What Should You Expect From Your Wedding DJ?
Your wedding day is the most important day of your life and you want vendors who take it seriously. You might be surprised that the DJ is one of the most important vendors of your special day. Why? They perform throughout the whole day and they create the mood and atmosphere for your guests with their MCing ability, energy, and music selection. Although your other vendors are super important, you want the cake to taste good and the photos to be perfect, there are few vendors who will affect your day overall as much as the DJ. If the cake collapses, the good DJ can turn the tide and bring everyone back into the moment with a killer dancefloor. When you’re considering different DJ companies or after you’ve hired one, these are the things you SHOULD expect them to know and do.
Photo by Lauren Lee Photography
Energy–Ready to Party!
You want your DJ to be in a mood to celebrate. This is your wedding day! He/she should be filled with positive energy and enthusiasm for you. You should feel that they’re genuinely sharing in your excitement and anticipation. They should also be able to reflect and carry different energy levels as are appropriate for the evening. The wedding party announcements are very upbeat, but toasts are often sentimental and sappy. He/she should reflect that and be able to transition the guests into the next part of the timeline appropriately.
Quality Equipment that fits the space
The DJ should provide his own equipment and it should be the right for the space. If you have ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception in 3 different spaces, then they need to have adequate equipment to cover them. If you have a very large guest count in a large reception hall, then he might need more speakers so all guests can hear. Make sure it isn’t a family size karaoke speaker and microphone.
Photo by Hailey Moore Photo
Excellent Master of Ceremonies
Your DJ should be an eloquent speaker. He/she should also know the right thing to say at the right time. He/she should be able to take all the energy of #1 and put it into words for your guests. Your DJ will need to introduce the wedding party, give instructions about dinner, transition for toasts and after toasts, gather attention for the cake cutting and special dances, then start open dancing in a way that will get your guests ready to party. Doing all of that with skill, style, and finesse takes a lot of practice.
On time and ready
Your DJ should be set up and ready to go 30 minutes before guest arrival. This means that he’s already EQ’d his sound, has his notes handy, has his playlist created and is dressed in performance attire.
Photo by Lauren Lee Photography
Aware of the timeline
You should get at least one planning meeting with your DJ. Because of that, your DJ should already have your timeline, know the songs you want played, and be ready for any special events you want to have. He will be the one moving through the events on the timeline, so he needs to have it in front of him all evening and be actively attempting to keep it.
Communicating with you & other vendors
Since the DJ is keeping the timeline moving, he needs to be in communication with you and your other vendors to make sure everyone is on the same page and ready for the next thing. It might be cake cutting time, but if the couple is still visiting tables or the photographer is in the bathroom, the DJ needs to wait. But he won’t know those things if he isn’t paying attention and communicating. One significant reason to keep to the timeline is so dinner is served when it’s hot and so the guests don’t get tired of waiting and leave.
Find a great wedding DJ
I hope this makes it clear why the DJ is one of your most important wedding vendors. Although you should be able to expect an experienced DJ to already do these things, it’s good to communicate your expectations. If you want no doubt on the quality of your DJ, contact Turn Up Columbus or Josh Staley Productions to see if we have your date available.
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