How To Be A Good Wedding DJ
Kirsten Hawkins
If you love music and have a decent collection, a good way to make extra money may be to become a DJ for live events. To get up and rolling may take a small investment as a DJ must have top of the line stereo equipment and a music collection that reflects a wide variety of musical tastes, but the financial rewards can be well worth the initial expenditure. DJs are hired for any of a variety of events from school dances to weddings and Bar-Mitzvahs, and the manner in which you conduct yourself may need to vary depending on the event that you're working. Weddings are a particularly valuable market for a disc jockey and the wedding DJ often has one of the most fun jobs of anyone associated with a decent sized wedding reception. Following are some tips that can help you find success as a wedding DJ.
Let's Get it Started in Here:
A wedding reception is essentially a big party. Like any party, the reception will evolve slowly over the course of the evening and it is the responsibility of the wedding DJ to ensure that it moves along at the proper pace. When the reception first begins the wedding DJ will notice that people are milling around and talking, eating, and congratulating the happy couple. This is a good time to start playing music, making a selection that is both in line with the requested genres or tastes that should have been previously discussed with the couple or the person that hired the wedding DJ. Something upbeat but not overpowering is good here.
When it is time for the dancing to start, it's time for the party to start. Sometimes people are a bit shy to get going. It is at this point that the wedding DJ needs to show some personality. Get on that microphone and motivate people to get on the dance floor and move. Make some congratulatory statements to the newlyweds and tell the guests to get out there and shake it.
Once You've Sold it, Don't Buy it Back:
Now that you've got the music going and the dance floor is full, shut your pie hole! No one comes to a wedding reception to hear the wedding DJ blather on into the microphone like a wannabe Howard Stern. If it's fallen on you to announce mini reception events like a dollar dance or the removal of the garter, then do so, but speak as little as possible. Let the music move the party and keep that microphone securely in the upright and locked position.
Hey, Mr. DJ... Put a Record on:
Requests equal tips for the wedding DJ. If a guest approaches you with a song request that falls into the category of music that you've been hired to spin, get it on there post haste. People get all warm and fuzzy inside when they hear a song that they specifically requested.
Finally, two things that every wedding DJ should have in his collection are copies of The Hokey Pokey and The Chicken Dance. Treat these like the American Express Card of the wedding DJ: don't leave home without them.
About the author: Kirsten Hawkins is an event planner from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.wedding411.net/ for more event planning tips, strategies, and resources.
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