Weddingbee Blog

Today I’m meeting with a potential DJ for our wedding. This past winter, at a ubiquitous Bridal Expo in our area, Mr. FF and I strolled down aisle after aisle of potential wedding vendors. A lot of them were bakeries, which resulted in many slices of free cake. This was a good thing, and I happily ate piece after piece (Mr. FF, on the other hand, didn’t see the joy in free cake after the 4th piece was foisted upon us).

Another large bunch of vendors at the Expo were DJs. And, well… let’s just say they didn’t really do anything to take away from the “cheesy wedding DJ” image that has been ingrained in people’s memories. You know the type I’m talking about. They wear crazy outfits that most sane people wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole, and this may involve any combination of: suspenders, sequins, and velvet. They use cheesy catch phrases, and have a penchant for mispronouncing names of bridal party members. They make bad jokes, insist that you do a garter toss (against your will), and somehow manage to play all of the songs on your “Do Not Play” list. The type of DJ that conjures up this type of image:

Source

So, it was with some trepidation that we dipped our toes into the pool of wedding DJs.

The first vendor we’re going to visit came highly recommended from a friend who attended a wedding that he had DJed. “I’ve never had so much fun in my life on a dance floor,” he said. So far, so good.

We knew that we didn’t have it in our budget to hire a band, plus I’ve always enjoyed hearing the real version of a song. It’s great when you can recognize the opening bars of one of your favorite songs, and rush out on the dance floor with your friends. So, we weren’t really disappointed that we couldn’t hire a band, but we knew that we wanted to hire a really good DJ. My sister didn’t have such a great experience at her wedding, and I know that we want somewhat specific things out of a DJ that we hire.

Things like what? Well, we’re very adamant that our DJ not stray from our do-not-play list, no matter how much money any of the groomsmen are attempting to bribe him with. The Chicken Dance, the YMCA, The Macarena, The Cotton Eyed Joe, or any type of line dancing are out. Over-played wedding songs such as We are Family, Celebration, the Grease Megamix, Old Time Rock ‘n Roll, Brick House, and Shook Me All Night Long are nixed. Specific artists that neither of us can stand (Prince, The B-52s) won’t be played, either. The list is actually much, much longer than that (47 entries on an Excel spreadsheet and counting), so suffice it to say we’re pretty picky about what we want played at our wedding.

On top of the Do Not Play list, we have some very specific ideas of music that we do want played. Mr. FF loves The Gufs, so we’ll have to make sure they have more than just “Smile” to play. I absolutely must hear one – okay, I’d be happy with all, but I’m not going to be greedy – of Justin Timberlake’s hits. We have to hear “Faithfully”, by Journey, because it’s the first song that we slow danced to (it will not be our first dance, though). And my parents have requested “Through the Years” by Kenny Rodgers, as the anniversary dance. They requested this at my sister’s wedding, and the DJ never played it — so it’s pretty important this time around that the DJ get it right. Also, we’re considering playing music other than the typical “dinner service” music (Rat Pack classics) and something a little more “us”. But that’s a different post, altogether.

So, as you can see, we have our work cut out for us. I guess if we had a checklist, #1 would be: plays what we want and not what we don’t, and #2 would be: isn’t ridiculously cheesy. Fingers crossed that this recommendation works out!

Have you ever been to a wedding where the DJ did a less than stellar job?