I’ve been a bad bride-to-be. When I first got engaged I rushed to book so many of our vendors. We had a date, a photographer, a reception venue, and the church before the first month was up. But then….well, I just got busy. You know, that sort of busy-ness when you graduate college and don’t have a job yet and actually don’t have anything to do on a daily basis except watch The Office on DVD? Yeah, busy, right.
So now I’m getting married in June and I don’t have a DJ. That’s ok, right? Well, I hope so. My FMIL and I are going to meet with our first DJ tomorrow but I’m sort of stumped. When I met with photographers I looked at their work, but what do you look at with a DJ? It’s not like he’s creating the music, just pressing the buttons to make it play, right?
How did you go about choosing a DJ? Any important questions I should make sure to ask? Anyone have central IL recommendations for me? Thanks ladies!
Also, tomorrow we’re getting our engagement pictures and I’m so so so excited! I’ll let you all know how it goes after we get home tomorrow!
And, more info from my sister’s wedding coming up as well!
Oh, oops. For some reason all that popped up was the post title. I take it back.
Some people plan their entire weddings in less then 8 months so I wouldn’t worry too much that you haven’t booked your DJ yet. I think it’s really important to preview a DJs work at an actual event so you can see how he manages the crowd…your version of “not cheesy” and his might be really different.
Wahahahaha… Good for you for getting this all done so early. I’m getting married NEXT WEEK and I didn’t book my DJ till 3 weeks ago (yes I’m serious). Obviously I have a procrastination problem, but I found someone great that I totally trust… better late than never, right?
I did the same thing! Since we were moving out of the country, I needed to book as many vendors as I could while I could still meet with them. Everyone kept telling me, “You have so much time!” So after we moved, I really slowed down. Even though our wedding is in March, the reception people wouldn’t even talk to us about the food (so no specifics will be on our invites), we don’t have a florist, cake baker, dj, tux rentals, decorations, etc. I’m hoping that things won’t be last minute. Good luck on the dj search!
I made sure I knew what kind of DJ I wanted– do you want someone to be the life of the party, getting people on the dance floor and cracking jokes, or do you want someone to play the music and shut up? I wanted the latter.
I made sure our DJ knew what I wanted him to play, when to play it, for how long, and what kind of equipment I needed. I wanted speakers in our reception hall and in the bar area, and specific songs played during each portion of the evening. I prohibited group dances or anything involving choreographed arm movements (goodbye, YMCA or the Macarena).
He was great at reading the crowd and playing the right kind of music for the mood, but didn’t talk beyond announcing the cake cutting and bouquet toss.
Make sure you ask how many hours you get, when he’ll be there to set up, if he has backup equipment in case of failure, and what kind of lighting he uses. Ask what kind of electrical setup he needs (and make sure you have it at your venue). Ask what kind of signage, if any, he’ll put up (I’d shoot for “none”), and make sure he knows the order of events and timing.
i have seen weddings ruined by bad djs. if i could tell brides to spend more time researching one vendor, it would definitely be the dj.
your best bet would be to see him play live, otherwise, try to get referrals from past brides. don’t be shy to ask for and check references galore. good luck! 
I think you are fine with time. I booked about 1 year in advance, but I am obsessive! And I like to get my first choice if at all possible. I first researched DJ’s by emailing for prices. Then I narrowed down a couple and met my top choice first. We let him talk. and he said all the right things. We really didn’t want a “show”, where they have blow up guitars, obnoxious music, and DJ’s who wish they were famous “something’s” and try to take over the whole reception. He was down to earth, also didn’t like those kinds of DJ’s - but he brought it up. Ultimately, once we narrowed down all of our vendors to a couple choices, we then based our decision on personality. And all of our vendors advertise by word of mouth - which is the most important. Don’t go to wedding expos where they act like used car salesman - there is usually a reason for that!
I think your time. If you can’t find any word-of-mouth references, go in the the interviews with the the idea that this person is going to be an reflection of your personalities, so it should be a good fit.
This website also had some good tips:
We booked our DJ (and the rest of our vendors) largely based on personality (and portfolio where applicable). You have to trust your gut!
You have plenty of time to get a DJ. The best way is through personal referrals. Even better is if you’ve gone to a wedding or event recently and liked theirs!
Like dreambml said, make sure that the DJ’s “style” and yours mesh. Also make sure to ask: about equipment, including lighting; particularly if you’re outdoors, find out about power needs; find out what the package includes as far as hours, and how much it is if it runs overtime; what do the staff wear (you don’t want some kids hanging out in slogan T-shirts at your formal event); if they will emcee, or if they’ll give you a mic for your own emcee.
We picked our DJ based on 2 things: gut feeling and seeing video of recent weddings. We met with him after work one evening, talked “DJ” for about an hour, then spent another hour just talking and finding out we had a lot in common with him and Mrs. DJ. We felt so comfortable after our meeting, and we got to see videos where we could see actual weddings they did. We made our decision after leaving our meeting, and emailed him the next day to let him know we wanted to book him. Good luck!
Make sure your personalities mesh. Our DJ was our FIL’s friend and we didn’t meet him until the wedding. He sounded like a sports announcer! He might have ruined the dancing if it hadn’t been for our “always ready to party” friends!
Despite living in New York, I have a recommendation for you! I have seen a dj at a few Illinois weddings. A friend of mine used him and was very happy. Don’t be misled by his tough appearance… he is actually a tee totaler (yes I have been to weddings with drunk djs) who will bend over backwards for his clients. He is somewhat small town but seems willing to cater to the client and very reasonable (my friend, new york transplant, recommended he move to nyc and he could triple his rate! )
Anyway, feel free to email me for more info and keep us posted. Hope this number is current.
David Lee Allen (217-875-3262)
We got engaged April 18 and we’re getting married 1 month today. We’ve had no problem booking each vendor we wanted. Granted, we’re getting married in the off-season (for New England) but we’ve had no problems, whatsoever.
When we met with our DJ we knew he was the guy because:
1. he asked us what we wanted him to wear (thus no sequined vest with music notes … unless that’s your thing)
2. he spent over an hour talking to us about all the things we should think about in regards to the timing (first dance, cake cutting, etc), and what types of music we wanted, how we wanted things like the “electric slide” handled, etc.
3. we had an easy time talking to him and so we felt he’d be good at interacting with our
guests
Of course we won’t know until the day’s there but we let him take the lead (and we asked questions along the way) and we learned a lot!
good luck!
My fiance actually owns a DJ company and does a TON of weddings, in addition to Hollywood parties and such. I’m a big dancer, but I never really pay much attention to what makes a good or bad DJ until we got together. Now it is SO apparent to me. My fiance’s co is very successful on the upscale wedding market here in LA because the are the un-wedding DJs. They only get on the mic to inform the guests of wedding moments coming up - like the cake cut or speeches etc. - otherwise there’s no cheesy party pumping or attention-getting antics. They also DJ at area clubs, so their mixing skills are good - a DJ should be able to mix one song into the next where they seamlessly overlap for a while and then drop out the first song (leaving the 2nd) so dancefloor barely notices and there is no change to the flow. Someone who’s cheap b/c they DJ off iPods cannot do this - there will be a break between songs and it will be a buzzkill.
I agree with the above advice to check out your possible DJ’s performance before booking, whether at a club or another wedding.
Make sure that your potential DJ’s are willing to plan their night’s set around what you want and songs/types of music you like. You’d be surprised how many other DJs say “this is what I play.” If a DJ says he only does a specific thing…RUN.
A DJ should be able to “read the dancefloor” and play on many different levels…cocktail to dinner music to dancing. Within dancing they should be able to keep the dancefloor packed all night - and that may mean playing “Old time Rock n’ Roll” at the beginning of the night and going to some hip hop and then some big hair rock or 80’s. It’s all about knowing what people are responding to and playing that….and trying something new and then keeping it for a while (if it’s working) or ditching it (if it loses too many people off the floor).
Lastly, I think you should be able to find a good DJ by word of mouth….either from people you know who had a great DJ at their wedding or people who’ve attended a wedding with a great DJ - you always remember an event where you dance your ass off all night
http://www.redshoela.com to give you an idea.
i agree with the suggestions to meet with the DJ, making sure your personalities mesh, but i’ve got to admit that despite having a recommendation AND having met with our DJ in person prior to booking him, he still ended up being a total jerk the day of! he took it upon himself to play things we had put on our “do not play” list, didn’t make an announcement about my great-aunt making our cake despite my explicitly telling him to do so, repeatedly asking about the cub’s score, screwing up my father-daughter dance….oh, i could go on and on.
i’m not trying to scare you, but i definitely support talking with many DJs before committing to one. and if you get a bad vibe/gut feeling, don’t ignore it. i thought my DJ was a tad too smooth (plus had a really weak handshake! random, but it struck me), but i chalked it up to the cliche of DJs. trust your instincts! (and if you need to know who NOT to hire in central illinois, i’ll let you know, just ask!). lots of luck
Ok now I’ve just GOT to ask who it was, Gaby! If you’d rather, send me a message or e-mail me!
hey, i’ve got no shame, i’ll put it up here for all central il gals to see–his name is bob severins (aka, bob “bass”…that should’ve been my tip off ;)). he’s located in rantoul, illinois, but my reception was in champaign, so he travels. he doesn’t have a website (yet another indication…i trusted that referral too much!), so google won’t help, but at least you will have a name of which to be aware. hope it helps!
Rick Storto is a fabulous DJ. He’s in the west suburbs of Chicago, but he’ll travel. His number is 708-848-4335. He does not have a web site, but he really doesn’t need one - He was recommended to me by a bride, and I think I’ve personally recommended him to at least 5 other brides. He was the easiest vendor I worked with. We had a LONG “must-play” list, and he played every one of them, lots of requests, and some other great stuff - we were dancing our butts off!
Main questions to ask: do you bring back-up equipment? What if something breaks? What if you’re sick on the wedding day? What songs do you have (get specific on this - my sister’s DJ had ONLY hits of the 70s and 80s… and didn’t play any of the songs on her “must hear” list)? How do you get new songs? What was the biggest disaster you’ve dealt with at a wedding, and how did you deal with it? How much do you talk at the reception? (this was key for us - we didn’t want our DJ to say ANYTHING except announce the cake and the special dances).
Good luck!
I too knew what kind of DJ I wanted–someone who would play appropriate music (ie: no chicken dances or macarena’s) and would keep the dance floor packed with their magical ability to read the crowd yet basically shut up. I was lucky in that there’s a popular company local to me who is known as ‘the elegant dj’/'no gimmicks’. I would ask to see video of DJs in action, many vendors have video links right on their websites.
Also, you probably know this already, but a really great place to get recos for DJs and to get feedback their various styles in your area are the local Knot or Wedding Channel message boards. You don’t even have to post, just type a search in your area for Vendor Reviews and typically a million of them pop up.
: )
[...] happy to say that after all my initial trepidation, we have chosen a DJ! Unfortunately, Mr. Chickadee wasn’t able to make it to the first meeting, [...]
Hi. I am also being married in Peoria, IL and having a hard time picking a dj. Who did you pick and did you like him? WOuld you recommend him and why? Thank you so much!
Miss Chickadee, Peoria, IL
Age and Occupation: 22, Freelance Advertising
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 22, Mechanical Engineer
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: June, 2008
Blogging Since: September 13, 2006
Venue: Methodist Church/Country Club
About Me: My parents always said I should wait until graduating college before getting married…Mr. Chickadee and I finally graduated this past spring and we didn’t waste any time getting straight down to business. It’s been four long years, but the wedding planning is finally underway!
That’s it? You can’t tease us like that!