The #1 Misconception About The Cost Of A Wedding DJ
If you’re planning a wedding you may be shopping around for wedding DJs and wondering why wedding DJs cost so much. Well, there are lots of reasons, most of which are easy to overlook for someone who isn’t in the business of DJing weddings. At first glance, you’ll see we charge $495 for up to 5 hours of service with our Gold DJ package, which seems like $100 per hour. If only it worked at that way. First, let’s look at this major misconception.
A lot more goes into DJing a wedding than the hours the DJ is playing music. Personally, I have my DJ equipment set up at my house, so when I go out to DJ I have to break it all down, pack it up, and load it into the minivan, then drive to the venue (which can be quite far at times), then carry all of the gear to where ever I’ll be setting up, then set it up again, with extra time because you want to be set up early, and then the 5 hours starts.
After DJing and MCing for 5 hours, I start the process of breaking it down again, loading up the vehicle, driving home, then carrying the equipment back inside, and eventually I get back to setting it back up.
Plus we work with wedding couples before the wedding to create a wedding plan that outlines the order of events and what music they’d like played during each portion of the day. When you factor in the time spent communicating with the client before getting hired, the time spent acquiring the client (marketing, lead generation, etc.), the time spent with clients who didn’t book, downloading music for the event, and all of the other small things that need to be done in order to make a business successful, it ends up being a lot less pay per hour than you’d expect.
We haven’t even went over expenses yet! Not only do we work far more than the time we’re book to play music, we don’t bring home all of the money to keep! The government takes a big chunk of our profits. Things break and get lost so they continually need to be replaced. We have to pay for gas, tolls and parking in some cases, and all kinds of other expenses. Unfortunately, the revenue a wedding DJ brings in is not all profit.
An Experienced Wedding DJ Costs More
Let me be frank, you need an experienced wedding DJ. As I mentioned in this blog post about the difference between a regular DJ and a wedding DJ, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when you hire a DJ for his/her first wedding. Heck, I’ve been there myself! Like with anything, you get better with experience. Don’t let a DJ learn the ropes at your wedding. Let an experienced wedding DJ to handle your big day for you so you can have peace of mind knowing it’s in the hands of a professional.
Most professional wedding DJs didn’t start DJing weddings. Weddings demand a lot of responsibility (more on this in a minute). Typically, a person will be a DJ for many years before they DJ their first wedding. Then, after DJing many weddings, they become a seasoned pro, which is what you want. Because you want a DJ with wedding experience, and it’s likely that DJ has years of experience before he even DJ’d his first wedding, you’re looking for a DJ with lots of experience, which weeds out a lot of the DJs just starting out who are willing to work for bottom dollar. Though the decision of whether or not to trust an inexperienced DJ with your wedding is your decision to make, why would you want to chance one of the biggest days of your life to save a couple hundred bucks?
Weddings Aren’t Easy
Weddings are tough! They’re one of the most challenging gigs a DJ can do. That’s why they must be one of the most rewarding gigs a DJ does. Otherwise, many more DJs will choose to go after the easy gigs that pay the same amount. Wedding DJs spend a lot of time preparing for the gig because weddings are so much responsibility. They’re a once-in-a-lifetime event, and one of the biggest days of a person’s life, so there’s no room for errors. A wedding DJ has to be on point!
Wedding DJs also have to MC, meaning they also have to conduct the event via the microphone. This is a separate skill from DJing. In fact, some companies include 2 people in their packages – 1 DJ & 1 MC. It’s more challenging having to DJ & MC at the same time than it is to just DJ. Click here to see an example of myself doing the announcements as a wedding party makes their Grand Entrance into the reception.
Often times a DJ can just show up and play music without even having to set up any equipment. That is almost never the case for wedding DJs. We usually don’t have a sound system to plug into. Typically we have to bring in our own sound equipment, DJ booth, and everything else that comes along with it.
A professional wedding DJ should arrive prepared for any situation that arises. He will bring things like backup equipment, pen and paper, gaff tape, long extension cords, and anything else to prepare for unexpected circumstances. These little things help separate mediocre wedding DJs from seasoned professionals, and they could potentially prevent a disaster.
Weddings Are Usually Held On Saturdays
Weddings primarily take place on Saturdays. That means if you’re a wedding DJ, most people want to hire you on the same day of the week, leaving the other six days empty. DJs that primarily do weddings may not get a lot of bookings throughout the week, so they must earn a living on the one day a week they’re in high demand. Otherwise they might have to take some of their focus off of weddings and put it in other areas that will make them some more money.
How much attention can a DJ give to a wedding when they’re bogged down with a “real” job during the week? Even worse, how much attention can they give to those last minute changes made right before the wedding? (Happens more than you’d think) To make a living, a wedding DJ needs to charge a substantial amount for his services.
Wedding DJ Equipment
A wedding DJ is required to have more equipment than an ordinary DJ. First, he needs to have backup equipment just in case of any equipment failures. A DJ can get by with just one laptop, but if it crashes on your wedding day you’ve got big problems! A pro wedding DJ has backups of all the necessary gear so that if any of it stops working, there’s a replacement. That’s twice the stuff to buy, and twice the stuff the lug around. Don’t you think they should be compensated more for that? After all, you’re paying for the peace of mind, knowing that your wedding is in the hands of a professional.
Besides having to carry an entire DJ set up around, a wedding DJ also needs to have other gear that other DJs probably won’t have or need. For example, see our blog post about why a wedding DJ needs to have two different types of wireless mics.
Other DJs and sound guys can get away with having beat up equipment. Because weddings should be beautiful, and the DJ’s gear is a central focal point, it’s important for a wedding DJ to have new, nice-looking equipment. Therefore, a wedding DJ might need to place more care and caution when handling his gear, purchase new gear sooner so that his set up looks nice and new, and/or purchase protective cases to extend the life of his gear. This added care and cost also affects the DJ’s cost of doing business, which needs to be reflected in his prices. Click here to learn more about our premium DJ booth included in our Gold Package.
Professional Appearance
Do you want your wedding DJ to look and dress professional? Everyone else at the wedding will be looking their best, why shouldn’t the DJ? A professional wedding DJ should be dressed too impress. At least as much as the guests. They should be well groomed too. Here in Florida it gets really hot, especially in the summer. DJs have to carry a lot of equipment back and forth, and set up, so some times they can get pretty sweaty. Fortunately, a good wedding DJ will be prepared for the worse and even have a spare outfit to wear in case he gets too sweaty, or something spills on his clothes, or for what ever reason he needs to change clothes.
Need A Wedding DJ?
If so, contact us about our services for your big day! If you’re still looking around, here’s a list of 10 questions to ask DJs before hiring them.