DJing for my Cousin's Wedding

[SlvrDragon50]

I'm a little surprised the Hilton doesn't have their own sound system considering how 'high class' it is. They'd probably make a ton off of renting that equipment. Now that I'm looking at a map of California, not too surprised there aren't that many rental companies in the area. 1h15m from LA.

My cousin is gonna talk about the wedding details this weekend w/ her fiance so I'll find out more specifics later. As of now, I've been putting together a list with some classics for the older crowd as well as top 40 hits for the younger generation. I might throw in a short 45 min - 1 hr house set towards the end when the older people and kids leave.

[soundinmotiondj]

I'm a little surprised the Hilton doesn't have their own sound system considering how 'high class' it is. They'd probably make a ton off of renting that equipment. Now that I'm looking at a map of California, not too surprised there aren't that many rental companies in the area. 1h15m from LA.

Hotel A/V rentals are typically on the order of 50% of "buy it new" prices...at least in my area. That does include "delivery and setup"...having the A/V guy hang out for the duration is extra.

[SlvrDragon50]

This is the most 'professional' looking site with rentals I found: http://www.sandiegosoundandlighting.com/packages.html

So with renting, anything I need to check out about the company before renting? I can't see the equipment since I'm on the other coast unfortunately. I figure I'll just ask for specifics of the equipment being used. Also need to get a hold of a wireless mic or two.

[souldancer]

So, essentially you're saying OP should hire a DJ when he is supposed to be the DJ?

Nope

[johney]

play donk

[DJTroyT]

My cousin is gonna talk about the wedding details this weekend w/ her fiance so I'll find out more specifics later. As of now, I've been putting together a list with some classics for the older crowd as well as top 40 hits for the younger generation. I might throw in a short 45 min - 1 hr house set towards the end when the older people and kids leave.

As a mobile DJ in California (Bay Area, though, not LA area) with 20+ years of experience and several hundred wedding receptions on the board, I can assure you that, unless the reception devolves into nothing but 20-year-old club kids, you will NOT want to play a House set at a wedding reception.

IMO, you're thinking FAR too much like a club DJ, but, again, unless this is a wedding of hardcore club kids who care nothing about their older and younger guests, you're going to end up with an empty dance floor and a room full of unhappy people.

As soundinmotiondj very correctly stated, wedding receptions typically have 3 or 4 generations of people in attendance, and even if the oldest generation goes home early, there will still be 2 or 3 generations there 'til the end. Most of them will have never stepped foot in a dance club that has ever played a Trance song, or even knows what one is. They will want to hear a handful of current Top 40 and R&B hits, along with classic dance hits from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, because they want to dance and participate to songs they have heard 100+ times and can sing along with. They will probably want to hear super-cheesy, way-overdone group-participation dance songs like the Chicken Dance and the Macarena, and even though we are have to grit our teeth to play these tired songs, we do, because it's what makes the crowd happy.

A wedding crowd is going to care absolutely ZERO about your ability to beat-match, much less do live remixing or whatever. Most of the songs you will play don't lend themselves to beat-matching anyway, as you will be moving between tempos and genres a lot.

The skill of a wedding DJ has nothing whatsoever to do with the technical skills that are associated with club DJing, but rather having knowledge of a very broad set of music (many, many genres across 50 years of popular music) and knowing what song to play to get both grandma (or great-grandma) and granddaughter dancing at the same time. This is MUCH harder than it may seem at first, because, again, you aren't dealing with a crowd of people of very similar age who are there to hear the same one genre of music for 4 hours, but rather multiple generations who want to hear music from a range of genres, from Motown, 60s Rock & Roll, Funk, Soul, Pop (70s-2010s), New Wave, R&B, Disco, Hip-Hop, Rock, Country, Adult Contemporary, Smooth Jazz, etc.

That means playing YMCA (the Village People), and The Twist (Chubby Checker), and Superfreak (Rick James), and Elvira (Oak Ridge Boys). It generally does not mean any form of EDM/Trance/House, etc.

I say this with all due respect, and I'm not in any way trying to force you to do anything (as if I could), but rather I'm trying to set some realistic expectations for you. As a DJ, I have tons of respect for club DJs, and have done a bit of that myself, but for mobile/wedding DJing, you have to have a very different mindset if you want to be successful.