Ditching the Dj?

View quoted message Thank you so much for the tips! I'm glad to hear you've had positive experiences with this at other weddings.
I've discovered that Spotify has a 12 second crossfade so there's no awkward gaps between songs!

I've attended several weddings now without a DJ. They have all been excellent! However, it is important to still have somebody who knows how to work the soundsystem. Also make sure you have all the songs downloaded as to not rely on Spotify or Apple music just in case something goes wrong with the connection.
If you have the opportunity, also download the music videos that accompany the songs.

Another thing that I haven't seen but we will be trying at our wedding is longer remixes of multiple songs as to not have too much awkward time between songs.
Though it may take some time I've been using (a relatively sketchy) YouTube downloader to get videos right off YouTube. It's time consuming but from the wedding I've been to in the past that did it, totally worth it.

View quoted message Same To you!!!

View quoted message I've found the advice so difficult to follow because I genuinely want everyone else to love our wedding as much as we do. But, I understand the wisdom in it! Hope yours goes off without a hitch! 😁

View quoted message The best advice I’ve gotten since I’ve got engaged is “it’s your day just do what you want” positive feedback is awesome of course but at the end of the day, it it makes you and/or your partner happy or you think it would be neat to try something - go for it! Have fun!!

View quoted message That sounds awesome! Especially since you're also having a live band. Honestly, the resounding positive feedback on this thread has convinced me that it's a good idea. 😊

View quoted message No, it likely will be around 150. But at a distillery/ brewery I work for that has a stage outside. The idea is to have live music outside and a dance floor inside in the events room with a DJ originally... but we just decided (30 seconds ago) to go this route as well! I’ve always been a big fan of music myself so putting together my own play list for my wedding actually sounds like a lot of fun!

View quoted message That's so unfortunate! But it's great that the wedding party came together to keep the music going. You're absolutely right about us knowing the guests more than a DJ would. Great point! Are you having a smaller wedding, too?

Hey there - I attended a wedding a couple years ago where the DJ they had lined up (family friend) backed down last minute so the wedding party basically DJ’d the dance themselves. It was a smaller wedding, under 100 people and everyone still had a blast! I think you’ll be fine! You know your guests better than a DJ would so I’m sure you’ll be able to create a playlist that your guests will enjoy. I’ve been thinking of doing this as well honestly. With the available music from Spotify and such I wouldn’t be surprised if this became popular for smaller or less traditional wedding.

View quoted message I will definitely include the feedback in my wedding post! 😊


It sounds like you have an expert that's willing to help out. That's amazing!

I'd love to hear how this works out! We are also considering it.

My BIL used to be a wedding DJ and I don't want to put him to work but he's offered to help with setting the tone so I have the best of both worlds.

View quoted message Wow that's ridiculous! I hope you aren't paying a fortune for a job Spotify could do for you...

View quoted message I definitely get the appeal of a DJ, but I think since our wedding is not very traditional and quite small that it will work. Thanks for affirming that! 😊

That’s something I wanted to do but may depend on the venue’s policy? We are going the DJ route but we still have to provide a playlist to the DJ, which is a bit of a kicker. It seems he is just going to press play when we could of done that on a kick ass playlist.

The few wedding I went to had DJs. I am having a dj.
But for you I think it's a great idea. I love that the guest have a choice in the mix. It's a fairly small wedding and three hours will fly by. Even better you have someone who is willing to take on the job.

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LOL plus tip ahhaha

View quoted message An extra $1,200 in my pocket does feel nice right about now 😂

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Oh yeah it is. even at my friends parties/weddings/showers they have been doing that as well it saves a TON of $$$$

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You're welcome!

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Oh perfect! That sounds like a really dialed team, awesome.

View quoted message This is way more common than I anticipated! So great to hear this happens regularly in your family. 😊

Yeah why not!! my cousins have been doing it for showers and stuff now. its great and free lol they literally use spotify and make a play list and let it play out the entire night

View quoted message You're totally right! Thanks for the reassurance!

We are skipping out on the DJ, just not worth it to pay some guy $1000 to play tunes off his laptop honestly. Go for Spotify Premium and preplanning the playlist!!!!

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That's a great tip about queuing up songs, and even letting people make recommendations on the spot as the night goes out. We have the premium version of Spotify so we will definitely be doing that! Thank you so much!!

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I'm glad you've had positive experiences at weddings without a DJ. My MOH and our groomsman will probably be the ones responsible for keeping the music going. Thanks so much!

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So nice to hear of other people doing the same thing! It's amazing that your FH has the equipment and skills required to DJ. My MOH is amazing at creating good playlists, a groomsman is a promoter at night clubs, and we have a father and uncle willing to MC... I think we should have the right mix of people to fill the gaps.

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That's totally reasonable! I think if we had a bigger guest list (like you), then it would be beneficial to have a DJ. Thanks for your input!

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That's so great to hear! We have a few really great people in mind that can cue up the right songs and keep the energy up. Thanks so much!

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That's so comforting! Really great to hear that a Spotify list was successful in keeping the party going all night. And it's great (to me) that you don't even remember whether it was a DJ or not... I'm hoping that's what happens for most of our guests! I want them to just remember having good time!

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It's so nice to hear that someone else is opting for this! It sounds like you have everything organized to make the playlist/MCs a hit. Thank you for the reassurance!

We're doing this as well! We're actually really excited to create a playlist with all of our guests as well. Our wedding is 65 people in a very small hall and we're just going to make sure it's timed as per our schedule so we can leave it playing through-out the night. Spotify has a feature as well (paid version only i think) that you can queue up songs if someone requests it during the wedding as well which I think is so perfect. There's always things that get brought up in the moment and I think it will be a great 'personal' thing to be able to just walk up and find your song and hit " play next in queue". I think we'll handle that in the moment, have our MC (BIL to-be) be able to take request and he can put that up for people.

I love the idea of doing a DIY Spotify DJ for your wedding. Saves money and it makes it so perfectly curated to your guests... and you!