How much control did you give your DJ?

We gave our DJ an outline of our theme and the feel of what we wanted. He's going to go over the song list with us two weeks before the wedding to make sure we have no objections. I also made it very clear that there is not to be any rap either.

I'm paying the guy like $1600, he better do most of the work

Basically complete control. Just told him uplighting colors, first dance song, and father/daughter dance song. Also told him no Bieber and then trusted that they know what they're doing.

I mean, I keep saying he'll be picking most of the songs but my must play list just keeps getting longer and longer...

We have a band, but we'll give them pretty much complete control. We'll probably choose our first dance, father/daughter, and mother/son and leave the rest up to them.

Ours had a packet we filled out with our songs (first dance, cake cutting, etc) and general music preferences. I've been to many events that he has done in the past, and he's amazing at playing his crowd, so we just gave him control. He was wonderful and I have received so many compliments on his work,

I have faith in my DJ and he also has a great online planning form. But like @Jessica, I'll hear a song I love and say "Oh I would love to hear this at the wedding!" So I have to find the line where I'm hearing what I really want to hear but also just having fun and being surprised.

I did things a little differently from others I think because we have eclectic taste (folk, bluegrass, jazz, 60s/70s folk/rock). Luckily, it worked out for us, and I've had guests tell me that the music was fantastic both the DJ and live band (people are still telling me this 4 months after our wedding).

I gave him a HUGE excel spreadsheet of music with genre tags. I told him what our key music would be. I also gave him a "must play" list of about 15 songs (which I then made into a playlist for DH and myself that we listened to on the drive to our HM) and then let the DJ pick the rest based on our music taste that was demonstrated in the spreadsheet. I also said "No pop music, no top 40s, no line dance music, no rap, no r&b".

Our DJ had an online song list that we made. He pretty much had us put the whole playlist together. We did it, but we also told him we trusted him to keep the party going and not to worry about going exactly to the list. He definitely didn't stick to the list, but we had an absolute blast all night!

We're giving the big songs a basic timeline and what type of feel we want for the cocktail hour and such and then letting him do the rest.

ETA:I feel that if you don't trust your DJ then you shouldn't be working with them, otherwise why are you paying them vs just having an ipod hooked to speakers?

Except for special dances and cake cutting, we told ours just to play off the crowd. The only rule we gave was no rap.

Our DJ told us he prefers we give him a do not play list, the songs for the ceremony and special dances and a must play list of 6-12 songs. He will fill in the rest. We trust he knows what he is doing, so we are giving him most of the control.

Same as RJmargo however we mentioned doing a song line on our RSVP and he said he liked that idea because it would give him a feel of the guests and what will get (and keep) them dancing. He said obviously he's not going to play exclusively off of their list, but it will be and great tool.

We gave complete control to the dj. I know multiple people who recommended this dj and loved them so I know there good. We did pick the first dance songs and cake cuting songs though

To me, a DJ is a professional and should be able to play songs for your wedding by talking with you about your style and preferences and not need a full playlist. I have heard that full playlists can feel limiting and DJs prefer that their clients trust them to put together their own mixes.

I would just do the essential songs and a few "must plays" in my mind, we only have one must play but in FHs there are probably a lot more. if he had it his way we would be ipoding the wedding with his personal playlist haha

We're recommending a few songs, discussing our overall theme and vision, giving him a do not play list, and letting him take it from there. Our dj hates those song request lines on rsvps, so we skipped them.

Leaving it to my DJ. He's awesome

I foresee giving very little control to our DJ...

We chose the introductions, first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, and cake cutting songs. I also requested a specific song for the anniversary dance and last dance of the night. I think there were maybe 4-5 songs on our "must play" list and our DJ did get to all of them. I did a do-not play list, but honestly should have been more thorough and put like, every horrible song on there just in case lol. Our DJ played a song from the 80s I HATE and I never in a million years thought would ever be played at a wedding in 2015. Whoops! I also suggest sitting down with your DJ and talking about the type of music you like, and the feel you're going for in your reception. For example, I requested "oldies, love songs, and country" during dinner. He obviously didn't listen to much country because he only played like early 00s country. There are sooo many good country love songs out on the radio right now and he played none of them! When I said oldies, I meant like motown lol but to him, as a guy a decade older, that might not have been his definition. I think in hindsight I would be a little more controlling of our DJ but overall I was happy.

I will allow my DJ to take requests from our guests... as long as they are not on the DO NOT PLAY