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$3500 for a DJ?

awolkenhauerawolkenhauer
First Comment First Anniversary
in Wedding Ceremony & Reception Music Discussions
I was looking into a DJ who charges $3500 for the whole day and was wondering if this is a bit too pricy. It is all inclusive; he'd provide all the equipment/music for the ceremony and reception, as well as an outdoor set up for a little patio. He also does master of ceremonies and lighting as well. It just seems that even being all inclusive, it's way over-priced. We have our venue for 10 hours and to break it down, that's $350/hr. Just wondering if this sounds about right or just ridiculous.
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Re: $3500 for a DJ?

  • markandsampmarkandsamp
    First Comment
    i think its a little much, could also depend on where your from? but you are using him for the whole day, maybe 2500-3000 would be a better price range.
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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Name Dropper First Comment
    Our DJ is running about $3000 because we are adding on the lightning package and having the owner be the master of ceremony.  Lighting runs up the cost, but it's more cost effective than a seperate company.
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  • UKgal321UKgal321 member
    First Comment
    My dj is doing the ceremony and reception.  He's supplying music, equipment, set up, mc, etc.  We will not have any kind of special lighting or video or slide show.  he will be there 5 hrs (not including set up/take down) and he charges $600
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  • Summer2011BrideSummer2011Bride member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited May 2012
    Each region is different as far as pricing; for around here, that is way high! Our was $700 for the whole day up until midnight and then extra after that! We did not add on lighting, but I know that would have only added about $200 to the cost. In fact, the most expensive DJ I saw in our area was running about $1500. So I think over $3000 is ridiculously high, but maybe it's not for your region. I would probably look into other cheaper options as well.

    ETA: Our price also included two DJs, one of whom was the master of ceremonies, all equipment, insurance for the equipment, and all the music. The only thing we didn't have was lighting.


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  • petitmonstreepetitmonstree
    First Comment
    Our DJ is going to be $350 and that's for 4 hours and basic lighting and he has really good reviews among other Vegas Knotties. Although our other option was like $675 because it was a preferred vendor. So $3500 sounds really expensive to me lol.
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  • firstandonly11firstandonly11 member
    First Comment
    In Connecticut, we're paying $1,000 for 6 hours of event time.  This price included 2 Dj's, will MC the event, music, equipment, etc.  It did not include lighting tho. 
    In my opinion, I'd keep looking, but then again I am on a tight budget for this event.  Do what feels right.  If your gut tells you that you are paying too much for the services, look around.  If you look hard enough, you will find what you want at a price that you are willing to settle for.  Good Luck!
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  • shaina925shaina925 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    I think that is crazy expensive!!! We are paying around 600.  It doesn't include uplighting.. but who cares!
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  • The Wedding DJThe Wedding DJ member
    First Comment
    Most of the Wedding day venues we have done in the past have ranged from $500 for basic packs lasting only 4-hours with no lighting. 

    Well most will be around $1,000-2,000 range depending on your options, hours, locations, lighting, number of guest (amount of sound equipment needed) to match the hall or venue.  Sometimes items such as generators and tents are requested which can cost more.

    I would say unless you are asking for more than an 8-hour block with full lights you should expect to be around the 2,000 marker.....

    We are very experienced and have DJed for 991 KGGI and Power 106, tons of clubs and anything in the middle, but funny how we need to compete against those kids with a hard-drive.  Good Luck to you, if you need a really  good DJ in the LA area give us a call.
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  • The Wedding DJThe Wedding DJ member
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_first-dance_3500-for-a-dj?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:29Discussion:013f124d-a52e-430c-85c6-6517a325fedcPost:9aee3f06-17f1-44b7-ba87-9cd2cfa20d96">Re: $3500 for a DJ?</a>:
    [QUOTE]I think that is crazy expensive!!! We are paying around 600.  It doesn't include uplighting.. but who cares!
    Posted by shaina925[/QUOTE]

    I would highly recommend uplighting, this is something that will add a good deal of room attitude to your event.  We normally run $100 for a 20-can up-lighting event as an add-on.  This is something you should reconsider.

    See the uplighting effect in our card here:

    <a href="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/11/10/cb0dcad7-4d9c-4aa5-ba2b-65d90b683192.large.jpg" title="Click to view a larger photo" class="PhotoLink"> <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/images/store/11/10/cb0dcad7-4d9c-4aa5-ba2b-65d90b683192.medium.jpg" alt="" /></a>
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  • awolkenhauerawolkenhauer
    First Comment First Anniversary
    Thanks for the input and sorry for the delay, I work a lot of OT and sleep the rest of the time. We're in the Seattle area but we ended up finding a highly recommended DJ who will do just as much as the $3500 one, if not more for $1000.
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  • lissa12lissa12
    First Comment
    WFT ??? 3500? really not unless he poops gliiter, rainbows, unicorns, clowns, and more.  that sounds way way too expensive.  ours is 475 and i feel like thats too much but he's doing both & traveling almost 2 hours each way so i feel better about it.
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