I Think We Have Our DJ

As a general rule, DJed music at a wedding tends to, how can I put this politely, suck. It’s the same cheesy songs wedding, after wedding, with too much catering to bland, middle-of-the-road tastes.

But last summer I attended a wedding where the music was actually great. The couple has music taste similar to mind and they didn’t hesitate to tell their DJ, a guy named Anthony, exactly what songs to play including such untraditional selection as several Girl Talk songs and even a few drum and bass tracks.

Then, perhaps most importantly, the DJ went ahead and played the songs that the couple wanted, mixed in with other, suitable tracks. The result was a very fun, couple-appropriate mix that had me dancing for several songs in a row (which I should add rarely happens at weddings even though I love to dance).

Now, if you’ve been reading this blog from the start, you’ll know that our original plan was to save some money and go with DJ iPod, something I still think we could do. But while he was originally on board with that idea, Shawn, my fiancé, has since decided that we should go with a real DJ. Shawn’s worried that using an iPod will result in unnecessary stress and people not dancing (because apparently people will only dance if they see a guy standing behind a laptop).

But like me, Shawn had never heard a decent wedding DJ until that wedding last summer. After seeing Anthony in action, Shawn was determined that yes, we would have a real DJ so, after bulking up our budget a bit so that we could afford this new expense, we contacted Anthony (who only works on referrals so sadly I can’t point you to a website for more info).

It turns out that he’s free on August 7 and willing to DJ five hours for us for a fee that’s comparable to other quotes I’ve seen (expect to spend around $150-$300 a hour for your DJ, with things like special lighting costing extra).

He’s also played the Berkeley several times before and that’s important because this means he knows the venue’s equipment, its layout and where exactly it is.

So now it looks like we are getting a real DJ, despite our original plans not to. Hopefully it’ll be money well spent.

In the next entry I’ll go over some questions you should ask your DJ before signing any contracts. In the meantime, if you know of any fabulous Toronto wedding DJs, post their names below or email me at wedtoblog@gmail.com.