The Cost
The single most common question that DJs are asked in the 1st instance is “How much are you?” Now anybody at all loves benefit for money, but you have not even asked what service they provide yet! Despite the generic image of mobile DJs being all the same, we are incredibly disparate in our approach to the work, and services might change by some distance from DJ to DJ. If you’re on a tight budget of say, £125, then your choice will be limited and you might end up with a novice or a person with borrowed and dusty equipment.
Always tempting too is letting a friend ‘have a go’…a recipe for an empty dance floor and a full bar!
Cost-cutting is magnified two-fold when talking of a wedding reception. Not only the most important day of your lives, but a day where you’ve probably spent £500 on a cake, £2000 on dresses and suits and un related amounts on food and drink….seems like false economy to skimp on the biggest part of the whole day, the gathering.
In short, don’t just book your DJ on price!
A real professional or semi-professional disc jockey will have spent years acquiring their music, learning how to build a dance floor atmosphere, be fully conversant in wedding etiquette and have a kit to be proud of.
To give you some idea of worth s, to hire a substantially standard DJ session -up (2 speakers, amplifier, CD decks, mixer and 2 light effects) costs £100 per night from my Local disco center. Add to that a person’s working time (6 hours on average) and travel costs, etc, you start to realise just how valuable a pro DJ may be for your event…
For marriage s, look to pay betwixt £300 – £450 for a 7pm-12am service. Birthday parties, anniversaries, etc may be cheaper as they’re less pressure and often shorter hours.
The Style & Content
It sounds so obvious to say it but I’m going to anyway….try to see your disc jockey in action before you book them. If it’s not convenient, then take recommenndation from friends who have witnessed the disc jockey’s skills before. After all, recommenndation is still the optimum advert for any act.
It is always a really wonderful idea to chat at length with your prospective DJ about your own music tastes and what you expect from them on the night. Ask them searching questions about the kind of stuff they play, whether they take requests, how they propose to start/finish the proceedings, that kind of thing. A DJ value his salt will listen intently and take onboard all of your ideas, on occasion suggesting alternatives to things he believes might not work.
If you are theming the evening’s entertainment, make sure your DJ knows in advance…that way he may be sure to carry the right music for the opportunity, such as a 70’s & 80’s event or a Soul Night. It furthermore gives him a opportunity to pass the performance on Assuming that the type of you decide on is not his speciality.
The more contemporary DJs are also inclined to avoid playing novelty records, such as the Birdie Song and Superman. If you want these included (and you want to sit on the floor and row an imaginary boat…) it is optimum to check 1st !
The DJ Gear
As all of my disc jockey colleagues know, this is my soapbox subject!
So many times I’ve witnessed deejays putting together some of the cheapest and scruffiest gear you might imagine…throwing it loosely on a folding table, wires trailing all over the place and speakers barely capable of audible sound…and yet still charging £300 a night! They ought to wear a mask!
In this day and age, the range of equipment available to us is phenomenal, and at surprisingly reasonable prices for wonderful quality; there are no excuses for a disc jockey’s equipment looking or sounding bad in the 21st Century.
Right, rant over… in the absence of going too technical, nice things to look for are overhead lighting (nightclub-style moving lights), speakers on stands (raises the sound above the crowd to project it across the whole room) and a tidy stage area session -up. Cables should be tucked away anytime possible and the better pro deejays have a tasteful cover or starcloth to surround their stand.
Once playing, the sound should be crystal apparent on the dance floor, both with music and the DJ’s spoken voice.
In some instances the sound will not travel well to the back of the room, but this may be due to the Club’s acoustics and not really a problem as guests will invariably want somewhere to chat.
Virtually all disc jockeys have a sound system to cater for up to 150 people comfortably. If your disc jockey isn’t familiar with your proposed Venue, request that he takes a look beforehand, only if you’ve 200+ evening attendees. Quite a lot of the time I have seen small amplifiers pushed to their maximum trying to deliver to a large room….and it does not sound pleasant!
Finally on the technical side, a large number of Venues nowadays are insisting the disc jockeys have both Public Liability Insurance and a certificate of safety (PAT) for their electrical equipment.
The Business End…
Once you’ve decided on your disc jockey for the night, ask them for a contract to sign and agree a deposit (if one isn’t already requested). Ensure you’ve listed all of your music requisites and arrival/ending times so that there is no confusion on the day. I would likewise suggest a courtesy call a week prior to the party if your disc jockey hasn’t called you, just to touch base and reaffirm details.
Mobile DJs have suffered a bad press over the years, when in reality it is a substantially small minority of cowboys who let the side down. Virtually all are hard-working, conscientious music-lovers who will give you a night to recall !
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