dj vs live music for ceremony

Depends on the venue. Some ceremony locations may have a sound system that someone can pop a cd in and control. Others, including myself, my venue is outside ceremony and reception in the same location. My DJ will do an outside set up for ceremony and an indoor setup. He has no extra cost, some dj's added a cost say ($300) for extra set up location. I wanted live music for the ceremony/cocktail hour but they were too costly.

You can have a DJ for both but it ultimately comes down to your ceremony. I'm getting married in a Catholic church so they have strict rules that need to be followed. I can only have live music (musicians) in the church, no pre recorded, cds etc. If your not getting married in a church setting I would not see any issues but it doesn't hurt to verify!

I am always on team "live" music vs. DJ. FH is team DJ. So we decided on live musician for cocktail hour and ceremony and then DJ for the reception. Our DJ did offer his services for all but it was important for me to have some sort of live musician.

Our DJ is doing our ceremony at the church and then cocktail hour/dinner/etc. at the reception venue.

To answer your question, email a bunch of Djs, ask what their prices are, what they offer and if they can do both the ceremony and reception.

Yes, DJs will often provide the music for your ceremony for an additional fee. If you're having a DJ, you should have them do everything- ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. If you're having a band for your reception, ask if they can DJ your ceremony and cocktail hour, that's what we did for our wedding. Of course you can hire live musicians to do the ceremony and/or cocktail hour, but if you're having a DJ, it's probably cheaper to have the DJ do it since they're already going to be there for the reception.

I'm in a wedding band myself, and most clients just ask us to DJ the ceremony.

My DJ is doing my ceremony as well as the cocktail hour and reception. The DJ company I worked with did have an option for a live musician to perform at the ceremony and cocktail hour, but it was more expensive. If it were the same price, I would have opted for a live musician.