What is a fair price to pay for a wedding DJ?

Question

If you were shopping for a wedding reception DJ what woudl you expect to pay for a 5 hour reception with a good DJ/MC? At what price would you say it was excessive? And at what price would you be suspicious the DJ and or equipment was inferior?

Also, are you or a parent paying for it?

Thanks!

Answer 1

my husband and i paid about $1000 for our dj, he also coordinated the event that day. he helped make sure everything ran smoothly and most dj don't worry about this stuff. my husband kept saying that we paid too much for our dj during the planning process but after the wedding he realized that he was worth every penny. we would have had a totally different day with out him. we still get compliments on how smoothly everything went and how great our dj was. i think in this area you most often get what you pay for, they less they charge the less professional they look (dress and set up), and the less they know about how to keep a reception running smoothly.  I think you can find a decent dj for around $500 but that will be an uninvoleved basic service.

we paid for our dj

the dj was near the top of my priority list along with food, these things help make your event better for your guest and in my mind these are good places to splurge.

Answer 2

We live in NJ and priced DJs from $200 to $1500. We settled on a DJ for $700. We like his personality and have been to event he had done in the past so we know what to expect. We are not having lighting or anything fancy, just music and announcements and "flow" throughout the night. I would say to ask around and make sure someone has had experience with the person you choose ahead of time to ensure you know he's worthwhile.

Otherwise I think it varies by area and level of audio education and equipment. The $200 DJ was a local college student who did it on the side. He was good when we met him but seemed nervous to me.

My mom is paying for our DJ.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I'll tell you what we had...DJ did ceremony (1:00pm), break in between, music while we entered reception, dinner music, reception (dance).  She ended up being there from 1:00pm to 2:00am.  We also had lights.  We paid $1275.00.  My husband and I paid for it!