DJ AT YOUR FIRST WEDDING | WEDDING DJ TIPS & ADVICE

Hey Beat Hackers,

As some of you may know I used to do wedding DJing on the side and it was a great way for me to make some extra cash that I want to teach you all about too!
Here are the top things I wish I knew when I started wedding DJing to make the job as simple as possible. There's no rule book out there for wedding DJing but this is my best advice if you're looking to get into it and make some money!

Thanks

Phil

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
⭐TOP 5 MIXES ⭐

EDM & ELECTRO HOUSE LIVE MIX 2019:

BASS HOUSE and ELECTRO HOUSE LIVE MIX 2019:

MELBOURNE BOUNCE LIVE DJ MIX 2020:

BEST OF TRAP NATION LIVE DJ MIX 2019:

SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE HIP HOP DJ MIX:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
⭐Top 5 TUTORIALS ⭐

First 10 minutes on DJ Decks:

WHAT DJ's ACTUALLY DO!:

HOW TO BEAT MATCH:

MIX IN KEY - HOW TO DO IT:

MIXING DIFFERENT BPM AND GENRE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#WEDDINGDJ #DJTIPS #DJMONEY

[emanueldevos]

Starting DJ's, listen to this man!! I've been a dj for 18 years and everything he says is spot on!

[sofaking]

Drunk guy tried fighting me for playing Dwight Yokam 'Suspicious minds' instead on Elvis on the weekend lol

[ryankirkwood]

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.

[BoogieWonderlandOldSkool]

Been Playing for 25 years...clubs, corporate, conference and wedding, podcasts and concerts....Spot on mate. exactly right on all points, well done!

[tazmaniachill]

Ha ! spot on Phil, seems good advice is past down the ages, I’m in my 67 now, retired and did many many weddings, social nights, birthday parties and a good few clubs, all your points are spot and it’s what I did my whole career, sometimes you take a gig, do all the usual, keeping bride and groom onside and always clock where are in the venue in case you need them for cutting the cake, first dance always get their first before you turn up! - had a real curveball once where no matter what I did, played everything they asked for, tried to get them involved, no matter what I did, brides family, groom family the other and they took it in turns to have a little dance, but neither family mixed... thought I’d died on my backside, worst gig of my life, played the last song, and bride and groom wandered over big smile on their faces and thanked me for a great night best they had attended out of all the family weddings they had been to! Totally confused I asked “but no one was dancing!” Bride replied and said “I’ve had a few ask can you do theirs and you must have been good their wasn’t one fight between the families” and pushed £50 into my hand 😂 - go figure!

Just for info I had pioneer sl1210’s and a couple of Sony CD players hooked to the mixer. Them where the day. Love your content by the way and have been eyeing up a cdj 800 to play around on loving the anjuna label these days - wish you well and p.S your Mrs is going to be great DJ!

[av]

One thing I was wondering that I ran into DJ ing a friends wedding is, should you not be in on the wedding rehearsal? This allows you to set the queue for all announcements and songs requested for specific areas of the wedding venue. I was operating off the cuff and made a lot of errors because I had no specifics as to what needed to take place during the event. I also learned that you want to provide only a few people that are allowed to make requests, the bride, the groom, and maybe one or two other people. This will stop the problem of everybody in the place coming up asking for requests.

[nostalgeejays]

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?

[redwoodcityintheuknscalera]

you sir are totally spot on i am speaking form many years of dj ing myself

[johnmullens]

good tips, but one remark.
If youre killing it and a drunk person, or any person asks you to keep on an extra hour, remember: People LIE to get what they want, especially drunk people. So make sure you get the OK from management THEMSELVES. Dont let one of the guests go ask management. At most, you can let the bride or groom check with management, or their parents/best men/bridesmaids. NOT any random guests, because youll run the risk they come back and say its ok, but they never even checked with management.

[scottiemanners]

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.

[dj_paultuk]

Also worth checking out "DJ Rachel" channel. Shes one of THE best Wedding DJ's on the planet. An absolute pro at the way she organises herself too. Plus has some really awesome Lighting and Sound kit that is worth checking out.

[miketeskey]

I have a wedding gig coming up next month and this eases so much anxiety for me. Thanks for helping me be more prepared! Subscribed.

[soundofphiladelphia]

I think I may have mentioned this in a comment on a previous video, but one wedding I did, I was given a list from the bride and groom of 5 and three quarter hours worth of music. I was booked from 7pm until 1am (6 hours if you haven't already worked it out!), and then I was told I could also take I don't think so. After a few emails back and forth I was able to whittle their song choices down to around 20-30 (still didn't get to play all of them as you know what tracks are going to work and keep the dance floor ticking over). You can even get the 80 year old Auntie Mabel's of this world bopping along to 80's tracks, because 40 years ago that's what they would have been listening too. Great advice all the same Phil.

[swaziibanks]

Am starting as a DJ and this is informative thanks, man. 🤘

[saintsteve]

Cracking tips and advice Phil. They seem so straightforward when you think about it but often it’s the little things that get overlooked. Keep up the good work!

[skidogleb]

Thanks! I’m about to dj my first wedding for a friend. Your advice for music selection is helpful!

[EllisrileyDJ]

This advice is great, but if someone asked me to stay an extra hour please, I’d take that as a huge compliment and be like yeah no problem don’t worry about it.

[eddydilvy]

I’m a dj for 30 years and I totally agree with you ! I just regret I wasn’t informed before my first Gig !

[kambinoxwins]

Dude, this was PRECISELY what I'd hoped to find when I ran my search. Cheers!

[mitchwells]

I’m a 30-year DJ and I agree with everything you said.