Does your cocktail hour take place in three different rooms? Is your reception hall massive? Are you having a ceremony onsite too?

Let’s say all the above was true. Have you asked your DJ if they have enough speakers? If they don’t, he may decide to leave the bar area without music, or only cover half of the reception room. Or after the ceremony, you might see your DJ moving speakers from the ceremony room over to the reception area; it’s never good to mess around with the audio right before introductions are about to happen (too many things can go wrong while rushing and under-pressure).

Show your DJ where you’d like music to be, and ask them how many speakers they’ll be bringing.

A DJ I respected plugged every piece of equipment into one circuit. He was going over-the-top, wanting to give the Bride and Groom the best experience possible. Then it happened. During the height of dancing, the lights and music turned off. He tripped the breaker. Too much was plugged-in.

This happened over and over again until I suggested he split the load between two circuits. I helped him do it and everything was fine from that point out.

This was early-on in my DJ career; I was also going to school for Electrical Engineering Technology. Ever since then, I always do my best to ensure a breaker doesn’t need reset at a wedding. No music is the quickest way to kill a dance floor :)

Living in the suburbs of Cleveland and Akron, it seems everyone likes wearing bumming-around outfits to the grocery store. People don’t get dressed up like they used to. Some DJ’s mention in the on-line forums that it’s all about the music, and no one at the wedding cares how they dress; well I do.

A DJ should match the effort put in by the guests, or more. A DJ’s outfit, what their speakers look like, how clean the wires are, and even the smile on their face all lend to the overall environment that you, the bride, spent so much time curating.

Ask a DJ what they typically wear. I’ve seen a DJ recently wear jeans and white New Balance sneakers. You don’t need that at your wedding, you deserve better!

Venues sometimes provide uplighting as an add-on. They can match whatever color you’re looking for. However, I do have a couple issues with them.

One is that a dark dance floor is usually more inviting to shy dancers. Unfortunately the venue's uplights are almost always left on once the dancing starts (full brightness too). The venue typically has one person who knows how to operate the lights, and that person probably won’t be there during your reception.

The second reason I prefer my uplights is the large level of control I have over them. I can dim them, sync them up to the music, or turn the whole room blue if playing the song "I'm Blue”. I can have them change colors slowly during a couple’s dance or strobe them at exciting moments. Mostly though, I can ensure the dance floor feels comfortable so the guests can lose themselves and have a blast.

A DJ could bring a GigBAR as a cheap lighting option. These have seven different lights all packed together on one stand. It’s super simple to set up and cost around $750. It may look a little cheesy with the lasers and might not be bright enough for larger situations.

On the other hand, a DJ could spend around $1500 - $3500 just for one light. Yes, there are drastically different levels of lighting. I have some lights like this. If you put your hand in front of the spotlight, even 10 feet away, you’ll feel heat. And don’t look into them, you’ll start burning your eyes.

Just because the DJ has nice lights doesn’t mean you’ll get a good light show. Both of the above options have built in light shows, but only using those limits potential. DMX lets DJ’s wirelessly control the lights themselves. For instance, if I play the song “Dancing in the Moonlight”, I can make it look like there is a moon on the ceiling. If I play “Fireball”, I can make the room red with flickering uplights to represent flames. I can place a spotlight on the dance floor during specialty dances. I can achieve a disco ball effect when starting a slow dance. The options are endless. But I must take to time to set all these options. Once I do, they become available with a click of a button.

Just recently, “Hang-on Sloopy” played during dinner. Everyone started loudly singing, “O,H,I,O” during the chorus (it’s an Ohio thing). With the click of a button, I was able to add fun lighting just while they sang each chorus. It was very impromptu, but added a lot of energy to what was happening.

Again, get a DJ who has great lights with great programming.

I don’t care if they’ve DJ’d for 30 years, that doesn’t mean their setup will look good.

No lie, my company (full-time job) recently hired a DJ for an anniversary party. I’ve seen this guy at bridal shows before. He offers very low prices. But I didn’t expect to see what I saw.

First, he placed the speakers on the floor, this is a big no-no. Second, he brought a dance light that he may have stolen from a college dorm room. Third, all wires were exposed and left hanging around. Fourth, his table was filled with boxes of CD’s. And finally, his outfit was very unkempt and un-professional (at a bare minimum he should try to match the effort put-in by the guests).

If you’ve been DJ’ing as long as he has, there is no reason to not at least have a facade. This would cover up the messy table and wires. And why he didn’t bring speaker stands is beyond me. You might think this can’t happen at your wedding, but I’ve seen some bad wedding DJ setups. Get a DJ who cares about presentation. You put too much effort to make everything else look nice.

I see this all the time in online DJ groups, a DJ will say they only care about being good at playing the music, that it makes them a “true dj”. This is such a poor attitude to take. A good wedding DJ needs to excel and be great at many things: mixing, music selection, vender and timeline coordination, setup, appearance, demeanor, crowd interaction, etc.

The feature photo for this post is of my most basic setup. Notice how it is still clean and looks sharp. You don’t see cables and it matches the decor. My recommendation, always ask to see a picture of their setup.