Mr DJ

We're having a band but I got a quote from a DJ to compare costs.

For a Friday in October, he quoted £425

Ours is in the package but I met a magician/DJ at a wedding fair who quoted £300 for magic during the meal and disco after. I think it was £200 for either/or.

Depends where you are.

We paid about £750 for DJ who set up PA system and had music as we entered the wedding breakfast hall and playing background music during dinner. Then djing from 7-12. It is a London price though.

My tip would be not to book a 'wedding DJ'! If you book a DJ that does birthday parties and stuff as well and doesn't specialise, you'll save a lot of money. We're paying £250 for background music all day and a DJ set at night. It was £395 for a 'wedding DJ' to do the same! xxx

There is a reason why a wedding DJ would charge more, because it is more specialised and more work goes into the planning side of things. If you had a ferrari or a classic car would you take them to any old mechanic? Chances are no .... you would take them to someone who sepacilises in them.

There is a difference between any old DJ and a Wedding DJ. For instance at a wedding you probably have the most eclectic mix of people for any type of party. A club DJ would usually have younger people a 40th birthday party would have people around 40 maybe a few old and a few younger etc etc. A wedding DJ has to cater from anyone from 1 - 100, i have been every type of DJ possible and i can tell you that being a wedding DJ is by far the hardest, the most stressful and the most time consuming. Hence why we charge more.

We do site visits to ensure that everything will work in your chosen venue, liaise with other suppliers such as Togs & magicians to ensure that you get the best from the party and from the other suppliers. Offer to meet you at the venue to discuss your requirements in more detail and run through the order of the day. We tend to purchase more music for weddings as there are more random songs with more special reasons to be played.

Most wedding DJs will also do all of this, most party DJs won't.

If you want your wedding reception to be the best it can possibly be then book a wedding DJ, if you are not fussed about it then book any DJ.

Varies depending on type of dj and location as already said by others.

But mine is £275, thats in Berkshire and playing from 7pm to 11.30pm

I am waiting for someone to get back to me with a quote seems to be a wide range of prices. Thanks guys.

Based on personal experience I would definitely say that someone who specialises is worth the extra if it's something you can afford. We can always tell a party/general/non specialist DJ and I'm someone who would freely admit that I don't know a lot about that industry sector.

Specialist DJ's tend to liase with us to ensure that we're aware of what they'll be doing, when they'll be doing it etc. They talk with us and find out what our schedules are or the timings we've been given and ensure that we work together in a way that is complimentary and therefore we're both providing the best service for the bride and groom. Party DJs don't tend to do this (generalising of course, but based on experience)

It can make a huge difference. For example, we generally cover up to around half an hour after the first dance. If that's scheduled to be at 8pm and the party DJ has no awareness of time/doesn't care because they only turned up an hour ago (quite common) we can quite often be left standing there at 9- 9:30pm. Obviously we'd never make a fuss, but some photographers (or other professionals) would be charging extra for the additional time/coverage- which believe me will cost more than just getting in a pro to begin with.

Professional & specialist DJ's also tend to provide suitable lighting as opposed to (what some would consider to be) tacky party/disco lighting. This isn't just important to set the mood, but can also help with the atmosphere and photos. We've worked with a non specialist DJ before in the past for example who outright refused to turn off his huge, obtrusive floral lighting. It was like a rave!

There are ways as a photographer to overcome this, but it's a million times better when vendors can all just work together to provide the best service. Of course, as I say I'm generalising and talk only from personal experience. I'm sure lots of people have had great experiences with non-specialist DJs