To DJ or not to DJ at your wedding

With all the wedding professionals out there, each one has a purpose and each one is uniquely important. The wedding planner, often the brains of the wedding, taking the pressure off the bride and making it all come together. The cake maker, bring you that taste treat that is a beautiful ending to a fun evening. And to have that fun evening you’ll need that DJ, which is the heart of any good wedding.

I bring up the DJ because as a photographer I’m often relying on the DJ for information on how the evening will go. I know with a good DJ, the dance floor will be hoping, and keeping the evening events moving in a forward motion. Many of my friends are DJ’s and I wanted to say a few words on their behalf to thank them for making my job easier and bringing me to fun photos and videos I have to for the brides and grooms out there.

The Disc Jockey:
What I have come to realize is a commanding person. They are often confident in their abilities and will control the rhythm of the party to suit the needs of the wedding couple. Without a good DJ, events often spiral out of control and before long, its 11pm and you haven’t even cut your cake yet. The DJ often is fun and entertaining, as they will often be the focus of attention when on the microphone, and bringing the spotlight onto the newly wedded couple. As the lights are dimmed and the music is playing the new husband and wife will enjoy that special song that they will remember forever as “their Song”. More often than not, the DJ will bring tears to your eyes as you are on the dance floor dancing to that special song and you glide along with your parents, the daughter with her father, or the son with his mother. I have seen the father get choked up with tears dancing with this daughter or the mother’s face buried in her son’s chest, probably thinking back to when their kids where just babies. It’s the DJ that helps bring those feelings to the surface and lets it all show on this one special day.

“Hey Mr. DJ keep playing that Song”, it’s those songs that bring out the craziest dancers out on dance floor and allows me to get the coolest dance pictures. And with the right DJ you’ll even have the groom out there on the dance floor cutting a rug, as they say. There are a lot times when I need to steal the bride and groom away for pictures and it will be the DJ watching my back keeping the dance floor going and the rest of the party entertained while I’m out taking the photos.

Without a doubt a DJ for a wedding is your wedding reception life blood and to have things go smoothly you’ll need said DJ. When looking for a DJ keep some of the following things in mind:
1. Ask for references, names and numbers of people who they have done weddings for. Testimonials are ok, but they could be fabricated.
2. Meet with the DJ before you wedding, you want to meet the person who will be at your wedding and see if personalities click. And make sure who you are speaking with is the person who will actually be the one showing up.
3. Inquire about the DJ Equipment: Do they have backups? Any kind of lighting? Are they using Discs (they can skip in players) or laptops (who library of MP3s)?
4. Do they travel to your venue? If the DJ is not local find out if there is a travel fee, sometimes that gets sneaked in and you don’t want an unexpected bill.
5. Also check to see how much it costs for an extra hour or two, I’ve been to a lot of weddings where the party just isn’t done yet, people are still having a good time and they don’t want the DJ to leave.

If you are in and around the Eastern Shore area, like Ocean City, Maryland or Rehoboth Beach, Delaware I have a few suggestions of DJ’s that I have worked with on several occasions and found their performance to be outstanding. The following DJs are in order based on their names and not listed by who is better than whom.
Justin Darling – 443-527-1778 - thatdjguy@comcast.net
Justin Mac – 410-726-7936 - keep.livin@gmail.com
Leo Weigand – 800-439-6600 – leosometimes@gmail.com
Jason Williams – 410-845-9425 - jawzhouse@yahoo.com