If your officiant is the voice of your wedding ceremony, then your deejay/emcee is the voice of your reception.  As the emcee half of a wedding entertainment duo, I want to throw out some food for thought when it comes to your wedding entertainment!

As the bride and groom, you don’t really say much on your wedding day.  Now, of course you talk a lot that day!  You greet all your guests, answering questions like “where are you going on your honeymoon?” dozens of times, and thank people for their compliments on your dress, your tie, the flowers, the ceremony, all that jazz.  But you aren’t necessarily the ones who address your guests throughout the day.  (Although I do love it when the newlyweds say a word of thanks during the reception—just sayin!)  Your officiant performs the ceremony and instructs your guests where to go afterward, the venue coordinator or maitre'd may direct them from cocktail hour to the main reception room, but it’s your chosen deejay/emcee who will speak to your guests throughout the reception.  Just like everyone with tastebuds will notice the food they’re served, everyone with ears will hear the deejay you hired.  Thinking beforehand of the kind of atmosphere you want your reception to have is crucial in hiring a deejay who will deliver that in the music chosen and the style of the announcements made.

Think about the atmosphere you want for your reception, even if you can’t describe the actual music you imagine hearing.  A good deejay should be able to take adjectives like “classy,” “upbeat,” “modern,” or “rustic” and choose music that makes you feel those things.  Also, a sure-fire way to achieve an enjoyable reception for everyone is to 1) not place elderly or sound-sensitive guests near the speakers—this will obviously require pre-wedding coordination with your deejay—and 2) ask your deejay to keep the volume down during cocktails and dinner so your guests can easily converse.

A few questions to ask yourself when looking to hire a deejay:

—What kind of dance music do we want played? Radio versions of songs? Mashups/mixes?

—What genre of music do we want (or sometimes more easily, not want) played?

—Any must-play or do-not-play songs in our head?

—What style of announcements do we imagine?

And remember, through all this wedding planning madness, to keep your chin up!  Once that day is over a new adventure is just beginning.

 

All The Best To You & Yours,

Hannah (& Ben)