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[By Lyndon Venter - DJ @ GLAM Entertainment]
Published 07 June 2018
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I'm sure you've heard it all before, "The DJ can either make or break your wedding."
This statement speaks a thousand words. The DJ/Emcee is undoubtedly one of, if not the most important individual at your Wedding, and all too often I, personally during past experiences have experienced attending dreadful Weddings where the unimaginable actually happens.
From a DJ who's Laptop software crashes, a DJ whos' car breaks down, a DJ who forgets to copy the most important formality songs onto his Laptop, a DJ who blows a speaker during the evening leaving that awkward single sided dance floor experience. Yip, I've seen it all.
Now don't get me wrong, my intention here is not to throw any DJs under the bus. Mistakes do happen after all.... BUT NOT ON YOUR WEDDING DAY.
This day is your day, it's that once-in-a-lifetime moment where you need to feel that everything is perfect and when you wake up the next day you just can't help but wish that it was your wedding day all over again. That perfect moment that you could re-live all over and over and over again.
So, how do you ensure that you getting what you expect? And by expect I'm talking about Value and Service for your money?
Step 1 - Find a DJ
Surely the best way to find a DJ is to ask a friend who just got married if they enjoyed their DJ? However we don't always have the same expectations, budgets, needs and wants as our friends. Your friend might have had a wedding that was structured completely different to the wedding that you plan on having. Assuming that your wedding is themed, maybe you want a country wedding so you wouldn't ask a DJ who knows nothing about country music to DJ at your country wedding if you know what I mean. Or perhaps you are much younger than your friend or relative and you prefer more newer music that speaks to a younger crowd instead of the cheesey cha cha slide and macarena and YMCA that is heard at nearly every wedding...
Unless you've seen or experienced a particular DJ perform at a Wedding that you enjoyed, just be careful in choosing a wedding DJ based on a referral from a friend.
There are other ways of also finding wedding DJ's;
* Social Media like Facebook
* Wedding blog sites
* Bridal expo shows etc...
Step 2 - Meet the DJ
Step 2 goes hand in hand with the first step; If you have never experienced a particular DJ's performance or you don't know the DJ's personality or style, then don't be afraid to request a personal meeting with the DJ. This will give you the opportunity to gauge a few things;
1) The DJ's personality - what type of personality does this DJ possess? Is he / she friendly? Welcoming? Warmhearted? Does he / she display an understanding on the importance of your wedding day? Or do you get this feeling that you are just another wedding client to this DJ?
Personality is everything when it comes to building rapport and if a DJ has a reserved or rather dull personality then you can't expect much engagement on your wedding day.
2) Punctuality - A DJ who takes an interview seriously, will most definitely take your wedding day seriously. Is this DJ on-time with his schedule in meeting you? Sure there may at times be moments where postponement needs to take place, however if it happens more than once, then it's time to think whether or not this DJ will actually make it to your wedding, let alone, on-time?
3) A display of professionalism - See if the DJ comes prepared; does he / she have any tools to take notes with him / her during your introductory meeting? Or is his / her expectation to be just a 5 minute chat? A DJ that comes prepared for any sort of meeting, is worth scoring 10 points. One cannot possibly store tons of information let alone important facts and needs coming from you, during one meeting in their brain and expect to understand the deeper feeling behind your big day. Imagine a Doctor who never takes notes when you visit him...?
Step 3 - Ask Questions
Don't be afraid to ask the DJ questions to figure out whether or not he / she is reliable.
I found that when people are faced with questions on the spot, they have no time to think about telling lies or less truthful truths.
"Do you drink any alcoholic beverages?"
"Do you take requests?"
"How do you feel about Brides giving you playlists of songs to play on their wedding day?"
"Are you comfortable on a microphone?"
"What is your microphone style like?"
"Are you able to emcee if need be?"
"What do you do to get the crowd going if no-one is dancing?"
"How would you fill a dancefloor?"
"How long have you been DJing for?"
"What do you enjoy the most about DJing at weddings?"
"What do you enjoy the least about DJing at weddings?"
"If we were to choose you to be our wedding DJ, what time would you leave your place to arrive at the venue on our wedding day?"
"How do you stay in-tune with new music?"
Step 4 - Your expectations
Look there's nothing wrong with having a tight budget for a wedding, and I know that weddings can be extremely costly, but one thing you need to keep in mind is your expectations versus the price that you are willing to pay versus the value for money you expect to get.
Being a professional DJ myself, I've experienced that it's no different than working a day Job. Each year we expect to get an increase from our employer and if the increase is unsatisfactory, then our employer shouldn't expect our performance to be satisfactory. The same goes with that if we don't get an increase at all then we shouldn't be expected to increase our performance at all. We've all felt that at some stage in our lives and as human beings we all want to be paid based on our worth and what we have to offer.
So with that being said; if you are unable to pay a DJ who you know is outstandingly great, the value that he / she is worth - then don't expect him / her to put his / her whole heart into your wedding day. It's all about finding that equilibrium with the DJ you choose and the money that you have available to pay for his / her services. I am speaking from experience and I myself in the past has made bad decisions based on the need to take on as many weddings that I possibly could regardless of the money that I make from the wedding, only to realise that I was causing more damage to my brand than the money I make and In the end I wouldn't be getting any more wedding gigs if I carried on this way because my heart wasn't in it. There are still many DJ's out there who do this exact same thing and there are many DJ companies out there who quote low prices, and put a DJ in to do a wedding but pay him less than he is worth only to find that he isn't enjoying his time at the wedding therefore the guests end up having an "OK" evening.
Figure out your budget and find a DJ who's value meets your budget. Sure you might have to increase your budget a little bit extra if you really feel that you've found "The One" but at least you know that the value you pay is the value that you can expect to get because the DJ is getting his worth.
~ Over and above all of this; we as human beings have this weird ability to go with our gut feelings and if you still not sure about anything and you need more advice, please feel free to contact us and we will gladly help you understand the science behind finding the rite DJ.
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