No DJ?

We did this!! it was so fun for us, as we were able to pick our own songs and then throughout the night take requests and switch up the vibe whenever we wanted. I was on the dance floor most of the night and so I would just run over to the laptop and pick the next couple of songs and take requests. of course it was a little bit of extra work for me and my husband but it was so fun for us!

View quoted message Hey everyone, thank you all for your input, we ended up finding a DJ for our reception, we will do our own music for ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner!

I would personally find a cheap DJ. what if people just start going over to the phone and changing the songs? or what if it gets knocked over. you can find a DJ for a coouple hundred dollars.

Get a DJ! They are able to read the crowd and adjust accordingly, they also have any music you could ever need!

We aren't having an official dance party ($500 for a dance floor - no thank you) so my brother in law who is a musician and has great musical taste is putting together a playlist on spotify. If you want a full on hyped up dance party then a DJ is probably the way to go as they "perform" and can get the crowd hyped up.

We are doing a cocktail reception so it's more of background music needed.

There’s a lot that can go wrong with just playing a playlist.... the playlist could mess up you might not want music at a certain point you might want a song to play at a certain time!!!!
Just keep that in mind

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I haven't thought much about the dinner music, but I think I can do that one myself as well. Ceremony music I think will be recorded with assistance from our wedding stage manager. All should be ok, fingers crossed!

We opted for a DJ that was local instead so it won’t cost us as much. Our DJ is only charging us 600$ but if we didn’t find him, we would of played our own playlist and a friend would of helped out.

A DJ can read the room and pump up your crowd. There will also be less risk of technical difficulties with a professional taking care of it. Also less stress for you on your day!

We initially went the route of saving money and worked on creating our own playlist and just renting the sound system from the company who is also providing our photobooth.

Even though logistically we had figured it all out, we ultimately last minute decided to upgrade our sound package to having a DJ who essentially plays/manages our playlist we created (they will play the songs in the order they think, read the crowd, etc. but don't have free reign either). I'm glad we went this route - it's one less thing to worry about and task to our family, and it didn't cost much more either.

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THIS!

Personally I would not have a wedding without some sort of DJ (even if it is a friend) to manage the music all night.

I really didn't want a DJ at first but I got convinced by my mom and mother-in-law! I was also able to find a good price for our DJ at a wedding event our caterer hosted, they had a 10% off deal. I think DJ's help with providing experience with weddings and timelines as well as being able to read the crowd and work with that (if you're having a dance this could be a bigger difference).

It depends on your wedding plans too. If it's a smaller event it might work fine to have no DJ but a bigger event might be more difficult especially if you have a dance time planned. A DJ can also make sure all the mics and speakers are working properly so no one has to stress if there is a malfunction. Both could work depending on the wedding plans id think!

Any weddings I have been to without a DJ is more like a car ride..

"OH MY GOD Play this song!!"

*35 seconds into the song*

"My song is better!!"

*changes song*

The more alcohol the more you (or your wedding party) will have to heavily police your guests. It also leaves inexperienced people in charge of song changes and such for the ceremony, grand entrance, and special dances.

View quoted message I like that list for the party music. What are your thoughts on dinner and ceremony music? We're considering the DJ thing too but I'm petrified of something going wrong

Dj's are dieing out im finding. Everyone is doing their own playlists. If you want you can have a box to collect song requests and every couple songs have a designated friend go and pick a request and play it. but I wouldnt wait more then 2 songs between picking a request.

Playlists are good as long as its the choices you like and having your guests on the dance floor. A mix for all kinds is nice for everyone to enjoy their style of songs. Friends helping is also good so that they can add to the music you want to hear/suggest.

Look for a DJ that is starting off their field for a lower cost if you do wish to have a DJ playing at your reception.

I had thought about this as well. However you have to have someone willing to control the playlist or else it might be like 50 dance songs and then one slow song or vice versa. There just wouldn't be a good dance flow. Also someone would at the very least need to cue up your first dance/father daughter dance songs. And what would you do if for whatever reason the equipment wasn't working. At least with hiring a dj that would be someone else's problem and not yours on your wedding day.

I'm renting a sound system and just making the playlist, as I am kind of great at making them & always get lots of compliments on the music at my parties. I did some reading on the topic and have decided to make a set playlist based on our personal tastes combined with classic wedding and party songs. Do a little reading on the topic, and I think you can do it! Notice too that I started with the more old school crowd pleasers, and as the playlist progresses I get a little weirder with it. Anyways, here's a link to mine if you're interested!

Our Spotify reception playlist

It depends on what kind of wedding and your crowd. We are having an intimate wedding for close friends and family only so there won’t be late night dancing. We plan not to have a DJ but Spotify playlist. But i think it would be good to have a DJ for a big wedding if there are a lot of dance involved.

I attended a wedding with no DJ and it was messy. It just seemed so unorganized and not what I'd personally want for my own wedding.

I just went to a wedding, my friend just had a playlist and didn't have a dance, but later on in the night no one had a problem with people taking turns on the phone picking good dancing songs. it was still a ton of fun!

View quoted message That sounds like a fun time Catherine! We are definitely leaning towards our own playlists for the evening! Haha

We will not be having a DJ! Spotify premium playlist for the win haha. We are still figuring out the logistics (we need to rent speakers and preferably have them installed for us), but we won't be having a typical dancing wedding. People will be welcome to dance after dinner but our venue has a gorgeous garden on the water so we will have lawn games instead. We are not the type that like to dance, but rather talk with friends, have a drink, play a game. So not having a DJ MC or in charge of music isn't so important for us.

View quoted message Thanks Kelsie, yeah it’s something we need to think about but we might be able to pull it off without a DJ! We will have to discuss it more!

I always recommend a DJ! I know they can be pricey but they are so worth it! If it gets people up and dancing and enjoying the night I see it as a real benefit!

View quoted message Hi Janaya,

from this feedback I think we will talk with our friends and get our own playlist made! And we can flow through the night and change it up if we have to!

We are doing this as well! No DJ, we are making our own playlist. The only downfall (at least for us) would be that the DJ really helps vibe the room and switch things up to slower music or party music.. and so if you're not worried about having random songs everywhere then its no problem! maybe if you want you should make the playlist in a certain order so that a couple country songs will play, a couple slow songs, a couple party songs all in a row instead of random!

but honestly, if you have a good MC they can help with this as well

View quoted message Thanks for your help Becky! This planning process is crazy and nice to have others opinions!

View quoted message Thank you Erin, that’s also a valid point. Something for us to consider as well. We can see about getting a lower cost for less hours with the DJ!

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Yea no dj is do able just need to have good songs ready and different playlist to switch things up!

I was thinking about doing the same but decided against it for a few reasons. A DJ often starts a new song as the previous is ending making a smoother transition & often skips the "lulls" in music so there is no long pauses in between songs. Also, even though you can carefully plan out a playlist the vibe of the evening and the atmosphere is what the music should be based off of which is hard to know ahead of time. DJ's have a good concept of when a slow song should be played & when its time for a classic tune that gets everyone on the floor. Also, people are entitled and if they see a phone or an ipod the chances of them going up and messing with your music is fairly high and im sure you dont want to have someone having to watch it all night. Perhaps the solution is using your playlist for the ceremony music & during the meal and only having the DJ after the meal.

View quoted message That’s good too, have 3 different playlists so the music is always changing! I know that all of my family loves to dance like me and they will most likely stay out on the dance floor as long as we’ve got good dance music, and if they see or hear their songs come on it will encourage them more!