Wedding Ceremony & Reception Music Discussions

How to go about hiring a DJ...

My fiancée and I have gone back and forth on if we want to hire a DJ.  It sounds odd but we don't really want anyone making announcements during the reception; we aren't planning on doing bridal party introductions and have not decided on a first dance.  We were thinking of just choosing music and renting equipment from a friend as we are pretty clear on what music we want played.  However, we realize the importance of having a professional especially when it comes to the order of the music and someone who knows how to get people to have fun by the music.  Does anyone have tips or recommendations for DJs that are subtle and easy to get along with?

Re: How to go about hiring a DJ...

  • My fiancée and I have gone back and forth on if we want to hire a DJ.  It sounds odd but we don't really want anyone making announcements during the reception; we aren't planning on doing bridal party introductions and have not decided on a first dance.  We were thinking of just choosing music and renting equipment from a friend as we are pretty clear on what music we want played.  However, we realize the importance of having a professional especially when it comes to the order of the music and someone who knows how to get people to have fun by the music.  Does anyone have tips or recommendations for DJs that are subtle and easy to get along with?
    If you need specific recommendations try your local board, this is international. 

    In general though, when interviewing DJs you can make it clear what you're looking for with a DJ. I didn't have WP intros and while we did a first dance, beyond telling people to be seated for dinner, and where the photo booth was they really didn't make any announcements. Maybe when the cake was served? I was clear I wasn't interested in games, group dances, garter/bouquet toss or anything else and they were on board with everything I wanted. 
  • See if there are local wedding shows or events where you can meet djs. I was so glad I did. I met an affordable but ridiculous man that was so obsessed with being the star of the show. He talked about other djs having small dicks, being big pussies... MAN was I glad I had this first hand experience rather than find him online. 


  • I think good word of mouth is a big help. Maybe ask your friends and family if anyone knows a good DJ?

    If you do look online, I found a blog with a list of good questions to ask, to make sure you get a DJ who knows what they're doing.

    http://www.functioncentral.co.uk/blog/2015/09/booking_a_wedding_dj_tips_guide/

    Inixon8 - sounds like you met a real nightmare! Hopefully there aren't many like that.
  • Personally, I didn't want to leave my wedding music in the hands of anyone else! I had nightmares of a DJ overruling our choice of songs and playing horrendous cheese instead (we only purveyed the finest stilton tunes). I went as far as spending a whole day selecting and ordering the music into a generic music streaming service playlist. Everyone on the day agreed the music was fantastic.

    Some tips if you go down the playlist route: it's time consuming, but saves you money and means you have complete control over what gets played. I tried to anticipate the tastes of all of our guests and have at least a song or two for everyone. I grouped songs into little clusters of similar genres and had a slower track every now and then to vary the mood. Towards the end of the night I threw in big sing along tunes by the Beatles, Oasis and others for a huge climax. One Love by Bob Marley is a great final track - it chills everyone out and puts them in the mood to clear the venue!

    That worked for me, but everyone's different. My brother chose to hire a DJ for his wedding, and on the whole it was a great success. There was a lull when the DJ decided to take my brothers guidance of "I likes eighties music" to the extreme and started playing obscure tracks that none of us had heard over. This was soon sorted by my firm insistence that he play some Lionel Richie (Dancing on the Ceiling worked a treat at my own wedding and it worked again here) and some other stuff we'd heard of!

    There's some good tips on the pros of hiring a DJ here: https://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk/blog/party-band-or-dj/

    but honestly, if you want complete control, DIY is the way to go!
  • Personally, I didn't want to leave my wedding music in the hands of anyone else! I had nightmares of a DJ overruling our choice of songs and playing horrendous cheese instead (we only purveyed the finest stilton tunes). I went as far as spending a whole day selecting and ordering the music into a generic music streaming service playlist. Everyone on the day agreed the music was fantastic.

    Some tips if you go down the playlist route: it's time consuming, but saves you money and means you have complete control over what gets played. I tried to anticipate the tastes of all of our guests and have at least a song or two for everyone. I grouped songs into little clusters of similar genres and had a slower track every now and then to vary the mood. Towards the end of the night I threw in big sing along tunes by the Beatles, Oasis and others for a huge climax. One Love by Bob Marley is a great final track - it chills everyone out and puts them in the mood to clear the venue!

    That worked for me, but everyone's different. My brother chose to hire a DJ for his wedding, and on the whole it was a great success. There was a lull when the DJ decided to take my brothers guidance of "I likes eighties music" to the extreme and started playing obscure tracks that none of us had heard over. This was soon sorted by my firm insistence that he play some Lionel Richie (Dancing on the Ceiling worked a treat at my own wedding and it worked again here) and some other stuff we'd heard of!

    There's some good tips on the pros of hiring a DJ here: https://www.entertainment-nation.co.uk/blog/party-band-or-dj/

    but honestly, if you want complete control, DIY is the way to go!
    So much agree with this. We hired a DJ, and I kind of wish we would have just made our own list and played it. We decided to hire a DJ because we thought he would be able to read the mood, and know what songs to play when, and we also wanted someone to do announcements. We gave him a very specific playlist, with songs that were "must plays", songs for specific times during the reception, and songs to play if there was time after the "must plays." He played all of the songs we asked for during specific times, but basically ignored the rest of our list of songs. He did play quite a few of the "must plays", but not all, and also played A LOT of songs that were not on any of our lists. We had probably 5-7 slow songs that we asked him to space out throughout the reception, and he only played 2 slow songs, one after another, and neither were off of our list. No one but us knew, and everyone had a good time dancing, but I was pretty pissed that he pretty much ignored the instructions we gave him. If I got go back and do it again, I would probably make my own specific play list, in what order I wanted it, and hire someone to push play and MC.
  • I think DJs are unnecessary.  My daughter simply programed her playlist onto an IPOD.  She is a professional singer, and her performing partner made the necessary announcements.  People danced who wanted to dance.  People who wanted to socialize, did that, too.  Very relaxed.
    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
  • Find a selection of wedding DJs in the area where you wan to book them for the Reception and check out various places where they have genuine reviews - wedding sites have directories and booking platforms can help filter local services and recent / well rated reviews
  • Find a selection of wedding DJs in the area where you wan to book them for the Reception and check out various places where they have genuine reviews - wedding sites have directories and booking platforms can help filter local services and recent / well rated reviews
    Welcome to The Knot.  Before responding to a thread, please check both the date of the initial post, as well as the date of the last comment posted.  As you can see, this post is 3 years old.  The original poster is long gone, and hopefully enjoying wedded bliss.
    Is there anyone out there that can close this perhaps?  @MairePoppy ....sorry.....I don't know who else is still left as a moderator!





  • Got it, MObKaz. Thanks.

                       
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