Simply elegant lighting in the Mountainview Room at The Castaway in Burbank, CA
Our wedding reception (August 2015). Uplighting by Ken.
Amazing set up!
The dance floor. Ken brought the sound system, up lights and projector for the room.
DJ Ken in the background. I had my cake and ate it too that night.
Daniel G.
Nov 13, 2019
Didn't even make it to hiring these absolute CLOWNS. READ THE REVIEWS BELOW THE NEGATIVE ONES ARE 100% ACCURATE.This is by far the most unprofessional, irresponsible, lazy, incompetent group of misfits that I have ever had the misfortune of attempting to partner with. I'm just happy we found this out BEFORE signing any contracts and having to deal with them the rest of the way through.Met Ken, like most of the others, at the Bridal Show. Not at Castaways but at a sister property called Odyssey in Grenada Hills. Like some of the other reviewers, Ken was there leading the fashion show and being personable. He had a secondary DJ "Oscar" in tow. We spoke for a while, he offered as a GREAT deal (Package 4 for Package 1 price which shows just how much his profit margins are and probably the state of his equipment if he isn't spending anything on his company).We emailed his at home email address to schedule a time to preview his work and see how he DJ's and see if he's a fit. "Suzie", and this is in quotes because there is no way to confirm it was Suzie and not Ken being an asshole, keeps pushing back saying "Oh Oscar isn't in this week" and then "Oh Oscar will be out of town for 4 weeks he works for Mercedez Benz" So I get involved and well... you can see the rest for yourself.Hi Ken,I will call Melissa, as well as forward these emails on to her.1) Nobody has said YOUR attitude was been anything other than professional. Now reading your response I'm starting to think otherwise.2) We had asked to speak with you THREE times through emails and those requests had been completely disregarded as Susie kept on with her same point repeatedly.3) Again, nobody said those were her exact words. I simply stated that is the message that is coming across and hoped that it was a misunderstanding due to email (text-based) communication, based on your response I can see that it is not.4) As I've requested, now for the THIRD time, for someone to come up with a solution to evaluate what a performance from you would look like instead of just telling me about why you cannot.On Wed, Nov 13, 2019 at 2:24 PM Ken Mackie [email protected]:Hi Daniel .i ami going to the venue today and will let them know of your concerns' ,iam sure you will be happier with another Dj Company that has Social media.Also Susie never once said.: hire us and if you don't like it go somewhere else"We do not use any type of Social media, we never have and never will.My attitude to you guys was not only professional and courteous But we were giving package NO 4 for the price of NO1. Ken Mes-Djs. From: ###REDACTED FOR PRIVACY####Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 12:53 PMTo: [email protected]: Re: DJ quote Suzie, While I understand where you are coming from not allowing people to come to see you for privacy reasons, I am asking for a solution to the problem because what we will not do is spend money on the most important part of the wedding without some way to evaluate. So far the message I am receiving from you is the following: "We don't have information on social media, we don't have any way for you to preview or see our work. Hire us and trust that it will be a good show sight unseen and if you don't like it feel free to go somewhere else" I truly hope that this is a case of email-miscommunication because if this is the case I will happily take my business elsewhere and report back to the venue your attitude on the subject. If this is a case of email miscommunication I hope that we can figure out a resolution to the issue. Regards,Daniel On Wed, Nov 13, 2019 at 12:27 PM Ken Mackie [email protected] wrote:PS Daniel,excuse the typos,im in the car at the moment. Suzie Murchie Office Manager Mes-Djs, From: "Ken Mackie" [email protected]: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 12:23 PMTo: ###REDACTED FOR PRIVACY####Subject: Re: DJ quote Hi Daniel,we can't have any clients coming to events as we had clients who actually walked into the room at the Castaway on saturday night and wanted to talk to Ken,in the middle of a weddings we are not doing any visits from potential clients anymore, if you are looking for someone with a Social Media presence,im sure the 2 other dj,s at the Bridal Show are on Facebook etc etc, Oscar works for Mercedes Benz and is always very busy as that what his full time job is, but I'm are any of the dj,s at the Bridal show might be able to let them come see what they do. Suzie Mes-Djs, From: ###REDACTED FOR PRIVACY####Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2019 11:52 AMTo:###REDACTED FOR PRIVACY####Cc: [email protected]: Re: DJ quote Hi Susie, Thank you for your response. I am a little confused at this point. When we spoke with Ken and Oscar they told us that it wouldn't be an issue for us to come and check out their work and styles due to a lack of social media presence. Now Oscar is out of town for the next month, you still have no social media presence (No room)
Read More
Kelly N.
Oct 25, 2019
We hired Ken for our wedding in October. We met with him in January and he verified that he would be the DJ at our wedding. After months of no communication with the company, they finally responded to our emails only 3-4 days before the wedding. The email address is strange because it appears to be a personal email address and then any number of people could be responding through that email address. Come our wedding day, Ken was not there. He sent a different DJ, Mike. Mike did not have all of the details that we previously provided. Additionally, the microphone was cutting out during the ceremony and the guests were complaining. He also fought with my photographer about the schedule and rushed us during our cocktail hour to hurry up and do the grand entrance. There were many times that we started running behind and I repeatedly (on my wedding day) had to go up to him and remind him to stick to the schedule. That is not something that a bride should have to deal with, especially when I provided the photographer, the venue, and the DJ the same schedule and timeline.After the wedding, we contacted the DJ company requesting an explanation as to why the DJ we hired (Ken) was not there. We received email responses slandering my mother, mother-in-law, and myself. They repeatedly called us liars saying that the issues we had were all lies. They even had a DJ contracted with the same company (Dennis) email my mother-in-law saying that mother was a liar. I am shocked about the lack of professionalism coming from the company and our wedding venue has taken them off of the vendor list.
Read More
Erica S.
May 29, 2018
Ken was fantastic at our wedding! He is such an upbeat nice guy and our guests loved his Scottish accent. He listened to what we wanted to be played and nailed it. We got many compliments from our guest. Lastly he had a custom Star Wars projections made for our reception! So awesome!
Read More
Merisenda A.
Jun 4, 2017
Ken and Oscar were the DJ/MCs for our wedding ceremony and reception in September 2015. We must say we are extremely impressed and happy with how everything turned out. They were very professional and had expertise at throwing and directing a party. They were extremely on point, both the day of and before. They were extremely accommodating and friendly - even with our last minute changes. Not to mention, it was a very reasonably-priced package that included music, MC, a slideshow and uplighting, as well as audio equipment for the ceremony. We really appreciated how they went above and beyond to make things work. My MIL had put together a slideshow, but exported it as a wrong file. Ken and Oscar were able to get it to work. Oscar did a great job at reading the crowd and playing the right music to fit the mood, and playing a mix of oldies/classical and modern hits. We loved how he played older, more classical tunes for our older guests earlier, and switched it to more contemporary, party music for when it was just the young crowd left. Highly recommend their services!
Read More
Russell H.
Dec 3, 2015
All I can say is wow! We had both Ken and Oscar dj'ing our wedding ceremony and our wedding reception. Both did an amazing job! We had a Catholic ceremony which Ken did the music for and he was perfect! They provided all the music and was on point with all of ceremony queues! Oscar took over for the wedding reception and kept the party going until the last of us was ready to leave. Mes djs was the best! Thank you Ken and Oscar for making our special day amazing! PS - you won't find a better deal with their dj packages!
Read More
Kate F.
Sep 2, 2018
If I can give a negative star, I'd like to do that. I went to the Castaway bridal show in March, 2018 and met Ken from MES DJ. Ken had a booth and also led the bride and groom fashion show at the event. He was professional, confident, and friendly. I like the fact that MES DJ was one of the preferred vendor list from the Castaway Burbank. I asked Ken in person and also in the email to be the DJ/MC on my wedding and also put that in the contract after reading negative reviews about the other DJ/MC in the same company. He agreed and put that in the contract. I confirmed it again over the phone a few days before my wedding and he told me that he will be coming with his assistant, Mark. On the day of my wedding, Ken left after our ceremony without informing me and my husband. A new DJ/MC (Oscar), who we never met or discussed our wedding together, took over the job without explaining the situation and introducing himself. When we asked him where Ken was and Oscar said Ken left something important and will be right back. However, Ken did not come back. My husband and I called him multiple times during and after our wedding but we did not receive a single email or call from him for explanation.I emailed Ken after my wedding for explantation. Instead of Ken, Suzie, the manager of MES, replied. She stated that the disorganization and unpreparedness of the MC/DJ was because of my poor design of the floor plan. FYI the floor plan was designed and approved by the sales manager from the Castaway. Suzie stated that my wedding was "perfect" but I am twisting the facts and I should not complain because I received a discount. I did not receive a single apology. The last email I received stated that she will forward the emails to their lawyers. What??? Are their lawyers in charge of customer service? It has been two months and I have not heard anything back from their LAWYERS. MES DJ has no idea about customer service and integrity and they made the situation even worse. I understand sometimes unexpected things can happen. A proper way to handle such situation is to first apology, explain the situation, and inform the clients so the clients and the new DJ/MC can communicate and plan accordingly. MES DJ did not explain the situation and never apology for the inconvenience. Instead, they claimed that everything I requested was completed and my wedding was PERFECT but I am twisting the facts.I hope Castaway does not continue doing any business with MES DJ and take out MES DJ from the preferred vendor list.
Read More
Daphne L.
Jan 6, 2017
My husband and I got married in November and were recommended Ken and his company by the owner of the venue we had the ceremony at. On meeting him, I was struck by how incredibly nice he was and how easy he made everything sound. I was a little wary about it as his prices were lower than anyone else in town and frankly, he sounded a little too good to be true. However, he was true to his word and on the day of our wedding, everything went incredibly smooth. He kept people dancing until the venue gently kicked us out. He kept the evening on schedule and everyone loved him. Its incredibly refreshing to have someone like Ken and his company doing such an honest and fantastic job, espescially in the wedding industry. I am more than happy to recommend Ken to anyone who asks (or doesn't) as he and his company are a golden example of how it should be.
Read More
Dale M.
Jun 29, 2015
We hired them for DJ services for a birthday party at a venue in Arcadia, which the hotel recommended and used in the past. The party started at 5pm and they weren't even ready to play yet. The DJ never even introduced himself and hardly spoke but a few words, barely interacting with the croud. Trying to have him introduce or announce anything was like we were bothering him. He only had a play list that we provided and if there was a request, he said that he would have to look it up, find it and download it before he could play the song. My 8 year old niece could have done his job better. I'm sorry we took the recommendation of the hotel and hired them. We will never recommend them to anyone.
Read More
Pam P.
Sep 26, 2024
We first hired Ken in 2021 to do A/V for our event, for 35 people at the Odyssey in Granada Hills. We did so again for another larger event. He was wonderful. His equipment was top notch, he arrived ahead of time, set up for us, worked with a couple of our guys to use one of his laptops for part of the scenario. He was so accomodating, gracious and chill about the whole situation. There were no glitches ... none. Seriously ... if the Odyssey management, a division of 1st class Specialty Restaurants Corporation ... were to be fielding lots of complaints about Ken's company THEY WOULD NOT USE HIM OR RECOMMEND HIM. BUT THEY DO! ... because he delivers. For our church group, his price was well worth it, and comparatively modest for such professional gear and tech help. I've recommended Ken many times. He is a pleasure to work with.
Read More
James M.
Jan 28, 2019
My wife and I met with Ken many months in advance for our wedding. He was very pleasant and friendly. Our visit was also rather stress-free, so we were quite happy to book him. In the weeks leading up to the day, when our wedding planning stress was hitting its peak, we swamped him with question after question (sorry Ken!), but he remained friendly and very responsive throughout. On the night of the wedding, he did an amazing job keeping the room super fun and lively (despite a few hiccups on our end). Overall, we couldn't have been happier with his services. If we ever have another event where we need a DJ we're definitely going with Ken!
Read More