We recently connected with Joshua Pelling and have shared our conversation below.

Joshua, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Though I have been DJing independently since 2012, around 2017 I realized it was time to officially launch a company so that we could take things to the next level. After floating a few names around, my Wife helped me to land upon Love & Light Entertainment, which we felt was the perfect fit. We are focused primarily on Weddings, hence the name love fits in that regard. The ampersand symbol (&) not only stands for togetherness, but personally it’s something that my twin sister and I use to symbolize our “twin connection”. On one level light refers to the various lighting that we offer. On a more personal level, we strongly believe in sharing love and light in all that we do, including in business. This means living and acting with kindness, compassion, and empathy, but also sharing light through positive words, actions, and advocacy throughout our communities. So in all, there’s a bit of professional and personal meaning in the company name, and we’re grateful to have had some positive feedback on it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

In 2012, after serving 4 years active duty in the US Army, my recruiter turned friend also left the Army and began an Entertainment company in my home town of Pittsburgh, PA. He asked me if I’d like to join and learn to DJ, and I enthusiastically jumped at the opportunity. Music has been a huge part of my life since I was young, so it seemed a natural fit for me. It took some time to get my bearings, but over the years I have learned a ton about the art of DJing and MCing, and I am overwhelmingly appreciative to be part of so many amazing events.

I’ve had the unique honor and privilege to assist hundreds of couples plan, and celebrate their Wedding day. Though it is a big task, I am incredibly proud and determined to be a trustworthy ally that our client’s can lean on to take the stress out of planning so that they can more thoroughly enjoy every aspect of their Wedding. This is what we feel really sets us apart; the attention to detail we strive for, and the many resources we offer throughout our Portal and website. As an example, the Shoe Game is a popular game at Wedding receptions where the Newlyweds answer a series of 10-20 questions. The planning process can be daunting enough, let alone coming up with a set of questions for a short game. We wanted to assist our clients in making it easier to find the right questions for the game by setting up a site they can go to for questions to choose, tips, and instructions. We invite anyone to take a look if you are interested at www.loveandlightent.com/shoegame

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The DJ Entertainment business can be rather expensive. To put it into perspective, our MirrorBooth (photobooth) was a nearly $10,000 investment. Fortunately, with a ton of hard work, I have been able to start small, with a laptop, mixer, and speakers, and have reinvested in the business continuously to upgrade our equipment, and the resources we offer our clients. When we first began, for example, all information we collected from couples was done through documents and emails sent back and forth. This was quite a tedious and cumbersome process. We have, through reinvestment, been able to upgrade to a state of the art, industry leading Client Portal that includes a wide range of tools we are now able to provide, including music request systems, forms, timeline builders, automated emails, and much more. It is our mission to always put people first, so while these reinvestments have greatly benefited our overall business and sales, more importantly it has dramatically improved the value and experience for our customers.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The business had been growing and expanding steadily from it’s inception in 2018, until the COVID19 pandemic struck. As we all have seen, the pandemic has taken a huge toll on the world, and service industries like ours have been especially impacted. In the midst of the tragedy and mourning, Virginia, Maryland, and DC began implementing lockdowns or restrictions on events. This lead to cancellations and rescheduling on a scale we had never encountered. On top of that, there was a massive lull in new bookings, as we all tried our best to put on hold gatherings that might jeopardize the safety of our friends, family, and communities. One year turned to two, and soon we realized that things would never quite go back to normal as we remembered it. Though we suffered setbacks, it’s important to acknowledge and recognize that there our some who tragically lost much more. We were able to make it through all of 2019, 2020, and 2021 performing fewer events, but maintaining enough to cover our overhead costs. We did everything to ensure the safety of our staff and guests, masking up, implementing new social distancing measures like touchless text song requests, and sanitizing our equipment regularly. We were able to get by safely until 2022 when myself and a few guests caught COVID19 at a wedding. This was the first time in my decade long DJ career that I would have to miss a booked wedding that following weekend. I was devastated, but not deterred. We had prepared the company from the very beginning for similar scenarios, and within 48 hours, I was able to find a qualified replacement DJ for the couple, who later reported to me that the DJ did an outstanding job. We have all endured this pandemic together, and I am hopeful that together we will get through this stronger than ever. My deepest condolences to all we have lost throughout these troubled times.

Contact Info:

• Website: loveandlightent.com
• Instagram: @loveandlightent
• Facebook: facebook.com/loveandlightent/
• Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UC9pDAP2KzlttHW-yRH9B4hA
• Yelp: yelp.com/biz/love-and-light-entertainment-reston-3

Image Credits
Kristyn Romell Photography John Heredia Photography Jenna Davis Photography Wildly Violet Photography