Are DJ services really necessary?

Hire someone. Don't ask your guests to do things for you on your wedding day.

Do not ask friends to work on your wedding day. Everyone here is a budget bride. We just plan for the wedding we can afford.

If you're wanting people to actually dance definitely get a DJ. If you want the reception to end early and just want background music use the MP3 or Spotify.

Hire a Dj

My venue also has all those things but we're still having a DJ. A DJ knows how to feel out a crowd and play music that the crowd is feeling, they also know how to amp up the crowd and a good DJ will keep the party going.

There's a reason why DJ's cost upwards of $100/hour, it's because they're good at their jobs and can keep the party going. Pandora costs $5 to play the same songs on repeat every hour, hire the DJ

Definitely hire the DJ. I went to a Spotify reception and no one danced past the first few obligatory ones. It felt like we were at a teenager's house party, not a wedding.

Definitely hire a DJ!

Pandora cannot keep the flow of the evening going and get people on the dance floor like a professional DJ can. Please dont make your friends work at your wedding.

Hire a professional.

I would recommend a DJ. I am sure it works for some but I've seen it turn into a mess. The last wedding I went to used a play list. Mysic kept repeating, stopping etc. People couldn't hear the speeches. The groom was begging people to dance. The alcohol made it laughable but it definitely put more work of the groom and his GM's.

DJs do more than you think. I wouldn't trust somebody who wasn't a professional to keep things on track and keep the party going the whole time. I guess if you don't care that nobody dances then you can just have a laptop but I would never want that stress on top of all the other wedding related stress the day of

I'm also a budget bride, but we're hiring a DJ. Don't have a friend work for you. Also, if something went wrong and music wasn't playing, the reception would be ending early.

I agree with PP's. You should definitely hire a DJ. They are professionals and know how to keep the flow of everything going. They make announcements, they keep the energy going and set the mood for the whole night. You do not want to make your friends work on your wedding day. They should be able to enjoy the celebration with you. My venue also has speakers throughout the entire building with their sound system and I am still hiring a DJ. My DJ will provide wireless speakers for the groom and officiant, they will be the emcee for the entire evening and keep things fun and entertaining.

Yes, IMO a DJ is necessary. A great DJ does so much more than play music. I suggest you make some room in your budget.

We're pretty much all budget brides. Except for the men - they're budget grooms.

Depending on the type of wedding you want, you could go with or without a DJ but do not ask your friends to work your wedding.

Originally I wanted to go the no DJ route... Until I read something on DIYing your play list. There's little things you don't even think about, such as there will be a brief pause between songs on your own playlist... Not the worst thing ever, but a DJ can keep the music constant so that there's never a pause and it never kills anyone's dancing vibe. Obviously an experienced DJ can read the crowd and know what to play and what will go over well. Not so much with your Pandora list.

I also really liked the idea of having a professional emcee, to keep things running. It's also just generally a lot less stress on my wedding day; no one will have to be running around figuring out how to set up a sound system. My DJ will be there and ready when the reception starts, and the company told me that they've done several weddings at my venue and are quite familiar with it.

Honestly, I don't even really dance, but I still found the DJ important because I know my guests will want to dance, and I want to make sure they'll have a good time. What else will they do? Some visiting, sure, but realistically when you break the time down by the amount of guests I have, I won't get to spend more than a couple minutes with each guest, so I want to make sure they have something to do if they're bored visiting each other, and I want to make sure that it's done right.

I spent a couple weeks researching DJs and sorting through Google search results, the Wedding Wire Vendor tab, the Knot vendor tab, and looking through a catalog specific to my area. It took some doing but I found a very budget friendly DJ with fantastic reviews, and I was sold on them from the very first email I got back from them (which was within 10 minutes of me sending them an inquiry).

So I'm team DJ, and I think if you do your homework and play with your budget you can probably make it work, and you'll probably be glad you did.

Thanks everyone! I suppose we will need to cut corners elsewhere to afford one. Because we decided the photos are our biggest takeaway from the day, we hired THE best photographer in town (also one of the most expensive) thinking we could cut out the DJ since the equipment is included.

Hire someone it will be much easier and less stressful. Our DJ is also working as our coordinator so we didn't have to pay extra for a DOC

In the grand scheme of things, it's not that much and your reception will need it! Don't ask your friends who are supposed to be able to enjoy your day with you to work it! No friendors! You'll be glad you hired a DJ in the long run.

OP areas you can cut to afford the DJ, favors, printed programs, menus or napkins, cut back on table decor to name a few