Bicultural DJ (Mexican and Caucasian)/ DJ your own wedding?

frolicintheforest

Alright, so I am so lost as to what to do. I am getting married in September of 2015 and don't know if to hire a DJ or not. I feel like it would make life easy if I fo but I am terrified of spending a ton of money on a DJ AND I am stressing about finding a DJ who will play Mexican music along with whatever other American dance music we suggest along with the other indie/unique/weirdo music my fiance and I listen to. Some friends keep telling me not to skimp out on the DJ but a few friends have told me we can do it ourselves.I feel like I should make life easy and hire a DJ but I feel like I will pay a lot of money and have to get specific with songs, albums, artists, etc. ...I mean with technology today, I don't see why we cant pull it off ourselves. I can make separate playlists for dinner and then dance reception time and then the special dances? One of my comedian friends is willing to host the wedding and I;m sure he could do the very few playlist changes needed. I figured that aside from the specific dances ((first dance, parents dance, bouquet) it wouldn't be that hard. ONce the dancing gets started I could have a specific layout to include both cultures of music. Ahh, so scared and stressed out. Any advice?

fwtx5815

You're just going to have to do research. Meeting with DJs/entertainment companies is free, so there's no harm in setting up some meetings.

If you could find companies in your area that are recommended for quinceañeras, I'd imagine they'd be good for a multicultural wedding as well (total speculation here, never been to a quince).

I think you'll also find when you request price quotes, there is generally a large spread in cost. If you're willing to hire someone with less experience, you can pay a lot less than someone with decades of experience and hundreds of events under their belt.

cafarrie

My husband and I DJ'd our own wedding and paid a friend to handle playlist changes.  It took a long time to get all the music and put it in the order that we wanted, but we are still getting compliments on how awesome our music was and people ask for the playlists all the time.  It's definitely doable and for me, even spending all the time, it was much less stressful because we were in control. 

rooz103

I agree with @dallasbetch. It doesn't cost anything to set up a meeting with a DJ, so might as well start there--you might even find that DJs aren't as expensive as you think they are. 

FI and I found a DJ who somehow satisfies our need for salsa, bossa nova and big band all in the same event by searching online. He was actually much cheaper than I had imagined, even with his many years of experience, and I was glad that I didn't immediately write off a pro DJ when considering music. 

The second thing you might want to consider is who will be running sound during the ceremony and how you'll find equipment for the event without a DJ. Part of my everyday job is running sound, but I ultimately decided against the DIY route since I didn't want to have to set up/tear down on my wedding day, plus if anything went wrong, I'd rather not be the one on my hands and knees switching cords out. 

QueerFemme

We had a DJ that played hip hop, old school, salsa, cumbia, etc. etc. etc.   It wasn't that hard to find. And we didn't have to worry about renting speakers, etc.

kissyface454

I vote DJ! 

DIY always sounds awesome and easy until it isn't. Then again it depends on how big your wedding is and like PP said renting speakers, setting up and breaking down on the day of your wedding. 

A professional DJ SHOULD be able to play whatever it is you want, they do it everyday. 

Nymeru

I always liked the idea of doing our own music, but I'm so glad we ended up going with a DJ.  Honestly, the guy made the reception amazing.  He judged the crowd really well and kept the dance floor filled all night.  It was so nice to just relinquish that responsibility and let someone else do it.

I have been to weddings where the couple just used an iPod.  Most were fine, but at a few of them guests came up and started skipping songs on the playlist, so they actually ended up running out of songs before the receptions were over.  It was weird to listen to just partial songs before a new one would start.  If you decided to go the iPod route, make sure there is someone guarding that thing so no one can mess with it.

[Deleted User]

We opted for DJ, for a few reasonse, I didn't want to go through the work of putting all the music together. Second, a DJ has a larger selection of music making it easy to change up the music based on what's bringing the guests out to the dance floor. Third, they acted as an Master of Ceremonies for the night introducing the Bridal Party & parents, announcing the toasts (and providing a wireless mic for the BM & MOH to do them), announcing the cake cutting and overall keeping the party going.

jenijoyk

Our DJ was totally able to do both American music and latino music. He does it all the time. He also was able to deal with my fiance being totally insane and giving him a list of literally one million weird song requests. Our DJ was a champ about it, talked my fiance away from several of his requests, and took it all in stride.

One benefit of having a DJ over a playlist is that a DJ can monitor how bumpin the dance floor is and change the music to accomodate. This song losing the crowd? Let's change it after 20 seconds then. Thought that everyone would love my fiance's soul requests but in actuality, no one does? Skip over that crap. Etc. My bridesmaids are completely out of control and unexpectedly requesting New Kids on the Block Hangin' Tough? DJ can pull that song out of thin air.

I think it's totally worth it to have a DJ. They do a lot more than just press the play button.

penguin44

I don't know if PPs have mentioned this, but we looked into doing the music ourselves and renting the sound equipment was almost the same price as hiring a DJ. Also, we started compiling a playlist. I think we had about 5 songs on it after hours of work. It was difficult to get a mix of things we like and songs people will dance with. So make sure you look into sound equipment. 

frolicintheforest

So I take it self DJ'ing went well? Thats what we decided to go with. ANy tips would be great

frolicintheforest

Any tips you could give me would be fantastic! We decided to go this route!