Chicago Movers and Shakers

Josh and his crew did such an amazing job for my wedding. We selected a package option that included Josh as the DJ plus an music assistant, and we also hired their photo booth services. So 3 people came for a very reasonable price! He also brought uplights, which are a nice addition for a wedding.
Josh spoke with me on the phone many times in advance of the wedding (even over the holidays!) to discuss details, clarify things for me, offered important suggestions on things I hadn’t considered, and reassured me how great some of my more unorthodox ideas would turn out. As a courtesy, he also met with me at our reception place a few weeks before the wedding to figure out where the equipment would look and fit best. This was above and beyond what I expected from any vendor.
Josh is super organized, which I didn’t fully appreciate until after the fact. We had to complete a «Wedding Music Questionnaire» which asked about our parents’ names, the bridal party names, the order of our reception events, what traditions we wanted and didn’t want to do, any unique ideas, etc. I wish some of my other vendors were this thoughtful because there ended up being a lot of confusion with other vendors the day-​of and, as the bride, I was in no place to sort anything out. In general, as the couple getting married, we had no idea what we needed to organize ahead of time or clarify with vendors in advance and I expected the vendors, being the professionals, to get from me what they needed to know. Of our vendors, Josh is the one I was most impressed with in terms of this.
Everyone I talked to from my wedding loved the music. He did an awesome job of creating a playlist from our vague description of the musical collection we wanted. People were dancing all night and I think the biggest crowd was at midnight, when our reception was ending. Not a lot of DJs can keep so many people dancing for 4 straight hours.
We loved the photo booth. Guests got to request as many photo booth strips as they wanted, plus a copy went in our guest book and we were given extras. The props were hilarious and they even reserved the photo booth at the end of the reception for me and the groom. This was so thoughtful because we didn’t have a lot of time throughout the night to hit up the photo booth.
Anyway, I can’t say enough good things about Josh and CMAS. Work with them — you won’t be disappointed.

Absolutely phenomenal! Josh is definitely the best choice to DJ a wedding or major event!
Josh DJed our wedding and also served as an emcee for toasts, first dances, and all the things that made the day memorable. Josh picked an excellent selection of songs and was always accessible leading up to the wedding day. Josh’s music got at least 90% of my wedding on the dance floor during the reception, which is no small task with my reserved family! Extremely professional and organized.

This review is long overdue! We cannot have been more pleased and excited about Josh and CMAS as our DJ for our wedding. Where to begin, Josh is so personal and organized. He makes sure everything is catered to you! HE TAKES CARE OF EVERYTHING and I MEAN EVERYTHING! You don’t have to worry about anything. He planned with us ahead of time, coordinating music, agenda, going over the reception schedule, etc. He made everything so easy during our time of madness. The best part of working with Josh is his professionalism. He is so good at what he does and he stays calm and makes sure everything is moving in a timely fashion. He is the greatest MC and made sure everyone in the wedding party, family and friends were where they were supposed to be during the reception. Anytime something came up, cake cutting, first dance, father-​daughter dance, Josh was there with a gentle reminder to let us know what was coming up and to be prepared. He is a DJ and wedding coordinator all in one. All our guests loved him! He was so personable and flexible! I cannot reiterate the fact that he is so professional!
The music selection was great and Tony was a great DJ. He made sure he played a great mix of classics all the way to modern music. He worked with Josh to make sure all the music was cued up on time. Now onto the photo booth! I mean — people were dancing, but more people were waiting for the photo booth! THE PHOTO BOOTH WAS AMAZING! Oscar the photo booth attendant was so patient and extremely helpful. Engaging all the guests and making sure they understood what was happening. It made our guests night and the greatest thing is that CMAS made us a photo album of all the photos our guests took. It was so fantastic! I got to see everyone’s photos and it made such great memories. The photo booth is also super awesome because it doubles as a great wedding favor! LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!!!

Stop searching for your DJ, Josh is the way to go! Josh did our wedding this September and made the entire evening so incredibly special. He was so easy to work with before the wedding day. He made sure he was in touch with us, making sure we let him know what we were thinking in an organized and thoughtful way (and in advance to relieve stress for us as we got closer). It was awesome.
Then came the wedding… Everyone, and I mean everyone from my 90 year old grandmother to our 4 year old ring bearer, was on the dance floor from the second my wife and I finished our first dance to the very last note of the very last song of the evening. He kept the wedding party on point during the ceremony, who walks out when, what songs are played, etc. I even heard from guests that the music he played while people were finding seats, cocktail hour, etc. was perfect.
I can’t imaging our wedding without Josh and his crew.
Josh, you crushed it! We’ll definitely send our friends his way.
Seriously, stop searching for your DJ and call Josh immediately!

Chicago Movers and Shakers was perfect! Josh DJ’ed our wedding last weekend, and did an amazing job. The lead up to the wedding was easy, seamless, professional, and timely. And then the wedding itself was so much fun. Josh picked up on song cues both from our ceremony and from the toasts, and knew how to read our crowd to see what music everyone wanted and when.
Highly recommended!

Josh DJ’ed our wedding in Nov. of last year and was easy to work with. We were coordinating the event cross country and Josh made the experience simple. Music, set-​up, teardown, and pricing were great. Guests gave rave reviews.

Josh helped make our wedding a great experience for us and our guests! His music and emcee work from pre-​ceremony music all the way to dancing at the end of the night was fantastic. He knows what he is doing. His attitude was great, he made sure (on the day and before) to communicate with us about what we wanted, he played requests, chose great music. Extremely pleased we chose CMAS and Josh!

HUGE thank you to Josh for making my going away party a truly memorable event. Josh provided the music and photo booth for my event and the combo was just incredible! The music selection was exactly what I was looking for and provided the perfect environment for the evening. And the photo booth was a blast! Everyone had so much fun with the props and the hilarious collection of pictures that resulted were such an amazing way to capture the night. It really couldn’t have gone any better!

We can’t say enough good things about Josh and Chicago Movers and Shakers. We booked Josh as our DJ for our February wedding, and he was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish. It’s clear that he not only knows what he is doing, but genuinely enjoys it– a recipe for a great DJ. Josh took all our must play lists but also spoke with us several times to get a flavor for what kind of music we enjoyed. Together, we set up a plan for cocktail, dinner, and dancing music that were all distinct and wonderful. Josh’s flexibility is unparalleled– going as far as to happily adding a photo booth to our event literally three days before. Amazing!
Josh had a tragic incident while setting up for our wedding— his computer and hard drives were severely damaged. A testament to his professionalism, he went out and bought a new computer and was ready to go in less than two hours. We had no idea it had even happened until he called us days later. Rest assured, you’re in amazing hands if you hire Josh.
Oh, and book the photo booth. It’s not a booth but rather a set up with an attendant and a big screen– which ends up being better because you can do pictures with big groups. They do an awesome job, providing props, paper and pens to put a guest book together. Josh even hand-​delivered our finished guest book a couple of weeks after our wedding!
Don’t hesitate– hire Josh and Chicago Movers and Shakers.

We worked with Chicago Movers and Shakers last Saturday for our corporate Christmas party — specifically Gerry. Over half of our staff is Hispanic and so Josh recommended Gerry for our event because he speaks Spanish and has a good understanding of Spanish music. However, I also stressed that there needed to be a good balance between Spanish and English music, as well as a good mix of classic and contemporary music. Gerry did an EXCELLENT job from start to finish. He was extremely focused the entire night — in fact, I saw him making notes, which I was impressed by. He read the crowd really well, while still meeting our requirements of maintaining a good mixture. He knew when and how to keep the energy up and when to pull back for slower, more mellow songs. My boss was thrilled with his work, which isn’t always easy to do.
We have had many years where at least one group of people felt displeased or overlooked due to the DJ, but I’m happy to say that this year there was plenty for everyone. I would highly recommend Gerry for any event, as he seemed to definitely be in touch with what people want to hear.

We worked with Josh this past Friday at Megan and Jonathan’s wedding at Salvatore’s in Chicago. We were the photographers. Josh did an excellent job. Josh was very professional and made sure we were available when all the main events were occurring as well as the videographer. His music selection was fun and the dance floor was alive. He played hits, requests as well as Megan and Jonathan’s special selections with ease. I defiantly recommend his services to anyone looking for a great dj! We hope to work with him again in the future.

Josh is a great DJ and very easy to work with. I have hired Movers and Shakers for several events and our clients are always thrilled. If you’re looking for a great DJ who is reliable, and easy to work with, look no further — hire these guys!

Josh did an excellent job as a DJ for our wedding on Feb. 8^th! The planning meeting a few days before the actual wedding was really helpful. We felt confident that everything was under control. I love that we did not have to give much direction at all. We would highly recommend using Chicago Movers and Shakers for your next event.

We hired Chicago Movers and Shakers to DJ for our wedding, and I am so thrilled with our decision. These guys are FANTASTIC! You would have to pay a LOT more anywhere else to get another similar quality DJ — I did my research! They kept the dance floor packed all night, and I got so many compliments on them. I think they are masters at reading the mood of a crowd and knowing what to play to keep everyone dancing. We paid a little extra for a «gobo» projector that projected a beautiful lighted design of our initials onto the floor that slowly spun, and people loved it! And they also had this super cute iPad video booth that we rented — we have had so much fun watching all the messages that our guests left us! They also took care of displaying our slideshow on their projector. Even more than that, the owner, Josh, was wonderful to work with. He met with us ahead of time and helped us plan out the flow of the evening and brought up lots of things that we hadn’t thought about. I absolutely felt like he truly cared that our wedding was everything we wanted and that I was in capable hands. If you are looking for a DJ, I seriously recommend Chicago Movers and Shakers! Thank you CMAS for making our wedding so awesome!

I was a guest at a birthday party where Chicago Movers and Shakers were the DJs for the night. Josh and Joe were friendly and personable and really connected with the crowd. We had a ton of fun with their karaōke setup and grooved along to their excellent music & lighting. Thanks for making the night such a fun and memorable one!

If you are looking at this review, you’re probably considering hiring these guys. DO IT! Look no further. Josh & Joe were fantastic! Set up went quickly and they rocked it. They were constantly making sure that the sound quality was top notch. Both Josh & Joe were lively and personable. It never felt like just 2 DJs behind a table. They treated our guests like old friends and had no issues taking requests. Josh even did a duet with one of my friends and it was fantastic! I would hire them again in a heartbeat!
And add the lighting option/​package. It’s completely worth the extra cost.
Seriously, stop looking at book them!

We had Josh DJ a party for new graduate students. He did a great job getting people dancing, and we had tons of compliments about the DJ. He was able to easily accommodate the structure of the party (cocktail hour, dinner, dance time) with different styles of music. He was also patient as he had to deal with multiple people in our division.

My husband and I just got married a few days ago– and we hired Josh to DJ and he brought along a bartender. I would highly recommend Josh and his team. He was very reasonably priced (the best price we found) and was just as good as any professional DJ service at all the weddings we’ve attended.
From the start of the planning, he was very attentive to listen to us and plan the music exactly according to what we wanted. We met several times before the wedding (he even met us at the venue) and really put us at ease about taking care of the timing during our ceremony and reception. He did music for both. For the ceremony, I told him several songs i wanted to use and he made them work wonderfully. He edited all the songs to make sure they fit our party and the bride walking down the aisle. He also did a good job of getting guests to dance… at first there weren’t very many dancers, but as the night went on, people got really into it and he played a lot of requests and seemed to understand the right type of music to play to keep it going. We also had a dvd video of pictures to show and he took care of the whole thing (plus putting up the projector) for a minimal fee.
We provided all of our own drinks at the wedding, and the bartender that came with Josh was very professional and fast. It was a pretty easy set up (just wine, beer. no actual mixing of drinks) but the bar was stocked and drinks were cold.
Plus he was just an enjoyable guy to work with… he clearly cares about his clients needs… and he put a lot of effort into making our wedding music exactly what we wanted.

Had Josh come to a party I threw as a DJ and would highly recommend him.
While he had his own style and didn’t need any specific input, he was also open to suggestions about what I was interested in having — did a great job of combining what I was looking for with a bit of his own plan so it didn’t get boring or repetitive.

Really pleased and impressed. I hired the founder and owner of this company to tend bar at a recent party. Although young, or maybe because he is young, his professionalism was fresh and most welcome – he’s not burned out on the industry, he’s smart and quick and hard-​working. Guests found him to be most pleasant, as did I, and we’d love to have him back at the next party. Maybe to showcase his dj skills as well.
I give this company five stars for professionalism, manners, punctuality and heart – they really want to do a good job.
P. S. I’ve been in the service industry a long time, it takes a lot to impress me, and they did.