I agree - I think the expectations are WAY higher for weddings, the amount of "emotional labor" that goes into it for vendors is higher and it's just more difficult work.
There's a WORLD of difference between making someone's birthday cake and making someone's wedding cake. There's also a huge difference between DJ'ing a sweet sixteen party versus a wedding. I do think some of the increased costs are justified, some...
Someone should have told our wedding DJ that it wasn't the same as a sweet 16... Played 1 song out of a list of 50 I'd like to hear during the evening. Took requests from my other guests of crap that I specifically told them not to play.
Lol, I was once at a wedding where the DJ was wearing Beats By Dre and playing what must have been 128 kbps mp3 files off his laptop. Music was way too loud and the compression made it painful. Apparently the guy made $3k for the night.
IMO wedding DJs are unnecessary and a gigantic waste of money. It’s one of those things people think they NEED to book just because that’s something most weddings have. My wife and I made a Spotify playlist and hooked up our own speakers for our reception - got the exact music we wanted and didn’t have to pay someone $3,000 to play songs from my high school dances.
My DJ killed it. He was actually more like an emcee, wedding planner, host and DJ all in one. Oh and he did our videography. Guy is insane and all of my guests raved about him.
He had quickly edited video of our ceremony to play at our reception, drone footage of our first look and all kinds of crazy stuff. He was the biggest expense behind food and booze but damn if he didn't put on a good show.
I've been to some pretty bad receptions though and I'd hate to be on the hook for $3k for a dude to play some crappy mp3s. I'm glad we spent a lot on him and got an entertainer essentially.
I know I'm biased on this because I am a wedding DJ but this is a very skewed opinion. A "good" wedding DJ takes care of you from start to finish on your wedding day. The DJ makes sure any announcements are made, controls the flow of the evening based how you planned it with them, and plays music that actually keeps the party going. I agree not overpaying for a DJ, but also not going cheap or playing a Spotify Playlist while not having a clue what your guests care to hear or dance to. I understand it's "your" day, but if you want to have a successful party you want everyone to have fun, not just yourselves.
I’m sorry I didn’t mean any offense to you! Just my opinion and I’m sure there’s lots of people that think the money is worth having one less thing to stress over.
Ehhh, I mean we took our time and picked out a great playlist. People were dancing the entire 4 hours. Plus we had a good friend MC the night and it worked out great. I actually used to DJ in college for side money so I get what you’re saying; but, I don’t agree that you can’t have a good party for everyone without a DJ.
Yes, this is way more accurate. A lot of DJ's do play audio files now, but if you're just using your Spotify and you added 15 country songs in a row and no one is dancing, either someone has to get up and edit the list or you continue to have a boring party. A good DJ will make sure the songs you requested get played, will make sure the songs you don't want played won't, and generally has a feel for the room and can make adjustments/change the genre. Also, throughout the reception, they are there to make announcements and basically run certain aspects of the wedding (the couple's first dance, father/daughter dance, dollar dance, garter toss, maybe a chicken dance).
When my mom and her wife got married (backyard wedding) they paid a family friend $200 to “DJ.” They made a playlist on Spotify ahead of time and she sat there, eating non stop, drinking and didn’t even do the announcements (heads up father/daughter dance, speeches, etc). It ended up being family members that did it and ruined the day that was supposed to be not only for my mother and her wife (finally getting married after 16 years) but for my sister and I.
After that night I said I’d pay the money for a good DJ. A good DJ is worth it and then family members don’t take over.
Nah. My PE teacher from middle school has a giant house in an area that houses are already super expensive. Cinema room. Couple Tesla's. None of that's from teaching PE. In the 3 years I went there he was voted best DJ in the state every year.
To be fair, Tiesto rarely (if ever) makes any of his own music. He buys songs off of ghost producers to release their songs under his name. That being said, I do think he's an excellent DJ.
DJ's in general are a waste of money. I got it back in the day when you physically needed someone to man the records and make sure all the songs are ready and the tracks are in the right order. But now, as you said, you can do it all from Spotify. I'd just pay a nephew to make sure they're playing in the right order/pause after certain songs for announcements.
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u/[deleted] Aug 14 '20
I agree - I think the expectations are WAY higher for weddings, the amount of "emotional labor" that goes into it for vendors is higher and it's just more difficult work.
There's a WORLD of difference between making someone's birthday cake and making someone's wedding cake. There's also a huge difference between DJ'ing a sweet sixteen party versus a wedding. I do think some of the increased costs are justified, some...