vendor reviews: disc jockeys

Female owned & operated DJ company Olympic Sound wins brides with personality, professionalism and skills

Reviewing Jasmyn Lancinger, Owner & Disc Jockey, Olympic Sound

From providing music as you walk down the aisle, to serenading guests at dinner, and playing the perfect song for that perfect first dance, a DJ plays a huge part in the wedding day. So when it came time to interview Jasmyn Lancinger, Owner and Disc Jockey at Kitchener-based Olympic Sound, it was easy to see why brides are raving over her. Jasmyn is a professional female disc jockey, a mom of three and a self-proclaimed organizational-freak (a trait that any bride will respect when it comes to planning!). Jasmyn not only acknowledges the importance of the role she plays in the wedding day but she knows how to direct a great Stag & Doe too. She’s never afraid to dig in and help if you ask her to. So, armed with a great personality, hands-on experience, and high tech equipment, Jasmyn is certainly one of our brides' new favourite DJ's to check out in The Ring. Let us explain...

From the beginning...

In college, Jasmyn helped out a neighbour and did some part-time DJ work for about two years. In 2002 she started Olympic Sound after coming to the realization that the customer deserves "both personality and service". But her love of entertaining starts much earlier; as a child, Jasmyn had a passion for music, dance and drama, all based around a guiding principle: 'Pride in Performance', a motto that she continues to live by.

New digs online... Check it out! www.OlympicSound.com has had a fabulous makeover.

Awarded 2009 Reader's Choice Top DJ Service Diamond Award

Inotherwords... "We couldn't be more pleased with the disc jockey services that Jasmyn provided to us at our stag and doe, and at our wedding this year. All of our guests had such a great time, and we're still asked who our DJ was all the time! Jasmyn's outgoing, positive attitude is what every bride needs in a DJ for piece of mind that your DJ will ensure that all events are running smoothly, and that every one is entertained! Thank-you Jasmyn! We can't wait to work with you again in the future!" - Carrie "I cannot say enough about my experience with Jasmyn as a wedding vendor. From the beginning she knew what I wanted for our day and did all things possible to ensure everything went smoothly. She came highly recommended by our photographer who had worked with her previously. After meeting Jasmyn I knew she was the right person." - Megan

detailsdetailsdetails • Jasmyn recommends booking with Olympic Sound approximately 8 to 12 months ahead of your wedding - or as soon as you know your date. Jasmyn is happy to take last minute bookings. • 20% is your deposit - paid in cash or cheque - and holds your wedding date with Olympic. • Your balance is due either in the 2 weeks prior to the reception, or at the reception. If you choose to pay Jasmyn at the reception, she requests certified cheque, cash or money order. • GST tax is in addition to quoted prices.

Olympic Sound provides service to Kitchener-Waterloo and surrounding areas, and they are always up for a road trip. Patricia Scott, who used Olympic Sound at her wedding in October 2006, can vouch for this claim: "Even though Jasmyn was located in Kitchener and I live in Toronto, I found her to be the most approachable, helpful, and reasonable (in terms of price) of all the DJ's that I looked at." She adds that' "Jasmyn was willing to travel from Kitchener to Toronto for my wedding. She arrived forty-five minutes prior to the ceremony and set up in the chapel to provide music for the ceremony. After the ceremony, she moved all of her equipment into the banquet hall and provided background music through dinner and the dance portion of our reception."

Jasmyn’s love of entertaining, combined with her ambitious personality ensures that your event is made memorable. She notes that she "enjoys every minute of every day of my 'job'." She especially enjoys the variety in the events, venues and the people. It’s just herself and her music which she "blends and molds to suit the event."

The company is small, which enables Jasmyn to work closely with each and every client, and the size has not deterred from its success. In 2005, Olympic Sound won third place in the K-W Record’s Reader’s Choice Awards, and the Waterloo Chronicle’s in 2008.

Since Jasmyn has continually gotten busier over the past couple of years, she has added some new members to the Olympic Sound team, including her sister, Lauren. Jasmyn told us that Lauren is just as skilled as she is and has recently become a big part of the business, going out to work at events almost every weekend. "She has been quite a hit!" Jasmyn told us. Lauren worked for many years as a social host on cruise ships and Jasmyn says that she is tons of fun, "very helpful and friendly and has a great ear for music and reading her crowd... she also maintains a high level of professionalism." Jasmyn adds that she’s very excited to have Lauren join the Olympic Sound team and has received fantastic feedback on all of her work.

There are also a couple of other DJs that

Olympic Sound employs to help out during the busy seasons; but rest assured that you’ll still receive the personal and intimate service that Jasmyn has built her business on. In other words, don’t worry, she’ll still be there for you from beginning to end and says she doesn’t book more than three events per evening so she can make sure that each client gets the attention they deserve.

The lady behind the scenes

With so many tasks to take care of at an event, it is important for a DJ to be prepared, or as Jasmyn calls herself, "an organizational freak", which she has clearly perfected between running her own company, and being a wife and mother of three children – a feat that the team here at The Ring find very cool and impressive. Jasmyn’s motivation and ambition for what she does prove the company’s tagline: "Professional DJ's with Personality". She describes part of that personality as, "Fun, hip and trendy, but also classy, professional and confident."

We asked Linds and Dave O’Donoghue about working with Jasmyn for their January 2009 wedding. They told The Ring, "Jasmyn is extremely flexible and very accommodating to anything we asked for... She was great in helping us figure out what we wanted and needed." Linds added that Jasmyn was all about having fun and creating the perfect day, "She made sure things kept moving and that the party never stopped and the dance floor never emptied."

While Olympic Sound’s main focus is weddings, Jasmyn also offers DJ services for the community at corporate events and functions, Christmas parties, fundraisers and charity events for some notable clients such as Manulife Financial and Wilfrid Laurier University, among others. She even does school dances for grades ranging from kindergarten to university because she, "loves the young crowd and the energy they bring to the dance floor." Whatever the event may be, Jasmyn says she enjoys it thoroughly, "I love being able to participate and make a contribution to the events that are so important and personal to clients and friends."

She also told us that she runs a dance-a-thon fundraising service for local schools. "I'm very excited about this service because it helps the school raise funds while encouraging kids to be healthy and active while having a ton of fun."

Plus, Jasmyn volunteers for numerous youth groups and annually takes part in the local Spring Sprint for the Brain Tumour Foundation by donating a sound system for music and a PA system for speeches and announcements. She does the same thing for the RE/MAX fundraising for breast cancer campaign and auction as well. She also donates numerous Olympic Sound gift certificates for local charity events to use as prizes or an auction piece.

Weddings with Olympic Sound...

No need to worry about inadequate sound or the wrong music being played; Olympic Sound boasts of playing a "blend of continuous music by your favourite artists on our professional and reliable sound system." Jasmyn adds that she has a music library that spans generations and various styles so as to please all guests. Many DJ's run their music from a computer, but Jasmyn says she prefers the 'old school way' of running off of CD's and mixers.

There is never a dull moment at a wedding with Jasmyn as the DJ, and Jacqueline and Patrick Poitras, who had Jasmyn as the DJ at their May 2007 wedding, could not agree more. "Jasmyn played a definite variety of music," says the bride. "We had guests from nineteen years old to eighty years old and no one felt left out. Everyone had fun and she definitely had a good read of the crowd." Jasmyn adds that she wants to come across professional and approachable, and she enjoys taking requests from guests. Patricia confirms that fact. "Jasmyn was awesome and fit into our wedding as if she were one of the guests. The music was great and she was easily approachable by our guests for requests."

In her role as a DJ, Jasmyn loves to go over and above. She has no problem stepping in as a wedding planner, emcee, and more if need be. She loves to be involved in the couple’s planning, which Jacqueline and Patrick experienced last year. "She blew away our expectations," reminisces the bride. "We didn't have an emcee for the evening and she totally rose to the challenge. She helped pick and narrow down special dance songs. She also met with us numerous times, and took phone calls and emails." Jasmyn is very accessible for contact, and she promptly returns messages, which is important in the wedding industry. How interactive she is at your wedding is up to the bride and groom – she can make her presence known, or be virtually invisible. Jacqueline adds that she and Patrick gave Jasmyn a schedule with timing of speeches and other happenings, which Jasmyn helped put together; but she was also flexible with changes on the special day.

"We don’t have a single negative thing to say about Jasmyn or anyone else from her team that we met," Linds and Dave told us. "She’s very quick to get back to emails and on lots of occasions dropped us a line just to keep in touch and see if there was anything she could do." Linds adds that the Olympic Sound team was very professional and were a huge help in planning and executing their perfect wedding (and stag and doe).

Walking you through it...

When you book Olympic Sound for your event, a 20% deposit, payable by cheque or cash, is required in order to hold the date. Since Jasmyn continues to grow and become more popular in the local community, she recommends to call her early – as soon as you know your wedding date. While she will accommodate last minute bookings if she’s available, the year ahead is already booking fast and she hates to turn brides away.

After first meeting Jasmyn, Chantelle and Mark Miller told The Ring that there was no doubt in their minds that she was the DJ they wanted for their February 2009 wedding. "She was so friendly and seemed to know exactly what we were looking for... We were just so impressed with her professionalism and fun personality, it was a no brainer that she would be perfect."

Ryan and Whitney Susanna hired Olympic Sound for their March 2009 reception music and post-speeches emcee needs. They told us that during their initial meeting with Jasmyn she "took the time to understand exactly what we were looking for, and based her proposal on our needs, so we were not presented with a multitude of options, but rather a tailored program" – something they really appreciated considering all of the decisions you’re faced with when planning a wedding.

Three months prior to the date, Jasmyn will email you a consult workbook consisting of all the 'Need to Know' information like 'no-play' songs, 'must-play' songs, play lists, and more. Patricia recalls that music was a very important component of her wedding day, "I wouldn't have trusted it to just any DJ," she says, "and I was more than pleased with the job Olympic Sound did. Jasmyn’s taste in music was great and she stuck to a strict 'no-play' list."

About two to four weeks prior to the wedding, Jasmyn meets with the couple, or talks with them over email and the phone to go over the workbook. This allows her to get to know the couple and their expectations of her, and find any music that she may not have on file. Jasmyn is always in touch with the couples and makes sure that they are excited and happy with her and the upcoming wedding day. Patricia certainly was, as she explained to us, "I have nothing but fond memories of my wedding day, due largely in part to Jasmyn – she's a fantastic DJ. I would say that the service we received was worth much more than what Jasmyn charged us."

Even after her job is done, Jasmyn wants to make sure her couples were completely satisfied, that the music was good, the volume and quantity was adequate, and that she pleased everyone, young, old, and especially the bride and groom – whom she loves to hear feedback from. We spoke with Megan who also booked Olympic Sound for her wedding and she told us, "It is my personal belief that a DJ can make or break your wedding. I have been to more than enough weddings and each time I have noticed that a DJ has a significant impact on your guests and how much they enjoy your reception. I wanted a great party, with people dancing and loving every minute of it. Jasmyn worked with me to ensure that the right music was played. My husband and I are both really into music and we had our ideas about what we wanted played to get the crowd going. Jasmyn was more than willing to work with us... Jasmyn ensured that my reception was rockin'!"

Even when Jasmyn isn't personally playing your wedding, her priorities don't change. She wants to make sure you have the best experience possible with Olympic Sound.

"I currently have two DJ partners/employees that work with me. So, if I am personally already booked, then I can still accept the booking, meet with the couple, support them over the period of time prior to the reception, reviewing and helping with details - and then one of my trained DJ partners who have worked along side me would be at the wedding."

Stag and Does with an Olympic touch

Olympic Sound also offers DJ services for stag and does at a discounted price, and much like the wedding, Jasmyn’s involvement can be minute or monumental depending on what the couple wants. She takes requests, and can host interactive games such as crown and anchor and the toonie toss, while keeping in mind the goal to have fun and raise money. Jasmyn says she loves to create a fun party so that the guests will stay and the bride and groom will turn a profit. She also likes to get to know the crowd, and loves seeing them again at the wedding.

Pricing it out

Pricing to have Jasmyn put the soundtrack to your wedding starts at $495. The average Olympic Sound bride spends $745 which would include music for cocktails, dinner, and dance. Jasmyn is flexible with her packages and time frames so work out any details or specific requests with her.

Chantelle and Mark told us that they definitely feel they got an amazing deal for the quality of service they received from Olympic Sound. Linds and Dave agree and told us, "The price was great, definitely in line with, or lower than anything else we looked into, and for what we got, it was really the deal of the century." They add that they would, in a second, recommend Olympic Sound to other couples – in fact, they already have.

Reaching Olympic Sound...

For all your DJ questions and needs, you can contact Jasmyn Lancinger of Olympic Sound at 519-577-7847 or by email at info@olympicsound.com. More information can also be found on her website at www.olympicsound.com - keep an eye out for her upcoming new website, too.