Did you create your own playlist rather than have a DJ?

gadgeteer_2

I'm a wedding photographer so I've seen a lot of good DJ's and some bad.

Over the years I've come to the conclusion that a good DJ is probably the single most important factor to the success of your evening reception.

A good DJ will warm the room up, their lighting system will set the right mood and they'll get people up to dance, play games etc.

I've seen some DJ's with great lighting set ups, smoke machines, fantastic sound systems and they go around taking snaps of people as the night goes on and long after I've left.

I've seen some DJ's where you may as well just have plugged in an ipod and shone a couple of torches around the room.

Guess which looks better for the first dance photographs and guess which the guests respond better to?

So I'd say if you can afford it, go for a decent DJ. An ipod with some tunes on is a sure fire way to guarantee that people will just float over to the bar and stay there.

ellay864

Sazzarella wrote: »

I would enquire with the venue/DJ about this as most of the ones we looked at said you weren't allowed to pick the music and/or were allowed to choose approx 20 songs only and they would pick the rest.

Really??? I'm seriously shocked at that. My husband is a DJ and his whole philosophy is to provide the client what they want to hear, though if the selection is obviously not going down well with other guests he will throw his own in and then read the mood of the place...most clients don't mind that kind of 'refusal to play' if it gets the party going better. But my husband always asks the client of the type of music they want, and allows them to pick what they like. He does sometimes have to warn them that they've actually picked enough songs to fill an 8 hour party when we're only booked for 5! but he has no objection to them choosing songs. If they do pick loads we usually ask for the 'must play' songs so there's still space for other guests requests. But generally they're the ones paying, they get to hear what they ask and pay for

74jax

Sazzarella wrote: »

I would enquire with the venue/DJ about this as most of the ones we looked at said you weren't allowed to pick the music and/or were allowed to choose approx 20 songs only and they would pick the rest.

But you're paying for them. I don't understand why they would then refuse you're requests.

Maybe we were lucky, but ours played just out picked music from the guests.

Sazzarella

74jax wrote: »

But you're paying for them. I don't understand why they would then refuse you're requests.

Maybe we were lucky, but ours played just out picked music from the guests.

Not sure why they do it. One of the ones we looked at had word document of music they would play. Needless to say most of thr music we wanted wasn't on there so we didn't pick him.

The DJ we have picked seems quite laid back with us picking songs however we have just given him a short list of bands/songs and told him to play anything in those genre's.

minerva_windsong

rachiibell wrote: »

Some DJs can be a bit awkward about people picking all the songs. I'm sure there was a bride on here who's DJ had a mini rant that he wouldn't be playing any songs with offensive lyrics in - she hadn't even asked for any he just thought she would because she was quite young!

The worst DJ I've seen was at a friend's wedding a couple of years ago, where he refused to play the first dance when the couple (repeatedly) asked for it - I can't remember his exact reasons, but they ended up starting about half an hour after they were meant to. I think that's awful; these people are paying you to do a job, the least you can do is do it what they're paying you for when they ask for it!

weebit

My DJ is a friend of mine. I'm going to give him a list of "must play" songs and a list of "banned" tracks/artists (i.e. songs i really don't like!), but overall i'm giving him free reign to play what he wants within the confines of a couple of genres (rock and metal music only!). He's a rock and metal DJ anyway so knows what I mean.

In addition, we're dedicating about 20-30 minutes of music to my wife's dad who passed away recently, so these will be songs which mean something to him and are mostly 50s/60s rock 'n' roll music.

The band on the other hand... We have agreed that we shall agree to the setlist ahead of time because i want to ensure they only play songs i want to hear, plus give them time to learn a few of our requests!