No dj at our wedding

That's what we did ... But it was a 50 guest wedding with no grand entrances or announcements so no need for a DJ. We entered the dining room with our guests and when my husband was ready to give the thank you toast, we clinked on the glasses. We didn't have a planned "dance party" but one broke out anyway when my daughter and her friends hijacked the play list. It was really fun but not for everyone. If you are having a big wedding with announcements and hours of dancing then you have to figure how to make that happen without a DJ. You didn't say how big is your wedding ...

I had wanted this, however my FH made a great point that the DJ keeps things moving during the reception. So we have decided to have one.

I wouldn't use Pandora. Definitely at least put the work in to make your own playlists and try to find someone to monitor. There's plenty of guides online for how to put together a great DIY wedding playlist. I was thinking of going DIY but I've managed to find a DJ who is both affordable (560ish for 3 hours - very good price in my area) and I mesh well with, so now I'm just trying to convince FH.

I agree with putting the work into a custom playlist. We paid for the premium Spotify and made 2 playlists - during dinner and after dinner.

In the grand scheme of wedding costs, DJs are honestly pretty inexpensive. My dress cost more than our DJ did. The music will MAKE or BREAK your party. If you don't care about dancing, if you don't want to have introductions, then you don't need a DJ. If you plan to have bridal party intros, toasts, etc. then you need a DJ.

I didn't want a DJ either. I have a very particular taste in music/style and didn't want someone butting in on that! A good alternative that we landed on is we are renting high quality wedding music equipment, I'm creating a wedding playlist with FI, and one of my trusted actor friends with a great upbeat personality will be hosting it, announcing songs, ect.

Our three most important items for the reception were food, alcohol, and DJ. The decor and the crap does not compared if those things aren't great.

Use Spotify. You can save songs in a library and play it the way you want it. Much better than Pandora.

A lot of times the DJ will make the announcement of father-daughter dance, food time, cake cutting time, etc. I think that's what pp was referring to. I'm not sure what is in your budget but i have found DJs for about $600 with great reviews.

Make you sure you know that it is A LOT of work to think about and create the perfect playlist for your wedding on Spotify, or whatever. Unless your venue has sound equipment, you will have to pay to rent it and maybe even pay even more to have someone deliver it and install it properly. If you install it yourself, what if something goes wrong? How are you going to get used to the equipment before the actual day so the you can operate it with no hiccups?

I considered this and even got into picking songs for my playlist at first. I quickly realised it was not a good idea, hired a DJ. BEST thing I could have done! Honestly, it probably saved my wedding reception! Everyone had a blast. DJ's make important announcements and help the flow of your reception. You don't want one of your relative or friends working to make announcements, etc. Especially if they will be drinking.

I am constantly perplexed as to why people are convinced everything is crazy expensive. There is a range of prices for everything' I've said it before and I'll say it again... you don't have to have very expensive rates to be good at what you do. Brides- do a ton of research! I had a fantastic DJ that only charged $400 for the evening. I didn't order the uplighting and other packages as my venue was gorgeously lit and perfect as it was. Trust me... You will be glad you spent $400 instead of sitting at the computer forever trying to think of songs that everyone likes and how to create the right flow. If you want people to get up and dance and have a good time - then you need a DJ.

I can't imagine not having a DJ. Like PP's said, it really is the difference between a great party, and a boring one. Ours isn't even expensive. He was 1200 bucks for the entire wedding (ceremony, cocktail, reception) and he also is including a Photo Booth for the night.

I can't imagine not having a DJ at your wedding. They're such a huge part of the flow and entertainment for ur guests. DJ was top priority for us.... I've never been to a wedding without a DJ.

I'm doing the same as MrsA...

A DJ will make your day 100 times less stressful

I'm also planning on not having a DJ. Its something I've struggled with but its jus not in our budget. The ceremony we do have a sound system because it'll be in the sanctuary of the church. The reception though we're using a higher end karaoke machine of my dad's friends. Well have a mic with it and were having a family friend do the announcements. Plus me and FH aren't big dancers and either are our 70 guests. I'm also putting song request on my RSVP cards to help build my playlist up a little bit.

My friend did this and had a lot of difficulties. It was just another worry for the day. I'd recommend against this.

I've had multiple friends do this same thing and it turned out really well. Even though sometimes a DJ isn't an insane amount of money it's still an additional cost and worry

We went to a wedding Saturday and they had no dj. I will be very honest it was a DISASTER. we would be dancing to a song and right in the middle of dancing, the song would change. This wedding we went to was planned in two weeks so I understand they didn't have time but the bride announced "we don't have a dj, so if yall have music feel free to play it" it was AWFUL. if you do stick with no dj I hope yours goes a bit better

We aren't having a DJ because we're having a brunch wedding and we feel that a DJ would actually be out of place at a wedding like ours. That being said, we have a lot of fun-loving "dancey" people coming and so are creating a playlist and will hook our device up to the venue's speakers. We are only having 40 people though (including us). I do think Pandora is a scary idea. You never know what you're going to get with that. If you're not going to have a DJ, at least make a play-list.

I don't feel like they're a waste of money at all and if we were having a larger, evening wedding, we'd have one in a heartbeat.

We're having a larger wedding, and the ceremony is in the evening so the reception is as night. At first we planned on using a dj who was kind of an amateur (the band we booked fell through, and a band member offered to dj since he had the equipment). But I started to think about the pacing of the reception, and the announcements...

We ended up booking a dj. Just filling out the paperwork to book the dj made me feel better! They do a lot, and can really help the evening go smoothly! He charges $100 an hour too, which I don't think is too bad. We'll be paying $400.

If it's a smaller more intimate wedding, I think you're fine with your own playlist and no dj. My cousin went that route with her family-only reception (less than 70 people). But no one really danced.