DJ vs. iPod?

lgrunwerg

My fiancee and I are not into the Top 40 types of music and are afraid that if we hire a DJ that they will not have any of the songs that we want to have played (specifically our first dance, Father/Daughter dance, etc...). Has anyone done a playlist themselves? How did you do it? Did you have some one MC the reception and make sure that the music flowed?

HELP!!

firsttimersluck

So... Backstory:
I did NOT want to waste the money on a DJ. I had no interest in it. H demanded it so I caved.
It was the best decison we every made through the planning process. He became the wedding coordinator, helped keep people active and moving, had great silly game to play down down times (like while the cake was being cut by the caterer), and had all kinds of suggestions for us.
He gave us "hw" to begin with that had all kinds of info which iincluded a list of the music era's for us to cross off what we don't want, and what we really love.
He had us write a list of our favorite bands/artists/genres.
He had us pick our specific music pieces.
Then when we met up, he had learned about us enough that he had way better suggestions for things.. for example we wanted jazzy cocktail hour but also wanted rock, so he had all these artists that do Jazz versions of rock music (every heard of Nirvana in jazz? incredible!)
Also, I wanted to walk down the aisle to "moon river" but I could only find a scratchy old original version. It took him two seconds to find and download this beautiful clean new one.
I HIGHLY suggest you consider a DJ. They work WITH you. They have THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS of music, and have access to anything they don't already have. A lot of DJs are tired of the typical mainstream stuff and LOVE couples that think more outside the box. An MC would be wise, but expect that if he isn't a professional, he's going to make a few mistakes.
GL with planning!!

If you go the ipod route, be aware that you will have awkward breaks between songs that DJs cut out. Consider how you are going to handle the ceremony with an ipod (because we had about 7 different songs play, and needed a DJ to make smooth transitions there as well).

jemmini6

A professional DJ will have TONS of music (and will get any music you request that they don't already have) and will play/not play anything you want.  They will also be able to 'read' the crowd and determine the best time to play certain things to keep your guests involved and dancing.  So if those are your only concerns with hiring a DJ, I'd highly recommend you still look into it.  Check out weddingwire.com for a list of DJs in your area, look at their reviews, set up meetings and find out if they can do the things you want.

If price is a concern, you can certainly make your own playlists, but it is not as easy as it sounds.  You will still need someone to control the music for you, you will need to bring in all of your own equipment (including enough speakers for the size of your room), etc.

On side note, FI and I don't listen to Top 40 kind of stuff either, we both listen to rock almost exclusively.  However, I know our guests wouldn't enjoy themselves and our reception would be pretty boring if we only played what we liked.  We are going for a party atmosphere and Top 40 (as well as hits from each decade) is generally what gets people dancing, so we are going to play it at our wedding.  I mean, my 82-year-old grandma would probably dance if we played a little bit of Elvis, but I know she wouldn't be out there moshing to Slipknot, ya know?  And since a wedding is about celebrating with your family and friends, shouldn't you try to play stuff that they'll actually dance to?  Just a little food for thought no matter if you use a DJ or your own playlist....

lgrunwerg

Thanks so much! We have been throwing around the idea, and we have just under 2 years to figure it out. But one thing that I was thinking of was to have people respond on their invitations to us with 1-2 songs that they would want to hear, that way if we do make our own list, we have something to roll with.

I am not against a DJ, but we listen to mostly indie alt-rock (as do the majority of our friends), so I am just afraid that songs we wanted to hear, we wouldn't. I, for one, would love if we listened to N'Sync and Spice Girls for the entire reception, haha.

firsttimersluck

We did the same thing,and most people didn't respond with a song... And you can give that list to a DJ to keep it flowing. I totally agree with pp. Everyone listens to different stuff, and everyone DANCES to different stuff. The DJ can read that.. i didn't think people would dance at the wedding much, but MAN the dj kept things going with some awesome music. We had some top forty, but he was MORE than happy to play requests, and had every single song we asked him to play and then some! You seriously would be amazed. YOu have plenty of time to figure it out, but be prepared for a CRAZY amount of time and effort if you want to do it yourself. You need to cut down every song and fade them so they don't last from start to finish (or else you get akward silences while waiting for the next song to start).
You should meet with a couple different DJs and tell them your concerns. My Dj was amazing and did everything we asked of him, which included music selections. If the DJ loves what he does, he will have every other song in existence... Seriously. lol. There was NOTHING my guy didn'thave. He even had covers that I loved of songs.

asamaraw

I was in the same boat. I actually gave the DJ 2 cds full of music to play, but he didn't play nearly anything from them. It was okay though because even though it wasnt the funky stuff I listen to on loop, it was crowd pleasing. And also, he did keep track of event times and when things needed to go down. So It was a good choice for us.

thayes1159

I am a DJ and I will accommodate any every song that you request... www.bluejayentertainment.com if you call or write my company with your name and the code word CHEAPDJ in the email before oct 15 youll recieve 20% off. I love brides that dont like the traditional music. Because just like you, I get tired of the music.