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Formed and owned by Jay, 1st Dance Events is a family run business providing the ultimate entertainment package to your event throughout Essex & Suffolk. Recommended by many and totally dedicated to nothing but the Wedding & Corporate Event industry, we pride ourselves on not being your average cheesy wedding DJ!

 

Often, a DJ is sometimes the last thing thought about when planning a wedding. We totally understand that the ceremony, venue, dress and suits come first but why leave planning the guy/girl that’s hosting often the most memorable part of the day ‘til last?

 

Too often, we see happy couples experience the most amazing day followed up by a somewhat mediocre night hosted by a DJ who ‘does this every night’, whacks on the ‘housework playlist’, makes little to no effort to keep the party on it’s toes and adds no personalisation to the night. This is supposed to be the best day of your lives, not that ‘typical playlist’ you hear at every wedding! 

 

It’s the 21st Century, does every wedding need to be Macarena and Barbie Girl? No! Don’t get us wrong, there is a time and place for every song and if you request it or the time is right when reading the crowd, we may drop it but, would you listen to this on a banging night out with friends? No! So, we bring our years of club experience to your special event! State of the art industry standard equipment, flashing, controllable lights and most importantly, songs mixed live before your eyes!    

 

Jay is a devoted family man and dad of two. Working his way up from the bottom hosting small family gatherings to larger parties, private functions, school proms, long-term residencies in pubs/clubs and weddings, Jay has gained a wealth of experience for well over a decade in the industry. With every occasion different, Jay has played to a huge variation of crowds of all ages gaining skills and understanding in all music tastes and genres.  

 

Ever thought of putting a twist on the boring background music after the ceremony and before the wedding breakfast? Or a solo act to warm up the reception? How about an outdoor summer event where the cd player brought from home playing a chilled playlist between the meal and reception just doesn’t have enough umph? Or, what about a power hour during the reception to reminisce and remember those nights out you once had before the kids were born? We have a selection of in house, professional saxophonists and an acoustic guitarist / male vocalist. Working alongside Jonny, Joe, Sue & Jake for many years, these fantastic talents have not only boosted the services we provide but really added that something extra almost needed at every wedding. 

 

From a laid back, calming and chilled performance to pass the time during photos to plugging in at the reception and playing along to those club classics we all love, our saxophonists really are the ultimate addition to any event making sure that you and your guests are entertained for the whole day and the only time a mobile phone will be needed will be to photograph and record what they’re going to talk about for years. 

 

We also pride ourselves on having NO venue affiliations! Why? Simple, why should you be forced into accepting the venue’s ‘In House DJ’ when it might be totally the opposite to what you actually want? We believe in being booked because you actually wanted to book us in the first place. We are quite unique in this regard but we also appreciate the service we offer and the setups we bring are also unique and we simply can’t be everywhere at once! Affiliating ourselves with 10 venues across Essex & Suffolk would simply end in disaster when we end up subbing half of our weekly gigs out to other random DJ’s to make sure it’s all covered! Plus, we love working in all the venues, it keeps us on our toes with every night being different, 110% effort put in and no chance of getting a little too comfortable!