A Word About DJ Rates
Disc Jockey rates vary based on talent, experience, emcee ability, service, coordination, equipment needed, music knowledge, mixing ability and personality. Rates for Professional DJs vary greatly. The best price is not always the best deal, especially if you are planning a wedding. As a matter of fact, surveys conclude that nearly 100% of brides would have spent more money on their entertainment and made it their #1 priority in hindsight.
A full-service disc jockey company will normally invest 12 to 30 hours to your special event, but it may appear that you are only paying for “4 hours”. Consultations, music purchasing & editing, preparation, set-up and tear-down, education and other business related endeavors add up to the overall success of your special occasion.
A party by definition is an entertainment function. The current national average spent on a wedding day is about $28,000! At 6 hours for the wedding and reception, that’s $4,666 per hour. If the guests leave just one hour early, because of a cheap, inexperienced DJ, the Bride and Groom will have lost $4,666!
A lot of people ask about price 1st because they’ve never hired a DJ before and they’re not sure what to base their decision on. An important thing to know is that a DJ is not a commodity. There is a big difference in the quality between different DJs.
If you’re checking around, you’re going to hear a lot of different rates, some probably more than ours and some for less, let me ask you this, who makes or breaks your party?
“When we looked carefully at out budget, we were only ‘allowed’ to spend $500 on our DJ, based upon a $10,000 budget. But when we had our first meeting at the office, we knew we could trim away some of the other things to have the DJ of our dreams. So, we did. We chose to go with the ‘Ultimate Sound & Light Package’. We were impressed when looking at what it had to offer, and knew it would make our reception awesome. We knew it would be worth it.”
Wedding
Michael & Janet Cotterman
Interesting Wedding Statistics
- Before the wedding, brides ranked entertainment 9th in importance compared to their other wedding goods and services they would need.
- On average only 5% of the wedding budget is spent on entertainment.
However, after the vows…
- 72% of all brides say they would have spent more time choosing their reception entertainment.
- Almost 100% say they would have spent more of their budget on the entertainment. During wedding planning, Brides say their highest priority is their attire, followed by the reception site and caterer—reception entertainment is among the least of their priorities. Within one week after their reception…
- 78% of Brides say they would have made the entertainment their highest priority!
- When asked 81% of guests say the thing they remember most about a wedding is the entertainment.
- 65% of all couples that chose a band to entertain at their wedding, said, if they had it to do over again, they would have chosen a disc jockey.
- 95% of brides polled after their reception regretted choosing a budget DJ or family friend and wished they had gone with an experienced, established professional.
- Even though entertainment on average is 5% of the budget, it accounts for 80% of the success of the evening
*These statistics were published in St. Louis Bride & Groom Magazine in 2003. Sources include: Simmons, 2001; USA Today, 2002; National Bridal Service, 2001; The Knot, 2002; Brides Magazine, 2001.
What will you and your guests remember most?
