Live Bands and DJs at Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach
Eighteen weddings at this resort since 2018, and every single booking has been a wedding. Half of them carried a live band, which makes this the most band-led room on our list.
What we bring to this ballroom
This resort books bands and DJs from us in almost equal measure. Everything else can ride on the same night.
Live bands
Eight of our eighteen nights here have carried a band. Rouge, our second Rouge unit, the Melvin Band and ORAMA have all played this stage.
See the bands →DJs
Nine nights have been DJ-led, most often Nathan, with Justin, Oren, Jason and Kevin covering the rest.
Meet the DJs →Vocalists
A solo vocalist has worked here on her own, and the bands that play this room front two singers rather than one.
See the ensembles →Lighting design
Uplighting, beams and a wash for the floor, quoted for a ballroom with this much white in it. Colour reads here in a way it does not in a darker room.
Ask about lighting →Sound and AV
Audio for the vows, the speeches and playback, with a system sized for a band and a DJ sharing one stage.
Talk it through →Specialty performers
Character and costumed performers who work the room between sets. We can bring them or work alongside the ones you have booked.
Ask what is possible →What LIV does across the night
One crew from the ceremony through to the last song. Pick a moment and see what goes into the room.
The walk down the aisle
A vocalist or a small ensemble live, with microphones for the vows placed so the ocean side of the property does not eat them. Every booking we have had at this resort has been a wedding, so this is the part we have run the most.
While guests come inside
A pared-back version of the band, or a DJ set underneath the conversation. The room is bright and hard-surfaced, so the level sits lower here than it would elsewhere.
Speeches and the first dance
The band takes dinner and the first dance from the stage, with speech audio and playback running through the same system. On this floor the first dance sits inside a printed monogram, so the lighting is aimed at a circle rather than at a rectangle.
When the room stands up
The band opens the floor, the DJ takes it from there, and the handoff is planned so it never empties. Half the weddings we have played here have run exactly this way.
The last ninety minutes
Colour goes up on the walls, the specialty performers come out into the room, and the set turns over to whoever is reading the floor best. Bright ballrooms take a late set well if you commit to the colour.
The one room on our list that books bands
Across the venues in our records, DJs outnumber bands by a wide margin. Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach is the exception. Eight of our eighteen nights here have carried a live band and nine have carried a DJ, which is as close to an even split as we see anywhere. Rouge have played it three times, our second Rouge unit twice, the Melvin Band twice and ORAMA once.
The room is part of the reason. It is bright, white and gold with a proper raised stage, and it is set up so a six-piece band and a DJ booth can share it without either one being in the way. That is unusual, and it is why the handoff from the band’s last number into the DJ’s first one is smoother here than it is in ballrooms that make you strike one to fit the other.
It is also the only venue on this page outside Los Angeles County. Dana Point is a good hour south of the hotels we usually work, so an Orange County wedding does not mean starting again with a new supplier.
Who has played here
The names below are the ones this resort’s guests have actually heard, with the number of nights each has worked at this address.
Also booked here: DJ Kevin, and a solo vocalist who carried a ceremony on her own in August 2025.
What people said afterwards
Reviews left on Google for LIV Entertainment. Two of them name DJs who have worked this resort.
“LIV was so easy to work with and really professional throughout the whole process. We used DJ Justin who absolutely killed it at our wedding.”
“Working with LIV Entertainment was truly one of the funnest and most enjoyable parts of planning our entire wedding. DJ Nathan was unreal, and the entire team, from the sound crew to the lighting crew, was absolutely incredible.”
“I hired LIV Entertainment for my wedding and they absolutely crushed it. Nate is a professional and the DJ they sent was amazing. They also coordinated all the lighting and rigging for the venue and made the process super easy.”
A night at Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach
Photographs from a wedding we played here in July 2024. The band on that stage is Rouge.
What we have produced here
Eighteen bookings, eighteen weddings. This resort has never booked us for anything else.
Booking a band and a DJ for the same night
Half the weddings we have played at this resort have had both, and the reason is the stage. There is room for a six-piece and a booth side by side, so the band can finish its last number and the DJ can be running inside eight bars without anyone striking a riser in front of the guests. Ask us and we will walk you through how we time that changeover, and which of our bands is free on your date.
Questions we get about this venue
Do you already work with Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach?
Yes. We have produced 18 events at 1 Monarch Beach Resort North since January 2018, and every one of them has been a wedding.
Can we have a live band and a DJ?
Yes, and half the weddings we have played here have done exactly that. The stage takes a six-piece and a DJ booth together, so the handoff happens without a set change in front of your guests.
Which band would we get?
Rouge have played this room the most, with our second Rouge unit, the Melvin Band and ORAMA also on this stage. Send us your date and we will tell you who is free and let you hear them.
Do you travel to Orange County?
We do, regularly. Dana Point is about an hour south of the Los Angeles hotels we work in most, and this resort is one of our steadiest bookings outside the county.
Can you handle ceremony music as well as the reception?
We can. A solo vocalist has carried a ceremony here on her own, and the bands that play the reception can send a smaller group out for the aisle and the cocktail hour.
Check your date at this resort
Send us the date and we will come back with which bands and DJs are free that night, what they cost, and how we would run the evening in this ballroom. No call needed to get an answer.
- A reply with real availability, usually the same day
- Bands, DJs, lighting and sound quoted together
- Photographs and audio from the bands who have played this stage
Planning a wedding at Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach?
Tell us the date and how you want the night to run. We will come back with the bands and DJs available, what they cost, and how we would time the handoff between them.
Other venues we have written up: