Event DJ pricing in NJ ranges wildly — anywhere from $500 for a backyard birthday with a guy and his laptop, to $15,000+ for full corporate productions with custom branded visuals. The honest middle range for a professional event DJ in NJ is $800 to $4,500. At Starshield, our event packages start at $500 for school dances, $800 for general events, and $1,200 for Sweet 16s — with custom quotes for corporate.

Sweet 16s and quinceañeras: 6-9 months out — the good ones book fast in May/June and the December holiday party rush. Corporate events: 2-4 months out for standard, 6+ months for large productions. School dances: 3-6 months out, longer for prom (proms book 9-12 months out around the same dates every year). General parties: 1-3 months minimum, but more notice = more options for your preferred DJ. Last-minute is doable but you'll be picking from whoever's still available — not who's best.

Most Starshield event packages include: professional DJ + MC services, planning meetings, custom timeline build-out, complete sound system sized to your venue, dance floor lighting, wireless microphones, music coordination (must-plays, do-not-plays, Spotify playlist sharing), setup/breakdown, insurance certificates if needed, and a backup DJ guarantee. Add-ons (photo booths, cold sparks, monograms, uplighting, additional hours) are itemized separately so you only pay for what you actually want.

Yes. Starshield carries $2,000,000 in general liability insurance and we provide Certificates of Insurance for any venue, school, corporate office, or municipality that requires one. We can name your venue or company as additional insured if your procurement team requires it. Most venues and corporate clients require this documentation — we handle it within 24-48 hours of request, no charge.

Yes — and we do this constantly. Schools, school districts, universities, non-profits, churches, and government entities just need to provide your tax-exempt certificate (NJ Form ST-5 or equivalent) and we'll bill accordingly. NJ sales tax only applies to photobooth services anyway (not DJ services), but tax-exempt status removes both. We've worked with Oakcrest, EHT, Millville, Atlantic Christian, Port Republic, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Temple University, Monmouth University, and dozens more.

Starshield has 12+ entertainers on staff. If your assigned DJ has an emergency, another fully-trained team member who already knows your event details (timeline, playlist, formalities) takes over. No scrambling, no cancellation, no panic. This is the biggest difference between hiring us versus hiring a solo DJ. Solo DJs can't offer this — if they're sick, you're either DJ-less or stuck with whoever they can find at the last minute. We don't do that.

Both — and that's the whole point. You give us must-plays, do-not-plays, and a general vibe (think: "TikTok hits with 2000s throwbacks," or "keep it clean for the parents," or "corporate-safe during cocktails, full send after the awards"). From there, we read the room and adjust live. Our planning system includes Spotify integration so you can share playlists without endless emails. We won't ignore your list — but we also won't play it like a robot if the floor's empty.

We arrive 1-3 hours before your event start time for full setup, sound checks, and lighting calibration — well before your guests arrive. For complex production (custom monograms, large venues, multiple lighting rigs), we arrive earlier. Our setup is professional and visually clean — proper equipment carts, hidden cables, no folding tables and exposed laptop wires. The transition from "guests arriving" to "party started" is invisible to your guests and seamless for you.

Starshield is based in South Jersey (Egg Harbor Township) but we travel for events across the entire state and the wider tri-state region. We regularly work events in Cape May, Atlantic City, Ocean City, Cherry Hill, Princeton, Hoboken, Jersey City, the Jersey Shore, Philadelphia, Bucks County, and the NYC metro area. Destination events are also available — we've traveled for weddings and corporate events outside the region.

Yes — this is one of our specialties for corporate events and brand activations. We project custom logos, animated brand visuals, slideshows, sponsor reels, and product visuals onto walls, screens, or dance floors. For weddings and Sweet 16s, we do custom monograms (your names or initials in light). For corporate events, we sync with your marketing team to make sure colors, fonts, and animations match your brand guidelines.

Standard packages include dance floor lighting and ambient uplighting. Add-on production includes: intelligent moving-head lights, color-matched uplighting in your event colors, custom animated monograms or brand visuals, dance floor cold sparks for grand entrances, indoor-safe CO2 cannons for peak moments, "dance on a cloud" low fog for first dances or spotlights, and TV/screen integration for slideshows or branded content. See our full Production Features page for the complete list.

Three things. First: we're a 12-person team, not a solo DJ — meaning backup is guaranteed and we have specialized DJs for specialized events (corporate vs. Sweet 16 are very different skill sets). Second: we handle MC, planning, lighting, and production in-house, not subcontracted — fewer vendors, fewer things that go wrong. Third: we've been doing this since 2012 with 880+ five-star reviews across 500+ weddings and thousands of events. Most NJ DJ companies either have the experience or the production capacity. We have both.