To dj your Own Wedding Or Not?

Your budget says it all to verify if a DJ is affordable to get for the right range or play your playlist as wanted from the laptop. Search around and shop to find the best deal possible. If not, your playlist is the way to save and have the songs of your choice.

All the weddings including ours had a DJ (part of the family for free plus entertainer). I payed $995 for a day worth celebration which was affordable as part of being the MC too.

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Happy planning to you as well and I hope you figure out your DJ quest!

I think it depends a lot on your wedding. When we were originally planning for a big wedding, we were going to have a DJ because it was something I didn't want to have to worry about. Now that were just going to have a small little wedding because of covid, we're not having a DJ, and rather our "day of coordinator" (my MOH/cousins best friend) will handle it.

View quoted message Such good examples here! Thanks Hank. I am trying to make the right decision. My family are big dancers and partiers but my fiancé’s family are not! Appreciate the feedback!!

View quoted message Yes, exactly! It’s that line of “is it worth it?” And “oh man I wish we had a DJ!” Thanks for your insight Amanda! Happy planning!

View quoted message Yup/ I’ve been to a wedding with a terrible DJ too and you’re right- it’s cringe worthy! I have to make the best decision for us AND our guests. Thanks so much for your feedback!!

View quoted message Thanks so much Amelia! I haven’t heard anything about weddings without a DJ and am just generally curious. I love the idea of doing a playlist and asking a guest to man the booth. Great points!

I asked a friend what DJ they used and she told me Spotify and I swear my jaw hit the ground. I didn't remember the DJ, I remembered dancing *all* night though!


Having a person in charge, or a few people on shifts, is a great way to do it.

We are DJ'ing our own reception, and I've been my friends DJ at her wedding (I teach fitness on the side and love putting together playlists). If you have a friend that loves stuff like that, then I say save some money. DJ's can be really awesome at providing a bit more flow with the whole night - but it wouldn't matter if you had a great MC. I have been to a wedding that had a horrible DJ - he made the bridal party do numerous dances that they didn't want to participate in, and the bride was not happy about it (it was a surprise). He also didn't play to his audience. Super uncomfortable to watch!

I haven't been to a wedding where their hasn't been a DJ. My fiance and I are having a dj at our wedding just because we we don't want that extra hassle of doing it ourselves. But I totally understand where your coming from though because they can be pretty expensive.

It really depends on the vibe you're looking for at your wedding and what kind of guests are attending. Sometimes you required a professional with a wide knowledge of musical genres who can curate the song list based on how they are feeling the room. Other times you just need ambient noise to not feel awkward.

Many years ago, I attended a wedding where they had a professional DJ. The venue was multi-floored so dinner was upstairs while dance floor was downstairs. The couple were not dancers and didn't encourage dancing so they hung around the dining area chit chatting with people. Most people were laid back and just enjoyed drinking and having conversation with one another. The DJ did nothing to hype the room. Hiring a DJ was a waste in my opinion but Spotify was not a thing at the time though any mixtape or computer-based media player that shuffled and faded in tracks could've sufficed.

A few years ago, I was invited to a wedding at a condo party room. Small wedding, approximately only 40 people or so. They really wanted to keep costs low as food was appys and drinks were beer and wine only, which is fine but they wanted to PAR-TAY! They had an ipod running random pop hits from the 80s and 90s. People were hyped because they were happy for the couple but interruptions kept happening throughout the night. They didn't have enough songs to last them more than 3 hours and they started blasted music early in the night so some songs repeated itself. All the songs always finished out so every few minutes you get this mellow out moment and a few seconds of quiet during the pause between music. It was never a consistent high. The couple would always run over to the ipod to troubleshoot like adjust volume and switch tracks for those that were repeating. This couple should've splurged for a pro DJ in my opinion.

Recently, I was invited to a Sunday wedding. The couple wanted a packed dance floor so they splurged on an expensive DJ but majority of guests left promptly after dinner. The dance floor got awkward with only maybe 5 people on it at any given time. If you know your guests are not the dancing type, no amount of hype will get them to do it and therefore, paying for a DJ is futile.

Another wedding where the mass majority of guests were 50+ years old and would not dance the way most young people would dance, had a DJ who mainly played music from Great American Songbook/Standards as requested by the couple. DJ did nothing to curate the songs, just plopped tracks into the playlist by order or request. No mixing, just literally played each song followed by 5 seconds of pause before the next song played. People were on the dance floor but nobody was "dancing." Once in a while an older couple would do a twirl out of amusement. I left early. In my opinion, a DJ was not needed for this wedding as a Spotify playlist would've sufficed.

If you're going to hire a DJ, hire a pro. Avoid anyone who uses "you can control 100% of playlist - only songs you pick will be played" as a selling point. If I'm doing all the work, why do I need you?!? If your crowd is super mellow and highly unlikely to dance, you can probably get away without a DJ.

We are DJing our own wedding - FH used to be one, so he has the equipment and know how and quite frankly he just really wanted to DJ his own wedding. We've been spending months working on the music, curating it and such. I think it all depends on if you can have someone watch over the music for you. There are lots of wedding playlist suggestions out there to help as well.

I have never personally been to a wedding without a DJ, however totally understand your thought process on the subject, especially since DJ’s can be super expensive. Myself personally, I’d look for a reasonably priced DJ as it’s just one less stress you’d have to worry about, and less chance for hiccups happening!

View quoted message Thanks Cindy! You’re right on- I do want people’s opinions on it not having been to a wedding without a DJ myself! My fiancé is in the sound industry so we have all the equipment already but I am really trying to have the same idea where we just want to enjoy the day as much as possible instead of worrying about the playlist.

Hi Leah. We thought about the same thing mostly because of the cost of a DJ and we didn't really want all the bells and whistles. We thought we would rent the equipment and have someone do it for us but in the end we both wanted to just have a great time and not have to worry if people were liking our music or if the person we chose to "DJ" would still have a good time. Luckily we found a very well priced professional DJ and so it will be one less thing to think about. I have never been to a wedding without a DJ but I thought you may want the opinion of someone who went through the same thought process.