Budget dilemma. Music

Checkout the DJ prices on weddingwire. Make sure you sort of match up what you would get with your cousin and what the listed DJ vendors have. You have one of those odd situations where you could hope for a discount. The alternative way to see this is that you would (hopefully) rather have the money go to family than to strangers -- all other aspects being equal.

The other way to look at it is I would never ask a close cousin to work at my wedding as opposed to being a guest. A discount is always nice, but you'd be expecting him to give up his regular income which is not fair either.

As far as prices go, that is entirely dependent on location, experience and reputation of the DJ. Where I live some DJs can earn as much or more than a live band.

No one is entitled to a discount. Support your friends and family who are small business owners and pay them a livable wage so they can stay in business. Think of it this way: if music is one of your top 3 priorities, then financially invest in this without regret. If it is not, then use an iPad and put your money into that which you do care. Not everything has to be top of the line, nor does everything have to be the cheapest option either.

Well, I haven't researched local-to-you DJ prices, so I have no idea if his rate is reasonable. But I do know you should set aside your annoyance that he won't give you a discount. If he were getting married, would you give him a present worth many hundreds of dollars? People are allowed to earn a living, even if they have cousins.

Just shop around for something you can afford. Sounds like you will be much better off hiring someone you aren't related to so there's no resentment anyway.

I don't know where you're located, but $1200 for a wedding DJ is an amazing deal as far as I'm concerned. In my area, the standard range is $****. I'm paying a bit more than that for a well known DJ. I don't even think I could find a good DJ for 1200 in my city, but you should look up average costs around you.