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Equipment
- Sound Equipment
Music Genres
- Dance
Music Services
- MC Services
- Recorded Music
- Sound Equipment
Wedding Activities
- Wedding
Reviews
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4.9
out of 5.029 reviews
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DJ Rich is the BEST! He was so incredibly easy to work with and so energetic! He made the night flow so perfectly, I didn't have to worry about a thing. He took my playlist and RAN with it! It's been a month since my wedding and I still get compliments on the music and DJ Rich. I would 1000% recommend him to anyone and I wish I could have him at all my parties!
DJ Richard Bednara with Essence Entertainment was the most incredible, put together, dialed in, attentive, efficient DJ
I have EVER encountered or experienced!
He was kind and one step ahead of me with all the details. He knows the business and how to make your event a success. Mine just happened to be my wedding. I would 100% recommend him!!!!
Lee & Patrick Sleik
Rich and Casey at Essence Entertainment were excellent to work with. Rich was responsive and knowledgeable and made the planning process go smoothly and went above and beyond to ensure everything was perfect. Casey was the best on the day of the wedding, he made sure things stayed on schedule and kept people dancing all night!
Rich did a fantastic job - he really felt the energy of the crowd and kept the party going. People have told us that we had the best DJ at a wedding and could not stop talking about it. He listened to all our requests (ie. no guest song requests) and got us additional rare songs to play that we requested. The planning before the wedding was easy to use and they walked us through all the planning/prep we needed prior. We also had uplights which Rich did a fantastic job - he accented our flowers well and the room looked great. I highly recommend this company
Rich and his team were recommended to us by friends who used his services for their wedding- we are SO GLAD we had him and his team at our wedding. His communication before our event and during our event was excellent- our wedding timeline was executed seamlessly and he worked very hard to ensure our day was memorable. His music choice throughout the evening was absolutely perfect and the dance floor stayed packed all night. My friends and family are literally raving about how much fun they had dancing all night long, they even chanted for 'one more song!' and he, of course, obliged! :D We love that he is part of our wedding memories forever!
Tom was the DJ at my husband's cousin's wedding and his brother's wedding and he did such a good job that we knew we needed him at ours. We had some very specific songs we wanted played and then left it all up to him and he did a FANTASTIC job. There wasn't a dry eye during our ceremony procession, the cocktail hour was filled with people who couldn't resist dancing to the background music, and the dance floor was packed the entire reception. Our wedding was a huge party thanks to him!
My husband and I loved having DJ Rich be such a significant contributor to our day! Rich is very attentive, organized, professional, and thinks ahead. He did a very nice job ensuring speakers were ready prior to speaking at the reception and coordinating when/where individuals need to be for a seamless reception! He really ensured everything flowed smoothly. Rich is very experienced and met with us to do a walk-through prior to our big day to ensure he was prepared – this made me so comfortable and calmed my nerves. He will walk you through every detail (which was a huge relief, so we did not have to figure all that out) and manage the night, minute by minute. He really cares about you enjoying your wedding and that you and guests are having fun on the dance floor. Our guests told us after the day that they loved the DJ! Thank you, Essence Entertainment and Rich, we loved working with you! We highly recommend Essence Entertainment and Rich to our closest family and friends.
Richard came as a referral from a friend of ours and was hands down one of the best decisions we made for our wedding. We already had a band and a DJ, so we needed him for a sound system, to play music during our cocktail hour, to emcee the reception and to monitor the sound and his rental DJ equipment while the DJ was on. On every aspect, Rich went above and beyond what we contracted him for. He has been doing this for so long and pays so much attention to the details that he would catch things our venue coordinator AND our hired wedding coordinator didn’t catch - during site walk-throughs and on the day of our wedding. If we needed anything and he was within distance, he didn’t hesitate to assist and was a huge factor in helping our event run smoothly! We actually asked him to emcee last minute and he did a phenomenal job - even with all of the Filipino name pronunciations on my husband's side. Again - one of the best decisions we made was to hire Essence Entertainment, Rich and his team!
Essence was awesome for our wedding.i was really stressed out about music/introductions/ and really having the right mood to get everyone excited to be on the dance floor. The minute I sat down with Jack (our DJ) and Tom to talk details, my nerves were calmed. They mapped out the whole day and filled in all of my question marks with awesome ideas and reassured me that they would make sure my day was perfect— and it was. Jack did an amazing job with timing of music/introductions and played the crowd so well with all of the music he played as the night went on. I didn’t have to worry about a thing the whole night! Would definitely recommend them to friends and family :)
We used Essence Entertainment for our wedding on September 6th 2018, and they did an amazing job. I met Tom at a bridal expo in the fall of 2017, and he was the one who worked with us for our wedding. He was very detail oriented with what we wanted for our wedding, and he went over and beyond our expectations for the music we used. He also acted as the day of coordinator for events of the day, which was perfect because he kept reminding us of things he knew we wanted, but we kept forgetting about! This company is amazing, and I would highly recommend them to anyone who is getting married. I would definitely use them again if I get the chance!
Meeting with Rich a few days prior to my wedding sincerely helped calm my nerves. He is professional, kind, and incredibly experienced. He thought of things that would have never occurred to me and did so much more than just play music. The dance floor was packed the entire night and several of my guests let me know that they LOVED our DJ. Hire Essence Entertainment - they are the best!
We used Essence Entertainment for our DJ and photo booth. Tom was our DJ for the evening and he did a PHENOMENAL job. The dance floor was always full and he perfectly incorporated what we envisioned with what would make a wedding crowd happy.
He always checked in with me to make sure I was happy or if I needed anything. He coordinated calling up tables to our buffet and even made sure we made it out to our photo booth. It's easy to get carried away with the craziness of the night and miss some of your own entertainment, so it was awesome to have someone there to coordinate the schedule and little details.
I wouldn't hesitate to use these guys again for any DJ needs. They were amazing!
Professional, but added to my stress level. Things worked out though in the end. Good value.
Tom was beyond exceptional to work with! His attention to detail and flexibility is what made him a perfect fit for our wedding day. In addition, my parents were so happy that he was bilingual and he was able to run the introductions in both English and Polish. In addition, his music selection for the day of was amazing. The dance floor was never empty! He read the crowd really well. We truly appreciate everything he did for us!
Did an amazing job with our wedding. Rich was so helpful in helping us stay on track with time. Worked with us all the way up to the wedding date to make it exactly what my wife and I wanted. Didn't realive there was so many different songs that we needed to choose but everyone was very patient with us through the entire process.
We used Essence for our wedding on April 1st. Rich was our DJ and he could not have been more helpful. He made sure we were having a good time and did a great job of playing what everyone wanted to hear. Very affordable as well!
Rich and his team were fantastic from day one! Throughout the planning process Rich was very patient and helpful as we planned for our special day. The tools that Essence provides are also extremely helpful at ensuring all of details are communicated with your DJ ahead of time, including your song preferences. A couple months ahead of our big day, Rich realized he had a family conflict and said his next best DJ in the company would be providing DJ services for our wedding. While we were slightly bummed, Rich did offer us free uplighting for our entire reception room due to the change, which he definitely did not have to do. Our reception room looked beautiful and Casey did a great job the night of our wedding! The only hiccup was on some timeline adjustments, but overall everything went as great as one could hope for. I would highly recommend Rich and his team for your wedding day. You will not be disappointed!
Essence Entertainment was fantastic. We were recommended through a friend and we were not disappointed! Rich did a great job doing the music for our wedding ceremony, as well as, the music at the wedding. We had the package that included uplighting and a photobooth. The uplighting was gorgeous and Rich helped us pick out the perfect color and location for the lights. The photobooth was great, they provided us with a scrapbook at the end of the night with copies of every photo-strip taken at the wedding. The guests signed next to their pictures and it is a great keepsake! We can't thank Rich and his team for a wonderful job!!
I can't say enough about how amazing Essence Entertainment is!!
I met Tom at the Carriage Greens bridal expo in February of last year and from the second we met him, he set the bar pretty high for DJs. Initially, I was a little concerned about the price for his service--UNTIL I started contacting other DJs. Others wanted to charge us transportation fees, per-hour fees, taxes, and other add-on fees. After I reached out to about 6 other companies, it was clear that he had the best price AND the best packages. For our wedding, we picked a package with a DJ and Emcee, photo booth, and uplighting.
I don't have enough words to commend Tom and his team for an INCREDIBLE job at our wedding! He was the glue that held our wedding together. He helped us every single step of the way, from everything from helping us hone the kind of music we wanted for dinner, to creating an awesome proof for the photo booth, to creating an entire itinerary and painstakingly going over details with us until we were all on the same page and comfortable with every aspect of his service.
A few highlights of Tom's incredible service: First, for our photobooth, not only did he create a proof for the bottom of the photo cards, but he also had a person working at the station to create a custom scrapbook for us of every photo our guests took during the evening. At the end of the night, we got an incredible keepsake full of fun and memories!
Second, Tom really took his time to get to know us as his clients. We spent a lot of time talking about the kind of music we liked and disliked, the feel we wanted for the evening, and during the actual reception, he did an absolutely amazing job of making sure that he was responding to the guests, playing the kind of music that made them want to get up and dance the night away with us. BONUS: when my husband & I did our initial walk-through of the venue right before guests arrived, the photographer came in to take a few photos with us and he played some awesome music for us, without even being asked!
Third, he offered an awesome online tool for us to choose the songs we wanted to hear. Not just that, he also allowed us to create a "Do Not Play" list, so the songs we didn't want to hear were nowhere near his queue that night. I was so grateful for that!
Fourth, he did a really amazing job of finding some tough-to-find songs for us. We wanted an indie version of a few songs, and he found them and was a consummate professional the whole time.
Last, and perhaps my favorite part of hiring Essence Entertainment, he worked as the Emcee for the evening--handing all our intros, announcements, introducing the toasts, and informing our photographer and videographer (as well as the bride & groom) of everything before it happened. He wasn't just any Emcee, though. He was AMAZING! Our guests loved him, my husband and I loved him, and I know the vendors working with him were so grateful for everything he did. I would not have gotten through our wedding without him and I'm so glad we hired him! We were probably pretty tough to work with as clients, members of our wedding party kept disappearing, I had three separate dress crises, which meant there was a lot of time that my husband and I were outside or in the bathroom trying to fix a rip or the bustle, but he kept it all together the whole time. Thank you a million times to Tom. To Brides out there: you won't find a better, more professional, and all-around awesome person to work with!
We met Tom at a friend's wedding and decided to speak with Essence Entertainment to learn more about them. The decision to go with Tom was easy and made on the spot after meeting with them. The amount of options with respect to the sound system, lighting, etc. was incredible. Tom was the utmost professional and really took charge in reaching out to the other vendors in helping everything to go smoothly the day of the big event. There was never a lull in the music either during the cocktail hour or dinner. Once the reception started people were on the dance floor non-stop (and told us it was the best party ever!) Great mix in music and played all the "must plays" we mentioned. Overall, Essence Entertainment is reliable, reasonable in price, and most of all delivered on one of the most important days of our lives. If you have the opportunity, ask for Tom! You won't be disappointed!
Not only was Rich able to read the crowd and keep our dance floor packed ALL night, but he read us and what we were looking for at our reception. He also gave us some of the best advice I will definitely pass on to future brides; he was so helpful throughout the entire process. We received so many compliments on our DJ - you cannot go wrong with Essence Entertainment!
Great DJs! I went with the two DJ package which worked out so well. Tom made sure everything went according to plan and his partner kept everything going in the background. Very professional, super friendly, excellent service.
They did everything as directed, and I heard over and over from my guests how this was the best music they've ever heard at a wedding. It was so good that they had to force people off the floor after the last song! I didn't have to worry about a thing, and I was able to dance the night away at my own wedding. I highly recommend Essence!
Essence Entertainment is great to work with. Their online tutorial helps to make sure your day is flawless and all the music you want to hear is played.
Our DJ was awesome. We worked with him from the beginning. He got to know us and what we liked. He made sure our wedding reception ran smoothly. He played great music (majority of what we requested) and our dance floor was jam packed the whole night.
Rich is an amazing DJ! He keeps the party going and really knows how to work a crowd. He dresses very professional and takes what you want and makes it happen. My family has used him twice, and we will continue to promote him and suggest him to family/friends! GREAT COMPANY!
Tom was our main DJ but Rich was also there helping out with setup and the ceremony. Both were fabulous - played all the music we requested as well as songs that everyone like. They kept the dance floor filled!
They were also amazing in their setup for the outdoor ceremony - even downloading a song we requested for the recessional that my fiance forgot to give them beforehand. They did everything they could to get that song downloaded (over probably the slowest internet possible) and had it just in time - it was perfect!
Essence Entertainment is great! Rich, our DJ, was very professional, but kept our guests dancing all night long! He is very accommodating and selecting your music could not be easier using his website. He hammers out all of the reception details and plans each event down to the minute. Rich is very organized and his prices are very fair. The company also offers additional services like uplighting, video montages and other special effects. DJs can make or break a wedding reception, and Rich made our reception into a party that our friends and family are still talking about a month later!
Tom was awesome! I love this company! They gave me an online planner to plan out the event and the songs we wanted played when we signed the contract. WAY FUN!
Then I got to talk with Tom before the event and tell him what was going on. It was really great! He had the party moving the whole night, and the dance floor was CONSTANTLY full. I had several people tell me that our wedding was the most fun they had had at a wedding in a long time!
HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this company!
Contact
5226 Main Street, Downers Grove, IL
Essence Entertainment
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