Elan Artists: Music, Photo, Video

We had Carte Blanche play at our wedding and there are no words to describe how perfect they were! We danced all night to a mix of 1920s jazz, Latin, and French music. They are the whole package! They first of all look period which fit perfectly into our 1920s theatre venue. Secondly, they are all so talented! The band leader Kate was lovely and their lead singer has the most unbelievable voice! It was also so easy and lovely to work with Gretchen at Elan Artists. Thank you Elan Artists and Carte Blanche!!

We chose to have Rhythm Collective play at our wedding. They are just one of the many bands that Elan Artists offers. We definitely chose right. Rhythm Collective was outstanding. We had people coming up to us all night asking where we found them, and saying that they were amazing and this was the best band they had ever seen at a wedding. They played anything and everything. The extensive list of songs was so great. We had everything from Sinatra to Britney Spears. They we definitely on top of the Top 40, and they just really enhanced the party. Everyone was up and dancing. Even my 81 year old grandmother! Daniel called us the week before the wedding and went through everything with us. The flow and schedule of the night, songs we really wanted to have, timing, and they even let my Uncle come up and play the piano with them for Run Around Sue. It was just amazing. All the band members got down on the dance floor and performed. They even handed the mic to the kids to sing along with them. It was just really unbelievable. During the planning process it did sometimes take Elan a while to respond to emails, but Michael would always call to follow up and make sure they had everything correct and provided exactly what we wanted. Michael did our music for our ceremony and cocktail hour, and set up the microphone for our Officiant. The timing on the music for the ceremony was phenomenal. It was even better than what I had imagined in my head. All in all, Elan Artists and Rhythm Collective are definitely the way to go if you want fantastic music and a real party for your reception.

We booked Rhythm Collective though Elan Artists for our wedding and I cannot say enough good things about them. If you are looking for a wedding band, YOU MUST BOOK THEM.We saw them in a showcase in NYC and were very impressed. We booked them almost immediately for the reception and ceremony/cocktail hour music but that showcase is only a taste of what they can do at an actual wedding.We dealt with Gretchen for the ceremony who guided me through some choices to make it unique. It was a very easy process. The band leader Daniel was terrific with planning the reception. As we approached the date, we had several phone calls about what we liked and didn't want to hear and the flow of the evening. They learned some new songs for our first dance and our father/daughter and we really felt like they were giving us what we wanted. Our last call was about a week before the wedding and I felt like he knew exactly what we wanted.The pianist and guitarist from the band that played the ceremony and cocktail hour were terrific. They set the perfect tone to both parts. Before the reception started, people were coming up to us before we were introduced telling us how great the band was. At that point they were just playing background music. Once the introductions and first dance (learned and performed beautifully) were done and the dance floor opened up, that's when they really got going. They were supposed to take a break during the salads and it didn't happen because our guests wouldn’t stop dancing. There are so many people on the dance floor that they had to move tables back. At no point did it even occur to me to “request” a song because they read the crowd perfectly and played one amazing song after another. People would not stop coming up to me and telling me how great the band was and asking where I found them. It was ridiculous.With two male and two female vocalists, they played so many different types of music: standards, hip-hop, lounge, oldies, 80's, 90's and TONS of current stuff too. I was concerned that they wouldn't be able to do any of the hot songs that came out during the summer. Couldn’t have been more wrong. They blew us and everyone there away.Rhythm Collective are great performers and I can’t rave enough about how special and fun they made our wedding.

Nation performed at our wedding party and they. were. AH.MAZ.ING. everyone LOVED them. our friends and family were dancing all night. they look good, sound amazing, are so fun and will play basically any song you want and so well--pop, jazz standards, old soul, reggae, whatever. Even though I wish they'd been less expensive they were worth every freaking penny. HIRE THEM. seriously.

I booked the band "UGO" through Elan Artists and the band was a disaster. The contact person was extremely unprofessional before and during the wedding. He was uncooperative, used profanity and was very intimidating to everyone who came in contact with him. The contract stated four hours of live music - we received maybe 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Listened to an iPod for dinner music but were told the band would be playing throughout dinner. Contacted Elan Artists but was disappointed in their response, had to call back repeatedly for any information concerning the band's behavior. I would not recommend the band or the booking agency to anyone.

I loved Nation!!! From start to finish they were wonderful. The band includes a great group of very talented musicians including 3 amazing singers who can sing anything from Frank Sinatra to Beyonce. The dance floor was packed all night and everyone kept saying how they sounded like the original singers of the songs that were sung!! Before the wedding, Josh (from Elan Artists) and Nicki (Band Leader) were very responsive and easy to work with. They made sure that everything went perfect for my wedding day music.

This is a huge company so I'm not sure how it's determined who you work with, but I worked with Gretchen and she was amazing. Every question I had she answered immediately (we usually 'spoke' via e-mail). She was helpful when I couldn't pick songs and a joy to work with. I couldn't hear the music that well for my ceremony but it was really windy which I think is what caused that.

We had Elan Artists in Maryland play at our outdoor ceremony - they did a great job and were easy to work with. We were a bit concerned because the music coordinator was on maternity leave part of the time, but there were no problems at all. They were okay with us giving them some specific sheet music and using theirs for others, as well as having one of our friends accompany them as a soloist.

Elan artists was a dream to work with. We booked the UGO Orchestra for our reception and a string trio for our ceremony. We couldn't have been happier with the final result and our guests were raving about the band all night long. They are a bit pricey but I would say that they were worth every penny. You get what you pay for and Elan artists is top notch in service and quality.

Reason why I chose Elan - Open Eye Media was from their marketing video. However, please know that Elan subcontracts the work out to their listing of vendors. What they do is keep a finders fee which is the initial deposit that you send them when you sign up. My Videographer was Dave Morely. He works in the Baltimore/DC area. I haven't seen my video yet and I'm really looking forward to my final product. Some cons are that since their main offices are in Brooklyn, the responsiveness is a tad bad. You have to work through multiple people to get an answer. And the person might be away on vacation. What you should expect is not communicated to you. At one point, since no one contacted me, I called them and requested the name and contact information of my videographer. They don't give you the info you need up front and you have to ask them or else I don't even know if someone would have contacted me to let me know. My Videographer was Dave and he did his thing. He takes video and films the day. That's what I hired him to do. To film each and every detail. His assistant did the same as well. She was a bit more talkative and nice. This film then is sent to an editing group for the company (Open Eye Media) and I think I get the video in the mail??? No one has explaned this to me??? We shall see.... what happens.

I booked Nation though Elan Artists on the recommendation of a friend. I could not have been more pleased with the band. Our dance floor was packed the entire night-- the caterer had to ask the band to tell people to sit down to eat their entrees! We ended up extending the band and bar for an extra hour because the dancing was so much fun with this band. Only drawbacks-- the band manager was not very prompt in responding to my emails, including the week before the wedding. Also, they did not tell me until we arrived at the reception that they did not have a copy of our father-daughter dance song (which we agreed that they wouldn't play). Fortunately, the song was in my IPod, which I had in my room at the venue, so a bridesmaid was able to get it. Other than those two problems, the band was amazing, and everyone there has commented on how the band was one of the best wedding bands they have ever heard.

We booked a String Trio for the Ceremony/Cocktail Hour - Cello, Flute, Violin. The Director was almost impossible to get in touch with from the beginning, which should have been my first warning sign. We waited until a month prior to the wedding to book our Ceremony Musicians so I had very few to choose from. They were 30 minutes late setting up for the ceremony, which ended up being Ok because were running behind due to the weather anyway, but that still rubbed me the wrong way. They did play beautifully, but I probably wouldn't use them again, due to the lack of quality customer service.

we used elan for our ceremony music and one of their photographers (who we booked independently before he knew he was affiliated with elan). this review is for the ceremony only.honestly, this was probably the last thing we booked as it wasn't really critical for us to have live music at the ceremony but we did decide to hire a harpist and a violinist. overall, i think they did a good job. i didn't hear much as i was concentrating on getting married :) but from what i heard from the guests, it was a beautiful touch. about a week before the wedding, i had a call with gretchen from elan to decide my music selections. she was very helpful and even sang certain songs to me so i could tell what they sounded like. we were having a non-denominational ceremony but she did make many religious song suggestions...probably because many of them were popular. she was flexible in listening to my suggestions though. i only knocked them down a notch b/c i noticed in the photos that the harpist wore sunglasses the entire ceremony even though she was in a shaded area. no biggie.i think it turned out very well. i did think they were a little pricey ($850 for 1 hour for 2 people) but unfortunately, it doesn't seem like you can get a bargain in that department.

Perfect musician for our ceremony! A classiscal guitarist! He learned two new songs and Gretchen, the musical coordinator at Elan was extremely responsive and flexible in helping us plan the ceremony. Now every time I hear "falling slowly" or "All you need is love" I will think of our wedding because he played it so perfectly! Thank you!!

We used Nation, of Elan Artists, for our band and they were wonderful. They had people on the dance floor the entire night and were more than gracious at working with our special requests. I would recommend them to any bride that wants everyone to dance.

Our band was unaccessible because the leader was in Africa. When we tried to get answers from the home base, they got nasty and said we were being unreasonable. We, of course, didn't get our $900 deposit back, though they failed to live up to their end of the deal.

I can barely remember even hearing any music during my ceremony, I was so out of it- but what I do remember, was good. I heard positive things from my guests about the brass quartet we picked. I was frustrated however with the process of picking songs- I was given a list of possible song titles, and every time I would take the names to the coordinator, she would say, "whoops, we don't have that for a brass quartet"....well, then give me songs you DO HAVE! I paid extra to have a special song arranged, which was pretty pricey as far as I was concerned.

We hired Nation Band through Elan artists and they were absolutely fantastic! The music was great- they really responded to the music we wanted to hear and had a lot of fun with us! The variety of music they can play is really amazing- I worried that a band wouldn't provide enough variety and that we might be better off with a DJ, but that was not the case! They played a lot of great music from a variety of genres- couldn't be happier! They complied with requests and included our list of 'must play' songs and played a lot of other great songs too. Everyone had a blast and they were a pleasure to work with. Strongly recommend!

Open Eye Media was our videographer at our wedding and The Source was our band. They were both outstanding, and I would recommend them highly to anyone planning a wedding. The Source, in particular, was outstanding. Our dance floor was packed all night long, and I would hire them again.

I wanted to write this review because while I think Elan represents extraordinary talent and you will typically be very satisfied with your choices, I was very taken aback by the customer service I received with Josh. I believe he books most of the artists that Elan represents so unfortunately its difficult to avoid him but I felt he was abrasive, rude and generally difficult to work with. He never really listened to what we wanted and was just interested in "sealing the deal" even if he had to make up total lies about the date booking up. Because of my experience with Josh, I will think twice about engaging Elan's services.