DJ AT YOUR FIRST WEDDING | WEDDING DJ TIPS & ADVICE

Excellent tips.

spot on hahahahah we average 5 weddings weekly bro, nice video

Awesome tips – thanks DJ Phil!

Question: the couple gives you a playlist. Do you only play that and call it a day? Or should you use it as inspiration? Another TIP is asking the couple if there’s anything they don’t want to hear.

As far as requests from the Bride and Groom… do I finish the song I am currently playing or do I cut the current song for their song?

Awesome! However I did my first wedding 1983 and I have always collected my money the night of no problems.

This will preach. I had to learn a lot of this the hard way.

Some good valid advice here folks if you haven't been a wedding DJ before. Take notes and listen carefully to Phil!

However, with the risk of being the bitter old man i the room… haha. Many of the topics are also the reason why I quit DJ at weddings. I just get sick of all the drama.
First, the playlist is usually micromanaged by the bride to a point beyond insanity. Usually good tracks, but none of them are suited for a dance floor.
I'm always asked to be there by 20:30 at the latest. Doesn't matter that I firmly state that the dinner won't be finished before 23:00 (because of all the speeches etc).
So what happens? I have to sit in the kitchen at the venue for hours, hoping to get a short conversation with someone from the catering company.
Once you have start playing and finally find out what gets the crowd going, you have to stop. There is this nine year old that has taken three lessons in the local dance academy and the grandma wants her to show her new skills.
After that it takes another hour to get back to the dance floor energy you had before the break.
Then the drunk people starts to find you. After a couple of years you hate drunk people 😉
At some point the groom and his best friend approaches you with an ipod, demanding you to play some odd music that they have a very specific memory about from a high school trip. Nobody else at the party gets it, and starts blaming you for ruining the party with bad music.
And the worst of them all. International weddings. Half of the party is from another country/culture and whatever you do, you loose. During the full night 50% of the guests think you suck as a DJ.
Did I mention the drunk people? Once there was this lady that believed my table was the best place to use as a stage for her, hm, sexy dance. I tried to pull her down with the result that she broke the laptop screen in half. The final 1.5 hour had to be played through a cell-phone.
Once there was a dude that tried to choke me, since I wasn't playing his request two minutes later…
With that said. Some weddings are actually my favorite moments being a DJ also. But some are truly the worst.
Nowadays I stick to theme-parties or 40-50 years birthdays, so I can play the music I like =)

My additional tip, and that goes not just for weddings, would be to always have prepared a backup, if something breaks up with your gear. If it is a single CD-player or an Ipad doesn't really matter. Just something that could be started up within seconds to avoid that awkward silence when something fails. I guess you might have that as a tip in some other of your newbie tutorials perhaps?

Phil great vid. How do you mix/perform transitions? Beat notching ain't gonna be possible a lot of the time. Do you fade, spin, scratch, effects?

Been DJing for a decade now, a $250 deposit and $750 due the night of the wedding. I've never had an issue getting the money the night-of with 40 weddings a year for the past 10 years. I think waiting helps you get a larger check because then they write it out bigger with a nice tip once you've done the job.

Partys Banging, end it 15 minutes early….say your goodbyes and credits… then do an encore, then the party is still banging and do 1 more encore, give them a little more, then do an epic ending song when everyone knows its the end, then literally unscrew your needles, take them, and walk on the other side of the crowd, they will chant 1 more song, but you'll be watching them from behind, djs gone

How can I find a way to play ONLY EDM at weddings, school events, and parties that I find appropiate without having to attend clubs, nightclubs, and parties that I may find a little inappropiate?

I am a wedding dj in scotland and 99 times out of 100 the final song is always the same, loch lomond by runrig " the live version" everyone knows without saying but always announce its the final song, at the end as its fading out i announce " that brings our night to the end folks, thank you very much you have been great so lets give this happy couple 3 cheers..hip hip hurrayyyy…. then good night folks, take care and safe journey home…goodnight! finished. For those who have never seen loch lomond done at a wedding its brilliant, ..you will find it on here….its mental but such a feel of belonging and happiness. never get bored of playing it. 1 thing im now taking on board is the lights off part and main lights on during last song, i did it and instead of folk asking to play on they were all just clapping and hugging each other.

Can someone answer this please. Do you need a buisness license to dj or provide sound at a wedding? I wont be mixing music or using a dj mixer. I would just be putting together a playlist of songs from apple music and have them play one after another for weddings. Would you need a license for that? If not where are you getting the information to assure you? And lastly do you need a license if you are actually using a dj Mixer and mixing music at a wedding?