Questions to Ask Your Wedding DJ
Twenty questions for a wedding DJ, from who will actually turn up on the night to how they handle the microphone, guest requests, venue volume limits and an empty dance floor. Written for couples comparing quotes who want to know what separates one DJ from another.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Will you personally be our DJ, or could the company send someone else?
Why ask it
Multi-operator companies sell you a brand and assign a name later, sometimes weeks before the date. If you liked one person's style, ask for them by name in the contract and ask what happens if they are reassigned.
Can I hear you on a microphone, ideally recorded at a real reception?
Why ask it
Anyone can beatmatch; the voice is what your guests will remember. Listen for whether they sound like a person or a radio host, and whether the announcement is short. Reluctance to share a recording usually means they know the answer.
How much do you talk over the course of the night?
Why ask it
This is the biggest stylistic split among wedding DJs and the one couples regret most. Ask them to say when they would speak and for how long, then decide whether that matches what you want, since heavy MC work suits some weddings and ruins others.
Do you handle the announcements, and who cues you?
Why ask it
Somebody has to get people seated, quiet the room for speeches and bring you out for the first dance. Find out whether that is them, the coordinator or the venue, because when nobody owns it the evening drifts by twenty minutes.
Have you played our venue, and does it have a sound limiter or a curfew?
Why ask it
Many venues cap decibels or cut music at a fixed hour, and a limiter that trips will silence the room. A DJ who knows your venue can tell you where to put the speakers so the limiter does not trigger, which is knowledge you cannot get elsewhere.
What does the quoted price include, and what is extra?
Why ask it
Ask specifically about hours covered, travel, a second setup for the ceremony, uplighting, a dance floor light rig, fog, a photo booth and overtime per hour. The gap between two quotes is nearly always in this list rather than in skill.
What equipment are you bringing, and what happens if a speaker or laptop fails?
Why ask it
You are looking for a spare of anything that can kill the sound: a second laptop or a phone with the playlist, a spare mixer or controller, extra cables, and music stored offline rather than streamed. Relying on venue wifi is a real failure point.
Do you provide microphones for the ceremony and the speeches, and what type?
Why ask it
Handheld, lapel and stand mics behave differently, and speech audio is what ends up in your video. Ask how many mics they bring, whether there is a spare, and who holds it when a nervous person is speaking.
If the ceremony is in a different spot from the reception, do you need a second setup?
Why ask it
A separate location usually means separate speakers, a separate mic and time to move between them. That is either an extra cost or a gap in coverage, and it is better discovered now than in the final week.
How loud will it be at the table closest to the speakers?
Why ask it
Older relatives and small children often sit through a reception unable to hear anyone. A thoughtful DJ will offer to angle speakers away from the seating, keep dinner volume conversational, and check the far tables during the night.
How many songs do you want from us, and how do you use a do-not-play list?
Why ask it
The useful answer is a small number of must-plays plus a sense of direction, not a full evening playlist, because a fixed list removes their ability to react. The do-not-play list should be treated as absolute, including if a guest requests it.
Do you take requests from guests, and what do you do with one that would empty the floor?
Why ask it
Look for judgment rather than a policy: they take the request, thank the guest, and play it at a moment where it works, or not at all. A DJ who plays everything asked for will lose the room, and one who refuses everything comes across as rigid.
Our parents will ask for songs we haven't approved. How do you want to handle that?
Why ask it
This is a real and predictable problem, and it is easier to agree a rule now. Common approaches are a small pre-agreed allowance, playing them during dinner, or referring all requests back to one nominated person who is not you.
What do you do if the floor empties two songs into the dancing?
Why ask it
The best answer is concrete: change era, drop to something familiar, shorten the mix, get the wedding party out, or wait because the bar queue will clear. Anyone who says that never happens to them is telling you they have not worked many rooms.
How do you handle the switch from dinner to dancing?
Why ask it
That transition is where receptions stall, because people are full, seated and comfortable. Ask what they play in the twenty minutes before the first dance and how they signal that the evening has changed gear.
What do you wear?
Why ask it
A practical question people are shy about asking. DJs generally have an answer ready, and if formality matters at your wedding, saying so now avoids an awkward look at the photographs later.
How long do you need for setup and pack-down, and what space and power do you need?
Why ask it
Setup is typically one to two hours and cannot happen while guests are eating in that room. Give the answer to your venue and coordinator, along with the power requirement and the table or footprint they need.
When do we lock the timeline and the song list, and how do we send it to you?
Why ask it
You want a date and a format, whether that is a form, a shared playlist or a call. A DJ with no process here will be asking for your first dance track two days before, and it always coincides with the week you have least time.
If you are ill on the day, who covers, and how would they get our plan?
Why ask it
Solo DJs should be able to name a network or a colleague they trade cover with. Ask whether that person gets your song lists and timeline, and what the contract says about a refund if nobody can be found.
Are you insured, and can you send our venue a certificate?
Why ask it
Venues commonly require public liability cover and, in some countries, electrical testing on equipment before allowing a supplier in. This should be an immediate yes with paperwork attached, and it is a fair proxy for how the rest of their admin runs.
Briefing a Wedding DJ
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How to Brief Them
Give examples, not genres
Saying you want upbeat but not cheesy means nothing across two people's music taste. Send fifteen or twenty songs you would be glad to hear, and one or two you would hate, and let the DJ work out the pattern.
Describe the room, not just the music
Tell them the age spread, whether your families dance, which side of the room will drink more, and whether there are children. A DJ who knows there are thirty guests over seventy plans a different first hour.
Do not script the whole night
A fixed playlist removes the one thing you are paying a person for, which is reacting to what is happening. Fix the moments that matter, the entrance, first dance, parent dances, last song, and leave the rest as direction.
Make the do-not-play list explicit
Include anything tied to an ex, a family fight or a funeral, and say if it must not be played even by request. This list is short, easy to honor, and the one thing you cannot undo on the night.
Get the DJ, photographer and coordinator on the same timeline
The first dance goes wrong when the photographer is changing a lens and the coordinator has not seated anyone. Send the same document to all three and ask them to confirm.
What to Confirm
The music plan, two weeks out
- 1Processional, any music during the ceremony, and the recessional, with exact versions and timings.
- 2Cocktail hour and dinner: the mood, the volume, and whether announcements happen during it.
- 3Entrance and any introductions, with the phonetic spelling of every name being read out.
- 4First dance, parent dances and any group dance, including whether you want it faded early.
- 5Speeches: how many, in what order, who holds the mic, and what plays before and after.
- 6Cake, bouquet, last song, and whether there is anything after the official end time.
Questions to settle with the venue as well
- 1Is there a decibel limiter, and at what level does it cut?
- 2What time must amplified music stop, and is the bar open past that?
- 3Where can the DJ set up, and is there power at that point?
- 4What time can they load in, and is there parking near the door?
- 5Are candles, fog or haze restricted, since haze sets off some fire alarms?
Common Mistakes
- Booking a company rather than a person. If the contract does not name your DJ, you may meet them for the first time on the day.
- Judging on a mix rather than on speech. Most complaints about wedding DJs are about talking, timing and volume, none of which show up in a demo mix.
- Handing over a two hundred song playlist. It reads as distrust and leaves them no room to respond to the room emptying.
- Forgetting the ceremony and speeches when comparing prices. Sound for those is often a separate line, and a cheaper quote may cover the dancing only.
- Leaving the end of the night undefined. Overtime gets agreed at midnight by whoever is nearest, and it is usually more expensive than booking the hour in advance.
- Not warning them about family requests. Without an agreed rule, your uncle will be at the booth all night and the DJ will not know whether to say yes.