Picking my DJ

Anyone

My OH's friend is a DJ so he's doing it (freebie)

Not much help i know sorry

Go for someone who lists similar musical tastes to you on a website, maybe someone of a similar age? I would ignore the list of songs they will play at a wedding and pay more attention to their musical influences and what they listen to for pleasure. Then at least you'll be in the right ball park and know that they are a good match for what you want. I haven't picked a regular "wedding" DJ though, so can't really help any more.

Not sure if this will help you Mrs2bsoon as it sounds like you maybe getting hitched abroad but to choose our DJ I rang the venue and had them reccomend me one. I then contacted him and we met a few weeks back and I was really pleased with him and what he talked about for the night so paid him the deposit ?.

Good luck with finding a DJ x

I used the recommendation made by our own HIB Sandy Sounds - here's the website - these are trustworthy DJs , registered, and we found one through this site. i couldn't have been happier - you just choose your area of the country and fill in a form and the offers start pouring in as DJs email you with their prices and availability! SIMPLES!

https://www.weddingdja.co.uk/index.php

Think about what kind of DJ you want, and the kind of night and you want.

-Does the DJ specialise in Weddings? Is this important to you?

-What set-up do you want - tidy and smart, or not really a concern?

-What music do they normally play? If you have strong preferences - do they have knowledge of this style?

-Do they meet any requirements of the venue? (paperwork/documentation)

-Are they organised? Will then confirm the booking?

-Have they played the venue before? Not always a problem but always a bonus (and they may be able to visit before the Wedding date)

Its often a personal choice, and I suspect its really a matter of trust... "Can this DJ do what I need?"

As with any industry, some will over-promise, others talk about their equipment, others will try to find out what you need.

Also, each Wedding is different. This Saturday, I'm playing some Canadian Metal for the 1st dance, with a mix of Motown, 70's and 80s, and some 90's britpop. My last wedding was mainly modern, and the week before that cheesy 80s.

These were good nights, and I will be working hard to ensure tomorrow is also good.

There are many directory websites, including Hitched, and the Hitched database allows you to pick suppliers (as opposed to your contact details being sent to unknown DJs), this may be a good first step.

As we're also chosing suppliers for our own weddings, I'll list what we did;

-Visit websites, identify those that look to cover what we need

-Check them out online... are they mentioned in Hitched or other Forums/Review websites?

-Create a shortlist, contact those on shortlist with fairly detailed info about what we're looking for.

-Await replies, most suppliers are busy over a weekend, so we gave until mid-week.

-Sort replies, ignoring price for now, the main point being their response. Did the answer any questions and did their reply inspire confidence?

-Call the 3 or so for a brief chat.

Its a shame you're doing this remotely, but I've had a few Weddings this year where I didn't meet the clients until the day. This isn't my normal way of working, but sometimes its hard to meet up.
The evenings still went well.

With one couple, we had a fairly long discussion over Skype, and they came back to book later that evening.

How about creating a new post, asking for recommendations for DJ's in your required area (in the post title), you may get some people to help.

Good Luck!

Obviously... if you're getting married in Hertfordshire, you can always call me ?

Jason

There's some good advice here http://www.weddingdjalliance.co.uk/selecting_a_wedding_dj.php and some essential questions here https://partydjdisco.co.uk/selecting_a_mobile_dj.html

If you have a clear idea in your mind what type of evening you are after, then ask the appropriate questions.... you'll be surprised how quickly you'll sort the wood from the trees. I rate myself and my OH as two of the best wedding specialists in our area (head grows slightly bigger!).... but we are both very different and there occasions when one of us is better suited to the remit than the other.

Jason is right about playing different music depending on the guests and the bride's remit. Like him, I can be playing mostly chart and dance one evening ....then 70s 80s another. A good DJ doesn't have a 'usual' playlist.

The most important questions you need to be asking are about backup (for equipment and themselves), their presentation style and whether they have all the appropriate certificates. Other deciding factors should be their reliability (make sure they provide a written contract), ease of communication (do they reply promptly to emails or phone calls etc) and personality (This person is going to be a major part of your wedding, its important that you'reable to get on with them).

PS Thank you Viking Princess for the recommendation.... I know you've got yourself an absolute diamond!

It may 'make or break' a wedding reception, but unless you're thinking of having a DJ performing at your ceremony (which, admittedly, would be quite unusual) then it makes no difference to the actual wedding itself.

The ceremony, and the party afterwards, are two very different things. They just happen to be usually held on the same day, that's all.

Dont be so blummin pedantic AJ!

errrr..... what if the DJ turns up late in jeans and scruffy T-shirt, has equipment that breaks down or isn't suitable for the venue, is less than polite to your guests, doesn't keep to your remit, plays the music you specifically asked him not to play, doesn't have your first dance song, doesn't play the favourite tunes you've requested....I could go on. Instead of your evening being memorable for being a great party...it could be memorable for the wrong reasons and your guests could leave early.

Sorry for doing that! I always try to avoid any negativeness whatsoever....but I felt something had to be said....your choice of evening entertainment is very important.

I'm not saying the choice of evening entertainment isn't important - for all the reasons you mentioned and others - however I have noticed a general emphasis on Hitched that seems to make the partying afterwards more important than the actual wedding ceremony.

As for guests 'leaving early', again I suppose that depends on the people and how far they're travelling. I fully expect our evening party to thin out from 9pm, simply because of the distance - and, let's face it, if we've been up since 6am and on the go ever since, we're probably going to be tired anyway.

We went on price, which admittedly wasn't the right thing to do. He didn't play what we asked him to, kept calling us up for our own dances and made the groom down a pint with his stags... just play the music!!

Lesson learnt.

Why AJ... Why do you have to be so picky, all the time? I am sure the OP didn't mean it so literally, we all understood what she meant.

I wonder why you are even having a reception sometimes... why not just get married in a church and be done with it.

Indeed, we did, with your help! We now have a contract and paid deposit and Mark seems very obliging and nice!

Because the evening reception is important - a great way to celebrate your wedding with those that you care about - but to me it's still very much secondary to the actual wedding ceremony itself.

I'm with Sandy here... this does happen (sadly!)

I've actually had comments from Venues- "You do have their 1st dance?". The first time I thought they were joking, but apparently its happened in the past! Its difficult to know why the DJ didn't have the first dance - perhaps they were not told, or the B&G changed their mind on the day, or perhaps they worked for an agency.

I normally have 3 copies, one on my main playback, one on my SD Card player (built into my main system) and one on my backup system. This also applies to their playlist songs. Its a bit of overhead and I guess I could just copy it to one location without checking and hope that its all ok on the day, but none of us want to be the DJ with the 1st dance that stopped half way though.

There are plenty of examples of bad DJs on YouTube, and I really don't want to join that list!

Its not just DJ's, Bands or any service provider has the potential to mess things up. I've seen bands that have played 2 songs then gone outside for a 1hr break, and then hit the buffet line directly after the B&G when they come back in.

As a comparison, there is a big difference between a pub/club DJ who may leave the latest remix at home - but no one will really complain too much. Obviously a 1st dance is a carefully selected track that has special meaning to the clients. The DJ asking to substitute because it was left at home is terrible.
On the occasion I play in a bar, I put in lots of work to ensure it runs well.

The key point is reliability and service. Will the DJ be reliable? (turn up on time and have suitable equipment) and will they provide the service you need? (play the music you ask for, and otherwise know the level of performance for your wedding).

Regardless of budget and style of wedding, this as a guide should be used for any service provider.

Totally agree with all Jason has said. Sorry if this looks like DJs clubbing together (pardon the pun)..... but we attend numerous weddings, see things that would make you raise an eyebrow or two and know the 'varying' services that are out there.

There have been many discussions on here about why some DJs charge more than others. Jason's description above highlights some of the things we do over and above. All the wedding DJs I know and promote carry back ups for back ups, such as the first dance on three different sources. Your average pub or club DJ will probably not do this.

There's a DJ that does an evening once a month down our local pub. Every night he's on you can guarantee that he loses all sound at some point. He knows he's got a broken cable....but chooses to give it a wiggle each time it cuts out rather than replace it. Personally, I test all my cables before every wedding and always carry back up equipment for every conceivable item (which I'm sure Jason does as well). Its these 'behind the scenes' activities that separate an average DJ from a good one and the kind of things a potential DJ for your wedding needs to be questioned about.

You could probably apply that criteria to almost every aspect of a wedding - photographer, car, etc etc etc.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will take everything into account and have a hunt this week. My wedding is in Somerset and I'm in Bucks so it is quite hard to get there to meet suppliers but hopefully I will make it over soon to chat to suppliers.

We used the DJ our venue recommended. We had an unusual venue and were happier to go with someone who had worked there alot