How to Hire a Wedding DJ

A professional DJ is as essential to a party as the decoration of the hall or the banquet menu.
Selecting a DJ in your wedding reception is among the most important choices you could make. Every thing else can be excellent, but if the music is not great, the wedding will fizzle. There are thousands of DJs everywhere in the country, however to narrow the selections down in your area, you can start by trusting the word from referral. Ask family and coworkers for a good reference from a wedding or event they may have recently attended. And if you're at a wedding or party where the DJ was outstanding, find out where they’re from and book them yourself.
One way to narrow the choice down to 1 is by developing a rapport over the telephone and listening to their attitude and manner with words. Their personality tends to spill over into their DJ style.
When you have no luck with references and are still starting from scratch, you would possibly need to try your local professional disc jockey association. Membership doesn't guarantee your happiness or the quality of DJ, however it gives you a good suggestion of the company’s sincerity.

6 common things ask any disc jockey that you're planning to hire:

1. Do you have ALL INCLUSIVE pricing?
A lot of dj charge extra for dinner music. Who wants to listen to the sound of clinking dishes? You want dinner music, so why do they charge extra?

2. How do you dress for the day?
Believe it or not, there are disc jockeys who dress in shorts.

3. Do you take, encourage and PLAY suggestions?
Too many disc jockeys play what they want to. Demand that your dj plays your guests requests.

4. Do you offer references?
I'd encourage you to SPEAK with the references that your dj provides. When it comes to written references, it's amazing how many disc jockeys only "present you the nice ones". By speaking to a reference straight, you should have the opportunity to ask the questions you wish to ask.

5. How do you stay up to date with your music library?
If your disc jockey doesn't belong to at least one or two disc jockey music subscription companies, he is probably playing illegally obtained music.

6. Is his/her gear totally backed up?
If a chunk of gear should happen to break, how will he/she react? Will there be downtime while somebody brings a replacement? What if your DJ were to get sick before the wedding?

A few issues you need to focus on:
·    Get written contract of your agreement
·    Make certain the DJ is insured
·    Find out how much experience they have
·    Meet in person communicate about music choice and details
·    Find out if lighting is included

Avoid those who don't return calls quickly or fail to give you the information you requested.
And most importantly, trust your instincts. When you've got that feeling in your gut someone is improper for you, you should just move on. The biggest error made by most brides and grooms looking for a DJ is the phone book price comparison. A definite recipe for disaster is asking every DJ inside the book and booking solely on cheapest quote. Do your research on the company. Ask for references and discuss pricing after all of your other goals have been accomplished.