DJing Weddings
DJs love weddings because they are well paying and fairly common gigs. DJing weddings does take a bit of planning and sometimes a bit of deviation from your normal play list.
DJing Weddings
I recently talked to a female DJ in the New Jersey area that told me she was booked up solid for two years on weekends mostly for wedding receptions. Her services were so popular that some couples were putting off setting the date for their own weddings for almost a year just so they can have her services. This is why DJing weddings are so popular with most DJs. In some ways, they can be a pain and not as much fun as other types of gigs, but they do pay the bills.
What makes a wedding a bit different than a fraternity party is the age diversity. When someone is holding a wild weekend bash, they do not usually invite grandma or their little nephews. The age of the guests tends to fit within a certain range, and although any DJ understands the amazing musical taste range of any given group, at a wedding they have to anticipate requests that range from the Sesame Street theme song to some Frank Sinatra standards.
Another thing is the format of the typical wedding reception. Parties tend to be a bit more freeform, but the wedding has a lot of traditional stopping points such as the cake cutting and the garter toss. It is hard to create and maintain a groove when you suddenly have to shut down the music to allow the best man to make a ten minute toast. You can not escape these interruptions either. They are way more important to the success of the wedding reception than your choice of music.
You are often expected to act as the Master of Ceremonies at a wedding, but you should never volunteer for the job. If you are doing a lot of weddings, a bit of research on wedding protocol in advance will help a lot. Also, remember that the bride and groom and their families are the important people here and you really need to be catering to them. It is not as important that the pretty bride’s maid that is giving you the eye has the time of her life as it is the bride.
Weddings can be a DJ goldmine if you do them right and take a little bit of effort. If you approach the wedding with the idea that this time it is not going to be you that is the real star of the show, but rather the happy couple, you should do fine. Besides, at most wedding receptions, once the bride and groom and the kids and grandparents have left, and a bit of alcohol has flowed, sometimes things can really jam.