How much should you spend on a DJ/entertainment?

Knottie95648796

Music and entertainment are def a very important part of the reception. We for sure want people to party and have a blast, but we also want to keep the expenses low. What is a reasonable charge for a DJ/MC in your opinion? If you already got married, how much did you spend on it, and what were the best/worst of it (or from weddings you have been to)? I would like to get an idea as to what to watch out for!

chibiyui

Well, where are you? Vendor pricing can change drastically region to region. 

Our DJ was around 1300. Perhaps look into people who are trying to break into the business?

mlg78

It varies a great deal by where you live.  For us, it was about $600 for 6 hours.  He was on the cheaper end for the prices in this area.  I'd ask on your local board as well.

[Deleted User]

What I would recommend doing is asking each DJ you interview to listen to their music & try to ask to listen to the same song at each place so you can hear the difference. The DJ I went with was around $600.00 for just his services. It ended up being more because we added lightening. We went to another DJ service and they wanted $1400.00 for just their DJ services, but their equipment didn't sound as good as the one for $600.00. That was for 6 hours of service. He did a great job. If you can't find recommendations on your local board, check out vendor lists and the reviews. But also go onto google & type in "DJ's name reviews"  The worst part of the DJ (which wasn't his fault) we paid for this lightening that was kind of like a disco ball, looked cool in the studio but the red or green or blue light dots on people in pictures didn't look so cool. We had gotten it to help make the dance floor seem more like a club feeling. I wish we would have just stuck with the light tree, I didn't even notice the lights really while dancing but I sure noticed them in my pictures.

kvruns

The lowest I've found in Indianapolis is $600.  we haven't booked anything yet as I'm still trying to figure out what to do.  Yes I want a fun party at the wedding but it is going to be small (50-60) so I have a hard time paying too much knowing that out of our group maybe 20 TOPS would be dancing, probably more like 10!

wandajune6

We got a great deal at $600 - but we took a risk on a guy who just branched out on his own. My friends in the area talk about spending ~$2K.

Knottie95648796

Thank you, very helpful! Great point about the lights and pictures

jenna8984

They are around $1200 in my area.

I would ask what types of music they play and how they keep people dancing. My friend had one who was awful. The girls would be out on the floor dancing to Beyonce and having a great time then the next song would be The Rolling Stones or something classic rock. He was trying to play a variety that would interest the other people sitting down but it was a total buzz kill. There are lots of "good" songs but doesn't mean they should be played in between the dancing songs.

primafaba15

We are in central MA and found a DJ for $750. He was the lowest we could find in the area, by a wide margin. 

I think we had more luck because we went with someone local (an established company, but local) rather than one of the large companies with dozens of DJs. We found him through our venue, so you might try asking your venue for recommendations. In addition to getting a really good price, the glowing reviews from the venue (in this case, the venue has called our DJ in on a couple hours notice when the couple's pre-booked DJ was a no-show, and gotten great results) were a big selling point for us. 

nicole4793

I live in an area where everything is decently priced. We are paying $775 for our DJ, and he gave us $100 off because my family uses him for every major event/party we have. It's more than I really wanted to spend, but I just didn't realize how expensive DJs can be. Pricing also definitely depends on your area! 

jay788

Ours was about $1000. We knew this particular DJ was good because we'd been to weddings he'd done before and they were awesome. I definitely don't regret one penny of the price. A good dance party was important to us, and a lame DJ can really put a damper on things!

vmj23

I paid $1200, which was in line with other estimates I got in my area.  That didn't include any upgrades (they offered things such as extra lighting, uplighting, tv screens, initlals projected on the ground, etc).    I knew the person that owns the business (friend of my brother) and he initially quoted me higher but came down to match other quote I got. 

MissKittyDanger

Our DJ will cost $675 after taxes. He's been around for awhile so if he sees people are more up to classic rock, he'll try to play more of that. He even said he'll go with the crowd.

But as everyone said, it depends on the area.

blabla89

We're paying $550 but our reception will be pretty short.

happyhalfling

Our DJ will be with us all day. From 2pm till 9pm. She is providing music, announcements for the different wedding events, microphones, gobo and par can lighting, and karaoke in the later evening (something that my family loves). She is coming from 3 hours away and is a lot of fun to work with. She charged 500 for her services + hotel room. So about 620 all said and done. This is in Montana.

Knottie62225317

well I am jealous of you all. we are getting married in ny and our dj is in the $3000 range with the lighting package tvs and everything

AuroraRose41

Knottie62225317 said:

well I am jealous of you all. we are getting married in ny and our dj is in the $3000 range with the lighting package tvs and everything

Can you cut out the tvs and lighting if that is too expensive? Just a thought. Also where in NY?

We are getting married in Upstate NY and are paying $1800 for our DJ for 6 hours (including uplighting; it would have been $1500 for just the DJ). I looked at another company in the area and that one started at $1800 and if you wanted the top 3 DJ's at the company it was $2500-3000 for 6 hours. Our DJ has better online reviews than those top 3 and is half the price.

amstecker

Alot of djs can be pretty pricy. I honestly posted an ad on Craigslist with the vendors that I still need, with the budget that I have for each service. I got a dj offer for $250-300

[Deleted User]

Our DJ cost about $3000 here in nyc area but we were satisfied with what we were getting as well as with what other companies offered regarding price and what is included. 

charcoalandblush

Ours is $1000 with unlimited DJ time and 12 uplights.

DJ only packages were typically $600-800.