicate with both via messaging and zoom. They quickly understood the vibe of the crowd. There was never a lull or down time, not even during dinner. They even through in a female vocalist at the end free of charge! HIRE THEM!

. They are wonderful! The combo of DJ and band totally elevates the party experience. Ben and the rest of the band were so upbeat and totally pumped up our crazy group. Super easy to work with, kind, and of course, loads of fun. We were so happy to have had them at our wedding.

hat comes with them. But I'll be honest, as a wedding planner, they are not always the easiest to communicate with during the planning process. This band + Other Brother Entertainment made planning a BREEZE! They were excellent on the day of the wedding as well - especially their tech guy!! They were super flexible, charismatic, knowledgeable, and left the guests wanting more! They are incredibly talented, and you can tell they love what they do. I am excited to work with them again in the future!!

and they made everything simple and as smooth as possible. Unfortunately, our wedding was cancelled due to COVID, but they were nothing but accommodating and still willing to help us with song clips, and making sure we weren't left totally hanging for a small ceremony at home. We are so bummed that they ultimately won't be playing for our wedding day, but encourage any other brides and grooms to be to book them ASAP! You won't be disappointed!

and your money, but no one knows how to be personal and communicative. I would send emails and not receive a response in days, sometimes weeks from companies. Then I emailed Charleston Groove Factory; I received a long, descriptive and personable email immediately from Ben Fagan. Ben Fagan in an absolute dream; I could go on and on and on about him. I emailed him so much he gave me his number. Music is very important to me, so obviously I wanted the very best on my big day and that’s exactly what we got! Charleston Groove Factory directed my ceremony music, Ben Fagan played solo for cocktail hour and Charleston Groove Factory kept the party alive all night long; their manager is amazing too. I am very technologically disadvantaged beyond words, actually. I literally sent Ben a YouTube list of the songs I wanted for our ceremony and in the order to be played. Ben also worked with me directly as I recorded the song, I walked down the aisle to… again very technologically disadvantage here; seriously recorded the song in my bathroom with my cellphone. Ben helped to clear the vocal tones, lengthen the song for my walk and offered to have me at the studio to record with him (my work schedule never allowed, but I was so appreciative of him). He texted me over the week of my wedding reminding me to breathe and relax. Best money we could have spent was hiring this band! Kevin and I had a private dinner on our own during cocktail hour, but I could hear him from the balcony; he remixed many of the songs to fit to our day. During the reception, the band followed the crowd’s lead to keep the party alive. I’m telling you, do NOT hesitate on hiring this band. We have gotten so many compliments about our band for our big day and we couldn’t agree more.

to be married at Lowndes Grove Plantation @ 5:30 P.M. At 5:15 everything was ready and more beautiful than we ever imagined. Loluma had outdone themselves. In comes mother nature, not just rain and wind, but a microburst or a squall. The ceremony area was destroyed, one tent ripped away and wrapped in a tree, the main tent partially collapsed. There was broken glass, toppled furniture and ruined linens. I was stunned, and for a few moments unsure of what we were going to do and where. But with our wedding planner, Michael Winship at the helm, the vendors I hired, ever the band Charleston Groove Factory, joined forces and went into action and in an hour turned the nightmare back into a dream. Great Food, Great Music, and the guests all enjoyed themselves. I will be forever grateful. These are the guys you want to hire for your big day. I am blessed and thankful that we did. They went above and beyond to turn what could have been something horrible into something terrific. My thanks and gratitude go to Michael Winship, Charleston Wedding Planner, Lowndes Grove Plantation (Patrick Properties), Loluma (Distinctive Events), Bille Jo and Jeremy Photography, EventHaus Rentals, Snyder Events, Palmetto Strings, All-Mist outdoor Cooling and Ben Fagan and the Charleston Groove Factory. With overwhelming gratitude, Mother of the Bride.

ho worked in the wedding industry -even with our high expectations, we were blown away! Ben was professional and responsive from the first email until our wedding day, and you could tell that he cared about what he does and about making the evening just how we envisioned. Let me tell you... these guys are 1st class performers... from the first song until the last, the dance floor was packed! Thank you Ben and the Charleston Grove Factory!

have been better. He kept everyone out on the dance floor with a great mix of songs and helped us make a number of logistical announcements. We received a lot of comments about how fun the wedding was and that was in no small part to the energy that Ben and his band brought to the night.

for hours. Did Ben take brakes? I don't even know! Leading up to the wedding, Ben was responsive, no hassle, and easy to chat with regarding our type of music! During the wedding, he made all of the million announcements we asked of him, and all on time! He sounded professional and fun (I mention that since we all suffered those cheesy wedding announcers). And of course, he nailed the requested songs (first dances) and delivered on all the other songs that put all out guests on the dance floor. Admin note: A general warning to all brides and grooms using Venmo, Venmo has a weekly cap with respect to debit cards, so if you can, knock your Venmo (to all vendors) our in advance!! Ben offered to of course take cash, check, etc. given my Venmo snafu (I saved up lots of payments for the week of the wedding, ugh). He was accommodating and the music was was on point...still annoyed I can't post photos - looking at you, The Knot.

nces were fabulous beyond expectations. The dance floor was packed from the first song through the last. If one believes, as I do, that the music makes the party, then these parties were MADE! Thank you, Ben Fagan, and all of your bandmates for your hard work and beautiful music at both of our marriage celebrations!

p going with Ben Fagen and the Charleston Groove Factory and it was one of the best decisions we ever made. Not only are they professional but they are extremely talented and exceeded all of our expectations. They did an amazing job on our first dance song as well as our father/daughter and mother/son dance songs and really hit it out of the park with our entire wedding. Everyone was on the dance floor the whole night and they brought so much energy to our wedding! Many of our guests also came up to us gushing about the band and how great they were. They really made an effort to understand who we were and what we were going for and made the whole night very special for us. We couldn't have asked for a better band for our wedding and we, and all of our family and friends, had the best night of our lives partying with Ben and the Charleston Groove Factory!!!!

e to a coreographed dance we had practiced. Ben made sure the band would know certain cues in our dance to know where to end the song at the right time. They paid very close detail to our requests and were above all extremely professional. They played several of our special request songs including our crowd favorite the “wobble” line dance in which the whole band got in the crowd and danced along with us showing all the guests the moves! Everyone from our grandparents to our best friends enjoyed their live music, mixing some of the classics with a vibe of modern and hip hop. It kept everyone on the dance floor and moving! We still get compliments about the band ever time we speak with family and friends about the wedding. If you are looking for a high energy, talented, live perfoming band who can work the crowd and bring an level extra excitement to your wedding, look no further! It’s easy to see why these talented professionals are recognized as “the best” wedding and local band in Charleston every year. Thank you again Charleston grove factory for a night we will never forget, you have fans in New Jersey for life!!!

were great at feeling out the audience and playing songs that keep the party going all night long. Our dance floor was full from as soon as it was open to the very end of the reception. Their song list has a wide variety of genres but if you have a few songs you want performed that aren't on their song list, they can learn up to 3 songs. You can also request that they play either the full version or a shortened version for a first dance or father/daughter dance. They are an energetic and talented band and I would highly recommend booking them for your wedding!

ction (and it was the reason we booked them), all we got on our wedding day was a sax. Note: This is the only negative review I've left for our wedding. All of our other vendors were incredible!! I just want to make sure no one else runs into this situation. My husband and I spent a lot of time going through the band's song list, and choosing roughly 40 songs that we wanted them to choose from to play. We chose some songs that were must plays, which they played. But we also said we did not want ANY new, top 40 songs unless they were already on our list. We were very disappointed that the first 4 songs the band played after dinner to start the dancing were all new top 40 songs (two of which we absolutely hate). They also did not play any slow songs (we only requested 1-2). We knew it was a risk to have the band play our first dance instead of the original version, but given how good the band sounded in videos and that our song has a lot of horns, and we chose the band because of the horns section, we wanted to risk it. Not only did they ONLY bring a saxophone, they took an extreme amount of liberties with the styling of the song. I would have thought if you were learning a new song for the first dance, that you would play as close to original as possible. We didn't even recognize the song, and it was such a disappointment for us. Two months later, I'm still pretty upset when I think about it. No where on the band's website or in conversations was it made clear if we needed to specify that we wanted all the brass. It was only called out if we wanted a female singer to request. Our wedding planner was also unaware - we actually still aren't sure if we needed to specifically state that's why we booked the band in order to have the brass section. We requested motown & michael jackson "medleys" - and we didn't hear a single MJ song played, despite multiple being on their song list. We also requested songs be cut short, we didn't want to hear 4-5 minute songs, we wanted to keep the party rolling with shorter versions of songs. Yet, they played an 8 minute version of Journey. Apparently the band had just switched management (this was October 2017). When our wedding planner talked to them after our wedding, she conveyed our disappointment, so hopefully they do a better job of following their clients requests in the future. The band was good, our guests enjoyed them and had no idea that so many things were not what we asked/paid for, so that was great. Ultimately though, my husband and I were pretty upset that we spent so much money on the band and did not get what we paid for (brass) and that our requests were ignored. It was the only damper on an otherwise perfect day!

F. They really read the crowd and played songs that would keep everyone on the dance floor. Ben even came out into the crowd on a few occasions to get everyone pumped up. They truly know how to keep the energy up which is exactly what we wanted. They offered to learn a few songs for us, including our first dance song and it was absolutely perfect. My dad had passed away about a month before the wedding and my uncle had a last minute request (the day of) for them to sing a special song in tribute. They didn't even bat an eye, even though it wasn't a song on their set list. It was a truly special moment for me and my family that I will treasure forever. And I have to mention that our wedding actually got postponed by Hurricane Matthew and they saved the day by rescheduling without a problem for our new date! If you are the type of couple who wants everyone at your wedding on the dance floor all night, CGF is the band for you.

alking about how amazing the band was! Everyone in the band and their point contact person, Kristen, were so professional from start to finish when dealing with the many details involved from set up to first dances, bouquet toss, garter toss, etc. The talent of this band is above and beyond your typical wedding band and they had everyone dancing the entire night! I can not thank them enough for making our night so memorable with their music and we are forever grateful! For any bride & groom looking to create an amazing night for both you and your guests book Charleston Groove Factory!

ly know how to work a crowd and make sure that no single person is at least bopping away in their chair. We could not be happier with the job they did and we believe that more than anything that were a huge part of making our day such an enjoyable experience.

play. The lineup was amazing and they sounded fantastic. Charismatic, friendly, just fantastic all around. Had drinks at the bar post reception and they're just great all around. Loved having them there on our big day!

them! They created an amazing atmosphere! They also set aside time to play at our ceremony as well as the cocktail hour and learned 5 songs just for us which was absolutely amazing!! :-)