All Weddings Are Threatened By The Wedding Killers Below:
The Venue
The Caterer
The Officiant
The DJ
The Photographer/Videographer
The Wedding Planner
Chances are you've heard of these wedding killers. Or worse, witnessed these slashers live at a family member or friend's wedding.
The good news is, virtually every wedding can eliminate their threat with these JMAN Productions tips & callouts.
Read on to understand the threat, so you can hire against it.
The DJ | Killer #4 | Part 1 of 4
No Show, Not Playing Your Playlist, Playing Your Do-Not-Play List, Not Having Your Ceremony Songs, Sub-Contracted DJ, No Mic/MC Skills,
Drinking, Sound Is A Tin Can, Not Enough Lights For The Guest Count, Makes The Wedding About Them,
No Redundant Equipment, No Backup Power, Giant Ad(s) Displayed During Your Reception,
Poor Cable Management/Trip Hazard, No Backup Music, Can't Handle Multiple Simultaneous Rooms, They "Mix" With Spotify,
A Redliner Not A Headliner, No Standard Operating Procedure To Keep Your Timeline On Track & Moving,
Wi-fi Only DJ For Rural Weddings, They Don't Play Any instruments/Aren't Musically Trained (This is HUGE!)
Okay, this list is HUGE, but I've seen it all.
No Show
Check the reviews if the DJ has been a no-show.
If there is a no-show review, you're going to need some guarantees it won't happen to you, or, you can book JMAN Productions instead.
Not Playing Your Playlist
This happens way more often than it should.
It blows my mind, honestly. You give me a playlist, and I hear that as, "Play this and it will make us happy." So for a DJ to NOT play your playlist? What?? HOW? WHY? Well, the Why is they play what's safe for them - not what's right for you.
Playing Your Do-Not-Play List
Same Token, Flip Side.
There are TWO wedding types: Those that explicitly request Cardi B - WAP, and those which Forbid Cardi B - WAP. I Love DJing both! But there are too many "DJs" who either forget? or just aren't organized? Maybe they are bribed by a guest? But the result is a record rip moment for the Bride & Groom.
To wit, The YMCA and Chicken Dance have fallen Waaay out of favor. I personally love them, but I grew up in Midwest weddings where the Polka is the state dance. You need a DJ who can handle the dad brow beating you to play The YMCA. "It's family tradition!", well, the Groom said _NO_ YMCA, but, if you get him to come over here and request it, I'll play it. Of course that request never comes, but it is the polite way to say "No."
I play YOUR wedding. Not your mom's. Not your dad's. Not your third cousin's. I play Your wedding.
Not Having Your Ceremony Songs
Custom Ceremony Songs, If your DJ is doing your ceremony, you're going to be doing custom songs.
They need to DOWNLOAD these songs. This will lean into some other blog highlights, but your DJ should confirm your ceremony songs with you Before your wedding day, and ON your wedding day - preferrably with you in person.
I bring the whole Wedding-DJ Planning sheet with, digital and printed, which has the timeline, contacts, Must Play Songs, Must NOT Play Songs, Ceremony Songs, First Dance Songs, the works. And I verify it with you before your wedding and ON your wedding day in person.
Sub-Contracted DJ
This happens with the cheapest DJs. Read the reviews.
"The DJ which showed up was someone we had never even talked to.", "It was like the DJ completely forgot about my wedding.", "The DJ didn't know any of our songs." Yeah. Make sure you know who is showing up to DJ your wedding, otherwise you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Real talk: I've secret shopped my competitors. Got a whole spreadsheet with all sorts of stats. There is one guy in particular, who appears to be based out of Arizona - according to the landing page of his website, who books cheap weddings, and subs them out to Craigslist-quality DJs, connecting the dots with the AZ home page, but Boise link page, plus 1 star review descriptions. You get what you pay for with your vendors. There is a minimum threshold, about $1800, but that's the minimum. Not saying you need to get the most expensive DJ: What I am saying is need is a DJ who won't ruin your wedding, and that caliber of DJ starts at $1,800, local.
No Mic/MC Skills
Will your DJ talk to you on the phone?
If they won't talk to you on the phone, how do you think they are going to do on the mic? you don't ALWAYS have to talk on the phone, but they should field as many calls as you'd like, especially an introduction call.