I met with two ladies today who hired me to be the DJ for their company’s Christmas Party in December.  They thanked me so much for meeting with them.  They began to tell me about their search for a DJ:

-Most of the DJ’s they attempted to contact never called them back.

-A couple of the DJ’s that did call them back told them that they had too many questions.

-A couple of the DJ’s that they talked to told them that they would give an external hard drive and requested that they fill up the hard drive with mp3’s of the songs they wanted to hear.

-They got a tip on one DJ who they went to see DJ at a bar.  He was using his phone to play the music and any time the phone would ring the ring the music would stop and the ringer would be broadcast over the speakers.

-One DJ, when asked to meet face to face before being hired said, “Why would we need to meet?  What?  You don’t trust me?”

I’m not here to say that all DJ’s that are inexpensive act like the descriptions above. I’m also not saying that DJ’s that charge more aren’t capable of behaving the same way.  What I am saying is that there is so much more to consider when hiring a DJ for your event than just price.

I completely understand that many times when people are hiring a DJ for their wedding it is probably the first time they’ve ever hired a DJ for anything so it’s only natural that you might not know what questions to ask, or what is important.

If you are just throwing a party somebody that can come in and play music is all you might be looking for.  For a wedding however you need to consider that your DJ/Master of Ceremonies is going to be looked to by all the other vendors to have the plan of how your reception is going to run.  Not only will the other vendors be looking to your DJ to have the plan, but your guests will also be coming to the DJ if the room is the wrong temperature, if somebody loses something, to ask questions like, “When are we going to eat?”.

Your DJ is the most visible and accessible vendor you hire.  Your DJ is going to represent you on your wedding day whether they know what to do or not.

I’ve noticed that the first email I typically get from prospective clients typically just says, “Are you available on my date and how much do you charge for 4 hours?”   I sometimes chuckle because I wonder if people email a baker and say “How much for a wedding cake?”  I doubt they do because they know that the baker would need to know what type of cake you want, what sort of ingredients, how many layers, etc.

It should be the same way when hiring a DJ.

I often say to myself, “Wow.  Aren’t there about 20 more questions you should ask before you ask for the price?”

Here are some of them:

• How long have you been DJ’ing?

• How much experience do you have DJ’ing the type of event I am looking to hire you for?

• What type of training have you gone through to make yourself better at what you do?

• What is included in your price?

• Are you willing to work with me on the type of music I’d like for my event?

• Are you the member of any organizations related to being a DJ?

• Do you have back up equipment in case something happens?

• How comfortable are you speaking in front of people and MC’ing my event?

• What have you done in the past when things didn’t go according to plan?

• How do you handle requests from guests that aren’t going to fit the mood I’m attempting to set?

• What type of equipment do you have?

• Do you have liability insurance?

Obviously most of these questions should be asked and answered at a no-obligation meeting.  I’m happy to visit with you and your fiancee’ at your convenience, buy you a cup of coffee, answer any of the above questions, and anything else you can think of.

Just give me a call and let’s set up a time to talk about your big day!

Dave