Practical guide
Wedding and DJ: understanding the rates to make the right choice
During your search for a DJ, you might be thinking, “I want a top DJ!” and “I need a good DJ at the best price.” As a starting point, I invite you to take a closer look at this profession.
Understand that being a DJ is work
When planning your wedding, you’re likely envisioning your dream wedding. It’s good to start there, meaning, start without compromising. Ask yourself the right questions: What do you expect from your wedding? What did you like about the weddings you’ve attended? What would you have liked to see more of? What do you expect from your DJ?
At first glance, a DJ seems like someone who just plays cool music, enjoys themselves, and creates a festive atmosphere. They get offered drinks and enjoy a good wedding meal. The reality is quite different…
First, a DJ needs to communicate about their work to find clients. They might have invested in a website or advertising. You might meet your DJ through recommendations or word of mouth, but in any case, you’ll hear about them because they will have made an effort to get known.
Next, a DJ needs a lot of equipment to perform their job. This includes a utility vehicle, a turntable, a mixing desk, headphones, microphones, speakers, a sound system, lighting rigs, a laser projector, heavy smoke, screens, a computer, and more. A DJ could have over €25,000 worth of equipment. Some of this equipment needs to be replaced every 2 to 3 years, and damaged items, like a dropped microphone, need to be replaced.
Before working with you, a DJ will likely present a quote. To draft this, they will have had a first meeting with you. If you choose them for your wedding, they’ll likely have another meeting to agree on the type of music and activities you expect. They will then prepare a playlist to meet your expectations.
If your event is far from their base, your DJ might have to drive up to an hour. Be mindful, as some DJs will charge for travel expenses.
Setting up their equipment will probably take the DJ 2 to 5 hours. Fortunately, packing up will take only 1 to 2 hours.
A good rule of thumb for estimating the actual work time needed by your DJ is to consider that for every hour of performance, there’s an additional hour of work. In other words, if your DJ is performing from 6 PM to 4 AM, that’s 10 hours of entertainment, so they will have worked 20 hours in total for you. It’s important to understand this to have a good perception of a DJ’s rates for a wedding.
