What Cage + Aquarium does

Cage + Aquarium is a US-based creative events services company founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, with additional offices in the San Francisco Bay Area (Alameda, CA), San Diego (Oceanside, CA), and New York (Queens). The firm operates as a curated collective of independent creative talent, organized around four core service lines: turntable DJ and live music entertainment, photojournalistic-style photography, and cinematic videography/filmmaking. Its distinguishing market positioning is the claim of being "the only all-turntable DJ collective," combined with a matching process that pairs clients to specific DJs, musicians, photographers, or videographers based on event vibe and requirements.

The company's customer base spans two primary segments: wedding consumers (its original and primary use case) and corporate event clients. The corporate roster includes recognizable enterprise logos across technology, retail, finance, sports, and consumer brands, indicating a meaningful B2B event entertainment and brand activation practice. Cage + Aquarium is a privately held, founder-led business with no disclosed institutional investment, no M&A activity, and no parent company. It is led by Founder Tyler Huffman and Co-founder Shelley Anderson, and reaches customers through direct inquiry, wedding marketplaces (WeddingWire, The Knot), social media (Instagram, TikTok), and earned review platforms (Yelp, Google).

Operationally, Cage + Aquarium has no proprietary technology platform and is a service-based creative agency. Its technology stack consists of commodity SaaS tools — Squarespace for web/e-commerce, Honeybook for CRM and booking workflows, and Google Analytics for site measurement. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; customers are directed to contact the company for availability and quotes, consistent with bespoke event services. The firm has achieved sustained 5-star ratings across major wedding and review platforms, including The Knot Hall of Fame status, indicating durable reputational equity in its target market.

Name

Cage + Aquarium

Legal name

Cage and Aquarium

Website

https://cageandaquarium.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cage + Aquarium is a Chicago-based creative events collective founded in 2007, providing turntable DJ, live music, photojournalistic photography, and cinematic videography services to wedding clients and corporate event customers across the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. DJ and Music Services: Turntable DJ services and live music performances for events including weddings, corporate functions, and social gatherings. The company markets itself as the only all-turntable DJ collective.
2. Photography Services: Photojournalistic-style photography for weddings, events, portraits, families, and corporate headshots. Services include both on-site coverage and post-production.
3. Videography and Film Services: Cinematic filmmaking services for capturing love stories, work stories, and life stories through video production.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cage + Aquarium is a creative events services collective that provides on-site DJ and live music entertainment, photojournalistic photography, and cinematic videography/films for weddings, corporate events, social occasions, and life milestone celebrations. Clients can engage the company for individual services or as a bundled full-service event media provider, with services delivered on-site at venues across the US and worldwide.

Product overview

Cage + Aquarium is a creative services company offering an integrated suite of entertainment and media production services. The company operates as a single unified offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. Their core portfolio consists of four interconnected service lines: DJ/Music Services (including the all-turntable DJ collective), Live Music performances, Photography (with journalistic-style approach), and Films/Videography. These services are designed to be booked individually or combined, allowing clients to work with one company for multiple aspects of their event or story. The company is headquartered in Chicago with additional presence in San Francisco, San Diego, and New York.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DJ/Music Services All-turntable DJ entertainment with custom music curation and live mixing for weddings, corporate functions, and private celebrations; delivered on-site at client venues.
• Live Music Live musicians and performers for events, providing musical entertainment beyond recorded DJ sets at weddings, corporate events, and private celebrations.
• Photography Photojournalistic-style photography services including on-site coverage and post-production for weddings, events, corporate functions, portraits, families, and corporate headshots.
• Films/Videography Cinematic filmmaking and videography services producing documentary-style films capturing weddings, corporate stories, personal narratives, and life milestone events.

Quantifiable outcome

• Full dance floors throughout events based on client testimonials
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers34 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• SquarespacecoreTechnology or IntegrationSquarespace is used as the website platform powering cageandaquarium.com. The company uses Squarespace for website hosting, online communications, and e-commerce functionality.
• HoneybookcoreTechnology or IntegrationHoneybook is used for customer relationship management, booking inquiries, and processing customer support communications. The company discloses sharing personal information with Honeybook for these purposes.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Elan Artists: Event entertainment agency representing DJs, bands, and specialty performers for weddings, corporate events, and private functions; directly competes for the same corporate and wedding clients with similar talent-booking model.
• Luma Wedding Films: Wedding videography and photography studio focused on cinematic event films; overlaps with Cage + Aquarium's film/videography offering for the same wedding customer segment with comparable premium positioning.
• East Coast Entertainment: Event entertainment agency offering DJs, live musicians, photo booths, and event production across multiple US markets for weddings and corporate events; directly comparable in service breadth and customer segments.
• Hank Lane Music & Productions: Established NYC-based event entertainment agency providing DJs, live bands, and production services for corporate and private events; closely comparable business model, customer base (corporate events), and service mix to Cage + Aquarium.
• George Street Photo & Video: National wedding photography and videography studio offering bundled photo + film services for weddings and events; one of the largest multi-market competitors in the same creative event services category as Cage + Aquarium.

Emerging players

• Here Comes the Guide: Regional wedding and event vendor directory with deep California and West Coast coverage; partial overlap as both a channel partner and a competitor for vendor discovery on the same wedding platforms.

Broad incumbents

• The Knot Worldwide: Dominant wedding planning platform and marketplace (The Knot, WeddingWire, Hitched) that aggregates and ranks wedding vendors including DJs and photographers; an upstream platform partner/incumbent that can both route and divert demand from creative event services firms.
• Zola: Wedding planning platform offering registry, website, vendor marketplace, and planning tools; competes for the same wedding consumer mindshare and increasingly bundles vendor recommendations that could substitute for boutique vendor selection.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/cageandaquarium
• TikTokin.tiktok.com/@cageandaquarium
• Xx.com/CageAndAquarium
• Facebookfacebook.com/cageandaquarium
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cageandaquarium

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cage + Aquarium