DJ and Emcee, or just a DJ?

SCGee

We are getting ready to book a Dj, and have gone back and forth regarding whether or not we need a DJ and an Emcee, which many companies offer, or just a DJ to do it all.  I have never been to a wedding where there is a DJ and an Emcee, so I am not familiar with whether or not they are necessary.

Thanks.

goaliegirl

Our package included a emcee who did all the talking  (introduced us/BP, first dance, other dances, and got the crowd going)..then there was a DJ who played the music.     Seems to be what I see lately at every wedding I go to, quite honestly.    I liked the fact that the Emcee could get the crowd going out on the dance floor and wasn't stuck behind the DJ desk all night.

uppereastgirl

We did just DJ.  It depends on what kind of energy you want.  I did not want someone there whose full-time job was to get on the mic and talk to the crowd.  I've been to lots of weddings with both a DJ and an emcee, and usually I find it cheesy (I'm not big into a guy with an emcee voice announcing over and over again for everyone to get up on the dance floor or clap their hands for the happiest couple on earth).  We wanted a very understated DJ who would make as few announcements as possible and a DJ can handle those easily.  She only announced things that the crowd needed to know, like that we were walking in and that the bouquet was going to be thrown soon so please girls come to the front.  I'm pretty sure that was it.  She played good music, which made people want to dance (even without heckling them into dancing).

But it really all depends on your style.  

ahhndrea

We are only doing a DJ and he is going to make all the announcements. Like Uppereast girl, we find DJ/Emcees combos kinda cheesy(we're pretty low key). I'm not a big fan of someone on the dance floor getting people up and going. If the DJ is good, the music will draw them out. All of our friends love to dance so it won't be that hard getting them out there.

37 Butter Knives

What about a DJ and an assistant? Not an MC, but someone who knows their way around the equipment.

Everyone I know is telling me we must hire two people, as this helps with setup and allows someone to be the point person with the maitre d' (leaving the booth to communicate with her if need be). I've also been told that if we don't hire two people, some jokester will probably hijack the booth when the DJ is in the restroom or eating.

Alas, this is what we're probably going to end up doing.

uppereastgirl

We hired only one, and it worked out fine.  Equipment setup isn't that complicated, and they have plenty of time to do it if they show up early enough (and they deal with this every weekend so I'm sure they know what they're doing).  But this might be different if you're doing plasmas and lighting and such from the DJ (although I doubt many DJ packages include those things but no emcee -- they seem to all go hand-in-hand).

Our DJ did communicate with our maitr d', and I'm sure took a dinner break and bathroom breaks and such, but the music never stopped.  They usually use computers for music anyway, and they can queue things up a few songs ahead of time.  I can't imagine anyone at my wedding hijacking the DJ booth.  But maybe your friends and family are different? 

I would imagine an assistant would have been very bored at our wedding.  

sgdc2011

ours comes with a dj, dj assistant and Emcee

mchristian05

We are doing a DJ and an emcee

mbcdefg

We just had one DJ and it worked out fine. But he just played music and made the necessary announcements ... no light shows, plasma TVs, giveaways, etc. I've only seen multiple DJs at weddings that had all that (and honestly I was annoyed by the constant screaming into the microphone, blech).

We got no pressure to book a second person, and our one DJ did a fine job on his own. I never noticed if he left his booth or not, and if there were any setup problems I never heard about it.

goaliegirl

I have to say that even though we had two people, our Emcee DID NOT scream into the microphone and go crazy calling people out to dance.    We basically told him what we wanted him to do, and that is what he did.    I think it was just nice to have him able to leave the DJ area to go talk with the maitre d, photographer, video guy while not worrying about the music.     It definitely is cheaper to get just one, and can be totally sufficient,  but not every 2 man team involves a screaming emcee that makes lots of announcements and screams and yells all night.

cvl105

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-jersey_dj-emcee-just-dj?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:90Discussion:497a2e52-9ac6-44fe-b996-59edf78edf3aPost:2ae639e1-383c-49e9-a771-27169c1083af">Re: DJ and Emcee, or just a DJ?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have to say that even though we had two people, our Emcee DID NOT scream into the microphone and go crazy calling people out to dance.    We basically told him what we wanted him to do, and that is what he did.    I think it was just nice to have him able to leave the DJ area to go talk with the maitre d, photographer, video guy while not worrying about the music.     It definitely is cheaper to get just one, and can be totally sufficient,  but not every 2 man team involves a screaming emcee that makes lots of announcements and screams and yells all night.
Posted by goaliegirl[/QUOTE]

agreed.  I liked that the DJ could focus on playing the music, etc and that the emcee could read the crowd and help determine what to play...and was also there to do the garter toss/bouquet toss, talk with the photographer, videographer, Maitre'd, etc.

mbcdefg

I didn't mean to imply that ALL DJ/emcee teams do this ... I've only seen a team of DJs at one or two weddings but they screamed. I'm sure that would've been the case had it been a solo DJ at these particular weddings, but since those weddings were pretty over-the-top to begin with I guess the couples wanted to hire DJs that made a big production out of the whole night.

Not a case of, "I've only seen team DJs a few times, and they all screamed, so All Team DJs = Screaming" :P

Peacefield

We haven't entirely given up on the idea of a band, but if we do a DJ, we'll look for one that also does the basic announcments.  We wouldn't want to have someone there to talk up the songs, try to fill the dance floor, etc.  Too intrusive for our tastes.