WHAT DOES A WEDDING DJ ACTUALLY DO
One day a future bride asked me this question. What does a wedding Dj actually do? She meant to ask me actually to justify the cost and the reason why she and her future husband would have to hire me.
To be honest I wasn’t able to answer her question in details at that day. Vivian if you read this before, what i’m about to write today, you would have pay me more tips after the great work I’ve done that day.
This is a great question, one of the most misunderstood and under-prioritised aspects of planning a great wedding, and any event for that matter.
When you realise how much time and effort you put into finding the right venue, designing your invitations, selecting the perfect florist, etc. Typically, in a list of wedding planning priorities, the DJ or music is one of the last vendors to be booked or aspects of your event that most brides consider. And this is the mistake most people do while planning an event.
The funny thing is that not later than the next month after your wedding, few of your guests will remember details about the venue, what your invitation cards looked like, or what kind of flowers were used in the centrepieces.
What your guests will remember years later, is how much fun they had dancing and enjoying the entertainment your wedding. Only a great wedding DJ can ensure that it happens.
A Wedding DJ has several responsibilities:
The Consultation
The DJ shall be involved in the planning long before the reception occurs. Because he might help you plan your entertainment. This could be coordinate with the wedding planner if you might have one.
First of all after your call has been received and both of you agreed with the basic, the DJ will organise one or several meetings to determine your needs. He will need to know the names of all the couple, Bride’s & Groom’s Parents, as well as all those who need to be named or who will play a major role in the evening.
A happy event like your wedding has inevitably magical moments outside the dance. These might not be possible without the intervention of the DJ. And this is one of the reasons why you need to discuss about or create a timeline for your wedding activities with the DJ.
Music selection
While planning your wedding, the DJ gives you the ability to list all the songs you don’t want to listen to or those that might remind you of bad memories. These songs will be discreetly communicated to your guests who will come make a request. The DJ will guide you through your music selection process from the start by providing you music request forms.
It is your wedding day and your music should reflect your couple and also your personal taste. Selecting songs of high quality for you and your guests is the most important task intrusted to the DJ. He will provide, play the right music, at the right time, for the right guests. Requests and suggestions from guests are blended seamlessly throughout the evening.
Entertaining his own wedding with music, handling guests requests could be fun only when you have the time and the right music for the occasion. Read my article and learn how to avoid bad music at your reception.
Mastering the Ceremony
As the Master of Ceremony, the DJ make sure to keep everything on time so that you get everything that you want included in your reception. The MC (Emcee) makes all the introductions and announcements (cake cutting, bouquet ang garter toss…) throughout the evening. Sometimes he incorporates games to involve your guests, and he makes sure that every guest leaves having enjoyed an unforgettable event.
During the Reception
The DJ will start with light background music, introduce the arrival of the Bridal Party and Parents with the sound of your choice. He will set up the toast, the dinner music, play your selected song for the first dance, the Bouquet / Garter toss, the Cake cutting and so on. He will finally bring the guests to dance and have fun until the end of the reception.
Equipment
A wedding DJ typically provide the needed equipment. You don’t have to care about it. Sound check will be mastered right before the event’s start to make sure all the equipments have been set up correctly and the DJ will check if everyone can hear it, and also if the music is not overly loud.
Equipments that could be provided by the DJ are:
- Dance floor if the room has not an appropriate one
- Ambient lighting which can completely change the look and feeling of your reception
- Dance floor lighting which will bring the disco feeling, while the guests are dancing
- Wireless microphones for toasts
- Photo Booth, Karaoke and more…
Conclusion
A wedding has not only the role to keep dancing the guests, after all the points listed above he will pick the music that will attract your guests to the dancefloor, create a playlist and mix it together into one continuous song. This will allow the people to dance without interruption. Then it’s party time!
DJ Talent helps you planning your Dream Reception. Read more tips here: www.dj-talent.com
Book DJ Talent: www.dj-talent.com/booking/
