Okay fam let’s talk about weddings, in an truthful way. We absolutely love elegant, romantic, perfect wedding days. We do an amazing amount of planning for the beautiful ceremony, but let’s be honest with each other for a minute, can we? Everyone comes for the reception!

I mean, food, cake, partying, dancing, and music am I right?

First rule of booking a DJ is they should definitely bring out your bad dance moves, everyone’s bad dance moves.

Want to know what happens when the DJ is a little subpar? Everyone sits around, awkwardly starting at the dance floor. A couple uncles may jokingly make a suggestion that you should go out there and get everyone dancing but now it is to the point that it’s uncomfortable for anyone to be the first one out there. I’m sure there are some people that don’t believe this happens, but I have been there.

I have heard the DJ play 4 line dances in a row. We have been to weddings were during dinner and dancing there was not a single Bruno Mars, Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, or even an Usher song played. How do you have a dance party without playing “Yeah?”

Experienced professional DJs know they must keep the party going nonstop for 3-4 hours.  If you exhaust all of the line dances, then the crowd dissipates afterwards and you don’t have anything to help draw them back out on to the floor.

Not only should your DJ know how to keep the beat going all night. They should also be able to work well with your planner and photographers. Ceremonies are carefully planned down to the minute. Reception times are not held as tightly 7:00pm and 7:07 are basically the same time now. There is a natural flow of fun and some wiggle room so it is important that these three wedding vendors are working in unison well.

You do not want you DJ to announce the bouquet toss when you photographers just sat down to eat, and the planner is in the kitchen checking in on the caterer. Because then they will be scrambling to get to the correct places.

One issue that some DJ’s don’t even know about that is super important is the use of lasers. Most top end DJs are going to have lights that are bouncing and changing with the beat of the music. Super cool fun lighting that really makes the reception dancing fun. One issue is the use of lasers. This is mainly an issue for your photographers and videographers, but lasers can harm cameras permanently. It will actually burn the sensor of the camera. The burn causes the pixels in the camera to malfunction. The result is dead pixels and unusable photographs, since the rest of the photos to have the laser grid or lines going across. This is a super expensive and timely fix that not all insurance will cover.

As an example of what happens, the video below shows a camera getting hit by a laser and the damage that it causes. It happens at the 10 second mark and the line is permanently burned into the camera now.

It kinda goes without saying, but just like everything you get what you pay for. $50 DJ is not going to perform, entertain, and work for you like an $800 DJ.

Below are a few questions that you should ask before booking. Jot these down to ask during your consultation.

• Questions to ask your DJ before booking:
• How would you describe your style?
• Have you worked at our venue before?
• Can you play sons that are important to us?
• Do you use lighting? Lasers? Special effects?
• Who/when will do the setup?
• What do you typically wear?
• Do you take requests? (Should we allow requests?)
• Do you have a backup plan if your equipment malfunctions?
• Do you have someone else that would be there if you could not?
• How do you get a crowd that is not, to start dancing?
• Do you have insurance?
• How many hours are included in the package?
• How do we book you?
• What is your cancellation policy?