Weddingbee Blog
We haven’t had too much conflict over wedding planning issues. Some questions have come up, but we usually resolve them quickly and reach a happy compromise. However, there is the one thing that has continually come up and always ends in a disagreement. Part of me feels so silly for sharing this, but if anyone can relate, or it helps someone, then it’s worth posting.
Our great debate is over what to do for the music during the reception. I know many bees (Mrs. Bell Pepper and others) have pondered this same issue and I’ve seen it discussed on the boards. Even after reading many of these discussions, we still can’t decide. Recently we’ve just put the decision off, but we are getting to the point that we really need to book the DJ now, if we go that route.
Ready for the arguments? Just kidding, but I’ll break down the reasoning and issues we are going back and forth with.
iPod Reception
Mr. Ducky wants to do an iPod reception because of how much money it can save. We’ll also have more control over what will be played. He would prefer to rent the speakers and create different playlists ahead of time. He is very good at technology and does not think it would be hard to get all the equipment ready that day and then just press play. He has a good friend from college who he wants to include in the wedding, and would ask him to be the MC. Also, we probably wouldn’t just rely on an iPod, but would have a Mac there set up with all the music.
As much as I want to trust Mr. Ducky to get this all worked out, I am literally filled with anxiety when I think about the iPod. I just have flashes of something going wrong with the technology, and Mr. Ducky being the one that has to step away and fix it himself. I would be so bummed to lose my groom during part of the reception due to technological difficulties. I so badly want people to dance and have a good time, and while a DJ does not guarantee that, I think one could better create the environment that allows dancing to happen. I worry about having this friend MC, and would never want to feel upset with him if the reception dancing totally bombed. I’m also not sure about his friend being able to be an MC that can appeal to people ranging greatly in age, from twenty-somethings all the way up to our grandparents.
DJ Reception
A DJ can create the mood and atmosphere with the music he/she plays. They can read the crowd and see what is working and what is not working. Most DJs have done hundreds of weddings and know what to do and what not to do. I’ve spoken to a few DJs on the phone and found some with high recommendations that don’t sound like they would be cheesy or awkward. I feel like I’ll be more at ease knowing that the DJ deals with all the sound equipment etc., and we won’t have to worry about a thing. With a DJ we can have a professional who is polished and experienced with all things wedding. And while I would never want to frivolously spend money, I really feel like the extra money in our budget would be well spent hiring a DJ.
Mr. Ducky thinks that many wedding DJs are just too cheesy and wants to avoid that at all costs. We’ve been to several weddings where the DJ has played not-great music and said some strange things. He also thinks that we shouldn’t spend the money if we have the skill to do it ourselves. Mr. Ducky definitely has ideas of what he wants played at the wedding and wants the power to control that. He thinks that our wedding will be fun no matter what, and people will either dance or won’t dance; he doesn’t think a DJ would affect that.
I know Mrs. Pomegranate and Mrs. Candy Corn both debated iPod receptions, but in the end found DJs that they loved after worrying about iPod issues. Mrs. Pineapple decided to use the “free-j” and felt really good and confident about going that route. Mrs. Tulip had an iPod reception, but there were some problems when the iPod stopped working. Mrs. Corn recently attended an iPod wedding and wrote a noteworthy review.
So I turn to the hive: What are your thoughts? Are you having this debate? Did anyone have an iPod reception? What is your review? Or, what are your reasons for going with a DJ?
Any recommendations for an affordable, non-cheesy, fun, DJ in San Diego?
Mr. Bruschetta and I are going with a DJ. And, we actually got to go meet him — at his house! — to make sure we were comfortable with him and his personality…because I hear you on the cheese factor, and we want none of that at the Bruschetta wedding!
This is a tough one. My husband and I pondered the ipod reception but ultimately concluded we didn’t have the tech no-how, and didn’t feel comfortable asking any of our friends to attend to this. We hired the cheapest DJ we could find and were very strict about what we wanted played and when, and it worked out fine. But it sounds like you might have the tech-savvy and the person to oversee this issue, so you may want to give way to your fiancee on this one. Sometimes it’s important to let go of control for something, especially here where it could result in significant savings…. it’s a tough issue.
Oops! Sorry Miss Cheese! No offense, of course, and if you’re in Philly in August, you’re most welcome at our wedding. 
The DJ is the BEST investment I made for the wedding. We loved them so much. They made our party absolutely wonderful. They did a lot more than “just play music”. They helped with keeping the timeline in control. They MC’ed. They got the party going and they even taught people dancing 
Everybody said it was the best wedding they attended.
A wedding I just attended also had a wonderful DJ with great entertaining skills. It really made the party!
We’re definitely going the ipod route. Neither of us is into dancing, so it’s not a high priority. My uncle, who is VERY tech savvy, is going to emcee.
We are music freaks, and my husband used to write the playlist for an 80s bar, but we went with a DJ. We went with a DJ partly to save time and stress, and partly because we wanted a professional there on the day to deal with any issues that arose, and to read the mood of the crowd.
We have done playlists for other weddings, and I think we know our stuff, but you MUST have someone dedicated to playing the right songs at the right time. No-one can prepare 4 hours worth of songs in advance and expect it to flow.
We were lucky to find a DJ who would give us creative control of the music- he accepted that it was our party , and at the end of the night he commented that even the songs he wasn’t sure about had been huge hits.
we opted for a DJ because our venue wouldn’t let us play our own music but even they did, we would not have considered an Ipod reception for the reasons you stated. There’s enough to worry about without having to wonder what’s going on with the music. If you do go the Ipod route, make sure you have a lot of backups!
We went through the exact same debate as well. My hubby wanted an iPod wedding and I wanted a DJ for the same reasons you listed above. We did end up going with a DJ and it turned out fantastic. I have attended an iPod wedding and also attended a wedding where friends acted as the DJ and MC. From my experience, the friend MC was rather terrible and there were some sound issues with the rented equipment (yes, static and squeaks). The iPod wedding turned out great, however, there were 3-5 friends rotating around to control the play list, stop it when there’s a speech, resume play…..and the groom would occasionally stop in to help program things and driect the flow. This worked fine for their 3-day “camping” style wedding. However, in a 4-5 hour reception, I don’t know if this is something you want to risk.
We’re absolutely doing the ipod-reception. It sounds like you’re a little worried about this, and I understand! There’s no need to be worrying on your wedding day. None.
You sound like you could go the ipod way, so long as you were more assured of things. Maybe you could try a test reception party? Tell your friends (and maybe some older neighbors you’d like to get to know better?) you want to have them over for a barbeque or something simple. Don’t tell them it’s a trial run for the ipod reception. Let this be a way for Mr. Ducky to show you things can work smoothly!
Good luck!
Miss Duckling, are you having the ceremony outside by the Magnolia tree? I looked at RB Inn a few weeks ago and adored that area, and then the outside area of the Santigo room… however, I’m pretty certain I’m going to choose Bernardo Winery for our venue.
Question though, where are you getting your cake and flowers from? I can’t make a decision… and if I hear about a good DJ I’ll let you know
FI and I originally thought about the iPod as our music source, but we soon scrapped that idea b/c it would be pretty time consuming. So, we’ve decided on the DJ route.
I’m getting married this May in La Jolla, and we’re using Tim Altbaum Productions. We met with him and he has done lots of weddings and not cheesy at all. He has tons of pictures from weddings that he has performed and will let you hear samples of his work. Needless to say, we were very impressed with his work, plus he has performed enough of receptions that he knows how to cater my Chinese family and FI’s Mexican family.
He’s fees are little higher than the other DJs we’ve interviewed, though. Good luck!
We had a compromise.
We made all of play lists ahead of time, burned them on to CD and then hired a sound tech to babysit the sound board and press play.
It helped that out venue had the sound equipment the we rented and the sound tech, but it was definitely the best of both worlds. We got to choose the music we wanted but didn’t have to set it up or anything. My brother was the MC. There were only a few hitches. I gave the tech a cue sheet, and spoke with him that morning (in curlers) to go over everything (keep in mind there were only 2 non verbal cues) and he still messed up our intro and was looking for me to start our first song. But after that it was fine.
Hope this helps
If your fiancee feels confident he can set this up I’d say go that route! We hired a DJ simply because I don’t feel we are savvy enough in the technology department, but even though our DJ comes highly recommended I’m worried he’s going to be cheesy!
Once we meet with him we’ll make it very clear no cheesiness or corny wedding songs!
We are definitely going with the iPod… well a laptop actually. The laptop will be great because it has a larger screen and it will be much easier to navigate through different playlists and change up when need be. We are saving a boatload of money and instead using that extra cash for a traditional/cultural Filipino dance performance during the reception. We definitely have someone in charge of the music! That is an absolute MUST. Plus, my fiance and I are totally control freaks and want to make all the playlists. We’ve been to too many weddings that played the electric slide, the macarana and had DJs announce the lovely newlyweds as if we were at a football game. Just not our cup of tea. Good luck!!
We’re going the DJ route. We also had reservations because of the potential “cheese” factor but ended up finding a really cool duo of guys we clicked with and more importantly, trusted. Mr. Latte had a lot of email contact with them about his and their tastes in music, and we chatted for almost an hour when we met them. In addition to weddings, our DJs play in clubs and parties so I think they’re not as “outdated” as some wedding DJs.
The ipod would definitely be a cheaper route, but like you, I didn’t want to even THINK about having a Plan B if something were to go wrong…
We will be going the ipod/laptop route with plenty of backups on hand =). Here’s our reasoning: we’re having a lunch reception which will be shorter than your average nighttime reception: 12-4pm with only one hour viable for any kind of dancing vs. an evening affair that could run from 5/6pm thru 12/1am! Because we don’t expect to have the kind of dance hour we’d have at night when it’s dark and everyone is pleasantly tipsy, we have no problem doing our own music and keeping the dancing on the light side. We’re thinking of possibly even bringing in dance teachers and teaching our guests a new step or two and that can inform the kind of playlist we have going then =). If you’re having an evening reception and expect to have at least a couple hours of dancing, I would probably be in your shoes and rethinking the ipod option. I think you also make a good point about wanting to make sure your groom and your friend aren’t stressed during the reception with the music in case things stop working! It might help if you were both able to meet and talk with some of these DJs together…if Mr. Ducky still feels strongly about doing it himself even after meeting and discussing it with some highly recommended professionals, then this might just be a battle to put aside.
As a side note, FI and I live in RB so it’s kind of cool your wedding will be at the RB Inn! I keep meaning to drag him there during some special occasion to check it out since it looks so lovely online =).
We went with a DJ. We are ok with the decision. We had the very same reservations about the whole DJ vs iPod discussions. The DJ we went through is called AMS entertainment- but I think they serve Northern Cali. Apparently, they have this neat little online thing where you can make a “play list request” ahead of time so they can compile your songs you want. AND you can make a “DO NOT PLAY LIST” so even if your guests try to get a song played- it won’t be played. ;o) You should try to get a hold of them and see if they recommend a similar company down by your wedding venue site… good luck
Miss Duckie FH and I just booked a band in SD, that will play during the ceremony, cocktails and dinner and then have a DJ take over for dancing. They are a little on the pricey side, but are up for negotiations because of the economy. PM me if you are interested
We’re going the ipod route. Mr. Joey didn’t trust that any DJ would play music he likes….such a snob!
My cousin has a band, and they’re fun, so that solved it for us.
I think the ipod DJ is a great call, but you have to go through a lot of worst-case scenario planning and have formal expectations for your ipod operator.
My friend flipped out at her ipod DJ after her wedding. This guy is an actual DJ as well, but he managed to a) play the MIDI version of her aisle music and b) lose her first dance song completely.
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Mrs. Duckling, San Diego Age and Occupation: 23, Psychology Grad Student, Youth Diversion Specialist/Marriage and Family Therapy Trainee and an Executive Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Marketing and PR Coordinator Engagement Date: May 17, 2008 Wedding Date: September 2009 Venue: Rancho Bernardo Inn About Me: I'm currently living in Orange County, but planning our wedding in my hometown of San Diego. We are a DIY wedding "2fer", as I'm the crafty one and Mr. Ducky is in charge of all of our graphic design and technical aspects. When not wedding planning or reading wedding blogs, I'm attending grad school and rotating between two different jobs to keep things exciting. My favorite things include shoes, Post-Its, Labrador Retrievers, traveling, psychology, delicious food, photography, reading, craft gadgets/supplies, and of course, my wonderful Mr. Ducky!
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