Prices of DJs

Try messaging Eagle Feather Entertainment. They are here on Wedding Wire and I was quoted $650 which was the best price I can find so far! Super easy going and willing to work with your budget

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If you love music, I would strongly recommend a DJ for all the reasons quoted in this previous message. It is 100% worth the investment of being worry-free. Do your homework, find someone with years of experience who is willing to party with any crowd no matter the genre of music.

I have a large library of music that I love, but I would not want to stress about these things come the big day. An iPod or iPhone can die, you are limited to what the venue has for equipment and its extremely hard to accept song requests let alone cater to everyones taste in music.

For our Buck & Doe, a more casual event, totally recommend the spotify or apple music route should you have access to Wifi - total DIY because people will wing it if things go south.

I've been struggling with whether to get a DJ or not as well. Aside from the couple, father-daughter and mother-son dances, we won't be having a dancing sort of event. It's more of a sit down dinner with speeches. However a DJ could act as an MC and would ensure smooth transitions+ that nothing goes wrong with the background music.

Others have said it - you get what you pay for.

The thing about a DJ is that they do so much more than just play music. They provide the equipment (speakers, etc), so you don't have to rent them. They have back ups in case something goes wrong with the equipment. They read the crowd and adjust what they are playing accordingly, the good ones interact with the crowd, they often can act as your MC, as well, if you don't have one. They take requests, and ensure songs you don't want played don't get played. They share their expertise on what does and doesn't work, from their experience, for timing and order of events. They are your mix master, so there's a good transition from one song to another without a break in between (which can KILL a party).

I struggled with this the most... like you, I couldn't bare the thought of spending so much on music. I spent a lot of time checking out sites and I did learn you seem to get what you pay for so I found someone on here for 900.
I did post in a wedding group on Facebook and received several messages, some quoted me starting at 300 so if you are still looking and want to keep it cheap I would try groups like that.

We decided against a DJ. I know for a fact most of my family wont dance or care for the music anyway so we are just making our own playlist and will ask for song requests in the invitations so we can accommodate everyone's likes and then we will rent speakers and lights.

Hi Carla,
DJs come in all shape and sizes for your wallet. I met a good one who was quite flexible. And his rate starts at 1000$. He's very open and could customize it according to your needs.
Good luck

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Kimberley brought up great points here, which is why my fiancé and I didn't opt for a cheaper DJ. For us it was important to have someone with a good reputation, among other things.

Around $1,000 seems to be the average for DJs in Toronto (especially DJs listed on Wedding Wire), but you may be able to find someone for cheaper if you look for DJs situated outside of the city or hire someone who is newer to the industry.

That actually seems about right for pricing IMO. We will be paying a little less but that's with a friend of the family. (Like how Robyn said) The only way I can think to make it less and still get a DJ is if you know somebody or if you book last minute possibly which is risky.

We're having a dj for for our welcome dinner the night before, and he's charging us about $500.

When we told my father about the dj for the welcome dinner, he said we should make a playlist instead, but me and my FH have stood our ground and said that music means a lot to us, and for us it's not just about music being played, it's the vibe/energy that a good dj sets at an event. If I could have a live dj play everywhere I would.

We chose to "comprise" by not having a DJ play on the day of and instead do a Spotify playlist (bc we're having a brunch reception, with little to no dancing).

IKR everything’s so expensive

Wow I am so impressed that people really understand the importance of a DJ. Carla they are right, a DJ just doesn't play music. Their job is make your night unforgettable and yes to read a crowd so they can keep your guest up dancing all night. The equipment they have to set can be crazy, and remember when all your guest go home, its the DJ who remains behind tearing down their equipment sometimes till 2 or 3 am. Just remember, You can buy are car for really cheap, but in the end what did it really get you? Don't cheap out on DJ! You will get what you pay for. Do your research, meet with DJ and discuss your plans. Make sure he see your vision of your day. The Dj should be able to help you choice your special songs like first dance, cut cutting, etc. I went to wedding where the bride didn't hire the DJ to do her "walk down the isle" some friend tried to do it for her and they couldn't figure it out, she walk down the isle is silence. My friends only regret was not having the DJ play at her ceremony. Lucky for her thou, the DJ rocked the dance. But in the end, its your wedding and its your decision. May you have a wonderful, beautiful wedding.

Personally I think you'd regret not hiring a DJ. Like some of the other comments say, they know how to get the guests on the dance floor and having a great time. There is nothing worse then an empty dance floor at a wedding! Plus it's WAY more then just playing music. They often include lighting, MC and some other add ons.
We are paying $1200 for the whole day (ceremony, cocktail hour, reception), dance floor lighting, ceremony and reception microphones and MC services. Yes DJs are typically expensive but that's for a good reason. Cheapest I had found was $900 but he was booked for my date.

We're paying $2000 for our DJ which includes up-lighting and some other stuff that I can't remember right now. It was worth it when considering that the plug-in fee for our venue was $500 and any cheaper DJ was still $1200 but without up-lighting.

We're paying $1,000 for our DJ/MC services, which includes the music for the ceremony, cocktail hour and evening reception.

This is actually pretty cheap compared to the other DJs that were recommended by friends, family and our venue (one of them quoted us well over $2k and we lol'd pretty hard). Funny enough, the DJ we booked also did my prom way back in 2004 hahaha.

I agree with other brides that they're not just playing music, the DJ will read the crowd and queue any games for you. They, most of the time, can also act as your MC, freeing up any wedding party or family member from that task!

If you haven't already, I would ask your venue for a list of their preferred vendors. Mine had a list of budget-friendly vendors, which made our search a lot easier!

That price range is pretty tough to work with unfortunately, you can probably find someone eventually, but they’ll be inexperienced most likely... Which isn’t super fun if you’re not lucky enough. We wanted to go the Spotify route personally, we both love music and we thought we would just work on a playlist over time.

But the venue we chose doesn’t have the proper sound system for that route... so we’re back to looking for a DJ or Band. My FH’s Family are vey musical and there’s two different bands within them. (They do weddings and events regularly) I’m sure they would try and get us a deal. But both of us feel weird asking for it.. We wanna obviously wanna save as much money as possible. SO we’re finding it really hard knowing what to do next..

This is such an important part to most weddings, but I totally hear you with wanting to stay within budget! I think for a good DJ though, you shoul.d expect to spend at least 1000$

Good luck!

We paid $1810 for emcee and DJ. Price was high but others we inquired with were a bit more expensive. We wanted an emcee who was trilingual.

We booked someone for 1250! Its not just "playing music" they read the crowds and can pump people up! They see how the audience responds to songs and plays things in certain order to keep the party going and keeping guests happy! Most offer an Emcee service too and ours came with a bunch of extra lighting and decorations too!! Well worth the cost to not have to worry about the music!

Thankfully this is not an issue with us, and yes I find they're expensive as well. We are having a small band (most of our friends are musicians).

I'm thankful it's just one less thing to worry about. lol

Ours is around $999 so just under $1000 lol and that's 2018 pricing we got since we booked early!

I find that DJs provide the tunes, as well as how to knowledge on how to please guests with broad ranges of music genre preferences. They know how to blend songs to keep the party going so whenever I think DJs are expensive I just think to myself that I'm paying for the expertise that comes with it.

I don't think you're going to find one for $500 unless you know someone willing to give you a deal, unfortunately. We're going with my FH's brother's friend and even then, we are still paying $800.