Weddingbee Blog

Just when we were feeling a little down in the dumps about music and had started surveying our friends for who would be good manning an iPod, our luck changed.

Image via Gizmodo / Credit iPopmyphoto

Don’t get me wrong—I had warmed up to the iPod idea. Our friends that will be there who are interested in dancing boogie down to an iPod every weekend. On top of that, I kind of liked the idea that I could pick every song. It was the lady from our reception venue that said the iPod weddings there before didn’t work out well. The sound was off and not loud enough. Also, your playlist is your playlist, and it can’t be adjusted easily to play more of what the dancing people want to hear. There are a lot of pros and cons out there.

DJ or no DJ, we don’t expect the dance floor to be packed like sardines. We just want it to be a good time for the group that is out there.

Here are some things we had in our head while searching:

• How long will they be playing music? (A typical reception is about four hours.)
• Is setup and tear-down included or extra?
• How long have they been a DJ?
• What is their cost?
• What is the retainer fee and then when is the rest of the payment due?
• What are their reviews and what does a good ol’ Google search return?
• Are they good about responding in a timely manner?
• Will they be displaying a lot of advertisement for themselves?
• What will they be wearing that night?
• Do you like their style of announcing things?
• Will you need to pay for their travel?
• Can you meet face to face before the wedding?

How we decided between our final two:

Disc Jockey A is just getting started and it’s more of a hobby, while Disc Jockey B has been at it for over eight years.

Disc Jockey A cost more and quoted us a price three times higher than what was on their website, while Disc Jockey B goes by their listed price.

How did you choose between live music and a disc jockey? What was the deciding factor for picking your DJ?