Call with dj today

I would personally have a DJ there for my cocktail hour as well. Who is playing your ceremony music? Are you having a musician? Using a bluetooth radio etc? Our DJ for our big wedding will be playing all of our music.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! That’s what I thought they’d be needed for to. We aren’t having a musician. Also, does the DJ provide the mics for the ceremony or does that depend on venue?

As for whether you would need more than four hours, that depends on your timeline. What time does your reception start, and what time do you need to be out of there by? If you would like him to play music at your ceremony, definitely ask about cost to add that! Also, ask about the cost for adding hours onto the reception package (just in case you decide if you want more than 4 hours). Ask about what types of music he plays during cocktail hour and dinner, what are some of his go-to songs to get people on the dance floor, does he include any kind of light setup (uplighting and/or dance floor lights), what are his cancellation/postponement/COVID policies, will he send a replacement if he's sick on your wedding day, how far in advance would he arrive to the wedding to setup his equipment, does setup/tear down time count towards the 4 hours (hopefully his answer to this question is no), does he have any videos from previous wedding receptions that you can watch to get an idea of how he works, etc. Here is an article with a list of other questions to consider asking as well: https://www.theknot.com/content/amphtml/wedding-reception-music-questions-to-ask-a-band

View Quoted Comment

That definitely depends on the DJ. Our DJ will provide the mics as well but that may not be a universal thing. That's definitely something to ask for and whether or not he/she offers any packages to play ceremony music and how much it will cost to add a few hours.

View Quoted Comment This is so helpful thank you! Also this is prob a silly question but if our event ends at 10P, does our venue charge us more for their breakdown or is that kind of something that’s okay as long as reception ended?

View Quoted Comment Thank you so much!

View Quoted Comment I would check with the venue on that - some are strict on timing, others are a little more lenient. Overall, I *think* that the end time typically doesn't include cleanup/tear down time (meaning, you can party until 10pm, then start cleanup at 10pm). Most of the time, the venue breakdown shouldn't be an extra charge. Though definitely read the fine print on your contract and ask your venue to double check the answer on that.

View Quoted Comment Thank you!!

Daughter's ceremony, cocktail hour and reception were all at the same venue. The ceremony began at 3:30 and the reception ended at 10 pm. The DJ's contract covered playing music, providing microphones, and him covering all announcements/etc. from 3-10 pm. I believe he was onsite by 2, at the latest, to set up two different "stations" for himself -- one on the patio where the ceremony and cocktail hour occurred and then the second in the open-air pavilion reception space. I believe he was probably packed up and out of the venue by around 10:30, which was within the venue timeline. Daughter adored her DJ, and he did an awesome job of keeping the timeline for the entire wedding and engaging guests -- and, as an added bonus he was also a "preferred vendor" at her venue and had a great relationship with the event coordinator and tons of experience at the venue, so everything was pretty much seamless. Ask tons of questions of both your venue/event coordinator and the DJ to help ensure things turn out the way you want them to. Good luck!

We had our DJ for 6 hours. 4 hours does not sound like enough time to me.

Yeah mine does standard packages of four but I added an extra hour

Most DJs I saw, start their package at 4 hours with addition to add more. Mine said that the most popular option was for 6.5 hours, which would typically include ceremony, cocktail hour and reception!