How to choose a wedding DJ
Ask every DJ you are considering the same ten questions, and compare the answers rather than the adjectives. The ones that matter are how the music gets chosen, whether you see the set list before the night, what is actually inside the price, and who holds the timeline on the day.
The questions
How will you choose the music for our wedding?
The useful answers describe a process. The unhelpful one is "I read the room", which every DJ says and which tells you nothing about the first two hours.
How I answer this: Your guests answer eleven questions, the set is drafted from their answers, I curate it, and you approve it before the night. How the music gets chosen
Will we see the set list before the night?
Some DJs will show you a list; many treat it as their business. A list you can read and change is the difference between trusting a person and trusting a plan.
How I answer this: Yes, the whole thing, with time to change it. Your must-play and do-not-play lists override everything. How the music gets chosen
What exactly is in the price?
Sound, mic, MC, hours, lighting, travel. Ask which are inside the number and which are add-ons, because two quotes with the same total can cover very different things.
How I answer this: Sound scaled to the room, MC, a wireless mic, four hours of reception coverage and the custom song are inside. Lighting is rented in and quoted separately. Ceremony sound is not offered. What moves a wedding DJ quote in the Bay Area
Do you cover the ceremony?
Not every DJ does, and silence on the question gets read as yes. Ask, and get the answer in the agreement.
How I answer this: No. Coverage starts at the reception, and I say so before you book.
How do you run the timeline?
A wedding reception has a dozen timed moments and one person has to hold the clock. Ask whether the DJ writes a run sheet and who they hand it to.
How I answer this: A written run sheet, handed to your coordinator or host, with the music-off time on it. Sixteen years running operations before the decks. About Art
What do you sound like on a mic?
Ask for a recording, or ask them to introduce you right there on the call. You are choosing the voice that will introduce your parents.
How I answer this: Short, clear, names pronounced the way you say them, and then out of the way. About Art
What is your policy on explicit lyrics, and on requests?
Both are your call, and a DJ should say so. Ask what the default is and whether your do-not-play list holds against a request.
How I answer this: The default is clean through dinner and your choice after. The do-not-play list holds against everyone.
Do you know the venue's sound rules, and the city's?
A DJ who has had a coordinator say "music off at ten" plans for it. One who has not, finds out at ten.
How I answer this: The venue's policy governs and I confirm it in advance. For a backyard, the city's rules are the limit, and the music-off time goes on the run sheet before the night.
Are you insured?
Venues increasingly require a certificate on file. Ask before the venue does.
How I answer this: A certificate of insurance is available on request.
What holds the date?
Get the answer in writing. A verbal hold is not a hold.
How I answer this: A signed agreement and a deposit.
What the answers tell you
A DJ who can answer all ten in plain sentences has done this before and thought about it. The ones who answer with adjectives are asking you to trust the adjectives.
Questions couples ask
Do you provide ceremony sound?
No. Coverage starts at the reception. If your ceremony needs a mic and speakers, plan for the venue's system or a separate vendor, and tell me early so the timeline reflects it.
Are you insured?
A certificate of insurance is available on request. If your venue needs one on file, send me their requirements.
What holds a date?
A signed agreement and a deposit. Until both are in, the date is open.
What is your policy on explicit lyrics?
Yours. The default is clean versions through dinner and the versions you choose after that. If you want no explicit versions at all, say so once and it holds for the night, requests included.
Do you take requests on the night?
Yes, within your rules. A request that fits the set and is not on the do-not-play list gets worked in. One that is on the list does not, whoever asks.
Get a quote for your date
Send the date, the occasion and what you know about the venue. I reply with availability and a quote.