I moved to Ohio to be close to family. My wife grew up here. If 20 years from now, our children start families in a different state, we may move at that point. But until that happens, we’re staying put.

Ask your DJ what their future plans are. Sometimes Brides book DJ’s one to two years out. A lot can change in a person’s life. If they don’t have solid roots, they may be tempted to a different area for a fresh start and new opportunities.

I’d rather have a DJ with 1000 songs. Why? If a DJ had a fire at their house, they’d save their wife and kids first, and then their music.

It’s not hard to download 250,000 songs. I actually started out that way. I gathered every piece of music I could get my hands on.

It’s better for the DJ to gather a smaller, highly-curated list. They know these songs inside and out. They can quickly jump to best parts of the song, and skip over the boring parts. They find the best version of the song (there can easily be 20-30 DJ edits of popular songs), i.e. using a moombahton version of the song Milkshake always goes over well! The songs are properly categorized with beatgrids set (this allows music to sync up to light-shows). No person can do all this with 250,000 songs.

Understand, the above is true primarily when the DJ is mixing, mainly during the dance floor. I think it’s totally acceptable to build playlists using Spotify to play during ceremony seating, cocktail, and dinner (it still takes lots of time to curate this list).

By writing this, I may make some DJ’s mad. It’s because the level of work we put into our profession is crazy, and now I’m suggesting we do more.

Sometimes you might want very specific music played at your wedding, or you might want to know if your DJ can actually mix.

My suggestion, tell them specifically what music you like and then ask them to make a mix for you. If they can do it, you will feel much more comfortable with your DJ. And your DJ will then have the songs in their library, cued up and ready to go for your big day.

I’ll admit if it’s during the busy season, the DJ may say no because it takes some time to do. But you are paying a lot for your DJ - it’s your Super Bowl and you’re the star. Get what you want!