No DJ?

Okay reading this thread has helped me decide. I was seriously considering doing the Ipod thing too, but now, thinking logistically, it might not work. A DJ for the entire reception will be $750-$1000. We are a dancing group so music is very important. I really don't want to skimp here especially since we are doing a destination wedding. I want people to have an amazing time all around.

Looks like that means more overtime for me and the FI We have time to save for this though. Just gotta make sure to put that with the budget.

P.S. Have I expressed how much I enjoy this board?

We want people to dance too. I don't know what to do know! We can have someone MC (we know someone with a mic we can borrow), and I think he will do an awesome job, but I guess it's not the same...

Hmmm I never saw Djs as the ones to speak, heck mine wont even have the mics at all. LoL my MCs would take care of the talking and just keep giving cues to the Djs when to reduce it or pump it up. So i will imagine it working well with a carefully selected playlist on your ipod, having an MC AND still having someone steer the ipod in case any unplanned thing happened. Oh and a Mic would be ideal too

Mine happened pretty much like Stephanie said. I had about 20 guests. My appointed person to run playlist did kinda slack off, but I didn't really give him good direction either. Maybe u could find someone not on guest list to be in charge and pay them a small amount? We used a tailgator speaker that hooks up to ipod, mic was included. We got it for about $99 online @ http://www.ionaudio.com/products/details/tailgater-am-fm

Even though we missed some songs it was no big deal really. The speaker was loud enough for our outdoor beach wedding. We had a couple people doing toasts and I think someone clinked on a glass to get everyones attention. I ended up going to the Ipod myself and choosing a few songs though. If I could have afforded it I would have done a dj but our quote was for $600.00 just not in the budget. Our guests said they thought it was the best wedding they had been to, so I guess they didn't care that I didn't have a dj.

@Kristin...the restaurant we're hiring is called Vince's Spaghetti...and is a local favorite here. Everyone loves Vince's. We're getting a TON of spaghetti, 2 large pieces of bread per person, and a ton of salad, too. It's not filet mignon, but it will do for us. It wasn't our top priority.

I've been to so many weddings with bad DJ's or bad music and the only thing I remember from those weddings is how bad the reception was.

You can find DJ's within your budget or willing to work with you. My advice is to hire a professional. Nobody wants to work at their friends wedding anyway.

@Lovebride, I am pretty much trying to do what you did, I think. I like that speaker- my mom has 1 like that, for about 60 ppl- do you think I should get another one? Is 1 really enough? We're having an outdoor-beach wedding. Our ceremony is on the beach front of an event home- so we need something to play our ceremony music and then we're having our reception in the yard on the other side of the home. So we'd have to move it from the beach to the yard- it's a bit of a hike down a long deck. But- I'm nervous for all the reasons the other girls listed. I don't know though it's just NOT in our budget for a DJ and we're have in OOT wedding, so it's not like I can ask the neighbor to "be the dj" and throw him a hundred bucks or something.... my FIL used to be a radio DJ and has worked on radio and tv for the past 30+ years, I was hoping that he could be out "MC" (cont'd)

B/c he's got the experience of directing crowds, isn't worried about public speaking (the man gives sales presentations to hundres of ppl, important government and foreign officials) and I think he'd be more than capable to handle being the DOC for a few mins. But he does like to drink, so I'm a little worried he might be MIA for when we need him to announce some different things... we're only having a 1st dance, mother/son & father/daughter dance though. Not garter/bouquet toss, not sure on "cake" cutting- we didn't get a cake, we got cannoli instead, we just need to be introduced and have our 1st few songs announced.... then we could switch to our play lists for the rest of the evening... I dunno. I just gotta trust that it'll work out and we will be ok w/no DJ.

It's all about what's most important to you, and how do you want your wedding day to be remembered. Great food? Beautiful dress? venue? cake? or a good time with great entertainment? What are your priorities? A reception is the celebration (the party) w/o it, it's just a formal dinner, and your guests will leave shortly after. What do you want your guests to say after your wedding is over? "Thank you for the wonderful dinner" (it should be great if food was your top priority) or "Thank you for inviting us, we had so much fun!". Most every restaurant will have background music, but the one's with good live entertainment, people stay have fun & dance. However KRISTIN L, You are right, it's best to have no DJ than to pay $500 or less for a bad one. At least an Iopd can't embarrass you on a mic. those guys are not worth the headache. As others mentioned good DJ/MC is also the director. con't...

Sara You may want to get 2 tailgators. Ours was loud enough for the dancing but I really don't remember the bridal entrance much lol. I remember hearing it but not how loud it was. I would'nt leave the speaker on the beach anyway.. I'd try your FIL sounds like he could handle it. We didn't have many announcements anyway so that didn't matter to me. we had the mic there & never hooked it up lol. I guess it comes down to how important it is to u gals. Actually I would rather do the Ipod than have an annoying DJ myself, and the few I spoke with annoyed me in the time that I spoke with them. Hard to get them to call me back, & was concerned when I heard 1 had been late to the last wedd. he did. There was another one which I didn't speak to which cost the most, $600. and it was a company rather than an individual.

I spend an average of 20 hours just for pre-planing & preparation for each wedding I do, getting to know my clients, their style, personality, and all the details with checklists, timing of everything so I can serve as their host & represent them how they would like to be represented. A wedding is a series of events that take place with transitions. I work with all the day of vendors to make sure those transitions are smooth flowing. Do you want to work on your wedding day? or would you rather hire a professional to handle all these responsibilities so you can enjoy one of the biggest days of your life?

I couldn't go without a DJ, their interaction is just too important to me. I have cocnsidered an i-pod, but I just don't think it will get all my guests in the proper groove!!!

Sara D: We are kind of in the same boat because we are not doing a lot of the traditions either, just first dance. It would be nice to having someone to be able to direct our guests though. (IE: during the first dance, invite all the other guests to come up).

We really don't think we can afford a decent one though, and I don't want to waste money on a horrible one. We went to a wedding a few weeks ago and I honestly didn't even know there was a DJ until the last twenty mins (and we were on the dance floor! we just didn't see him because he was hiding behind a speaker). He didn't say anything to the guests or encourage participation etc. I do not want to waste even $100 for that!

Anyone else have any ipod music tips?

Lovebride- I totally agree w/you abuot "annoying DJ's" I hate all the cheesyness they can add, but am just afraid that the days schedule will get lost somehow. Not sure- I'll just have to asky my FIL if he's up for "bossing ppl" around and making them listen to him.... which I know he actully loves to do. lol. I know that with the proper timing and planning in our playlists that the mood can carry the night, songs to make people dance, wind the night down, that sort of thing. I just don't like DJ's... sorry, I think they're corny/annoying & w/me not having all these different things that I'll need to be announced- I don't see the point of spending the extra $ (the last 2 friends of mine that had DJ's @ their weddings paid $1400 and $1500, that's just NOT in the budget. No way to get around that, it's not something we can cut corners to get too either. It's already a shoe-string budget). I'd rather not waste $ at all on a DJ that's gonna suck even if only a few hundred buck (cont'd)

Bucks** and have an iPod hook up so I won't be embarrassed that way.

Kristen- I think w/enough planning that we can do it! It'll just be a lot of hard work on our parts to create play lists, making scripts for our announcers to follow and a time-line we'll have to make sure is enforced I read a blog where a bride dj'ed her own wedding w/an iPod and pre-made playlists and to the "do you wanna work on your wedding day?" question- she scoffed and said that w/everything done in advance- there was literally no work to do. Skipping ahead on her playlists took no more time than asking a DJ to play a certain song would. I am fully confident that with enough planing, it can be done. Just make sure to have fade ins and outs for the songs and to make sure the play lists have a "flow" like they build up and come back down. I'll include the address: http://apracticalwedding.com/2009/09/djing-your-wedding-with-ipod/

I can see why you'd consider not having a DJ. They can get pretty pricey but If you look around, you might be able to find something reasonable

I haven't been to a wedding w/out a DJ, but I am sure it has been done before