i was not there but i was recently doing a gig and the people i was doing it for were telling me how they just had thier sons wedding and he was terrible, considering a few factors, he did not have an mc, and would talk on the mic, and was a club dj, and was playin techno all night wen all everyone wanted to hear was some oldies.. they requested many songs and didnt hear any of them,

dance monkey, dance.

I recently saw a wedding Dj wearing a bright blue bow tie and a gold bunyan type thing, its like are you doing all you can too not Dj a wedding ever again?

WTF? Chee Chees trais!

That's not a wedding DJ, that's a wannabee HS student with 40 tracks in his entire library.

My worst experience....I went to a wedding, my buddy's own wedding, and the DJ did not play anything on the "must play" list which was given to him months in advance. I personally did not DJ the wedding cuz we all wanted to have "fun" but it sucked hairy sweaty donkey balls...oh, and the guy trainwrecked just about every single mix he did attempt. I was ready to punch the fucker in the face and take over. Needless to say, every young person left the reception early and it quickly became a dud...

Ive been to many horribly DJ'd weddings..

The worse was my best friend's. He's fairly poor and had a very small wedding. So i brought all of my equipment, and my old CDN's.. and had my DJ buddy (who kinda sucks, but weddings arent hard anyway) playing the music.

Well, once dinner started, all he wanted to do was NOT be behind the DJ table. He actuallly refused to do it at this point, and the Chicago CD was just playing.... He kept saying he wasn't getting paid so he didnt care.

I was like "Mother $#@%$ this is MY equipment, first of all, and this our best friend, and you AGREED to it!"

Felt so bad that I got behind there and finished the rest of the night... Felt so bad for my friend.

damn that's messed up. i couldn't imagine jacking up someone's special day that badly. he gets my vote for worst guy ever.

oh man, that sucks!

yes messed up.

you should have tried getting a female to go over there and keep him company.

I saw a DJ using Itunes on a desktop but had TT's setup. Asked him what he thought about running Serato. He said he didn't want to put all his faith in a computer program for DJing.

Me: Huh??? So, why are you using itunes then?
Him: It's cool because I have some vinyl and TT's for backup.

I just walked away confused as hell. And don't let me get into the sound....no highs at all, and then had a corded mic.

i'm going to a wedding this weekend. thinking about leaving my coffin in my car after my gig on thursday to have with me just in case the reception needs an afterparty. LOL

someone from my area ask me how much will i charge him for his wedding, told him my price.

i didnt got the job, and he just used the other guy who is $50 cheaper.

i didnt see the wedding. ask him, how did it go? (hows the other dj). and he told me, he sucks! he didnt play our song! when cutting the cake, no background music! etc etc..for sure, he didnt even beatmatch.

* you cheap bastard!

Alright! Free gear!!!

Where are you going to park your car again? Thanks. I'm new. :P

Ha! And only for $50 buck more. lol

Man, I've got a comeback that's perfect, but we're supposed to be behaving ourselves so I'll refrain. I think for every bad mix the DJ makes on Saturday I'm taking a shot. Posting on here post-reception will occur and you guys can see for youselves how he/she was. :)

If the DJ is a she... take pics!

I'm rarely behind the DJ table during dinner. I visit every table at the reception, introduce myself, take request and joke around. After every 4 or 5 tables I give my dj the request sheet and he puts the songs in the waitlist or prepare window.

This is definitely one of the things that make my weddings so successful. When it comes time to dancing, I already know what they want and they all know me so I am easily approachable.

You sound like a very personable kinda guy Kenny Q. Good for you.

got 1 more..not really a wedding but gotta tell ya'll

attended this baptismal, somethin, with mobile dj.
peavey speakers/ipod/numarks cd/minidisc

no beatmatching
played ALL the line dances DURING dinner!
(yup, me n my friends bobbin our head n tappin out feet while eating!)

you guessed, after we eat, we're gone!! ha ha!

Someone showed me this months issue of Playboy and the centerfold is a beautiful Puerto Rican girl who likes to DJ.

There are two photos of her (including the centerfold) with a DJ coffin.

I didn't spend much time looking at the DJ coffin.

Umm... actually a couple weddings I have been to recently the DJ's did quite well.

Not talking about skills... just keeping the crowd moving and smiling. They played such a wide range of music from house to classic oldies.

Sound... lighting .... MC's... all did a great job.

Plasma screens with pictures of the couple gorwing up together...

Of course.. these guys charge $3000 and up.

^^ gotta give props to those guys, in full effect! i've seen it happen too, on the positive side.

Riiiiiiiiiight someone let you see the playboy, you know you got a subscription.

It's great to hear positive things about good wedding DJs.

-Kenny Q

LOL
My barber had it at the shop.

Lol @ someone let me the playboy mag. Hahaha


And keep the positive shit off this thread. Make a new one. Thank you. Hahaha

Bet you anything that the DJ was probably one of the wedding parties' friends doing it for free/cheap. I learned the hard way when someone asked me to do a wedding as a favour (this was early on in my career) and when I made sure to let them know that I was in no way, shape, or form even remotely a mainstream dj and didn't have many of the tunes (this was long before I had serato), they still insisted that it would be ok. Well, I played a bunch of downtempo and classic hiphop (as that's all I had that fit the wedding ambience) and needless to say, tons of guests weren't happy that I didn't have the Chicken Dance or the Macarena or whatever.

I'd know what to do now in a wedding situation now mind you, but as I had only really been spinning for a couple months at the time and was more of a club/EDM/hiphop guy, i really didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I have a "wedding" gig coming up..kinda nervous about it since I haven't done one. The couple hasn't even called me back to see what they really want, just "play like you would at a club/party"

They're in for a surprise.

My wife's cusin's wedding DJ was VERY high tech, dj'ng w/ Windows media player, sound system was very flat, sounded like crap, oh well..

Why do people attending weddings INSIST on hearing the F'ing macaroni, cha cha sh1t, and electric skid...

Its like they sit at home the day before the wedding, and say "OOooooooooooooOOOO!!!!! I cant WAIT to do the electric slide tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Someone burry these songs, please!

^^ macarena/cha cha slide/electric slide/etc

ANYBODY can dance to this (3 up to 90 yr old), thats why!

Bahhhhh Humbug!

Tradition. If you can't stand it, don't do weddings...

One of my funniest DJing memories was a 7ish year old girl dancing to Ini Kimoze - Here Comes The Hotstepper. Not sure why I found it so funny, but I'll never forget it.

A few years ago, I went to the wedding of my best friends brother. I was disgusted and humored at the same time.

The DJ shows up with a home stereo system. I was tripping. Two emotions going on at the same time. Laughing and being disgusted at the same time. I couldn't even go up and look at what equipment he actually had. Too comical, I would've laughed out very loud. He had a mixer and 2 home CD players. I could tell from a distance. Along with a corded mic. He wore shorts and a T-shirt the whole night.



I never asked, but I think my boy's brother was short of money or something. That DJ must've been someone they knew or something. I wanted to be a spectator at his wedding, but had I known that they hired some mess like that, I would've DJ'ed that for him for free. It was painful to watch.

you must like people.

i like people too. i just like them a lot more when they are not around me and when i don't have to talk to them.

Nowadays a wedding DJ is more than a person who plays music. He (or she) directs the whole event (except the food). A good wedding DJ will call the clients and schedule an appointment to go over details and make an agenda.

You must discuss everything. Ceremony, Reception, banquet facility's DJ/Band set up, people, music, intros and announcements, how to dress, first dance, parent dance, dinner, cake cutting, ect..

Put together the agenda with them that night and email it to them so they can edit it. Schedule an appointment with the banquet facility manager (if you've never been there) and tell them that you want to tour the facility and discuss the agenda. (this will let them know that you are a professional and these facilities can get you a lot of future work).

Dress good, and smile a lot.

At the event, you will most likely be their spokes person (the emcee), if you are, you better not f*ck up.

-Kenny Q

Yeah a Wedding is very different from any other event. Its very specific and alot of work!!!

I never gave wedding DJs props cause they were all the same, cant mix for shit, play crappy songs, games, bad equipment, etc. They just werent real DJs to me and not worth the price that they charge.

I changed my tune once I did one. Its alot of work getting all the music together and not to mention the MCn part. All the different things that take place from the intros, garter and bouquet, cake cutting. It can be very stressfull. The DJn part was the easiest.

To all you wedding DJs out there, much props to you for the job you do. Just make sure your ass can mix and rock a party. These new brides dont play that, lol.

Those dances allow everyone to dance together....to get a kinda vibe going. It's fun for everybody. Everybody in the whole audience, regardless of age, can join in and participate if they know the dance.

I can't understand why another DJ would have to ask a question like that. As a DJ, your job is to "ROCK THE CROWD", whatever it takes, whether you like the music you have to play or not.

I was at my brother's wedding in Maryland (my coffin was in Texas) after grabbing my beer and heading into the reception area I was approached by the caterer who was asking me where the dj was. I asked my brother when the dj was supposed to show up, he said 2 o'clock...It Was 4 O'Clock!!! I called him like fifty times and called the company who had to have another dj finish a wedding cross town, before tearing down, running over to my brother's wedding, setting up and getting all the info, songs etc. I had to go to radio shack plug into the Church halls PA from an Ipod and just play generic Jazz and dinner backround music until the dj showed up around 5:30. Fortunatley they had a mic and I was able to annonunce my brother and his new wife into the reception and I helped the dj set up when she got there (fastest set-up I have ever seen) All before having my Beer! That may have been the thing that pissed me off the most!!

Thats the thing, how many weddings does the average person attend? Most DJs I know wouldnt be caught dead playing half the stuff thats played at weddings. If you dont go to one you'd never know what they are really like or what kind of music thats played. Its a party, but like you said theres kids, grandparents, etc. Its not your average DJ gig. I look at it like rocking a family event.

I saw somewhere a while ago in a magazine, or someone told me about an article that they read where it had an analysis of a bride before and after the wedding. They said how would you rank in order of importance the things you need to make sure are done right at a wedding. DJ and entertainment were around like 8 or 9 in term of importance (maybe a little higher but not much). They polled the same brides after the wedding and like 80-90% of them put DJ number 1 or 2. That just goes to show how much people take DJs for granted. They think they are a dime a dozen and it doesn't matter who you get. But it is by far one of the most important things. People will always remembe the wedding with the shitty DJ.

My sister sued her DJ.
For leaving earlier than the contracted time.

This guy was a total *sshole.

I was in town for a few days from California, I handed him an album and asked for one Salsa song for me and my girl. He played the song and we were the only ones dancing. After the song ended he let the next song play, then the next song. I went to him (he was sitting down away from his setup and talking to his girlfriend) and aked him to change the music because no one else was dancing. He told me that the music was good and didn't change anything.

I felt like taking one of his turntables and breaking his head with it.

This was back in 1987 or 88

went to a very posh wedding in Santa Barbara.... fuggin idiot announced he was selling his own CD's and he honored us all by singing a song on it.....

I got in trouble with my lady for getting IRATE!!

^^Damn, what an ass! Usually it's the drunk relatives that wanna sing like idiots...

I so wanted to crash the party next door.... they were going off!

No doubt, thanks for the advice Kenny, had all this in mind.

Just haven't got in contact with the couple yet. Waiting on their call.

I don't think it will be too formal at all, because it's in a restaraunt and not anywhere fancy. I just hope it's good food and dancing. But I'll be prepared for the other wedding mumbo jumbo(father/daughter dance, MCing, line dancing, etc)

I fail to see how the macarena is tradition. lol

oh, I thought TEQUILA was tradition

Well, the Macarena really depends on your wedding party's "culture"...to put it in a nice way I guess???

I caught you. Didn't I? Just admit it. :)

Look up the definition of tradition and then try to fit the song Macarena in there. lol

I play in over 50 weddings a year and I probably played the Macarena twice in the last 3 or so years.

I haven't played the Macarena since it was popular. It's pretty much a lost song. I don't think I'll ever play it again... by request. Seriously.

Meaning I doubt anyone will request it from now on.

I'm sooooo requesting that sumbitch this weekend. :)

hahaha

I hear what you saying, but you say that it's not your average DJ Gig....What does an average DJ Gig equal to? The game is different these days. VERSATILITY BABY!!! GOTTA HAVE IT!!!

Look up the definition of Cabrone and you'll see Sixxx's pic there!

Okay, what do you wanna hear? That you are right, for ONCE? lol

^^and if you want me to Dj your wedding, I'm gonna play it just for YOU!

lol latindj. :)

You said Cabrone.... I think it's cabrón.



:P

And if you DJ my wedding, I'm going to replace you with a jukebox... oh wait. Same thing. lol

i love it when that happens....it has happened a number of times...i rub that shit in like a little kid....LMAO>LMAO>LMAO

ouch. bastard!

You DJ so bad, sixxx (with 3 x's) replaced you with a jukebox..

Just look at it like this........ all of OUR weddings SHOULD have dope ass dj's. I know mine will.

For my wedding I'm having my friends play and letting them play whatever the hell they feel like playing (within reason of course, probably wouldn't want to hear NWA or something).

If any guests complain, fuck em... it's MY DAY.

exactly.

just have Z-Trip or AM DJ your wedding. I heard they are good.



hahah...
on the reals, too many nightmare wedding DJ stories out there.

my wedding is gonna be a SOUL CAL wedding

^ "Look kids, here's mommy and daddy dancing to....well shit, who KNOWS what the hell that song is called...maybe we can look it up online?"

:)

Z-Trip DJ'd Faust and Shortee's wedding from what I've heard. I have a friend who was there - apparently it was pretty awesome.

^^ I bet the electric slide has never been juggled and mashed as much as we can imagine. haha

anyone over 30 would leave after 10 minutes of your new school wedding. old people = tradition, thats why the wack songs are getting played. a REAL wedding dj needs 2 rooms! you could itunes the wack room and that would only drive more people into the hype room.

my wedding is gonna have an afterhours party with bottle service vip tables

Ha! Sheeds better start another how to rock a wedding thread.

Well... now that I'm not in the middle of doing a wedding and have more time to talk, I'll explain it to you...

BTW... I thought it was rude when you were talking to me and let your drink drip on my TT's...

I got one from last Saturday's wedding. This time I was the assistant wedding coordinator. How humiliating, but since my sister was the wedding coordinator at the last minute (I heard the other one bailed out) and her assistants couldn't make it, I was cool with it when she asked. Overall, it was fun but different doing it compared to doing wedding DJ.

Anyways... the couple hired the MC/DJ/Karaoke guy already. Talked to him.. a nice guy and he said he has been doing it professionally for 12 years. However, he had several mistakes that my sister and I couldn't believe.

He got the wrong song for the Bride and Groom entrance. He used the recessional song for the wedding ceremony! He didn't play the song for the cake cutting that was listed. When my sis, the bride and the MC/DJ went over the final reception schedule just before it started, he was pretty aggressive making changes to his way even when my sis and the bride both disagree the procedures. He insisted from his experience that it's the right way and the only way. However they can't do anything cuz he's calling the shots as a MC.

Here's the best part, the dancing. He was using the mackie 1202 8 channel mixer. He first played a medley of 50s songs that lasted 10 minutes. You know it was prerecorded cuz he was walking around with mic telling people to dance. Nobody danced when the song ended. Then about half a minute of silence, he cued up another 10 minute compliation of disco songs. Few people danced but he will let the music end. I don't think he knew a huge marjority of the crowd are like in 20s to early 30s (besides the family/relatives)

Then he started to play top 40 stuff. Finally! But the songs like da club, glamorous, my humps, etc. were the dirty versions! The kicker part was not only that cleared out the dance floor, but guests quickly left the reception to go home. On top of that, he let songs played to the end, have a few seconds of silence, then played the next song. I told my sis I really want to jump in and save the night cuz it was killing me! Granted I believe I still suck in mixing in the eyes of Serato fam (I'm more of a wedding DJ is my excuse, right MM? :P), but come on, 12 years of professional wedding DJ and that's the best you can do?! My sister, gf, etc can do much better with only a weekend of training! And that's including crowd reading.

But I will give credit. He was a good MC, and besides missing the two key songs, the dinner music went well. Oh well.

Versatility? I got a wedding in September and October...

Most of the DJ's I know have weekly gigs at bars/clubs. I personally know one full time wedding DJ. For the most part they also do other types of gigs like school dances and whatnot. Im speaking for myself and the DJs I know. Weddings are not on the weekly schedule. If it is for you thats great.

Im going to do a poll and see who does what on here.

Damn!

Wow! 12 years of experience and that dude made some SERIOUS mistakes. I think he may have told you guys a lie... or 12. lol

im still waiting for mm for positive comments/reaction.. whats the must for weddings...

Make a new thread. This is for wanna-be weddding DJ's.

No positive shit allowed.

you guys seriously need to get off this cat. was his mix that bad? i never heard it but i heard *about* it. you guys are brutal!

Yeah... I admit I make mistakes once a while, more especially when i first trying it out, but not that many in one night!

Oh yeah, he's in the 40s so alot songs were way old school. The top 40 stuff is probably a compliation CD and using a DVD/CD/Karaoke player (hence the silence and track selection!). I'm surprised he didn't go to like Wal-mart or Target to get the clean versions. Aren't the NOW This Is music (or whatever they called compliations) CDs clean versions?

I'll bring it to the jammy jam. :P

K-rad.. the fact that he doesn't have clean versions should be the first clue that he isn't in fact professional and that he hasn't been doing it for 12 years. Not weddings at least. Spacing between songs? Pleeease. Never!

lol! my bad. focus - stay negative!

thanks...


hahaha :)

Sorry if that sounds confusing. Let me clear it up. I am not referring to MM's mixing skills. In fact, I never heard of his mixing so I can't say. I believed he made references that quite a few wedding DJs are not very good in mixing but can do MCing, song selection, sequence and timing very well. If MM didn't make those references, my bad! :)



Co-sign. We were wondering how in the world he got this recommendation, especially the dancing part. Then again, he probably got recommended from the previous coordinator who bailed out!

LOL! That was funny.

In reference to the words in bold......it's probably a good thing you didn't. Sixxx said "no positive shit allowed". lol

I don't think I really have to..they haven't given me ANY information at all..And the clock is ticking.I guess they don't care too much about their wedding..haha

I did. (make those references).

My mix WAS that bad. I cried out 'please make the bad man stop playing music!' when I listened to it. I know the music I tend to play at wedding FAR more thoroughly than what I used on the mix and there were other factors that affected my performance. I went back to basics, got some GREAT pointers (thanks sixxx!) and I'm getting better. Yes, Sixxx, I still owe you a mix. I've been hammerred with clients and haven't even bothered to set up when I get back from working on the weedends. I won't put one down this weekend though - it's my b'day and I'll be busy with other things... (including a wedding ceremony and reception I'll be DJ'ing).



If he didn't have the clean versions he's not a wedding DJ I'd hire. Wedding DJ's play a wide variety of music - and a lot of times you just CAN'T beat mix the tracks. And grandma just doesn't appreciate the club tricks you can use to cover up this sort of transition (like echoing out of one track into another, etc). And since a lot of weddings have kids present having the clean versions is a MUST. Period. No clean versions and you're either posing as a wedding DJ or just an idiot.


There are some DJ's who play 'quid pro quo' with other wedding professionals to get 'recommendations'. Basically, they'll tell someone at the venue that for every person they sned his way to book (on a referral) they'll give them $100 (and sometimes more). Now you have a great DJ who will give you no money and an ok DJ who will give you $100 for making the recommendation. Who's number will you give to someone you don't know? Especially since you'll save a small fortune on labor if the gig ends EARLY!


Wedding DJ's screw up occasionally. Even I screw up sometimes. However, there is no excuse for (and this is a very, very, small starter list):

1. Playing the wrong song for any of the formalities.
2. Playing a song on the Do Not Play list.
3. Mispronouncing anyones name (if you are too damn lazy to find out how to pronounce the names get the hell out of the wedding DJ business).
4. Getting drunk and hitting on the bride.


They can forgive an awful lot at a wedding because they don't want to create a scene. But just wait until after the event... when they sue you for something....

BTW, I started another thread that has a video clip to an interview with Peter Merry. If you want to make GOOD money doing weddings you need to get away from the 'push play', 'talk on the mic', 'read the names' sort of events....

Don't trip MM. I know you're a busy man. I also know I drill you from time to time but I've also done my best to give you pointers and I'm hoping you improve. Just keep at it man.

I am.... and I AM getting better... I just had to get away from the 'tricks' and back to basics.

Although on that one track I did I don't think anyone realized I doubled up that track 4 beats off.... I thought I was doing something really friggin' sweet but when you mix out so bad it makes a train wreck look good... ouch...

I'll try to drop that mix early next week though...

And I'm not tripping... I really appreciate the comments and pointers...

OK... real talk. You need to holla at em homeboy. Most folks don't realize club and weddings are a different skill set. They may figure you are a pro and got it all under control since you haven't hit em up with a "to do list".

You may be sayin, F it.. if they don't contact me, I'll just show up and do my thing. Problem is... the day of... when things don't go right it's the dj's fault in most peoples opinion.

You at least need to get at em and put together a timeline.


Guest arrival time and what type of music to be played. Will you welcome the guests on behalf of the B&G and advise guests how long before the B&G arrival?

Grand Entrance time and what song/s to be played. Need to spend time with the bridal party and B&G before the entrance to make sure your list of names and pronunciation is on point. If that ain't you... better have someone that can spit it

Dinner: What time will dinner be served or buffet ready and what type of music for dinner.

Toasts: What time and who will be toasting. Who will open the toasts who will close. Will the B&G take the opportunity at the end of toasts to thank their guests for comming???

Cake Cutting: What time and what song. Keep an extra song on hand if it runs a bit over. Don't do the rookie thing and tell everyone to get up with their cameras and go to the cake table!

First Dance: Do they want to do it in this order or immediately following their Grand Entrance. What song.

Father Daughter Dance: What song

Mother Son Dance: What song

Money Dance: Do they want to do the money dance?

Any other special dances???

These are the basics that you need to cover to make there day flow and not be the hated wed dj.

Don't say I never gave you nothin...lol

Whops... that was positive...


You gonna Fu@K that wedding up Sheeds!

C'mon man... you really think the More Bounce thing was doubles...?

OG recommends to those that attend his Wedding Seminars, that you pack a cooler for yourself full of Tecate beers. You can drink the duration of the event and only have a slight buzz.

What up OG? Where you been?

Ha! Tecate is the ish!

one thing most wed dj's won't agree with me on (or admit) is that I do pack my own cooler. This way the wife and I can sip the good stuff and enjoy the eve also. Wooooo... did I say that out loud.


What up K... just put the wrap on the new vid. I was gonna ask the same about you.

BTW Sixxx, was at a wedding and the dj busted out singing. I thought is was terrible but no one else seemed to mind??? He also told everyone to shut up before the Grand Entrance, then disapeared for 15 min before he even brought in the wedding party. WEAK!

BUMP!

so the weddding is approaching. the couple hit me up with info. There'll be a band playing when the guests arrive to the reception. And then it's mainly my time around 9PM and after. The groom requested that I get some nice dinner bg music - expected that. basically, they hit me up with everything y'all been warning about. Just the usual "play the oldies and not too much of that hip-hop, be wary that kids and old christian folks will be there, etc"

as far as MC duties, groom will have some folks helping out with that, and told me i might have to say some words. Might need help with that one, I don't really interact on the mic like that.

wish me luck..lol

Sheeds,

Get Tom Haibeck's book(s) for starters:
Wedding Toasts Made Easy!: The Complete Guide
The Wedding MC: A Complete Guide to Success for the Master of Ceremonies

Check out the mobile beat 200 for the 'most popular' mobile DJ tracks:
www.mobilebeat.com


Hit up eMusic for cheap background tracks for dinner music. I recommend a lot of the tracks on the Concord Jazz Label.

www.emusic.com

www.emusic.com

And especially the Playboy Jazz series on the Concord label:
www.emusic.com

And also a few other artists for something 'completely different':

Streetwize - they do jazz versions of hits.
www.emusic.com

Richard Cheese - Lounge versions of hits.
www.emusic.com

And if you need any more pointers just let me know... and if nothing else give me a call if you have questions. Contact info is on my website: www.adjandmore.com

sixxx, fyi, the bride put the macarena on the DO NOT PLAY list, but after a short discussion i convinced her it need not be there. :) shame my friends and i got deathly bored out of our minds before we even got to hear it. *sigh*

talk about the most stereotypical reception i've EVER been to though. "holy cow, we're singing about old time rock n roll, and now we're doing the twist, it's crazy!!" the bride and groom only listen to country and both sets of parents are 100% polish. more polkas than i've seen at all the other weddings i've been to, COMBINED!

My brother inlaw got this dj for his wedding and i though that dood took my cd book of mix cd's cause homey was playing mix cd's ahaha.

Thanks for the tips MM

Got this email, doesn't sound too hard right guys?

scratchlive.net

Here is a list of songs we like.

Addicted to Love- Robert Palmer
Aint to Proud to Beg- Temptations
All She Wants to Do is Dance- Don Henley
Always be My Baby- Mariah Carey
Always- Bon Jovi
American Pie- Don Mclean
Another One Bites the Dust- Queen
Bad Bad Leroy Brown- CCR
Bad Moon Rising- CCR
Beautiful Day- U2
Bed of Roses- Bon Jovi
Billie Jean- Michael Jackson
Blister in the Sun- Violent Femmes
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy- Andrews Sisters
Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison
Brown Sugar- Rolling Stones
Bust a Move- Young MC
Cecilia- Simon and Garfunkel
Chains of Love- Erasure
Come on Ilene- Dexys Midnight Runners
Crash into Me- Dave Matthews
Crazy Little Thing called Love- Queen
Dancin in the Dark- Bruce Springsteen
Desperado- Eagles
Devil Went Down to Georgia- Charlie Daniels Band
Dock of the Bay- Otis Redding
Everybody Have Fun Tonight- Wang Chung
Everything I Do- Bryan Adams
Faithfully- Journey
Fantastic Voyage- Coolio
Fight for Your Right to Party- Beastie Boys
Footloose- Kenny Loggins
Free Bird- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Freshman- Verve Pipe
Funkytown- Lipps Inc
Get Down Tonight- KC and the Sunshine Band
Great Balls of Fire- Jerry Lee Lewis
Hard to Handle- Black Crowes
Have I told you Lately- Rod Stewart
Heaven- Bryan Adams
Hook- Blues Traveler
Hot Hot Hot- Buster Poindexter
I Love Rock n Roll- Joan Jett
I only Have Eyes for You- Art Garfunkel
I will Survive- Gloria Gaynor
Ice Ice Baby- Vanilla Ice
I'll Be- Edwin McCain
I'm so Excited- Pointer sisters
Jack and Diane- John Mellancamp
Johnny B Goode- Chuck Berry
Joy to the World- Steve Miller Band
Just the Way You Are- billy Joel
Kokomo- Beach Boys
Lady in Red- Chris Deburgh
Lady Marmalade- Aguilera, Lil Kim Etc
Love Shack- B52's
Mony Mony- Billy Idol
More Than Words- Extreme
Mr. Pinstripe Suit- Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Mr. Jones- Counting Crows
Mustang Sally- Commitments
My Sharona- The Knack
New york New York- Frank Sinatra
Old Time Rock and Roll- bob Seger
Piano Man- Billy Joel
Play That Funky Music- Wild Cherry
Pour Some Sugar on Me- Def Leppard
Proud Mary- CCR
Rappers Delight- Sermon, Murphy, REdman
REd Red Wine- UB40
Rock with You- MJ
Satisfaction- Rolling Stones
She's Got a Way- Billy joel
Shout!- Day and the Knights
Stand By Me- King Ben E
Summer of 69- Bryan Adams
Sweet home Alabama- Lynyrd Skynyrd
Thats the Way- KC and The Sunshine Band
Twist and Shout- Beatles
Walk This Way- Aerosmith
Way you Look Tonight- Frank sinatra
What a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong
White Wedding- Billy Idol
Wonderful Tonight- Eric Clapton- Last song to be played
YMCA- Village People
You Shook Me all Night Long- AC/DC
Zoot Suit Riot- Cherry Poppin Daddies
You Should Be Dancin- Bee Gees
I Like to Move It Move it- Bang Gang
Celebration- Kool and the Gang
Canned Heat- Jamiroquai
The Way You Make Me Feel- MJ

If you need anything else, let me know.
Thanks!

^^Should I play them all in order? j/k

Sometimes I don't know what to think when someone hires me and gives me a list of music that would last longer than the evening...

with the ternary above, and a song list as specific as mine, what would your game plan be going into a wedding?

That list looks like my Ipod. Honestly though, this should make your night really easy. Just make a few sets with those songs and you should be golden! Although sometimes it is good and bad when people give you a list that long. Ive had people give me a list of over 100 songs...its like..you are joking right??

i'll post my reply... just a sec

that is a really long list. is that an approved song list that you dont want me waiver from or is that an idea of the type of songs that you like?


i tried to be vague. and it worked...

this is what she responded, i'll put my thoughts in ( ):

"Yes, its just to give you an idea of what we like (she never said that in the orig e-mail). You can throw on other things that will work and go with the feel of the guests (glad she said that too, but again, not in the orig e-mail)."

so my game plan is to go from the list and put requests on. unless its not working...

Hmmm..... The timeframe is too tight.

9:25-9:32pm: Bride & Groom 1st Dance *(Title: "Back at One," Artist: Brian McKnight)

This song isn't 7 minutes long.

9:32-9:39pm: Father/Daughter Dance *(Title: "Butterfly Kisses," Artist: Bob Carlisle)

Neither is this one.
9:39-9:45pm: Mother/Son Dance *(Title: "A Song for Mama," Artist: Boyz II Men)

And this one isn't 6 minutes long.


Most people dancing like this in the spotlight don't want to be there more than 1-2 minutes. I get more requests to end the song EARLY than anything else.

Even with intros there's too much time for those.

I agree, 10 minutes for a cake cutting is not where near enough. Sure they'll cut the cake in that amount of time but then it has to be served which normally takes another 10-20 minutes depending on how many people they have.

Toasts can be short and sweet and finish up in under 10 minutes. But if there is more than 2-3 people doing a toasts this time will go WAY over. And if they'll be passing out champagne you're looking at having to make sure it gets out BEFORE the toasts.

The music list is good. Probably half of those tracks are on the Mobile Beat Top 200 and the rest are probably in the top 500.

I'd go through the music they listed and create groupings for each genre and what are good transistion songs. I'd then add in some more tracks that are probably similar in nature and use that as my primary 'go to' list for the night.

Everyone can laugh but once you get outside the formalities and specific requests, I've probably been able to do 90% of the music for most weddings with the MB Top 200.

If you have any more questions just ask or give me a call.

MM, i have a question, i've found that doing the toast before the cake works well (you never know how messy the cake will get, and how long it will take to clean up...)

but give me detail on how you do the cake part. how long it takes. you said 10 minutes is enough for the B/G to cut it, but after the b/g do their thing do you do anything else? i've always gone back to everything else, and let the caterer slice it up and who ever wants it goes and gets it...

It varies - A LOT.

Bringing them over to cut the cake can happen in 10 minutes. But if they get into a smush-fest it can take a bit to clean up - but I've never seen more than 20 minutes to clean up. The caterer is usually busy with cutting up the cake and getting it out to everyone so they don't have time to do the champagne.

Putting the toasts before might make sense but how does it affect the 'flow' overall.

I try to seperate the toasts out to a different time so that they don't get lost or overshadowed in the moment with the cake cutting.

That means most of the time I'll push the cake cutting til later or limit the 'toasting' to the bride and groom with arms intertwined as a photo op.

Most of the time I'll either try to push the toasts to the end of dinner or late in the night so that they get more attention. If I do them late in the night then the Bride and Groom usually say a little something at the end thanking everyone for showing, etc. as a reply to the toasts.

But looking at the whole event and designing the flow takes time. You want to flow smoothly from one to the next and build on the energy.

so, do you try to do a majority of things in the begining though? i tell the b/g thati encourage them to do the toast/cake/garter/boquet earlier because they want the most people there for those things. i also encourage them to not to more than their spotlight/daddy daughter/mother groom dances in a row before they open the dance floor because as special as those dances are for them, that the audience will get bored of it.

DJ-A,

I'll catch a lot of crap for saying this, and it's why I try not to put some of my thoughts on the forum and ask people to call so I can explain in more detail.

There are basically 4 levels of DJ's that do weddings.

Level 1 - Basic music. This is your typical club DJ that got suckered into doing a wedding. Call it what you will but don't expect any real annoucements - just lots of 'nightclub' type experience.

Level 2 - Basic music and announcements. This is what a lot of brides expect. Even though most DJ's say they'll MC the event, what they really mean is that they'll provide 'ANNOUNCEMENTS'. That means they're an ANNOUNCER - not an MC. They announce the bride and groom/bridal party. Maybe a few annouements during the night - but not a lot of interactivity. This is where most of the multi-op DJ's fall. They send out a guy to play music and maybe make some annoucements. Minimal planning goes into these events.

Level 3 - Music, MC, interactivity. This is where most of the higher end wedding DJ's fall. Think about when Billy Crystal MC'd the oscars. He did a lot more than just announce the next person up. He was interactive with the crowd, he ENTERTAINED. This level draws the crowd into the event through interactivity. There is a lot of planning at this level to create the interactivity and energy.

Level 4 - Hard core music, MC, interactivity, event direction. This level is where the entire event is designed from the ground up to create a certain atmosphere. The approach to these gigs is completely different but the highest paid guys are performing at this level. They put in 40 hours or more in just planning for the event. Think Peter Merry, Randy Bartlett, etc. And if you don't know those names don't worry about it - they're wedding and event DJ's. You probably only know them if you're doing a lot of mobile work and read up on mobile DJ boards and read the mobile DJ books.

Moving from level 1 to 2 is pretty easy. Level 2 to 3 is a lot harder as it requires a lot of mic work. Moving to level 4 is extremely difficult and requires a lot of dedication to both your craft and your customers.


You really need to find what sort of interactivity your customer wants and work to insure that's what they get. You also need to make sure you charge accordingly.

No, I intentionally spread out the formalities through the night.

I group the dances together because it makes sense. I typically do 3 dances in a row - first dance, Bride/Father, Groom/Mother - and maybe a bridal party dance to start off the open dancing. If I do a bridal party dance I usually try to open the dance floor half way through the song so I get people on the floor right away joining the bridal party instead of trying to come out of the groom/mother dance into open dancing.

If you want, give me a call tonight so we can discuss this in detail. I can give you a pretty good rundown on why I do some things and when. Otherwise I'll end up making a novel type post...

i'll definately take you up on that sometime. it would be awesome if i lived closer to you so i could see you in action. how long have you done weddings.

This is confusing to follow. Not sure, but I think A has the right idea about moving through all the formatities early on.

MM... your comment about "intentionally spreading out the formalities through the night" is also confusing. Then you follow that comment with grouping 3 dances in a row. Please explain...

It would probably be most helpful to show what flow/order of events works best for you.

Usually the way I do the dances is as follows (but everyone is different)

Right after the intro of the bridal pty and bride and groom i do there first dance, I do the parents much later so it doesn't take away from the bride and grooms special song

Right after the cake cutting which is about 2 hours later, I go right into the dance for the bride and dad for a quick 2 minutes and then the dance for the groom and mom this way the caterer and cut the cake up and have desert all ready after they are done dancing and we can sit everyone down for coffee and cake.

I understand... he groups the "Speciality" dances together and spreads the cake/garter/boquet toss through out the night.

i usually do those towards the begining and spread icebreakers throughout the night

this would be the whole night for me

7-8 cocktail hour
8-8:15, guests come into main room and find there seat
8:15, Grand entrance of the bridal party and Bride and groom
immediately followed by their first dance
sit everyone for first cours (salad, pasta, etc...)
8:30ish: toast by best man/Maid of honor
8:35: first dance set
from here till about 10:45 it's the usual, dance for a little then sit for next course

10:45ish (depending on the caterer) cut the cake,
bride/dad dance
groom/mom dance
bouquet and garter ceremony (if they are having one)
Desert time (about 11:00-11:10
usually i give them about 10-15 minutes to quickly have desert and then dance them until the end 12:00

(this summer) i've been lucky and had 1030-11 be average for end time

[swift hits snooze button on this thread]

LOL!

Like BriChi said, "everyone is different" and if it's workin for you then cooo. My point would be to move through all the formalities before opening up the dance floor (open dancing) WHY kill the party with another formality/garter toss when you have the dance floor crackin!???

lol... I'm supprised you're even rollin through this thread with all your "wedding hate". scratchlive.net

Agree with not killing the floor, but most caterers are going to want to do the cake cutting right before desert and then they want you to sit everyone for desert so the can serve it, so that is a good time to bore people with the parent dances and then dance them till the end.LOL

Also depends where u are from, some states run the formality crap different then other states

And i do mean "crap", god i hate DJing weddings, but hey, it's good money

I noticed that... I have never had a facility ask me to sit folks for cake/desert. I usually get the cake cut right after toasts, which gives the facility time to plate and serve it while the rest of the formalities are taking place. This way we don't have to kill the party.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^true^^^^^^^^^^



LOL Agreed,,,I'm out

^^^Yeah, I'm out also...

gonna go visit a more exciting thread where a-swift is talking about someone pissin on the dance floor.

OG droppin knowledge... Coming out the woodworks and "ish", lol...

hey now. c'mon, that shit was funny. oops. wtf am i doing back in here.

[snooze]

O.G. Coyote, Super genius. haha

Hahaha... caught me at the door. You must be busy... haven't seen much of ya latley. Got those weddings crackin!!!?

lol

That's my script for the next round of drops! Hahaha!

I've done a LOT of weddings. At this point my DJ company specializes in weddings and karaoke. I don't do much karaoke any more but nearly every single event I book is a wedding. I am developing a very interactive style that should put me as the highest paid wedding DJ in the area by the end of 2009. Less than 2 years from starting a new business to top of the wedding market locally? Trust me, I KNOW weddings. ;-)

Wedding order tends to be regional. What works for me may not work for you.

But for those of you that are thinking 'packed dancefloor' - try to stop thinking like a nightclub DJ (I'll catch hell for that comment, that's for sure!). This is a WEDDING. You want people to join in the celebration but what good is it going to do for grandma in the corner being bored while the B&G and friends are gettin' krunk on the dance floor? They'll pack it up and leave EARLY. And that's what some of my clients want.

My goals when I do a wedding?

1. Every single person that was there at the beginning is there at the end to see the B&G off.

2. At least one person from every generation come up to me and tell me how great the music was.

3. To come to the end and everyone say 'It's over already?'.

I sometimes run stuff together early - when the photographer is leaving early I tend to push more formalities early on but I have other interactive stuff I do later in the evening to break it up.

I play a lot more slow music at weddings. I drop a pair of slow songs every 45 minutes or less. When you drop the tempo down to something like 'Etta James- At Last' or What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong/Brother Iz) you have a lot of non-dancers hit the floor and the 'fast dancers' tend to leave it. But it gets more interation from everyone there. It also lets me vary the music more. I can come out of a slow dance set with country music for the two steppers, roll into southern rock for the rednecks, danceable rock for the AC/DC, Def Leppard crowd, drop some 80's tracks for the 'rents and then modern club music for the bridal party - and that's just in an hour to hour and a half!

As for the dances boring people, if you do them right they don't have to be boring.

Start thinking outside the box and study up on weddings and the top wedding professionals in the industry. The things you can do to bring up the energy in the room without even using the dancefloor is amazing!

And I want to extend this invitation to all the DJ's on this board:

If you're ever in Northwest Florida and want to see me perform let me know in advance. As long as you don't mind helping me haul in gear and you can dress AND act professionally (you'll need a nice suit or tux) I'll arrange for you to come along on a gig with me to see what I do.

Dammit.... I knew that would happen... a post that reads like a novela.... go figure...

lol

a while back before i became a dj i attended a family friends wedding reception and the dj played a bunch of scratched prime time party mix cds. the macarena jam was skipping every 5 secs and everyone on the floor went off beat and got frustrated. the dj was introuble, he played achy breaky heart and so far so good for 30 seconds then sk sk sk sks sk sks ski p pp ppppp.

it was hillarious seeing people desperately trying to dance to it after the dj wiped the cd and played it again and again with the same results.

i remember someone ran out to the car, i think it was my aunt and busted out the cassette, the whole side a was macarena. lol. it was on after that.

Just like club DJ's... there are good, there are great, there are ok, there are bad, and there are 'What in the hell is this person doing trying to DJ?'.

Guess you got one of the latter.

lol

the dj at our wedding was pretty good, even tho we pretty much picked our music ;) they even went the extra mile to make sure we had a good time.

we planned with the dj, when we were gonna cut the cake my wife and i were gonna turn around and spray the wedding party with whip cream. the dj's even bought whip cream. at the last min the manager of the hall said we couldnt do it, so the mc sent the dj to a party store to get silly string. still all worked out. cant beleive he found silly string at 10pm lol.

Silly string at 10pm? No problem.... Wal-Mart carries it. ;-)

I'm planning my wedding for next October currently (it will be held in Tennessee)... I've pretty much decided on a DJ though... he'll be flying in from So. Cal to do my wedding....

Once again ChrisS and MusicMeister. Keep the positive comments OUT OF THIS THREAD. This is for wanna-be wedding DJ's. Had a great wedding DJ? Make your own thread. :)

LOL thats funny... we only want to hear about wack wedding around here!!

if you want to talk to the mic, then that is MCing.
DJing is for playin music!

how about PRO wedding dj??? they are gettin paid to get lots $$$. just to MC? then call them wedding MCs!

*bring in the negativity!!

One of the highest paid guys that some consider a 'wedding DJ' uses the term:

Wedding Entertainment Director

I don't care what you call him....$5K per wedding gig, no lights or other 'props' is good money. $5900 if he does the ceremony as well. And when you think about him doing 2 weddings on a weekend in peak season it starts putting things into perspective.

Doing more than playing music PAYS. But only if you're able to get on the mic, motivate people and work a room. Trying to do it when it's not what you're good at doing can create a disaster.

Is it your dream to marry a Wedding Entertainment Director in the future MM? You sure sound like it. lol

LOL

do you have his website?

sixxx,

No. My intent is to join the WED guild once I have all my paperwork in order.

His website:
www.merryweddings.com

what a fruity...

dude is in Ladera Ranch CA..... lol

is that fruitville?

he's swift's neighbor....

other side of a toll freeway is the now famous Coto de Caza - put on the map by the Desperate Housewives.

hell, if i make a site like that and it gets me $5000 per gig...

what if we all charge our customers $4500 per gig??? (discounted of course) lol!

^^i'm down...

here's another microwave i've catched in action, using winamp! ;( grrrrrr

img329.imageshack.us
img329.imageshack.us
img329.imageshack.us

omg, he forgot to friggin plug his "corded" mic? img329.imageshack.us

arrrrggg!!! wtf

Say what? That's a cordless beside the computer....

And if you're going to DJ with a computer at least get a professional tool to do it with. Winamp is NOT a professional tool. Neither is iTunes...

oh yeah, the gig I did..it went pretty well..for the younger crowd. I didn't really care much for the older crowd..doubt they wanna dance anyways, lol

if anything, i'm thankful i was of the same ethnic background so that was easier