When I was opening a new cocktail lounge in San Diego, I needed the kind of entertainment that was incredibly hard to come by - and I needed it to be affordable, frequent, and reliable. Doing a little research (okay, a lot) lead me to contact Nathan Medina of Vario Productions, and so began the amazing month of live entertainment at my venue. And when I say entertainment, what I mean is, sword swallowers, contortionists, snake charmers, and jugglers. Nathan was super responsive - sometimes even getting back to me well-past midnight and super helpful in keeping talent in-times and shows straight. Everyone showed up on time and knew exactly what they were supposed to do. It was an absolute pleasure working with him and the Vario team and we look forward to a continued relationship with them in the future for all of our entertainment needs. read more

The Vario team did a fantastic job with AV for our 500 person Professional summit including, music, video, presentations, and speaking panels. The stage/set looked fantastic and they handled all curveballs with poise. Thank you Julian, David, Moody and everyone else! read more

Where to start. I was looking for a DJ for my wedding and was having a hard time finding someone who I thought could meet both my fiancé (now husband) and my needs for our wedding. I did some online searches and Tim Altbaum Productions always seemed to be at the top of the search. I did some more research with other DJs in the area, left plenty of messages and received hardly any call back or any email replies. Finally got a reply from Matt at Tim Altbaum. Matt was really friendly and helpful. He set up a meeting with my fiancé and I at our convenience, and I really appreciated that. On our first meeting in person, as I said, Matt was really friendly, accommodating, and gave us a great breakdown of what we could expect from their company and their DJs. He made the process very easy, not stressful at all, especially that planning for a wedding could be super stressful. I felt very at ease, no pressure at all. After our meeting he was very prompt with a proposal. I personally thought that because they were #1 in San Diego, that the prices would be through the roof, but Matt gave me a very fair estimate and we signed with TAP right away! As for our DJ for the wedding, we had DJ Michael Cabrerra. At our first meeting he was very organized as well. I don't think I could have asked for a better DJ. We went over our timeline for the wedding reception, and all the things that I wanted included. During the reception, he always checked in with us. Made sure that the timeline was flowing well, and worked with the people at our venue very well. I was super pleased and our guests were out on the floor dancing. I would definitely recommend Tim Altbaum Productions for all entertainment needs. They're AWESOME!!! read more

Tim was a great choice, we saw and talked to some cheaper companies, but liked that Tim would be our DJ and his references from other vendors were great. I guess the best compliment I can give a good wedding DJ.... we barely noticed him. He didn't try to be the entertainment, he just gave our friends and family a great musical treat that kept everyone on the floor all night! If you're getting married in the area, need a DJ, give tim a call! read more

Highly recommend Vario. They have a great team. They are well organized and professional. We had DJ Effren for our wedding and he kept the party going! Everyone at the wedding commented on how great the music flowed all night. It was great. read more

Vario Weddings is by far one of the best companies we have worked with. We worked with them at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar and it was great. The communication pre wedding day was professional and clear. On the wedding day, everything was smooth and went great. The music services were on point and the crowd loved them! read more

Vario was amazing to work with - everything we had asked for was followed and went off without a hitch. DJ Effren was really easy to work with and listened to us regarding overall flow and type of music to play. He ensured that everyone kept dancing all night long! In addition to Effren, we also incorporated live instruments (Sax & percussionist), which everyone loved and kept giving compliments on. Vario also ensured that the after party was amazing, transforming a boring ballroom into a great party space. We would definitely recommend Vario to anyone considering them for future weddings or events! read more

From our first meeting with Tim, we knew he was the one to DJ our wedding. We were adamant about avoiding the cookie-cutter dance songs and when he rattled off the list of songs he'd NEVER play (ie. Chicken Dance) we were SOLD! I'm a person who loves to plan, so seeing the superior attention to detail and organization (timelines, announcements, pronunciation of wedding party's names, etc.), I immediately felt at ease. When we first met at his office, he explained all the details to us about how he chooses music, what he needed to know from us (# of guests, age of guests, etc.) in order to pick the right music, and photos of how the equipment would look set up at our venue. We gave our playlist a lot of thought, but Tim knocked it out of the park the day of the wedding. He played great nostalgic songs that we didn't even think to add to our list, but were the right era and genre to get everyone moving - we were blown away! He truly was the master of ceremonies that night and helped us realize our dream wedding! read more

I can't thank Vario Productions enough for the amazing work they did from beginning to end. As a wedding coordinator, I didn't have to worry at all while we were setting up because they had it under control. I really liked that Matt, who arranged the orders and the contract, was onsite at the beginning because it helped to put a name to a face, and to know that I could go over with him the things we talked about without having to reexplain myself. Their team was efficient, hard working, organized, and so kind. The set-up of the drapes and lighting looked clean and professional while break down took a lot less time than I had anticipated, especially with all the draping involved. I was amazed at how quickly things were packed up! DJ Effren was such a pleasure to work with! It was easy to communicate with him and he transitioned the music so well. By the time we got to dancing, literally everyone was on the dance floor! I highly recommend Vario Productions. Speaking as a coordinator, they were quick to respond, professional, and made my job easy. As an outside perspective, they delivered great customer service all around and the result of their work was excellent! I look forward to working with them again in the near future. read more

Karissa was amazing! We got married 6.30.18 at Estancia La Jolla and was referred to Vario from our wedding planner. We used Vario for DJ, Photo booth, lighting and ceremony guitarist. Everything was smooth from start to finish including cost! Thank you for making our day perfect!! xoxo Marissa and Bradley Freeman read more

Vario Weddings were a blast to work with! They did our personalized gobo and a slow motion booth at our wedding. Lindsay was very accommodating to our requests and everything turned out perfect! Our guests had so much fun with the slow mo booth. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something unique for their event. Thanks guys for helping make our wedding perfect! read more

Tim Altbaum did an AMAZING job at our wedding!! We had so many different people come up to tell us how great they thought he was and we couldn't agree more. It all started with our initial meeting. Tim was very professional and knowledgeable. He talked us through how the event would go, asked us lots of questions, anticipated problems, and most importantly, listened to what we were looking for! Tim had examples of timelines we could follow and use for our own wedding. We followed his easy format and were able to choose songs to be used throughout the day. We chose some specific songs and then we also gave Tim some general ideas about the type of music we wanted to hear. We had our wedding & reception on the beach, which means logistically it is a challenge. Tim had to organize generators to be brought in, lighting, and a sound system for the ceremony and reception in separate locations on the beach. He pulled it off flawlessly! He solved any problems that arose with a positive, calm manner. He had a great feel for the crowd and kept the party dancing all night long. We never felt like he was the cheesy guy on the microphone, but instead he was there to announce things at all the appropriate times and the rest of the time he allowed everyone to enjoy the music and party. Beyond a traditional DJ, Tim's company offers extensive services. He was a big part of the set up of our reception and ceremony. He gave his professional advice on how to logistically pull off a wedding with no buildings, electricity, etc. He is a huge asset in both the planning process and throughout the entire wedding day. Tim is truly good at what he does and we were more than impressed with his services. We recommend Tim Altbaum Productions to anyone who is looking for a talented, hard working, professional DJ. Our day was incredible and we can't thank him enough! read more

Had the steel drums at our wedding cocktail hour and everyone loved it! They added a great vibe and experience to our wedding.

We hired Vario Productions/ DJ Effren for our wedding last June. They were absolutely wonderful to work with and I would highly recommend hiring them! Everything leading up to our wedding was done very professionally and they made everything so easy. Effren was AWESOME! We enjoyed working with him as we were planning out and discussing the music for our wedding reception. His music had our guests out on the dance floor all night which is exactly what we wanted. People gave us many compliments on the music which was great to hear! Thank you Vario and Effren for helping to make our wedding day the best day of our lives! read more

I hired Vario Productions after speaking with Kristen about all the awesome events they do. We needed a display built for a boat show and not only did their work impress me, it impressed everyone that came through our display! For being Vario's first boat show experience, they definitely delivered. The whole team was very quick to get the job done and the pride they take in their work shows. Kristen was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish. She was super easy to communicate with and there was never any grey area. Some production teams I've hired in the past tell you one thing and you get another, but not with Vario... they outdid themselves. The best part about set up and break down was everyone was hands on so it was quick which we really appreciated. We will be using them again! Thank you Kristen and Vario team! read more

They did a fabulous job at my wedding and were always willing to accommodate. DJ Michael was fantastic, and mixed up the many decades of music we wanted in a perfect way. I give only four stars because although they were great- I do think they are a little pricey for DJ's however I have not had the experience of hiring one prior to our reception. We also did Karaoke with them and it was the best sound ever for Karaoke! I would definitely use them again! read more

We loved Vario Productions, especially DJ Chris! My husband and I just had our wedding reception at the new Central Library in downtown SD. It was about two weeks before the wedding (maybe even less - it all happens fast ;)) and we still needed a DJ. Our coordinator recommended that we check out Vario. We called them up and talked to Matt in sales. Matt was super helpful - he got back to us quickly and got on a conference call with us to answer all our questions. Matt scheduled Chris Paul as our DJ. Chris was great! If you're planning a wedding I highly recommend requesting him as your DJ. Chris met with us the weekend before the wedding to go over all of the music. He did a great job of combining his music timeline with the timeline that our coordinator created. And he did a fantastic job of listening to what we wanted. We gave him a bunch of songs that we liked, and he was able to build a playlist around it. And I appreciate (more than I can say) that when I told Chris that I wasn't a big fan of scratching/mixing/night club-esque DJ'ing, Chris didn't try to talk me out of it and told us that he could do the music the way we wanted. Such a relief! Chris was fantastic the day of the wedding. He had a killer playlist and got all of our guests out on the dance floor. He played all of our special requests for the important moments - the grand entrance, the first dance, the bouquet toss, the cake cutting. He was a consummate professional! It was an excellent experience working with him. Thanks Chris! read more

Selecting our entertainment company for our wedding was an easy choice, but actually experiencing the high level of service was icing on the cake. DJ ZEPHYR created the perfect atmosphere for our guests to spend the whole night on the dance floor. He was flexible and really took into consideration all of our requests. Lindsay Swain did an excellent job preparing us for the big day. Lighting was on point. A night to remember for sure. read more

We hired Tim for our wedding based on the countless number of vendors we had met who actually referred us to him. We scheduled a consultation and we were blown away by his organization, attention to detail, and of course his dj skills. We knew we wanted a dj for our wedding over a band because of the type of crowd we were hosting. We needed high energy and fun music and of course some line dancing in between. Our dance floor was packed the whole night with both young and old guests ranging from 1-65 or so! We received feedback from our guests that he played really good music. Also, he provided us with our uplights and our GOBO which made our event extra special and decorative. Tim is great! You can't go wrong if you hire him! read more

(1) WEDDING OFFICIANT REVIEW. I know this is sounds superficial, but we wanted a good looking officiant. We're not religious, and hey he's going to be in all our photos! So we asked our coordinator (Gina of San Diego Weddings By Gina) and florist (Nancy Stevens) an they both recommended Tim Altbaum. He did a great job as our officiant last month... He met and emailed with us extensively, and really helped us come up with an authentic love-based ceremony. With a Beatles sing along!! And did I mention he was dressed as a priest as a practical joke on our families? 2) RECEPTION D.J. REVIEW. We had an incredibly mixed crowd for our wedding reception. Professional musicians, hipster young folk, many retired relatives. He played music for them all, keeping people dancing that we never thought would go out on the floor. He has a vast collection of tunes and never let the party stop. Oh, did I mention that our live wedding ceremony musicians fell through so he did the music for that too? read more

My wife and I were under immense pressure to adhere to our ambitious and complicated wedding schedule and our Vario Weddings crew was able to make it happen. The reception was a blast for all involved and was the most amazing way to kick off a lifetime of happiness together for my wife and me. I could not be more pleased with the professionalism of the Vario Weddings crew! read more

Tim is awesome! Organized, professional and a pleasure to work with! He kept everyone at our wedding dancing the whole time. And he knew how to mix up our random music selections so we could get a little bit of everything! I mean, you have to be talented to get a mix of Van Halen, Jason Mraz, Frank Sinatra and Lionel Richie sounding good! Not to mention, his GOBO on the dancefloor and on the waterfall at L'Auberge totally rocked! read more

If you are looking for the best way to make your BIG day a success look no further than Tim Altbaum Productions. The DJ and photo booth services made our wedding so very special. Dance floor was packed and the pictures are priceless. Michael was absolutely exceptional! Not only was he extremely helpful during the planning stages but on the BIG day he came through even better than I could've prepared for. Without having to provide hardly any direction his music selection throughout the evening completely exceeded our expectations. My goal was for our guests to be on the dance floor all night and that goal was achieved with flying colors. From controlling the ceremony music exactly as I had hoped to mixing the most perfect first dance with 3 different songs Michael and the team at Tim Altbaum are worth every penny. The songs that were meant for certain guests were met with a friendly reminder from Michael, he extended the songs to allow time for the guests to get to the floor (if they weren't already there.) We are beyond grateful for the excellent service and quality that we received. It lead to the most unforgettable evening. Thank you SO much! read more

In planning our wedding we met with three other DJs before meeting with Tim. It was a process to say the least - trying to find the person who will not take grandstand your event, will not bring the "cheese" factor, etc. One DJ had the nerve to tell me that it wasn't all about me. Hahaha - right!!! When we met with Tim he was professional and very organized. We were impressed. When we got down to pricing Tim was a little more money than we had wanted to spend. We walked away and said we would think about it. By the time we left the complex we had decided that it would be worth the extra money and we were right! We met with Tim a few more times before the big day. He helped us select music and was patient with me when I wasn't sure what I wanted (I am not a music person). He provided a template for the entire event, met with the other vendors to ensure everyone was in sync and the day of it was an impressive mix of music. The dance floor was packed for the entire event. He played a great mix that would bridge generations and keep everyone moving - exactly what we wanted. Thank you Tim for making our special day a success!! read more

I would give 6 stars if I could. This company and their staff are top notch. I had the pleasure of working with Breanne for coordinating all the details for our wedding from the custom gobo, to uplighting, to the DJ. She took control over everything and it was something I didn't have to stress about. Planning a wedding is stressful and this company will be one aspect of your wedding you will not have to stress over. I love that they are a one stop shop for many areas for planning a wedding. We interviewed Matt and instantly hired him to be our DJ for our wedding. He has a upbeat vibe and was extremely fun and light hearted. Matt takes his job very seriously, he wants to make sure he creates the exact vibe you are looking for. I spoke with him multiple times on the phone and he was very accommodating. I have been to so many weddings where the DJ can't read the crowd, where they make the wedding about themselves and not the bride and groom, or where they just plain aren't good and it puts such a damper on the wedding and crowd. Knowing this I searched high and low as it definitely paid off. Matt was a amazing DJ and MC. He was approachable welcoming the crowd to Make requests and he kept the crowd going the whole time. He was fun and upbeat the music selection was awesome, he can read the crowd without a doubt. I got at least 5 different people coming up to me saying how impressed they were with the music and the flow and the DJ specifically. If you use this company, I hope you have the pleasure of working with Breanne, and if you are using a DJ I would highly recommend choosing Matt! Thank you!! read more

We had the pleasure to have Kris DJ our wedding, he was awesome!!! He listened to our wants and requests before wedding day and even the slight changes in the timeline the day of. Matt was also so helpful with contracting with us and figuring out what we could do within our budget. We so appreciated the team at Tim Altbaum Productions - thank you for helping to make our wedding a memorable one! read more

Our guests are still talking about how they have never danced start to finish at a wedding and that was due in large part to the team at Vario and DJ Michael! Michael kept the wedding moving and on schedule and kept all guests dancing. Matt & Tim were so helpful in the planning process making sure our wedding venue had all the correct equipment to make Michael's set up go smooth. Michael really took the time to get to know my husband and I and understand what we wanted on our big day. Vario takes the time to work on every little detail of your day to ensure a seamless execution on your special day. You cannot go wrong with this team! We could not have asked or a better team and DJ! read more

We held a tech event with 600 attendees at Liberty Station. Vario seamlessly integrated their equipment with what the venue had available (which saved us money) and went above and beyond getting our internet drop up and running. Throughout the event, the guys on site were AWESOME: friendly, professional, quick to help with issues. We will most certainly be using Vario as a provider at future events. read more

We hired Vario and DJ Effren based on how professional they seemed and Effren's sultry voice. The music at our wedding was wonderful. He followed all our notes and people loved the dancing portion. There were a few minor mistakes that happened (incorrect timing for first dance and switched toast names), but everything else went very smoothly and we got so many compliments about how fun the wedding was and that the music set the ideal vibes. read more

This review is hard to write because it is hard to figure out the best review to give. Michael was our DJ. We also had a lighting package. First we had filled out a questionnaire about the songs we wanted played and when we wanted them played. This took a lot of time to fill out. What frustrated me is that some of the requests we made were not played at the correct time. While the first dance, mother/son, father/daughter, entrance, and cake song were all played correctly, some of the other requested songs were played at the wrong time. It was also frustrating that when my husband and I stepped out for photos the DJ played all of the other requested songs we had. We ended up missing the majority of "our songs" Michael did a good job as a dj. He took requests and the guests loved that. The dance floor was always packed. I just wish he would have been more aware of when he was playing our requested songs. The lighting was fantastic, so no problems there. read more

DJ Effren did a great job keeping everyone dancing all night long at our wedding! He picked songs that worked for all of our family members- teens, twenty-somethings, middle-aged, elderly, Mexican, Jewish, Italian, and Irish. Also he adapted on the fly and got us back on schedule when we ended up at least 45 min behind. Thanks very much! read more

Vario was the perfect vendor for our wedding at the US Grant Hotel. I can't say enough about the personal service, quality, and reliability of everything. We worked with DJ Michael, a terrific harpist named Tasha, and we rented uplights as well as dance floor lighting. Lindsay, the coordinator was always responsive and helpful via email and phone. She kept track of all our changing needs and orchestrated it even up to the day prior. DJ Michael was terrific. I'm sure their other DJs are great as well, but Michael listened to our every need and delivered with the right energy at the right time. He was a true professional. If you have a lot of needs and want one company to easily coordinate it all, go with Vario!! You'll probably pay the same to coordinate all this stuff from different vendors, so let them consolidate and do the planning for you. We couldn't be happier with our experience. read more

Tim DJ'd our wedding at the US Grant in early July. He is first-rate - a great DJ who is highly professional and has a ton of experience in both planning and executing the music for the wedding. He set up the sound for the ceremony, put together a fantastic mix for the cocktail and kept the dance floor packed all night. Many guests commented how great the music was throughout the night, and we'd highly recommend him to anyone looking for a professional, knowledgeable, experienced DJ for your wedding. read more

We have been using TAP for a few years as a vendor for our Annual Pool Party at The Sporting Club San Diego. They continue to impress us each year with the level of professionalism and on site work. They went above and beyond this year and we could not be more pleased. We look forward to working with Matt and Tim next summer as well. read more

We used Vario to supply a three piece band for our cocktail reception and DJ for the party. They also provided us with specialty lighting for the wedding. I highly recommend using them. The bad was perfect and easy to work with. DJ Ayla was fabulous; she had us dancing all night long! Karissa and Louisa were very responsive to our needs and easy to work with. read more

Had a wonderful experience with DJ Michael and Vario for our wedding. Everything was made super easy for us and so personalized. DJ Michael was amazing at getting the party going and our guests danced all night long. DJ Michael also mixed a custom song for our first dance and was easily reachable throughout the planning process. Everyone throughout the process was professional and personable. Highly recommend Vario and a special shoutout to DJ Michael. read more

Vario Productions set up the market lighting an entire day early to ensure everything was perfect! The lighting was stunning and made out entirely outdoor event feel romantic and look stunning. The staff was friendly and extremely responsive. Every time I had a question or needed more information they were available and got back to me quickly with all the information I needed to make a decision. Thank you for all of your hard work and efforts! read more

Our needs for our recent event on the Midway were pretty simple: a couple of screens for a presentation, some stage draping/lighting and sound for pre-recorded music. That said, some of the other vendors we contacted came in with quotes that were way more than our budget could afford. Vario Productions worked with us to get the costs under control. On the night of the event they took care of all our AV needs. I will use them again the next time we have an event in San Diego. read more

We hired Vario Weddings to do both lighting and music for our June wedding at The Grand Del Mar and everything went just perfectly. From our first communications and meeting all the way through to execution the whole team did an incredible job. Karissa was amazing to work with and totally on top of everything. We had Anthony as our guitarist for the ceremony and cocktail hour and he played just beautifully and DJ Effren took over during the reception and he kept everyone on the dance floor until the bitter end. I cant recommend Vario enough especially since we live in New York and only had one initial meeting they made sure that we had nothing to worry about and had great interaction with both The Grand and our Wedding planner. Thank you Vario for an unforgettable night. read more

My husband and I hired Tim for our wedding and we were extremely happy with his professionalism and expertise. His guitarists Joe played the guitar beautifully for our ceremony and entertained our guests on the sax during the cocktail hour. Tim provided excellent music and flow to our reception. Our guested danced the day away during our nontraditional Sunday afternoon wedding. Our family and friends want to buy our wedding soundtrack! His company came highly recommended and I would recommend them to anyone looking for musical entertainment for their event. read more