Wedding DJ

[brutus87]

Hey dudes,
Anybody here know any tips/tricks for hiring a DJ for a wedding?
What are some do's and dont's?

Whats a ball park price for about 4 hours?


Ive tried looking around, and seem to be getting nowhere, or prices all over the place.


Thanks R3v

[Mr. Burns]

I'm a DJ, been running my business for over 8 years now.

I DJ clubs in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto mostly.

I started off DJ'ing corporate events and weddings.

Rule #1.
you're sure as shit not going to please *everybody*.
what matters the most, are the bride, groom, and the elders (Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, people that travelled far and wide to celebrate the wedding)

Cover your ground work first with oldies (lots of podcasts including these, Jive Bunny etc, anything to get them on the dancefloor)

gradually incorporate a "fun" beat which the oldies can relate to, something along the lines of "Love Shack" by the B52's, Groove is in the Heart etc...that kinda thing.

You'll get a feel for the crowd..the crowds I loath are "country crowds".
Screw Toby Keith and his Red Solo Cup...but country drunks will pack the d-floor with one hit wonders like Save a horse, Friends in Low PLaces, Baton Rouge..Garth Brooks kinda junk.

not untill you've pacified the oldies (they typically don't last long on the dance floor, and afterall, they WANT the bride and groom to have a good night) is when you start introducing the top 40.

whole block of top 40, break it up once in awhile with classics like ""pour some sugar" byu Def leapoard, "Living on a Prayer by JBJ" that kinda thing, and bring it back with a classic Black Eyed Peas beat everyone can identify with.

the trick is to play to the crowd, and that the crowd will recognize everything and anything.
throwbacks are the best...

I'm 33, and I love my oldschool hiphop..to me, a throwback would be some Pharcyde, De La Soul, Souls of Mischief etc...stay away from that untill FARRRRRR into the night, and only IF the bride and groom are "into it"

Same statement echoes with anything house, DnB, dubstep, techno, dance etc...unless they other request this type of "specialty" music stay away from it.

assure your music is "clean" as in it's not dropping f-bombs...theres probably kids in the room.

Depending on the amount of guests, what type of equipment needed, and venue I would charge anywhere from $500 to $1500 for a night.


*edit* misread your original question...tips and tricks in HIRRING a Dj...oops.

most of my referals for weddings I got from word of mouth from bars I DJ'd at.

do you know of any "popular" clubs/bars in your area?
approach their house DJ...if he/she won't do it, oftentimes they can refer one.

[xxx-Lost-Soul-xxx]

Avoid craigslist DJ's,and Serato is meant for children.......

[Mr. Burns]

Avoid craigslist DJ's,and Serato is meant for children.......

Serato is meant for children?

Elaborate plz...I'm a traktor scratch pro user, but for a wedding? Absolutely nothing wrong with serato..,What di you expect, t1200's and freestyling?

[djjerme]

Same exact advise I would have given.. Though having spent 8 years as a country radio DJ as well as 5 years spinning House, TRance, Breaks Hip Hop..etc at various clubs and raves back in the days, I would say that there is some safe middle of the road country tracks you can "get away with" (some you even mentioned.)

But back when I was doing mobile gigs (a looooong time ago) the usual kick off track, after the father-bride dances and stuff, was "Swing the Mood" by JB. IT was almost a guaranteed show in. I would most often use it for a snowball style dance, and then from there it really depended on the key people (which you covered well.)

I charged back then (1994-95) $100 and hour after the initial 4-hour contract, which was IIRC $1000-$1500.

For my own wedding, well no DJ (it was on a beach in Maui), and even for the reception where a large number of the guest were fellow radio peeps, we used an iPod.

I did actually used to get away with quite a bit of old school hip hop, but I had to stay a little more closer to well known tracks like "Tennesee", "Humpty Dance"...etc.

Just for the love of god don't make me play "I Will Survive.." Hate that song with every bone in my body!


AS for advice.. Get an iPod, and load it up. Unless you want your wedding to be a House Party or Dance off, just have background music that is not front and center. Years from now, nobody is going to give two shit's about the DJ and if they did or didn't make asses of themselves after getting drunk.

I'm a DJ, been running my business for over 8 years now.

I DJ clubs in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto mostly.

I started off DJ'ing corporate events and weddings.

Rule #1.
you're sure as shit not going to please *everybody*.
what matters the most, are the bride, groom, and the elders (Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, people that travelled far and wide to celebrate the wedding)

Cover your ground work first with oldies (lots of podcasts including these, Jive Bunny etc, anything to get them on the dancefloor)

gradually incorporate a "fun" beat which the oldies can relate to, something along the lines of "Love Shack" by the B52's, Groove is in the Heart etc...that kinda thing.

You'll get a feel for the crowd..the crowds I loath are "country crowds".
Screw Toby Keith and his Red Solo Cup...but country drunks will pack the d-floor with one hit wonders like Save a horse, Friends in Low PLaces, Baton Rouge..Garth Brooks kinda junk.

not untill you've pacified the oldies (they typically don't last long on the dance floor, and afterall, they WANT the bride and groom to have a good night) is when you start introducing the top 40.

whole block of top 40, break it up once in awhile with classics like ""pour some sugar" byu Def leapoard, "Living on a Prayer by JBJ" that kinda thing, and bring it back with a classic Black Eyed Peas beat everyone can identify with.

the trick is to play to the crowd, and that the crowd will recognize everything and anything.
throwbacks are the best...

I'm 33, and I love my oldschool hiphop..to me, a throwback would be some Pharcyde, De La Soul, Souls of Mischief etc...stay away from that untill FARRRRRR into the night, and only IF the bride and groom are "into it"

Same statement echoes with anything house, DnB, dubstep, techno, dance etc...unless they other request this type of "specialty" music stay away from it.

assure your music is "clean" as in it's not dropping f-bombs...theres probably kids in the room.

Depending on the amount of guests, what type of equipment needed, and venue I would charge anywhere from $500 to $1500 for a night.


*edit* misread your original question...tips and tricks in HIRRING a Dj...oops.

most of my referals for weddings I got from word of mouth from bars I DJ'd at.

do you know of any "popular" clubs/bars in your area?
approach their house DJ...if he/she won't do it, oftentimes they can refer one.

[Victell]

If you can afford it, hire Mr Burns and fly him out. He knows his shit.

Serato is meant for children.......

Serato / Traktor is the best way for a wedding DJ to rock the entire crowd like a good wedding DJ should. Plus, with an internet connection you have the chance to play a request song that might be very important to the bride or groom. Try that with records. The old days of lugging 200 pounds of record crates to a wedding are thankfully over.

[xxx-Lost-Soul-xxx]

If you can afford it, hire Mr Burns and fly him out. He knows his shit.



Serato / Traktor is the best way for a wedding DJ to rock the entire crowd like a good wedding DJ should. Plus, with an internet connection you have the chance to play a request song that might be very important to the bride or groom. Try that with records. The old days of lugging 200 pounds of record crates to a wedding are thankfully over.

And so is Talent......

Im a sore person on this. I learned on Vinyl,and still have my MK2 M3D.
The kids today think using serato is just the same as the kids who can beatmatch by touch and sound.

Using serato for ease is different then using serato because you cant mix without it.

Serato is meant for children?

Elaborate plz...I'm a traktor scratch pro user, but for a wedding? Absolutely nothing wrong with serato..,What di you expect, t1200's and freestyling?

Hell yes! Should be a Requirement for everyone who calls them self a dj. ;)

My original post was being me a smart ass.
But as i said ontop if its easyer then by all means use it.

[James21]

I would recommend the Ipod as well. We had a DJ for our wedding we hired off of craigslist, she sucked LOL! We had her for four hours as well, after she left i hooked up my Ipod and it was alot better. At the last wedding I went to I told the bride to use a Ipod and it worked out great.

[Thizzelle]

for a wedding all you need is fucking itunes, make a playlist hit random and go. FFS. a fucking DJ at anything now is just straight dumb unless your with people who really care about the blend but I doubt your grandparents give a shit let alone can here it.
I use Virtual DJ & Serato it makes DJing so easy you don't need any skills. Don't hate cuz I started on turntables and still prefer it and still use them for the past 12 years. Now with computer software I can just fuck around with samples alot more and tweak the beat more then sit there and match the beat for the most part of the song. Tip as the needle gets closer to the middle it starts speeding up

[Morrison]

Those who suggest a DJ doesn't matter couldn't be more wrong in my opinion. My fiance and I have been to 7 weddings in the past two years and both agreed that the weddings with the crappy DJ's sucked. For some reason many folks seemed to have hired 40-50 year old DJ's who knew nothing about music or having an entertaining personality....and we've remembered.

Our wedding is coming up in two weeks and we hired a DJ from one of the local radio stations. And the cost isn't bad either at $800. She offers extra services like up-lighting at additional charge but we didn't need that. She does include things like a custom "love story" and also had us come into the radio station to record voice overs to be placed into the intro of the bride/father, mother/son dance etc.

The DJ also serves for keeping everything on schedule and announcing things throughout the evening, so your guests know what is going on.

[Thizzelle]

Those who suggest a DJ doesn't matter couldn't be more wrong in my opinion. My fiance and I have been to 7 weddings in the past two years and both agreed that the weddings with the crappy DJ's sucked. For some reason many folks seemed to have hired 40-50 year old DJ's who knew nothing about music or having an entertaining personality....and we've remembered.

Our wedding is coming up in two weeks and we hired a DJ from one of the local radio stations. And the cost isn't bad either at $800. She offers extra services like up-lighting at additional charge but we didn't need that. She does include things like a custom "love story" and also had us come into the radio station to record voice overs to be placed into the intro of the bride/father, mother/son dance etc.

The DJ also serves for keeping everything on schedule and announcing things throughout the evening, so your guests know what is going on.

what? I've never been to a wedding where the DJ is running a schedule. Voice over sounds mad corney too, sorry. But people also like Rosey O'donnell so.............

[Mr. Burns]

The dj would receive a order of events, call out tables for dinner( if buffet setting) call out wedding party, host games, call out pictures for photographers etc...

A GOOD dj can execute all this seamlessly, and make the evening fun.
BUT must be a "people" person, and absolutely must be "in the know" and current with tunes.

Whoever said "dj iTunes" will cover the night, is not anticipating a very memorable night.

It's a wedding, you do it once. ( well supposed to)
Spend good $ on a pro dj and assure its a good time :)

[Mr. Burns]

we hired a DJ from one of the local radio stations.

that's super good advice.

they'll have all that is current, and being within the industry assure they've got the personality to boot.

[Mr. Burns]

If you can afford it, hire Mr Burns and fly him out. He knows his shit.

will work for mtech kits and all e30 parts:drink:

[delatlanta1281]

Band.
Hire a well known band who can play good songs you and your friends like.
We hired my friend's band. They are a fairly well known band here in the southeast, and played songs from their album, plus old school country and southern rock songs that everyone loves from Loretta Lynn, to Hank Williams, to Frank Black even. Perfect band, people still talk about them to this day. They made the wedding.
They were 5k. No deals, we didn't want any, we wanted to pay them what they were worth, and we got our money's worth. They played from 6:30 until 12:30, and being friends, hung out with us after the wedding until the wee hours of the morning.
Now, you may not have that connection with a band, but, a good band will get a crowd going, and learn songs you want to hear.
Our first dance was an obscure country song that not many people have heard. the two singers played it acousticly for us, and shortened it up so it wouldn't seem like forever. It took them two days to do so and it was perfect. I still get questions about our song and who it was.