On the most important day of your life, the last thing you want is a DJ who leaves you with disappointment and a bill. Choosing the wrong DJ can lead to a wedding reception that will be remembered, for all the wrong reasons. To help you breath easier, we created a list of 3 tips to help you in selecting your wedding DJ.
Bonus tip at the end – if you need help finding a wedding DJ in the Michiana area.
1. Payment
Shortly after introducing yourself to a potential DJ, you need to find out how they handle payment. How they respond will tell you a lot about their level of experience and reputability. The standard practice is 50% now and 50% after the wedding is over. If they want all or most of the money upfront you should WALK AWAY immediately. This is usually the sign of an amateur or a possible con-man.
This 50/50 method benefits everyone. You have made a down payment to secure a DJ. And the DJ can use that money to acquire any resources they may need for your reception.
2. Contracts & Documents
Your potential wedding DJ should have a contract and should have no problem offering an example for you to review.
The contract example should have space for the following info.
Date and time of the reception
Bride and Groom names and contact details
Total cost of the DJ
Payment terms and details
Including who is responsible for payment (if it is someone other than the bride and groom).
The DJ may also have other documents for:
Bridal party info (names, pronunciation, and pairing)
Musical tastes
Special songs
Artists that you do and don’t want play
Generally, a DJ will play top 40’s pop, some hip-hop, and other popular music from the past couple of years. Normally wedding DJs do not play music such as:
Highly explicit music (rap or rock)
Hard rock,
Or a breakup song
So you do not have to worry about having that kind of music at your wedding unless you want to.
The last thing to keep in mind is that some smaller DJs may not use contracts. That can be OK, however just proceed with caution. If you get any other gut-feelings or “bad vibes” you should consider other DJs. After all, your wedding is too important.
3. Responsibilities
There is a common misconception that wedding DJs having an “easy” job that requires very little effort or skill to complete. That assumption could not be further from the truth. A skilled and experienced wedding DJ is someone who guides the event. They should assume control as soon as people begin to arrive.
To see if your potential DJ is up to the task, be sure to ask them exactly “what they do during the reception.” If their only response is just “play music,” that is going to be a BIG problem.
Regardless of how much planning is done for the wedding, small details often get missed. Look to see if your DJ mentions whether or not they will take care of these things or not:
Who will guide the event for the rest of the night?
Who will dismiss tables to eat?
Who will inform the photographer of specific events throughout the night (cake cutting, 1st dance, etc.)?
Who will help get people on the dance floor to dance?
Even in instances where there is a designated wedding planner or coordinator, the DJ should take the initiative to communicate regularly with the wedding planner before and on the day of the wedding. This allows everyone to stay up to date and ensure no moment gets ruined.
What About My Wedding Planner?
Professional wedding planners are great and most DJs love working with them. The collaboration between your wedding planner and DJ is important to ensure that everyone to stay up to date and ensure no moment gets ruined.
A good DJ will take the initiative to communicate regularly with the wedding planner before and on the day of the wedding. Additionally, if you have a wedding planner, the DJ should to some extent still be involved in directing the actual wedding reception. This is primarily because your guests will intuitively direct some degree of their attention to a DJ rather than a wedding planner. Therefore a DJ is likely to be able to guide your guests’ attention and actions with greater ease.
Bonus Tip: Where to find a good DJ?
At White Tie Tech our DJs have years of experience and have performed a countless number of weddings. You can rest assured knowing our DJs will walk with you through your wedding reception plans to give you the wedding you have always wanted.
Find out more about our DJ services or give us a call to get a meeting with one of our DJs or event consultants.
