How did you pick your DJ?

mrshall1027

Out of all the vendors, I am worried about the DJ the most.  If you hire a bad one, it can really bring down the whole party.  I guess I am also more cautious because I hired a DJ for a Halloween party and he was horrible.  I heard him at a bar and everyone thought he was really good.  Come the day of the party, he had some other guy with him and left him there so he could go to another gig.  Well, that guy was the worst DJ ever!  All the guests were complaining and it was just a really bad experience.  In my area, I've seen DJ's for $200 and some for $1000+!  I have no idea what to pay or to ask when hiring a DJ, so just curious about how you ladies selected yours or plan to.

pockysquirrel

I think that, unfortunately, my DJ decision has been made for me by process of elimination. It seems like everyone I've talked to is either unavailable on my date or heinously corny. FI and I have a meeting with one tonight and he's kind of our last hope. Fingers crossed!

As for your own DJ search, I'd suggest looking up reviews or asking for references from other brides - DJing a party and DJing a wedding are two different things - and seeing if there's any footage on Youtube or elsewhere of receptions they've done. And if you're using a company with more than one DJ, make sure you have it IN WRITING that the guy you pick is the guy who will actually be doing your wedding, and will only be replaced if there's an unavoidable emergency. Good luck!

achiduck

I went on a local wedding review website and read what people were saying about the DJ's I was interested in. Since we're doing a vintage glam wedding I was very specific with what I wanted played over dinner hour and throughout the night so I called those DJs, talked to them about my vision and listened to what they had to say.

One put me off right away and was SO pushy. He kept calling every week to ask if I was ready to book yet. When I finally told him that I was going with another company he wanted to know who it was and when I told him I didn't think that was relevant he got really pissy.

Finally, I posted a "recommend your wedding DJ" on my FB wall and it turned out several people had used the same DJ company that was my top choice and had nothing by fabulous things to say about them. Plus when I went to book they gave me a discount since so many of my friends had used them.

lehc723

Honestly, picking a DJ was both SUPER HARD and then all of a sudden really easy, because like you, I found that SO MANY sucked. A lot of people say to veer off the beaten path, which for a lot of people means looking for DJs who don't specialize in weddings. What I did was look at a nearby area that's close enough to my wedding that he's not traveling for it, per se, but it means he isn't part of the college party OR local club scene that most of the DJs I looked at did.

Good luck!

brainybrunette

FI and I knew of a DJ who used to do all of the school dances when we were in middle school/high school.  We didn't originally think of using him, but we read his reviews and they were fantastic!  He was the first and only DJ that we contacted, and after a 2 hour phone conversation(!) he gave us a great deal!   Since we're from the same hometown and he remembered us, he hooked us up with $1,200 for cocktail hour, reception, and he would do our ceremony too but since my cousins are playing violin, he offered to set them up with microphones instead.  I think he normally charges $1,500 for the reception plus extra for cocktail hour/ceremony, so this was great!  We were prepared to spend about $2,000, so this made us very happy!  Also, he was exactly what we were looking for...no cheesy music (electric slide, YMCA, chicken dance, etc), classy, and professional.  That was an easy check : )

mpjf1001

Most of my vendors are the same my sister used in 2008 so my planning came very easy! (DJ, photographer and videographer only) They were all awesome so why go another way? But when it came to flowers and i needed recommendations I did what other brides mentioned asked friends around me that were getting married and/or posted on my local knot board for suggestions.
HTH! and good luck!

steveandta

We hired one that was the dj for my SIL and BIL's wedding. my SIL uses him a couple times a year (she works as a teacher for a private international school) for dances. He came over our house for the consult and we loved him, we have a lot of control of our playlist and he actually has a list where you can write all music and times for songs to be played so i really like that. plus he gave us a sweet deal.

PetalPockets2012

My DJ was listed by several of my other vendors and here on my local board. I also looked it up on Wedding Wire and they had hundreds of positive reviews. My DJ is actually a company with about 15 DJs who this is their full time job. I had a list of questions to ask and they covered all the information initially. I didn't have to ask anything on my list.

poison+kisses

I showed my FI a couple DJ websites and asked if he had a favourite. He chose the cheapest, because, well, he was cheapest. So I asked him to call the guy and arrange a meeting. He got off the phone and says he's booked the guy haha. So I'm a little worried/paranoid now because I've never met the guy. FI keeps reassuring me that we haven't signed anything yet so we can still cancel. Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet him in January though, and hopefully it goes well.