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  1. #11
    Tech Guru squidot's Avatar
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    this is a rough spot, but i wouldn't dj my bosses wedding. definitely be honest with him/her to let them know you have never done a wedding and see if they are still interested. look at it this way: it's one of the biggest, most important days in their lives and it's not something to be taken lightly because you can make some "extra coinage" by simply playing a bunch of oldies and top 40 stuff. it's very serious and if you don't do well, there may very well be some consequences at your work since it's your boss we are talking about. there's a lot involved in consideration of gear, lights, vibe, the clients needs, etc. tread very lightly on this and don't jump in likes it's no big deal.

    on the flip side, if you do very well there will likely be positives at work as well. it shows that you have the ability to go beyond your normal box and succeed, but again be very honest that it's not your standard area of djing. really think about this all the way through and weigh out the pros and cons of either decision and think about the worst case scenario and best case scenarios along with the amount of risk.
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  2. #12
    Tech Mentor HighTopFade's Avatar
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    Pass on it. No one should consider a wedding without successfully DJing a Sweet 16 first.
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  3. #13
    Tech Guru squidot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HighTopFade View Post
    Pass on it. No one should consider a wedding without successfully DJing a Sweet 16 first.
    lol, what about a quinceanera? that has to count too.
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  4. #14
    Tech Mentor HighTopFade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by squidot View Post
    lol, what about a quinceanera? that has to count too.
    Oh yeah. For sure. Same but different.
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  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by AllDay View Post
    Anyone can really do it, it doesn't take much skill. More so just having the right equiptment.
    I take it you have lots of wedding experience?

    Personally, I've done over 100. Having once been a n00b wedding DJ, and having witnessed plenty of other n00b wedding DJ's, do NOT try one without shadowing a pro. Making it seem effortless takes quite a bit of money for the right gear and a lot of experience.

    Not to mention this is for your boss. My advice? Pass on this one.

    (Oh and I actually mix at every wedding)
    Last edited by sss18734; 01-22-2013 at 11:18 PM.

  6. #16
    Tech Guru AllDay's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sss18734 View Post
    Spoken like a true ignoramus that's never done a wedding before!

    I've done over 100. Having once been a n00b wedding DJ, and having witnessed plenty of other n00b wedding DJ's, do NOT try one without shadowing a pro. Making it seem effortless takes quite a bit of money for the right gear and a lot of experience.

    Not to mention this is for your boss. My advice? Pass on this one.

    (Oh and I actually mix at every wedding)
    I dont think anyone here read the second post where he states they were just gonna play mix cds and then found out he dj'ed. :/
    Quote Originally Posted by Maxy View Post
    The subject of me djing was surprisingly something we had never really talked about though ha. Anyways, she was just like "hey you wanna dj (insert daughter's name)'s wedding? We were just going to throw a couple of mix CDs on for music" So it seems pretty lacking in the music region already for the wedding.

  7. #17
    Tech Mentor HighTopFade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AllDay View Post
    I dont think anyone here read the second post where he states they were just gonna play mix cds and then found out he dj'ed. :/
    You're right, I missed it. In that case, go for it. I have attended more casual weddings where there was music throughout the reception with none of the traditional activities. Just to be sure, talk to the wedding planner.
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  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by HighTopFade View Post
    You're right, I missed it. In that case, go for it. I have attended more casual weddings where there was music throughout the reception with none of the traditional activities. Just to be sure, talk to the wedding planner.
    I read that part, but in reality if there's just mixed CDs they have no one to complain to about the music. If you're standing there being a DJ, you automatically assume all the responsibility. People will come up to ask for songs, and you might not have it and turns out it's like the song they repeat all day on the radio for the past week. Or you're playing something, and someone will come up to you and say "come on man play something we can dance to" (I've gotten this one before) even though you're playing something from the "dance" genre of music.

    I agree with the comment of shadowing someone for at the very least 4 gigs in order to get a feel of what goes down. And all the wedding DJ's I've seen mix as well. Some much better than others, but they all have.

    Weddings are a completely different beast than a club or rave, but you can certainly tackle one if you prepare correctly. Since it is something outside of your regular musical spectrum you really do need to prepare.

    Hey dude, if you do it and it's something you enjoy doing you can actually become a wedding DJ, I know no one really ever thinks of this as their dream job but I've actually been thinking about it more and more. I think it would be a nice source of extra income. Everyone needs a DJ at a wedding.
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  9. #19
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    Your just going to be an MC essentially with a jukebox function. Watch the mood and the people. Older crowd, play older music.

    Ask the guests what they want to hear! In my experience some people will come and talk to you, interested in what a DJ does. Ask them.

    Lastly, just play hits! Weddings are the easiest thing to DJ. Hit up the iTunes wedding charts. Thy have some good stuff for this. Just echo/delay out and transition in. No one cares about mixing.

    Good luck!
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  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by AllDay View Post
    No cause in a club you would have to mix.. :/ Weddings are about your music collection and having all the oldies. If you have a tb hd like myself you can load it with top hits from the 50's and up and you will do just fine. Its finish one song, play the next. Anyone can really do it, it doesn't take much skill. More so just having the right equiptment.
    Mixing is not actually all that hard. I mean it does take practice, both to get and to maintain. But given 100 or 200 or 500 hours of practice....mixing skills will be reasonably solid. The time will vary according to where you are starting, and your personal standards for "reasonably solid."

    Of all the skills needed to MC/DJ a wedding, playing music is probably the easiest (so, we agree on this). The people skills, the coordination skills, and the mic skills are all more difficult than the music skills. Given 100 or 200 or 500 hours of practice on EACH of those skills...they would be reasonably solid. This is the reason that DJing weddings is difficult - at least to do at the professional level - the breadth of skills required is quite large. The soft skills are where the real difficulty resides.

    Quote Originally Posted by AllDay View Post
    I dont think anyone here read the second post where he states they were just gonna play mix cds and then found out he dj'ed. :/
    I did read that. I still advise against taking the event.

    I will grant that it is trivial to be "one better than mix CDs." However, the expectations for a live DJ are never "one better than mix CDs." The moment there is a DJ, the expectations of everyone in the room will rise.
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