Playlist Instead of Dj?!

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Awesome! Thanks for the input. It is great to know that I'm not alone and other people are choosing to take the music into their own hands.

Sometimes DJs suck. I've definitely been to weddings in which the music is lame and no one wants to dance.

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Cool! How are you figuring out/managing the timing of everything? That seems a bit tricky and I am interested in learning how other people have figured that out.

Hi! I'm forgoing a DJ as well. We have a mic from a Karaoke machine a friend of mine has and I have her son acting as the emcee. I just really need him to announce us coming out and our dances. I've been working on playlists using Spotify. I have a list for the ceremony, dinner/cocktail hour/ , and a separate playlist for the reception. Our wedding is in our friends backyard and we are hosting less than 50 people. So we are just going to pick up a wonderboom speaker on amazon and call it a day. They are impressively loud, waterproof, and have a long battery life. If I were hosting as many people as you are I might look into renting equipment from a music store, or rental company. Just so you are sure the quality is there. Good luck!

As long as you have some type of sound system. Unfortunately I was recently at a wedding where they decided not to go official DJ, and had someone run a playlist. She had two big speakers and a mic but the way it was set my table couldn’t hear a word of the speeches/ toasts and could barely make out the music for the special dances. The next day the bride texted one of our friends asking if her wedding was lame because not many people danced. My heart broke. It wasn’t lame, it was beautiful and fun but it wasn’t a crazy dance party. It sounds like you and your crowd aren’t into that anyway. It all depends on what you’re going for. But like I said if you’re planning on doing speeches make sure the sound is adequate for all your guests. People were all chatting the whole time the speeches were happening because a lot couldn’t hear and didn’t realize they were talking.

We decided to ditch the DJ too. Actually, it was something we agreed on even before we were engaged/planning the wedding. It’s just not something we felt the need to spend money on. Most people on WW are pro-DJ and they will list the same 2-3 reasons why you NEED one but that’s just their personal taste, so you do what will fit your vision and your crowd the best. For us, I’ve been slowly building my playlists (getting ready time, pre ceremony music, party processional, bride walk, recessional, cocktail hour, dinner music, dancing music - of course some things are subject to change). I have Apple Music so that’s what I’ve been using to build it, but like others will probably get Spotify premium and download it on some device (not my laptop or cell phone, since I’d rather not have those sitting out in the open). We’ll use my brother, who is comfortable managing music and mics since he’s been in bands his whole life, to be the ONLY ONE who has control of the music, and announce certain things (first dance, cake cutting, let’s all dance, etc). Equipment really isn’t that expensive, plus, depending where you get it, you can always return after! I know my own crowd better than a DJ does, so I know what they will dance to and I’m a control freak when it comes to music. Plus, like you, we’ll have lawn games and other activities to entertain guests. I’m just really excited to save like $2,000! Haha

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Kiki, here is the deal. I typed out an extremely long comment on my phone and posted it, but it seems to have disappeared. I'm going to try to recap what I said, but it probably won't be as thorough or well stated as it was before.

First of all, I personally do not like the music that DJs play and more often than not think they play things that make people uninterested. We also will not have a dance floor. Additionally, DJs are way more expensive around here than doing it yourself or even renting basic equipment.

Also, I want to point out that it is "a super rude move" to judge my ceremony and reception, especially when it does not affect you. My fiance and I have always wanted a super intimate wedding. We have chosen to only have intermediate family, the best man, the matron of honor, and one other friend come to the ceremony. We are very private people and this is a private, special part of our lives. Despite this, we come from big families and have a lot of people who love and care about us that want to be apart of our big day. We are more comfortable with having people come to a reception that will be more like an after-party than a formal dinner. And honestly, a lot of people think ceremonies are boring and prefer the reception anyway.

I personally do not care what anyone thinks about our decision. If someone gets that bent out of shape that they choose not to come to our reception, then they were not worthy of coming in the first place. Clearly it would be about them and not us. If they are so upset and self-centered about not seeing a 15 minute ceremony that they want to miss out on our home-cooked meal and awesome celebration -- that is their loss. Do you get where I am coming from?

Like I said, we are very private people and this is supposed to be the most important moment of our lives together. I want it to be what we want. I don't need someone critiquing my decisions. But most importantly, this post was not about my ceremony or reception. Likewise, it was not about me hiring a DJ. It was about how to make a playlist work. That is all I needed. If you do not have anything to add on these topics, then you do not need to comment. Thanks!

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Thanks for letting me know about this possible issue. I will definitely consider this as we figure things out. Thanks again! (:

We are not hiring a DJ. I don't dance and many of our family members don't dance either. We are also going to be having an intimate wedding so having a DJ for a small group seems sort of strange to me. I plan on making up a few different playlists for the wedding but mainly just going with the flow and if that means that people eat and leave I'm okay with that too.

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Thanks, Darcy. It sounds like you guys are going to have a good time!

View Quoted Comment I based it off of what we wanted, how many people we'll have, my experience woth weddings before this, and what we needed to get accomplished based on the time we have available. Music will start again at the end of the ceremony. Our reception will only be about 2.5 hours long. We'll do appetizers while we do wedding photos. That will be one section of music (about 20-30 minutes). I'm doing a buffet for about 50 people- so dinner will be relatively quick- 35 to 40 minutes-ish (They'll still have time to eat during the cake time and beginning of dance time). That will be playlist #2. Then we'll do the cake cutting- give everyone another 10-15 minutes (we have our pretty, tiered cake that we'll cut, but we also will have a half sheet cake that will be cut during dinner and available whenever anyone wants it after we cut the big cake.) That will be playlist #3. We'll do about 10-15 minutes of toasts with no music. After that, it'll be first dance followed father/daughter & mother/son dance. Then dance music starts for about an 45 minutes to an hour (we're not big on dancing). Then we'll have a short game to end the night- I'm thinking a scavenger hunt (10-15 minutes). Then we'll do a sparkler farewell and everyone go home.

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Holly, thanks for all of your support! I love hearing about what other alternative things people are doing for their weddings. I'm looking forward to saving the money too! They really are a lot of money for what you get most of the time.

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Same. It's hard to imagine a DJ at my location too.

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Awesome. And if something takes longer than anticipated, do you guys have a plan?

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I feel the same way about our venue. I just can't picture a big dance party happening there.

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Oh ok, that makes more sense. Yes, people keep telling us we need one but we are getting married in a little old farmhouse so um, no lol. We aren't having anyone announce anything nor are we doing any dancing. Right after the ceremony, we are doing family and group photos outside which our officiant will be letting everyone know that after we do our exit and the food will be delivered and setup while photos are being taken so once people are done with photos, they can start eating. The rest of the night is just gonna be a 2.5 hour long social hour.

I don't think you "need" anyone to make announcements. Once someone starts getting in line to eat, people will follow. If a song comes on that people want to dance to, they will dance. I wouldn't worry about anything but making sure that you have speakers that will carry the sound enough through the tent. We are buying blue tooth speakers and placing them around the house and the music/playlist will be playing in the background so that might be an option for you.

We'll have short playlists ready, butbat our venue, if you go over your time, you're charged $350 for the first hour. I have it scheduled to end 30 minutes before that just in case.

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Wow! That is a bit crazy. I completely understand why you would need to keep it on a tight schedule then!

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That is true. Especially with how relatively informal it will likely be. Thanks!

The only thing that would concern me about no DJ, is then you are left with the stress of having to control the music yourself (unless you hire someone, which then...you might as well get a DJ). If you are worried about not being able to have good, non-traditional music, then don't be. Just find the right DJ. I was very specific with my music "wants" with our DJ. I told her that what genre I wanted played at different points of the reception, and gave her a list of songs i'd like to hear. She is also playing the ceremony....which is something else you will have to take into consideration, who will play your ceremony music? This is what I provided (just to show you, that you can have "different" non-typical wedding music:

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Thanks, Danielle. I appreciate your thoughtful response and pictures attached. I see your wedding is soon. Congratulations! Let me know how the DJ-ing goes.