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DJ Questions

LabLove86LabLove86 member
First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
edited April 2015 in Wedding Reception Forum
Hi guys! Fi and I have a meeting with a DJ that has been highly recommended by a member of the wedding party. The owner of this DJ company has experience with well known and highly rated DJ companies in our area - so we know they (at the very least the owner) has experience. Anyway - we have a meeting with him on Tuesday night, and he said he will make sure to answer all of our questions - so here are the ones I know to ask:

What is the package/whats included?
Ceremony - additional or not? 
Equipment - will it work w/ the venue - does he coordinate that? 
Uplighting? 
Will you emcee for us?
How do you handle breaks - what music will be playing?
Anything you require of us?
What add-ons are available? 
Any additional costs the might be incurred? 
How will you handle song requests?
Do you require a must play/can't play list? Will you honor it?
What is your DJing style?
Do you feel confident in "playing the crowd"?
How do we book with you? What is the deposit?
Is there a contract?
When is the final bill due? Certain % due by certain times? 


Basically - what questions am I missing and are there any questions you wished you had asked? 


ETA - we will provide the DJ with a meal and seat him wherever he prefers to be sat. 
                                Daisypath Wedding tickers


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Re: DJ Questions

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    AuroraRose41AuroraRose41 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited April 2015
    That is a pretty good list, but two things that my DJ (and subsequent vendors who recommend him) emphasized (that I didn't even think to ask!) were what happens if the DJ is sick the day of your wedding, and what backup equipment does the DJ have/bring (if any?). 

    ETA: A good one will have plans in place for both of these scenarios. Our DJ brings high quality back up equipment with him everywhere and has never missed a wedding, even when he is sick. Our officiant (who also recommended him) told us about a wedding he went to with our DJ where the DJ was punched in the face a few weeks prior at a club he was working at (a drunk guy was mad about something else and decided to take it out on the poor DJ; the drunk guy was kicked out after that) and had stitches in his mouth/jaw that barely allowed him to talk. He still did all of the weddings, and even emceed (somehow his voice sounded normal through the mic!). 

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    LabLove86LabLove86 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    Good point @AuroraRose41!!! I didn't even think what would happen if he/they got sick! 

    And I kind of was assuming that the equipment would be handled in the working w/ the venue question - but I'll make sure that I specify that. Back ups are always a good thing to have!!
                                    Daisypath Wedding tickers


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    HappyinLove56HappyinLove56 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its
    My DJ specified in his contract that, if he was sick, he would provide a replacement which we could accept or decline.  If we declined, we would get our deposit back.  It was reassuring to me to know that we would have a professional DJ at least, even if our DJ got mono or something at the last minute.


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    Jen4948Jen4948 member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Find out if your DJ requires meal service. It should be provided for in his/her contract. If so, have a meal for him/her and a place s/he can eat it available.
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    MandyMostMandyMost member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    I'd ask if he had any sample mixes or videos online that you could check out. I'd also ask him what his favorite types of music to play are. We provided our DJ with a "don't play" list, and a "maybe play" list to give him a good idea of the types of music we were going for, and let him do his thing. We were comfortable with that because I knew he liked a lot of the same stuff we did, and understood the overall vibe we were going for. 

    I don't know how you can get at this info other than just general conversation, but for example, I wanted a DJ that would never consider playing the macarena or the electric slide (or anything else like this), even if we didn't directly discuss it. And a DJ that might play a few "classic" dance songs, like the Twist or Celebrate, to get some older folks dancing in the beginning of the night, but who will mainly play more modern music. And even when it comes to modern music, if he names 10 modern songs to play at a wedding, is there a good chance that I'll be thinking the same thing? 
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