Doing your own music

Hi!

We had similar concerns but went with a dj who specifically mentions not talking a lot (talks as much as requested so we politely said just when needed haha) & that we can add as many of our own requests to, we have a section on his website where we can make payments and also add requests and also what songs not to play, give timings like first dance and speeches etc if we wanted...

You could get a friend to do it with a laptop but you have to consider the sound, lighting equipment...be prepared for any technical issues...would you have back ups and know what to do to achieve the best quality etc?

We just had an ipod for our evening reception.

Which works fine the only annoying thing is a select few of our guests kept skipping tracks (that they personally didn't like) or were selecting a tune they wanted to hear which is really annoying as we had set up a playlist and by skipping tracks etc resulted in a number of song being played several times.

One friend even stuck on his own Ipod and started banging out Drum and Base at full volume while I was out the room.

This however may be a reflection of my drunken tw@tish friends.

If you do go for this try and set it up so your guests do not have easy access ipad/player etc to avoid the above.

We've not got into actually meeting/speaking to any DJ's yet and I wondered about asking how much they talked but didn't know if it was too weird too ask that! But is interesting there are some out there like yours that don't talk a lot! As you mention, there could be lots of technical issues etc, I am probably happy to go with a DJ to be honest but it's H2B who was fairly against it and wanted to do it ourselves! Maybe i'll start speaking to a few and can maybe hopefully find some that don't talk much that may convince him this is probably the easier option!

Well our dj actually has it on his main website about the cheesy dj thing and talking too much etc so it might be worth googling some in your area and seeing if they do the same, that was our main worry about getting one. I'm sure if your OH's defo against it it could be done yourselves and as funky says just make sure your guests don't get over excited with it ? find someone responsible enough to maybe make sure no one gets carried away and even just get extra equipment like a spare ipad or laptop just incase of any faults? Sure you'll both sort something out

I would suggest that you find a DJ who will only talk if you want him to, announcements etc and not at all if you don't want him to. We are always happy to take specific playlists and manage them so that the music continuity is seamless, and creates the right atmosphere. With a DJ you have more flexibility to alter the music to meet the demands of your dance floor and an experienced DJ will work with you to ensure the perfect atmosphere is maintained throughout the evening. When you pick the right DJ you can be certain that your reception is remembered as an amazing end to the day.

We just had a laptop with a Spotify playlist hooked up to the bar's speaker system. It worked fine for us but we were aiming for a fairly chilled out evening where people could sit and chat or dance if they wanted to. If you really want everyone on their feet all the time then this strategy may not work as some songs may just fall flat and the dancefloor will empty - this didn't matter to us but it might be worth thinking about.

Funky your post made me chuckle imaging the wedding guests suddenly dancing away to drum and base! Although good to know it worked for you on the whole apart from that slight problem!

We talked about asking someone to be custodian of the laptop/ipod so that someone was monitoring it slightly and probably would stop people messing around it with.

Thanks for the advice on the dj front Baz Sawyers and matthewsmummy3! My H2B assumes all DJs are the same and talk all the time, so is good to know that's not the case. Shall definitely be doing some googling now, this was the next thing to sort on our list and just started talking about it today when H2B mentioned about doing it ourselves.

Do you have meetings with DJ's like you do with photographers/florists etc? Or do you just speak to them over the phone?

We've only e-mailed ours back n forward haven't met up before hand, spoke to a few that wanted to but we were happy enough for him to just turn up on the night Let us know what you decide &how you get on!

For weddings, I always make myself available for personal meetings, (not everyone wants to) usually at the venue so that I can get a feel for the place and your vision for the music. It helps with planning from my end too, sometimes early set up is needed, or if the setup is during room turnaround etc.

Get a feel for them by email telephone and then interview a short list of 3 or so, if you are going with a DJ you want to make sure you are comfortable with them and their style and that you can trust them to manage your evening.

We are doing our music by hooking the iPad up to the restaurants sound system - we are pretty sure it wil work for us as they have speakers both inside the venue and on the balcony which can all be sound adjusted and the bar man is actually a friend and will be able to not allow guests to touch it. We will be taking a back up iPad though in case and we are aiming for a chilled, relaxing evening - not a full dance floor all night.

I think if you're main issue is the talking then when researching dj's specifically say to them what you don't want - 'I don't want to offend you or be rude but I'm really not a fan of talking over the music or when you change tracks, I am a bit concerned about this' .

We're doing all our own music in one way or another. I am having one of OH's friends play a Manic's song on the guitar for my bridal entrance as what I want doesn't seem to exist! For the evening we are having my Dad's band play for an hour, then we will be having an Ipad disco, and we have chosen all the songs to go on it, as we want more rock songs rather than the usual mix of stuff.

We're using an ipod hooked up the sound system, our reception is in a barn too ?

Thanks for all the replies, certainly reassures me that can be done and that djs aren't quite as cheesey anymore!

ive spoken to the recommended supplier for our venue and he said they only really talk if we want them to say something and is very open to us sending in song lists to play so that sounds good! Just waiting to see how much he is! What the average price we should expect to pay for a dj?

Around £400 - £500 would be average, but you can find DJ's from £200 to £1000's

We thought about doing our own playlist on the laptop but I am just too much of a control freak and would obsess over it for months trying to get it perfect, so we have booked a DJ instead. He is an ex club DJ so he definitely doesn't talk over the music! Surely DJs don't do this anymore??

The advantage of a DJ is that s/he can judge the mood to get people dancing and will play things you might not necessarily have considered. Plus I have been to a few weddings with no DJ and it can feel a bit like dancing about in someone's living room - a DJ provides a focus. Downside is you have to pay them. ?

Ours is £650 - well respected, has won awards etc, central London.

Sometimes people want the DJ to talk, certainly for announcements. I was a club DJ too (resident at Raffles back in the day), but have the microphone skills from radioing DJing if someone wants me to be a little more motivational, although I do always prefer to let the music do my talking.