Can You DJ Your Own Wedding?

Of course you can DJ your own wedding. Before you do, your overall expectations & the cost of doing so should be considered

[BenGC]

These days, I am very insistent about going to rehearsal ceremonies/dinners. I am more than happy to bring one of my cheaper battery powered speakers, bluetooth the music so everyone knows what to expect, and give a quick tutorial on microphone use. I have seen so many people giving speeches and they let the microphone rest right on their sternum. Where are they learning this?! So, if I take the time to give this quick lesson to the wedding party at the rehearsal, I find that they will sometimes police themselves. Last fall, one of the bridesmades actually piped up "Uncle Dan! You gotta hold it in front of your mouth so we can hear!". I'm so proud!

[imo]

I did it! I wasn't about to pay someone for things I could do on my own. lol

[djrickysmith]

when you mentioned the mic for guests, I broke out laughing thinking about how many times it ends of at the belt line, and then you mentioned it !!

[mickeyjhp]

I did that 23 years ago. My DJ cancelled a week before the wedding. I prerecorded EVERYTHING on several cassette tapes, including all of the announcements. I had 90 minute tapes that would play the side B in reverse. It was not ideal, but the timing was spot on. Of course I had done tons of weddings before hand. All that I had to worry about was my step brother switching out the last tape for me after we left.

[djdashdfw]

Absolutely, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself. Especially after ditching serato which is very limited compared to VDJ, I can program minimixes in the automix and calculate it down to the second.

[IanDeVos]

A Spotify/iTunes playlist plays the music full length. Including boring intros and going on for too long. That's a downside to me. I like my music switching fast and don't like track playing full length. Except tracks that don't repeat themselves and constantly change or are short on their own.
You can save money, but you'll have less party with lots of dead air.
It kind of works, true. But not my cup of tea.

As a DJ myself I will play my own wedding, but I will pre mix everything into tight DJ sets so I can enjoy the evening myself and spend time with guests. Usually a track only plays for 1m30-2m30 minutes so tracks someone doesn't like will be gone quickly.
I will try to order everything into a logical order so the older people who usually leave first have had their classics mixed with other guilty pleasures.
Followed up with the music when my generation was young. To present day party music.
As I'm a DJ myself and everybody knows it, I will play an hour or so live, just for fun.

[howiedarkstar]

The short answer is yes but is the juice worth the squeeze? I would do it like you did your daughters wedding. I have very good friends that are Rock Star DJ's and would have them do it. Just for fun I might do a set but I wouldn't divide my time with Lori for the sake of money :)

[JugChampion]

I have a friend in the business that I asked to dj my wedding. I set up my rig and had all the playlists ready to go and paid him accordingly. First, you need someone to announce things that are going to happen. Do you want to pick up a wireless mic and say: Now, my wife and I will share our first dance. Secondly, I had a few drinks at my wedding and by the end of the night I shouldn't be anywhere near my equipment with a drink. Third, if you do it right, you only have one wedding reception. Why not make it as easy for yourself as possible?

[johncooley]

I appreciate that you did this video! I am actually doing just that. I do own all of my equipment so we truly are getting rid of that cost for the wedding. You Rock!!!

[JustAskCarlos]

I was hoping to learn a way to do this as a DJ but at the end to say “Hire a DJ anyway and if you’re not confident they’ll play the music you want plug in and hit shuffle?” I’ve tried this at my own house parties and it just turns into background music, I can’t make my own parties on auto play near as good as when I’m actually DJing

[pumpitentertainment]

I know you mentioned spodify & Itunes but you also have to remember alot of the songs are explicit . I am not sure about what the laws are in the usa but here in canada you need to also have liability insurance and thats an extra cost also. And yes you may go out and rent the equipment but what happens if something goes wrong does that person have any knowledge on how to get it working again most likely not .

[tjthedj]

I already DJ while being the officiant. But I think you were referring to non-DJs. Thanks Brian!

[jpayne]

Ad a dj, the one suggestion you made that I don't agree with is letting the client plug their device in with their own music.... I would much rather them give me a playlist in advance, so I can use high quality music files, as I do not know where their music has been sourced, or the sound quality of their music. The client might not care, but at the end of the day, the sound quality that is reproduced through my system, or lack thereof, will reflect on me by all who were in attendance.

[scottshortland]

As a DJ - I did not DJ mine but I did provide the equipment for my DJ to use.

[yukubaholmes]

I spun the last 2 hours of my reception

[FSwiftDJ]

Lol That’s good subject, I think I would be more concerned on my mixing how I sound then then the important wedding stuff 😄 so no I don’t think I could thinking about it

[Grapevine_DJ]

The general public believes that their technology and access to music matches (or comes close to) yours.

[GTTrains]

Why the hell would you? Enjoy what should be one of the best days of your life

[webster]

so we're condoning iPod wedding dances now?

[djme-]

Sure. We can also pull our own teeth out too...