Heart of Gold DJs

We hired Sami Fink from Heart of Gold for our corporate holiday party at the Westin St. Francis this past December. We had about 160 guests of all varying tastes so we were hoping to create a fun atmosphere for our teammates sans all the usual cheese.
Sami impressed me right off the bat with our first conversation, as she seemed experienced in reading the room but very open to all we had to share about our particular group. She even checked out the Spotify playlist from 2014’s event (before we realized we really need a professional), and took great cues from the cocktail hour and dinner portion of the list to make sure her mix hit home. She also took my painfully detailed playlist feedback in stride. She and Allison always communicated clearly and in a timely manner through the whole process.
For the event itself, a lot of our guests and Sami were trapped in gnarly traffic trying to get to the venue, but she had left super early so the delay was lessened, she notified me of the delay, and truly hustled once she arrived so the delay was a non-​issue. Stuff will always happen and as a planner you can only hope your vendors react appropriately and professionally, and Sami did!
I received great feedback on her music choice, and several of our guests said they appreciated her actually being into the whole event instead of just being an auto-​pilot DJ. Sami and Heart of Gold top our list for vendors for this year’s holiday party, I recommend her and them without hesitation!

One of the best decisions I made for our wedding was to hire Meghan from Heart of Gold. From start to finish, it was an amazing and stress-​free experience. Right after we met Meghan both my husband and I knew she was the right fit for us: relaxed, fun and helpful. And we were right! The dance floor was full the entire night — with everyone from our 6 year old niece through to my 89-​year-​old grandma. She was super helpful in getting us ready for the big day and was a star during the ceremony (working with both live musicians and regular music) and during the speeches. I would hire Heart of Gold and Meghan again in a heartbeat. So, so, so amazing.

Allison from Heart of Gold was the DJ for our October wedding in Berkeley, and she did a phenomenal job!
From the very first meeting with her, I could tell we had chosen our DJ wisely. She was organized, professional and fun to chat with. She gave us great advice about things we should think through, and was super patient with us when details changed, which was so reassuring and great during such hectic planning for the overall wedding.
During the ceremony and reception, Allison was the perfect DJ. To start, she had a great flow for the ceremony music and played the songs at all the right spots for great timing (cutting off songs that were too long in a way that sounded totally natural). As an MC, she kept us all together, making sure she knew the wedding party’s names, as well as the people giving speeches. I didn’t have to worry about a thing. She ran around making sure she had it all.
And to top it off, she kept us on time, checked in to make sure everything was going well, and even chased down staff at the venue to get us a knife to cut the cake when there wasn’t one at the table (huge bonus points for that!).
All in all, she provided an amazing vibe, the perfect balance of music that kept our guests on the dance floor all night, and was professional the entire time. She was incredible!

We hired Heart of Gold DJs for our wedding in October 2015. They were absolutely awesome throughout the process. We worked most closely with Erica and she was excellent. We met by phone with her twice, and also found her to be very responsive by email. We had lots of questions and even some special requests, such as asking her to shorten and loop our processional music. Our guests loved the DJing on the day of – we received tons of compliments and were so happy with the service.

We cannot say enough good things about heart of gold DJs. Meghan Pennie DJ’d our wedding and both she and her assistant were incredible. We clicked with Meghan right away and she put together a better than perfect playlist for our wedding and included everything we asked for even making sure not to play requests of our friends who had been having a little too much fun (at the open bar) and wanted music that didn’t really fit with our theme. Heart of Gold was the perfect choice for our wedding and we were overjoyed with Meghan. If you’re looking for a DJ to make your event special you won’t go wrong with heart of gold.

Erica delivered nothing less than perfection at my November 7^th wedding. Preparation with her involved nearly countless emails between the two of us, some of which I was definitely embarrassed to send at the most stressful points of wedding planning — but throughout it all Erica was calm, cool, and collected. We also were able to have an awesome meeting up in San Francisco at a pie shop she suggested, which is now a go-​to place for my now-​husband and I every time we travel north. The day of, she acted as wedding planner and kept everything as «on track» as possible (because of course, no wedding can be 100% perfect) while we enjoyed it all, stress free, thanks to her. If we ever have another occasion to need a DJ, I know who we will call without hesitation. Thank you for everything!!!

I recently got married on November 7, 2015, and had Sami from Heart of Gold DJ the event. My fiancé and I had first discovered them at the Love/​Make expo in San Francisco, and we knew immediately that when we eventually got married, they would be the DJs to go after. They just stand out so much from the traditional, and often corny stable of wedding DJs that we’ve seen throughout the years.
Throughout the process, Sami was very laid-​back and understanding of the stresses that go into planning a wedding. When you constantly have vendors needing immediate attention, it’s a great relief when you have one of them say, «No problem, just get me XYZ when you can.» She was on top of all the music needs from start to finish, and was able to find every song we asked for. No stereotypical wedding songs. No corny dances. And best of all, she never took a guest request unless we gave the OK.
Although the night went by in a blur and I only remember bits and pieces of the music, we received a lot of praise from the guests on the music selection and our DJ. It’s also important to note that our event was black tie and she made sure to dress appropriately for it.

This wasn’t even our wedding! Sami DJ’d my friends’ wedding. I don’t know what she’s like to work with (the newlyweds say she was great), but she sure made the dancing fun. From a guest’s perspective, she was awesome.

Erica worked with us for our August 9^th wedding, and everything went flawless! She took lists of songs from me and my wife to get an idea for the kind of music we wanted, and even played some Brazilian music (since I had family flying in from Brazil) while still having it fit within the mood and feel of the party.
Heart of Gold is awesome, and they will work with you to make sure your event is exactly as you want it to be.

WE LOVE HEART OF GOLD DJ’S! I hired Allison for my wedding just a few weeks ago, and she was incredible. Immediately we clicked. She had no problem with my hectic schedule (planning a wedding in 3 months makes things challenging) when it came to meeting up, and totally got the vibe of the evening that I was going for. When it came to the actual day I had no worries about anything. I didn’t fully understand before this how important music is for your wedding, but its crucial! She played all our transition songs perfectly and when it came to the dancing portion, no one wanted that to end! It was, needless to say, the best night of my life and I know Allison was a big part of that. Thank you so much for the most amazing evening and letting me enjoy it stress free! xoxo

It was my sister’s wedding this weekend, and her DJ, Sammy, was just hands down the best wedding DJ ever. Every part of the evening was the musical embodiment of my sister’s spirit — from the quiet music that was playing as the guests arrived, to the never-​want-​the-​night-​to-​end dance party that had even our parents groovin’ til the last song. At one point she threw on Gangham Style and joined us on the dance floor. The whole night Sammy could be seen dancing and having a good time. Thanks so much, Heart of Gold — you made my sister’s wedding an absolutely unforgettable event.

Meghan was our wedding DJ and she was an absolute joy to work with!
With only 1 month between when we booked her and when our date was, she made it a priority to be on top of her A game. She was incredibly responsive to our emails, met us in person at our venue (which had super strict sound restrictions and limited outlets), made sure to thoroughly understand our music tastes in the limited time we had together (I think we only talked 20min total — 15 on schedule for the day and 5 on song preferences) and arrived early to set up and absolutely killed it with the ceremony and dance music. We had people on the dance floor literally the entire night
I almost wish I could have another wedding just so I can work with Meghan again. She was incredibly professional, accommodating and did an amazing job creating a personal and perfect ambiance at our wedding. I would absolutely recommend Meghan to anyone who’s looking for a cool chick with great music taste who can read the room and make sure your night ends on an incredibly fun note
Thanks a million, Meghan!!!

Allison DJ’ed our wedding in August 2015 in Palo Alto.
Allison and her crew are the best wedding DJs that money can buy! From the beginning, my wife and I were so impressed with how organized and thoughtful Allison was in planning the entertainment for our big day. Allison scheduled several meetings with us before the wedding to go over the setup, how we wanted our evening to flow, and the genres of music we were interested in. Allison had great suggestions and assured us that everything would go smoothly.
The big day arrived and Allison and her crew were amazing in every way! We had asked for a lot of motown, with a bit of 90’s throwback jams mixed in, and Allison delivered. Even though our dance floor was not large, it was packed with a constant rotating mix of our guests all night. I will never forgot my father-in-law’s face as he did his first hora, dancing with my little cousins, and all of our friends. Allison’s mix kept the evening upbeat up until the very last song, and to be honest I didn’t want the night to end.
Allison did an incredible job moving the evening along through toasts, father/​bride dances, the hora, and cake cutting. There was no point at which we had to prompt Allison to do something — she worked with our coordinator flawlessly, and we were free to enjoy ourselves (which we did!).
Allison’s prices were very reasonable given all the work and time she put in. We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding DJ!

Heart of Gold DJs were so helpful and fun to work with! Our DJ was Allison, and she was so flexible and helpful and organized. Despite my lack of direction and my decision-​making allergy, she made our wedding EXACTLY what we’d imagined it would be. All of the random requests we made were honored, and all the VERY different guests at our wedding were raving about how perfect and fun the music was. Allison was also very quick to respond to emails, unbelievably kind, and very approachable.
Overall, this is a very professional, approachable, comfortable, reliable, FUN option if you’re looking for a DJ!

Heart of Gold DJ’s were wonderful to work with. Allison was the DJ at our wedding, and leading up to the wedding she was easy to communicate with and helped us tremendously. She gave us great suggestions for songs, and she really listened to what we wanted. We told her what we liked and trusted her to play awesome music, and that is exactly what she did. People were even commented on how awesome the music was! People danced the night away until the very last song!
If you are looking for a DJ that is not cheesy, super easy to work with, listens to what you need, and is easy to communicate with, look no further then heart of gold DJ’s. I can’t recommend them enough!!!

I didn’t end up using any of the DJs here so this review is more for the customer service. I would say this place is a little disorganized. When I spoke with Erica, I specifically requested someone experienced with my venue, as many vendors told me it can be tricky. Erica first had me talk to Allison, who was immediately responsive online and nice, but to confirm on a hunch, she said she had no prior venue experience.
No worries. I figured it was an oversight. I wrote Erica back. She apologized saying most of her DJs did have venue experience, so she’ll match me to another one. Erica paired me with Sami. Sami takes a little longer to reply back, but on a hunch, I asked again about her venue experience. Sami said she was only an assistant to a DJ at the location, once, and she’ll be doing her first full wedding there in a month. So, for my wedding, I did want someone who was experienced as a DJ, not just as an assistant, in general.
I decided not to correspond again with Erica about this since she came short on the second try with the «experienced» bit. That’s why I rated this place 2 stars with «Meh. I’ve experienced better,» because honestly, I have.

My husband and I had such a great experience working with Allison from Heart of Gold DJs for our wedding! She was extremely flexible and responsive, as well as instrumental in setting up sound equipment for the ceremony and reception speeches. The music was amazing, and everyone was dancing! My mom and her girlfriends were loving the Bruno Mars song she played, and of course, at the end of the night, people were chanting «one more song!» — Allison knew what to do… ending the night with a Journey sing-​a-​long was such a fun moment! Thank you again!

I would like to share my experience with Allison Peck and Heart of Gold DJ service. The minute I spoke with Allison on the phone I new she would be the perfect fit for our non-​traditional wedding celebration. After meeting her in person I was positive we had made the right choice. She is so helpful with planning the flow of the event, the music selections for cocktail/​dinner and of course, the dancing. We had some rather odd requests and she took those and ran with them. I have never been the girl that dreamt about my wedding day, I had no idea how to plan the event or what details needed to be addressed. Allison was so laid back and became a beacon of hope that our reception would turn out just the way we wanted.
She helped us plan the flow, from cocktail hour, to dinner, announcements and speeches and made sure we got the details we wanted and gladly left out the parts we didn’t find necessary (like the cake cutting announcement).
The music selection was impeccable as well. Allison provided us with a list of songs to think about, we also came prepared to our meeting with a list of songs we really liked. Most of these songs were not traditional dance songs: ie, the Pixies, Social Distortion, Metallica, The Misfits. Allison was able to play some of our beloved punk and rock songs during appropriate times of the night and she transitioned beautifully to more top 40 and dance favorites, all the while strictly enforcing our Do NOT Play List.
We had so many people comment on how unique but fun our music selections were throughout the night and our dance floor was always hopping. Thank you Allison for making our night so special.
Here are a few photo’s from our small reception held at Firehouse 8
Info about our reception: We were married the day prior at City Hall (4.24.14) and held our reception on a Friday night.
Thank you again!
Nicole and Shaun

We cannot recommend Erica and Heart of Gold DJs enough! Aside from photography, music was our top priority in creating the wedding of our dreams. My husband is a touring musician. We met at a concert, our wedding invites were 7″ vinyl, our reception was held at Bottom of the Hill SF; so needless to say, music is our life. So when looking for a wedding DJ, we were very skeptical at first.
But when I met Erica and Allison at a wedding expo in SF, I was so relieved. I was immediately drawn to their no-​frills approach. I asked Allison straight up how she would incorporate Metallica into a wedding. With zero hesitation she said, «I’ve worked it into dinner music before.» I knew we had found the one.
Erica worked with us over the next few months to perfect our day. She knew all the obscure punk bands my husband loves, and didn’t flinch as I requested Spice Girls for my bridesmaids. She flawlessly mixed the soul music we grew up on, with the pop-​punk albums we love now. I cannot tell you how many of our wedding guests complimented us on the best wedding music ever! She even got a «one more song» chant after the last song, and played my favorite band Jimmy Eat World as an encore song. What blew my mind is that she didn’t even know they were my favorite band! She could just tell. :) It really felt like having a friend DJing for us. Thanks again!!!

Let me start by saying that we didn’t want a DJ for our wedding. My husband is a professional musician and I was your typical control freak bride, so we thought the best route would be to self DJ our wedding! We spent months curating a list of dinner music, dance music, slow songs, etc… But then we realized DJing a wedding is a whole lot more than just picking music!
Enter Allison from Heart of Gold DJs!
Allison was absolutely AMAZING! She met with us at a local café where we talked through not only our eclectic music tastes (from Kesha to James Taylor to Girls to Jack White) but also helped us create a schedule for the reception, which is something we hadn’t even though about! She was also super accommodating with our two most important requests: a ten minute Michael Jackson medley and no Michael Buble.
She was great at fielding requests at the reception and checked in with us a few times to make sure everything was going well and we were still feeling good about the timeline. She managed to get not only our party people friends on the dance floor, but our parents, aunts and uncles, and even Grandma! At some point (I think during the MJ medley) my Dad started a congo line which made its way through the entire reception hall!
The dance floor was packed nearly all night. I’m pretty sure I only left the dance floor once or twice and that was only to fill my champagne glass! I was one happy bride!
You will not find a better DJ in the Bay Area. Trust me!