Over the years, I have seen a lot of trepidation from customers who want to hire a DJ for their wedding. They have already decided that hiring a band is limiting, but they don’t know really what extra stuff a DJ will bring to the table. It is true. There are a ton of people out there who consider themselves “Disc Jockeys,” but they all offer many different things. There are a number of things to look for, to make sure you pick the right DJ for your wedding ceremony and/or wedding reception.
If you are in The Capital District, you are already going to hire me of course! So the rest of this article is for the rest of the world. (Just kidding!) …There are a number of questions and things to think about when hiring a DJ. Here is my Top 10 list of topics:
1. DO THEY KNOW MUSIC? Make sure they know about the music you like, and also the music your guests like. This is very important. If they are not very familiar with songs or artists across many genres, the music you get may not be what you are looking for.
2. PERSONALITY. Are they fun? Are they professional? Are they willing to meet you face to face if possible before hiring them? Will they share stories of experience, or pictures of them DJ’ing in action?
3. REQUESTS Do they have a huge library? If so and they are able to provide your party with pretty much any song ever, how good is their ability to screen requests? Make sure they are willing to take requests and customize the night for you and your guests. However, make sure they have a plan on eliminating song that people may ask for that you do not want at your reception.
4. CUSTOMIZABILITY. Can they cater to your specific needs, or do they force you into buying everything by saying everything is included? Individual packages are the key to finding an affordable DJ. If you don’t care about karaoke and lights and a smoke machine, but it is all including, you are probably being charged for it. Ala carte when the prices are reasonable could save you good money and get you exactly what you want without paying more.
5. EXPERIENCE ACROSS THE BOARD. Weddings have a little bit of every demographic. Try to find someone who has been doing it at least 3-5 years, and not only at a bar scene. Bars these days hire ANYONE, and the demographic is not exactly what you will find at your wedding.
Your DJ should have experience across the board and be able to tell you stories about all kinds of different parties that they have worked for. Sweet sixteen’s and school dances mean they can handle your young guests without a problem. Holiday Parties and other events may prove young to middle age is no problem. Anniversary and retirement parties mean they have experience in catering to older clientele. Make sure they have good experience in all categories and all your guests will be satisfied!
6. FAIR PRICE. Look around and see what other experienced DJ’s are charging. Find the DJ who seems right for you and in the ballpark.
Cheap DJ – Very cheap quotes may spell inexperience or desperation and could destroy your party. Make sure you know exactly what kind of gear the DJ uses, and also what kind of experience they have. Do they have different packages available? What do they do at weddings that make them worth looking at?
Expensive DJ – Overpriced DJ’s, on the other hand, may warn you not to go with any DJ who charges under, say $700, or whatever the overpriced DJ wants to charge you. They may say that under a certain price means a DJ is “not a professional” or “will do a lousy job.” This is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE. This only said to command more money and scare you into hiring them. Using fear tactics and negativity to try and secure your business is NOT GOOD BUSINESS. Trash talking other DJ’s openly is also a bad sign.
7. PROFESSIONALISM. Can they actually blend the music together? Some DJ’s have moved over to laptop set ups which can be great, but if they do not have professional DJ programs, then there could be gaps of “dead air” between songs. Ask about this first, as dead air in any dose can kill your party.
Do they offer something in writing? Do they have professional gear? Do they have a web site or something you can look at? Do they have a business card? Do they have back up DJ’s and or equipment available? Or is it only them with one set up? Can you see them publicly in action somewhere?
8. FLEXIBILTY. The DJ cannot be “stubborn” or “set in his own way.” They are there to serve you and do what you want. If you do not want The Dreaded Chicken Dance, then don’t let him tell you that is going to happen!
Are they okay with playing music that they do not like? Some DJ’s refuse to play certain songs, because they feel it may not get them gigs by potential customers at your party. However, if this is the case, then they are more worried about their image than they are doing a good job for you. They are there to work for you, not be a commercial for themselves. Make sure they will do what you ask them to, within reason. At the same time, make sure they do also know what is appropriate to play and professional. As Ali G says, “Respect!”
9. REFERENCES – Ask for references! Duh!
10. FUN AND CLASSY? – Can they do both? It takes a great DJ to be good in both departments. If it is your special day, you will probably want some seriousness, as well as craziness to remember.
Last Saturday Maria & I DJ’ed an 80th Birthday Party at Burden Lake Golf, Burden Lake, NY (which is right near Averill Park, about 15 to twenty minutes from Albany). I had never done anything at this venue, but it’s a nice little place.
They seat about 150 people comfortably, with round tables and lots of windows all around. There are some little ponds outside, streams and a lot of green, so the atmosphere is nice. They have a full long bar with seating and also they have a built in slide show arrangement in the corner so you can do powerpoints/slide shows. (I believe it is also wired for PA, though we used our own set up).
Just thought I would give them a plug, as it was a nice little place I hadn’t heard of.
I have noticed that the one big “no-no” for seating is putting the old people near the DJ. They hate it and will constantly ask you to turn the music down, even if they are half deaf.
Also, did you know that wedding caterers (who know a lot of about food, but not a lot about sound) often set tables right in front of the DJ booth? Did you know that this is bad because it blasts the guests in those tables, and creates less good sound on the dance floor, due to obstacles in front of the sound waves?
Writing a successful seating arrangement for your wedding reception sounds like an easy task, but without a little research, IT AIN’T! A working knowledge of sound equipment & where to put your DJ, family politics, friendship issues, divorces… There are a million rthings to think about.
This is a good guideline to at least think about, before going about making an effective wedding seating or floor plan:
1) Seat the Bridal Party First
Decide where you want the bride, groom, and the bridal party to sit, first, and then the rest of the tables can make sense. Do you want the whole party sitting together? Or do you want the bride and groom to sit at a table by themselves, with the bridal party members scattered among the rest of the guests? Dates of bridal party members will need to be seated with other guests, but it is nice when they can be near their loved ones.
2) Seat the Parents and Close Family
Next, lay out the tables for your families. Usually, Table #1 is for the bride’s family and Table #2 is reserved for the groom’s. These tables are for parents, grandparents, siblings, and other immediate relatives. Be careful: if you leave someone out who believes they belong at this main table, there will be hurt feelings. If you have divorced parents, stepparents, or anyone else in the immediate family who do not want to be seated together, consider using multiple tables.
BAD FLOOR PLAN: Did You Know That Tables In Front Of The DJ Booth is BAD?
3) DJ Close To Dance Floor
Always put your DJ as close to the dance floor as possible and do not put a table directly infront of the DJ booth. Ideally, you should have a clean open pathway from the DJ’s booth to the dancefloor with no obstacles in the way, and particularly no guests!
Make sure and discuss this request with your venue provider’s event organizer. Quite often, their agenda is very food & service-driven. This means they do not always have in mind the best interests of optimal entertainment requirements.
Ask any good DJ and they will tell you it is NEVER a good idea to be far away from the dance floor or have seating directly in front of the booth. For more on this common problem, check out our article, Where to Put Your Wedding DJ.
4) Get Help!
Don’t try to do the entire seating chart all by yourself. Make out a rough draft and pass it around your family, first. It’s actually even better if you can enlist one person from each side of the family, like the two mothers or perhaps a couple of siblings. Family members will know who needs to be seated where and together, and who needs to be seated on opposite sides of the room! Older family members probably know family politics better than you.
5) Put Families Together
Take your index cards and make little piles of families. If you have small groups of families who are friends with the bride, you may want to combine them other small family groups of the groom’s to encourage mingling. If you do this, try to choose families that seem similar in interests.
6) Put Random Friends, Coworkers, Neighbors, and Others Together
Take your index cards and make little piles of friendship groups. Keep these people together. To encourage mingling, seat small groups of friends together that seem compatible. Do the same thing with groups of coworkers, neighbors, people you know from a particular organization, and anyone else who knows each other as a group.
7) Kid Tables
Making kid tables is always an option. This could be risky, but also could work out best in many situations, depending on who the children are. If you have lots of children who are mature enough to sit alone, consider creating a special children’s table. Try to group kids together who are in the same age group. Depending on the age of the children, you can put some activities on the children’s table for them to complete.
8) Tables for Singles
Like to match-make? Weddings are great places for singles to meet, so place singles at tables together. When making tables full of singles, try to make sure everyone present knows at least one other person so they won’t feel totally on the spot.
9 & 10) MORE RANDOM TIPS!
– Keep ex spouses or ex boyfriend/girlfriends apart.
– Keep people apart who actively dislike each other.
– Don’t mix people with highly different political opinions or religious beliefs.
– Elderly and disabled people should be near rest room, or area with least amount of walking to a destination point.
– If you have guests who are rude, silly, and obnoxious, you may want to seat them together, rather than subject a few of these bad seeds to each table. That way there is just one rude table.
– The final headcount is never perfect. Some guests who said they were coming will not, and some guests will show up unexpectedly or bring an extra person.
Look out! If you come to see us at Villa Valenti Pub Troy, NY – every Friday & Saturday for THE KARAOKE JAM – you may find yourself on Facebook.
Why? What do pictures have to do with fun dance music, and tipsy people singing? We don’t know!
Look for updates once a week to the www.facebook.com/kennycasanova page to see what you were doing when the karaoke madness was going on!
Come see why we are the #1 karaoke in the Capital District, by Albany, NY!
Not our Facebook friend yet? Befriend us for access to all the mobile DJ musical status sweetness! We have contracted out to many brides for wedding receptions, and also people looking for other events like birthday parties, etc… We are a great connection to have!
P.S. We are also offering a great Digital Camera package at all of our events! Don’t forget to ask!
(Some Saturday nights the fun starts an hour or so without me, as I have many weddings to DJ. But fear not… If you are showing up for the Karaoke Jam – DJ Kenny Casanova will be there shortly.)
When you book a photographer, they usually do a super job focusing on the ceremony shots. However, come the end of the night, they are usually gone before the end of the reception occurs. As you well know, the crazy shots happen at the end of the night. If the photographer is gone by then, you have to rely on your guests to take the shots.
This is why we offer a photography package now. For $150, we take 300-500 shots at the reception with professional nikons. There are no watermarks or print packages to worry about. It is very simple. At the end of the night we give you a disc with the pictures for immediate sharing. You have the rights to the shots. The end.
This package is also a great alternative to leaving disposables on the tables and getting back who-knows-what from the best man’s trip to the men’s room.
Email or call us for more intormation. Under certain circumstances, we can also cover the ceremony for an additional charge!
