You Want To Work As A DJ At Weddings?
Perhaps you feel like you’re continually being undervalued in your club gig: There’s a lot of truth to the rumor that the wedding business offers huge financial incentives, as you may have heard. Perhaps all you desire is a change of scenery. I was a DJ in clubs and on the radio once. I knew that returning to the same old club routine would be a near-certain death, but I missed spinning music for an audience after taking a hiatus of more than ten years. At that point, I made the decision to launch my wedding DJ company, which flourished in just two years of operation.
Before committing, there are a few key distinctions between thrilling a club audience and a wedding venue dance floor to take into account. I’ll expose you to a few of them in this post so you can determine if you want to DJ weddings or not.
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Before we continue, let me say this: This article is intended for those who have some DJ experience. Whatever environment you perform in, you must be somewhat knowledgeable about music, have some experience mixing tracks, and be at least somewhat at ease with the DJing platform—whether it Serato, Traktor, CDJs, or even vinyl. Starting your DJ career in the professional wedding sector is not a recommended course of action.
Individual or part of a team?
If you want to become a wedding DJ, you must choose between starting your own firm and working for an existing DJ company. If you don’t think you can quickly gain your “sea legs,” it could be advisable to start with an established multi-op, which is a mobile DJ business that employs a large number of DJs. Additionally, you could receive mentoring from some of the industry’s veteran DJs and acquire useful real-world experience.
Be advised that the first few years will be difficult, so if you decide to forge forward and start on your own, you should consider the “long game.” Purchasing gear, making music, running ads, and even just attempting to pace oneself while taking on additional gigs are all difficult tasks. The business side of things may take up many days to discuss, but that will be for an other piece.
You are more than simply a DJ now.
Being a wedding DJ comes with certain early realities, one of which is that DJing is only a small part of a bigger service. Not only are you being hired by the couple for your music selection and mixing skills, but also for your ability to work with the venue and other vendors.
One of the most crucial parts of being a wedding DJ is being able to oversee the timetable for the evening. Another crucial component is ensuring that the venue and vendors are all operating on the same schedule. Say you want to start a particular dance, but the photographers and videographers aren’t ready yet, or you want to start the cake-cutting song before you’re sure everything is ready.
Not to mention, you’ll need to dedicate time to getting ready for someone else’s big day if you work as a wedding DJ. To make sure that everything is handled, that you have all of the couple’s favorite music, and that you are aware of the schedule for the day, you may need to spend several hours, if not days, planning both with them and alone.
Do you need to MC?
A lot of DJs also serve as the MC. I can tell you that there are some technical obstacles you must go beyond because I fall into this group. To capture the attention of the crowd from behind the DJ booth, for example, you’ll need to have good microphone abilities. You’ll also need to be alert while cueing music and fading in and out of tracks at precisely the appropriate moment.
At times, you may have to play fifteen songs in a short period of time while also shouting out the names of partygoers! Don’t get me wrong: DJing at weddings is an intimidating experience. Keep in mind that there are no go-backs, no redos, and no rewind buttons, so you might not want to MC if you can’t operate under this kind of pressure.
DJs at weddings don’t always have to worry about the items I listed. Perhaps you’ll work for a multi-op, in which case they’ll take care of all the details of the event before the wedding. Alternatively, an MC may be present to assist with all mic work. It’s possible that the couple you’re DJing for has a legitimate wedding planner. If so, spin away and count your blessings.
However, based on my experience, I serve in some capacity as a pseudo-coordinator for more than 75% of the weddings I attend. My one piece of advise, if you follow suit, is to be organized and take notes. In order to have a great event, it will be essential that you call up and remember the information you have learned from your contacts with couples, vendors, and venues. You can then use that information to duplicate most of the parts and have many more successful weddings in the future.
Just keep in mind that each wedding is different and needs all of your attention. More than in any other DJing setting, being flexible and adaptive boosts your chances of success here.