Buckeye Entertainment

07/12/2024

Not 1, not 2, but SEVEN new 5 star reviews in the last 24 hours. We have the best damn DJs in the land!

01/18/2024

Buckeye Entertainment just won the Knot's Best of Weddings for the 12th year in a row and WeddingWire's Couple's Choice for the 14th year in a row!

Add in the Knot's Hall of Fame award and that's 27 awards between the two over the last 16 years we've been in business!! 😍🥳

01/17/2024

Hey all! It's that time of year to vote for your favorite Columbus wedding vendors! We would love your vote for both DJ *and* photo booth.

Click on the link and fill out the survey to show your favorite vendors some love! Fair warning there are a LOT of questions, you don't have to vote on all of them.

THANK YOU!!! :)

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

10/17/2023

Buckeye Entertainment is hiring yet again! Who wants to make $66 an hour?! I'm looking for the next awesome wedding DJ to add to my roster. Pay *starts* at $66.66 an hour which equates to minimum of $600 for a 5 hour Saturday summer wedding, most likely $700+ plus tips (5 hour wedding + 2 hours setup/teardown + 2 1 hour meetings= 9 hours, 600/9= $66.66). And you could earn $1600+ a weekend on busy weekends if you're willing to work Fridays and Sundays as well (depends on the amount of weddings booked and time of year).

The right candidate must:
1. Have never been a DJ before (that's really important)
2. Be willing to book events a year to two years out.
3. Have reliable transportation
4. Have a decent knowledge of music
5. Have weekends and at least two weeknights a week free
6. Not be a fuddy-duddy. DJ's are supposed to be fun, damn it.
7. Be an OK salesperson. I can train the right person.
8. Able to lift heavy gear (50-ish pounds) unassisted
9. Be punctual as hell. And by that I mean show up early--to everything.
10. Not afraid to speak in front of large groups
and finally,
11. Be able to make it through "DJ Boot Camp" which is 20-30 weddings that you roadie and train for meh pay.

Know that this isn't necessarily a full time job, but if you're willing to work the gigs it potentially can be. Also, you cannot have a history of flaking or moving, because the clients are booking YOU as much as they're booking Buckeye Entertainment.

If you aren't interested but know someone that might be, please share!

Email me at [email protected] Thanks!

07/07/2023

We do things differently than most other DJ companies. For example: We don't do surprises. Never. Not one. Why? Because we've seen them go horribly wrong. If mom/dad/maid of honor/uncle billy bob want to surprise the couple they are welcome to do it on their own but Buckeye will not have any part of it. That is, unless we hear it directly from the bride or groom that they know someone is planning a surprise and they are ok with that.

We've seen this topic come up many times in DJ groups and as far as we can tell we're the only DJs it seems like in the damn country that won't go along with surprises. But here's the thing, it's YOUR day. It's not the parent's day, it's not uncle billy bob's day. YOU had a vision for your wedding and we promised to give you what you wanted.

We bring this up because a mom just emailed us this: "I want to surprise my daughter and guests by having “singing waiters”. Have you seen this done at an event? Its only for a few songs. I think they DJ would need to be in the loop and engage in this surprise. Thoughts?"

We've done 5000 weddings and honestly thought we'd seen it all. Apparently not. :) Now, while we think this sounds cool her daughter might be horrified at this. And 99.9% of DJ companies would hop right on board and do this surprise waiter thing no questions asked but we will not. Here's my response:

"In over 5000 weddings I don't think we've ever seen that. Just when I thought we've seen it all, lol!

Here's our company policy with surprises. We don't do them. We've seen them go horribly, horribly wrong and we decided long ago to not put our reputation on the line for someone else's surprise. So, we would need your daughter to tell us directly that she knows someone has a surprise for her and she's ok with it. Obviously you don't need to disclose much but we need clearance before we will participate. Sorry about that!"

And that, my friends, is the Buckeye Entertainment difference. WE PROTECT OUR CLIENTS.

Ultimately the mom refused to ask her daughter if it was ok to have a surprise which tells us that the bride probably would not have liked this idea and it was more for the mom than the daughter. What one person thinks is cool the person sitting next to them might think is cheesy as hell.

Your wedding is about YOU, not anyone else. That's also the reason why we're not flashy, but that's another post. lol

06/27/2023

Buckeye Entertainment is hiring yet again! I'm looking for the next awesome wedding DJ to add to my roster. Pay starts at $66.66 an hour which equates to $600 for a 5 hour Saturday summer wedding (most actually pay $700+ plus tips). You could earn $1600+ a weekend on busy weekends if you're willing to work Fridays and Sundays as well (depends on the amount of weddings booked and time of year).

The right candidate must:
1. Have never been a DJ before (that's really important)
2. Be willing to book events a year to two years out.
3. Have reliable transportation
4. Have a decent knowledge of music
5. Have weekends and at least two weeknights a week free
6. Not be a fuddy-duddy. DJ's are supposed to be fun, damn it.
7. Be an OK salesperson. I can train the right person.
8. Able to lift heavy gear (50-ish pounds) unassisted
9. Be punctual as hell. And by that I mean show up early--to everything.
10. Not afraid to speak in front of large groups
and finally,
11. Be able to make it through "DJ Boot Camp" which is 20-30 weddings that you roadie and train for meh pay.

Ability to dance is a plus but full disclosure I can't dance for s*** myself.

Know that this isn't necessarily a full time job, but if you're willing to work the gigs it potentially can be. Also, you cannot have a history of flaking or moving, because the clients are booking YOU as much as they're booking Buckeye Entertainment.
If you aren't interested but know someone that might be, please share!

If you or someone you know think you might be a good fit, DO NOT USE THE APPLY BUTTON ON FACEBOOK but rather head to our website and email the email address you find there. I cannot post it here because Facebook blocks it. Thanks! IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS YOU WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. kthanksbye

01/19/2023

And for the 13th year in a row we've won the WeddingWire Couples' Choice Award and for the 11th year in a row the Knot Best of Weddings. Combined that's 24 awards, we're running out of room at the office for all of them--a good problem to have! 😍🥳

09/02/2022

We love opening our inbox in the morning and seeing emails like this! It's our 599th review on the Knot and we have a 4.9 overall rating. That's a LOT of happy couples!! 😍

01/19/2022

We won the WeddingWire Couple's Choice award yet again! That's 12 years in a row that we've won this!! Thanks to all of our amazing couples that left reviews for us on WeddingWire and the Knot. :)

Buckeye Entertainment is a wedding entertainment company based in Columbus, Ohio. Owner Byron Gunter is committed to providing an exceptional experience. A true scholar of his craft, Byron’s work has been published in a number of industry magazines.

12/20/2021

The owner of Buckeye Entertainment was live on WSYX ABC 6 tonight! He and his neighbors put on the Lucy Depp Park Light Show . Check it out!

10/20/2021

Our latest company photo! The best damn DJs in the land right here!

09/15/2021

Buckeye Entertainment is hiring yet again! I'm looking for the next awesome wedding DJ to add to my roster. Pay starts at $600 for a 5 hour Saturday summer wedding, and you could earn $1600+ a weekend on busy weekends if you're willing to work Fridays and Sundays as well (depends on the amount of weddings booked and time of year).

The right candidate must:
1. Have never been a DJ before (that's really important)
2. Be willing to book events a year to two years out.
3. Have reliable transportation
4. Have a decent knowledge of music
5. Have weekends and at least two weeknights a week free
6. Not be a fuddy-duddy. DJ's are supposed to be fun, damn it.
7. Be an OK salesperson. I can train the right person.
8. Able to lift heavy gear (50-ish pounds) unassisted
9. Be punctual as hell. And by that I mean show up early--to everything.
10. Not afraid to speak in front of large groups
and finally,
11. Be able to make it through "DJ Boot Camp" which is 20-30 weddings that you roadie and train for meh pay.

Ability to dance is a plus but full disclosure I can't dance for s*** myself.

Know that this isn't necessarily a full time job, but if you're willing to work the gigs it potentially can be. Also, you cannot have a history of flaking or moving, because the clients are booking YOU as much as they're booking Buckeye Entertainment.

If you aren't interested but know someone that might be, please share!

If you or someone you know think you might be a good fit, DO NOT USE THE APPLY BUTTON ON FACEBOOK but rather head to our website and email the email address you find there. I cannot post it here because Facebook blocks it. Thanks!

09/15/2021

Buckeye Entertainment is hiring yet again! I'm looking for the next awesome DJ to add to my roster. Pay starts at $600 for a 5 hour Saturday summer wedding, and you could earn $1600+ a weekend on busy weekends if you're willing to work Fridays and Sundays as well (depends on the amount of weddings booked and time of year).

The right candidate must:
1. Have never been a DJ before (that's really important)
2. Be willing to book events a year to two years out.
3. Have reliable transportation
4. Have a decent knowledge of music
5. Have weekends and at least two weeknights a week free
6. Not be a fuddy-duddy. DJ's are supposed to be fun, damn it.
7. Be an OK salesperson. I can train the right person.
8. Able to lift heavy gear unassisted
9. Be punctual as hell. And by that I mean shows up early--to everything.
10. Not afraid to speak in front of large groups
and finally,
11. Be able to make it through "DJ Boot Camp" which is 20-30 weddings that you roadie and train for meh pay.

Ability to dance and/or sing is a plus.

Know that this isn't necessarily a full time job, but if you're willing to work the gigs it potentially can be. Also, you cannot have a history of flaking or moving, because the clients are booking YOU as much as they're booking Buckeye Entertainment. For that reason I'm extremely picky as to who I bring on board to represent my company.

If you aren't interested but know someone that might be, please share!

If you or someone you know might be interested, have them email me at [Email hidden] and we'll go from there.

-Byron

03/30/2021

At the office late bumping tunes and updating the award wall with some new plaques! WeddingWire Couple's Choice for 11 years running, 2011-2021. The Knot Best of Weddings for 7 years running plus the Knot Hall of Fame. The Best of Columbus Weddings the last two years, plus a whole bunch of others. Thank you to all of our past clients for the votes!!

03/03/2021

WOO HOO!! DANCING IS NOW ALLOWED!!!!!!!!

The revised health orders limit attendees a percent of fixed capacity at entertainment venues and lift the 300-person capacity limit for banquet halls.

12/18/2020

Last year Buckeye Entertainment won best DJ in the Best of Columbus Weddings, and it's that time to vote again for 2021! Head over to http://cbuswedmag.com/vote and vote for us and your other favorite wedding vendors!!

11/11/2020

Is 2020 over yet? :(

08/02/2020

This picture was taken in February, right before the world changed.

2020 was supposed to be our best year ever. We were going to slam through the 500 wedding mark, on target to do a record 550 or so weddings.

And then Covid hit. So far, we've had over 260 weddings reschedule or cancel, with more reschedules and cancellations coming in daily.

Unlike many small businesses, we have not been able to get back to work, to do what we love. We can't offer curbside service. We can't deliver our services to your front door. We are in the business of getting people together, which is the *worst* business to be in right now.

Our industry is unique. When a doughnut shop runs out of doughnuts (inventory), they make more. Our inventory are Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. We can't make more of those. Additionally, when someone books us, we hold that date for that person and turn countless others away for that particular date. The doughnut shop just makes another doughnut to sell to others that want a doughnut. We can't do that.

So that makes what is going on even worse. I'm sure you've heard of multiple venues in Central Ohio and around the nation closing. We too had to permanently close our small ceremony space.

Most of that has to do with reschedules.

Let's say someone has us booked for October 10th. They are (understandably) freaking out about potential restrictions at their upcoming wedding. They decide to rebook until 2021. Here's what happens. The DJ they had booked for 10/10 now is sitting at home, unpaid, on the original date. This is the same DJ that hasn't been able to do weddings for 5 months (7 months when October rolls around), the same DJ that does this as a full time job, the same DJ who uses this income to pay their bills, feed their kids, and keep a roof over their heads. With the reschedule the DJ is now booked for a new date in 2021. However, they have now lost the ability to sell the one thing they can sell, that new 2021 date. Which means they have lost the ability to collect a new deposit and make the full amount that they otherwise would have on the new date with a new client.

And worse? That new deposit (booking) would have normally come in the off-season (the winter) which is how we pay our bills that time of year.

So now, if we have enough of these reschedules (which we most certainly do) the guys and gals in this pic are going to be sitting at home for the better part of an entire year, devoid of any income. Of their livelihood.

We still have fixed expenses. We still have bills to pay.

There are lots of vendors out there (in particular photographers, cake people, planners, etc) that do this as a part time job. They have another full-time job or a spouse with a full-time job that pays the bills. And that's ok. But most of these types of vendors maybe only do a handful of weddings a year. So to them, rescheduling weddings or refunding deposits isn't a big deal because this isn't their only source of income.

That's not us. We're all in. And we've been all-in on weddings for a decade. We've been able to weather the occasional slow month or random cancellation over the years but NEVER could have anticipated nearly a year of little to no income.

No business in the history of business can survive a year with no income.

But we're going to try to do that exact thing. So when you email us, please be patient. I had to let my office staff go, so it's just me, Byron, answering 100 emails a day. Understand that I'm trying to balance the worst 5 months of my life with somehow trying to save my businesses while somehow making sure my staff will be ok while somehow trying to reschedule 250 weddings.

Long story short, I wish we sold doughnuts.

-Byron