"I Didn't Like My Cousin's DJ!"

We can't tell you how many times we've had a potential client say this, or something similar to us during a consultation. The fact is, before you condemn the disc jockey, you need to ask yourself one question - is the DJ playing from the brides playlist or is he doing this on his own?

If the reason you didn't like the DJ that you saw at a recent event was the music choice, this is the million dollar question. Quite often we are hired by a client and told that we are professional entertainers, hired because of reputation and we should do what we do best - entertain. Other times we are given a list of anywhere from 40 to 200 songs and asked to stick to the list.

Now the list, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It helps us to get a feel for what the bride and groom like to listen to and want to hear, which isn't so bad if the client likes music that everyone else will dance to. But what happens when the bride and groom insist on music that won't motivate a crowd and that you simply can't get a groove to?

I'll tell you what happens. You get people leaving the reception saying; "My sister's DJ sucked" or worse. Don't let this happen to you. When making your music selections, be realistic with the time you have for dancing - often times it's about two hours of dance time, after all is said and done. If you average between 3 and 4 minutes per song and divide that into 120 minutes you get about 30 or 40 songs! It doesn't seem possible does it? But it's true.

Of course your wedding may vary depending on how long the establishment takes to get the courses out and other variables, like how neat you are during the cake feeding and how many speeches and formalities you wish to have, but all in all, most wedding receptions average the same time frame.

Now if the DJ has a personality issue, well, you can't blame that on the bride and groom, but they probably never should have hired him or they hired an entertainer sight-unseen. Which is why it's important to meet your DJ face to face.

The most important music list we get from a client is the "do not play list". We can figure out what your guests want to hear by their reaction on the dance floor, or lack of it. We can't tell, however, what you don't like unless you tell us.

I hope this gets you thinking about what you hear at that next wedding reception you attend and more importantly, what you want to hear at your own wedding reception. Like I always say, happy guests are dancing guests!

Have fun planning and we'll see you next month.