What Questions Should I Ask My DJ Before I Book?
Your wedding will be one of the biggest and most important events of your life, which is why selecting the right professional to help you and your guests have an experience you will never want to forget. But with thousands of DJs to choose from, how do you select the best one for your wedding day? It all starts with asking the right questions, so we’ve compiled a list of questions for you to ask each DJ during your interview.
Here are the 5 most important questions to ask;
1. How many weddings have you done?
This is by far the most important question for you to know. More specifically you’ll want to know how many weddings the DJ who will be assigned to your event has completed, since some DJ companies will outsource to multiple freelance DJ’s. If the company has more than one DJ be sure to ask who will be your DJ and how many weddings (not years) experience they have. If the number is less than twenty or so weddings we do not recommend unless you have been recommended the DJ by a trusted source, Most professional DJ companies will have completed hundreds of weddings with 4-5 star reviews.
2. Do I get to meet my DJ?
Many well established DJ companies have in-house DJ’s who work exclusive with them, along with freelancers or contractors who they might call up in case they get overbooked. A great DJ company will never send out someone they have not thoroughly vetted, and you definitely get to meet your DJ before your wedding and sit down with them to discuss your event.
3. Do you take song requests?
This may or may not be an important thing to you, but this question will say a lot about the versatility of your DJ and how willing they are to go with the flow. Naturally, it’s difficult to incorporate all song requests from guests into an evening (and trust us, we’ve heard it all!) but not being willing to cater to the requests from guests is a sign that your DJ is not going to provide the type of experience you want for your guests.
4. Are you licensed and insured?
You’re going to want to make sure that your DJ has taken care of licensing and insurance on their end. Although there are rarely circumstances in which license or insurance comes into play, having both is a sign of a well established DJ company.
5. Can I speak with past couples?
Without doubt the best way to get to know the quality or skill of a DJ is a personal recommendation from somebody who has seen them perform. If you did not hear about your DJ from friends or family who have hired them previously, you may be able to request to speak via phone or email with some past brides to give you the clearest picture of their skill level.
6. Do you Emcee?
Having a DJ as your event emcee can be a great choice, as they can help manage the flow of an event. Being confident on the mic and knowing how to read a crowd, improvise guest interactions and make important announcements can set a great DJ apart from the rest.
7. Do you bring backup equipment?
What happens if you have an equipment failure? A good DJ should have a backup for any point of failure. Everything from laptop, speakers, mixing console and cables begin to break down over time, so it is inevitable that a failure will happen eventually. We recommend ensuring your DJ has a fail-safe plan built into their contract before you make a deposit.
8. What other services do you offer?
It’s not uncommon for DJ’s to have a variety of services available, for which you might be able to package together to save some money. From sound and lighting to photobooth, slideshows and bands, many DJ companies have more options than you might expect.
9. What do you require for a deposit?
We do not recommend paying more than 50% of your event date as a deposit. In most cases your DJ will ask for between 300-600 for a standard wedding deposit, but beware of DJ Companies who as for 80-100% ahead of time, as there is some potential for scams in our industry.
10. Do You Belong to an association?
Belonging to a professional DJ association is a good indicator that you are dealing with a qualified professional. Many of these associations even provide license and insurance options for DJ’s so you might get two for one with this question.
11. How many staff will you send out?
Knowing who will be showing up to your wedding is always important, not only for your own peace of mind but also for the caterers and other vendors. While most DJ Companies will send out one or two staff members to run your wedding, you’ll want to be sure that they are not bringing in any non-staff members such as friends looking to crash a party.
12. Do you have any past mixes i can hear?
A lot of DJ’s won’t, and that’s okay because this question is not a make or break. If your DJ has great reviews and lots of experience then you can be confident in hiring them. A live performance is often very different from a recordedDo mix, but if your DJ does have some mixes that they have recorded, that would be an awesome bonus for you to get to hear their mixing ability before committing.
