DJ yes or no?

I honestly feel that a DJ will help with the mood, play music according to the atmosphere, etc. It'll help with the flow and make it special. If you can find one within your budget, I'd go for a DJ.

Kristi, I won't try to persuade you either way. What I will mention though is that, if you go with a DJ, don't go with a cheap DJ. Either use a pro or use an ipod. Around here, the cheap guys mess up more events than they help. Also, if you do create your own playlist, use material that actually works (not just stuff that you personally like). Here are the playlists from our past events. Feel free to use them as you see fit.

http://www.rickryan.com/playlistdirectory.aspx

You might also find some of these blogs useful:

http://rickryan.wordpress.com/category/stuff-to-know/

All the best to you and yours.

Thank you. I would definitely look into a professional. We have it in the budget to hire one I just don't want to waste the money if I don't feel like it is needed. That is more spending money on the honeymoon!

I had the same question a few weeks ago. Most people said a DJ was the way to go.

My sister is a wedding DJ and I definitely recommend one. Its nice having someone in the industry because I get to hear of all things that do and do not work. They take on a big part of the reception that you don't even realize. Like you said with the announcements and the flow. Imagine no dj and everyone either flooding to the buffet table or just looking around to see if it's ok to eat. My sister even asks the head table if she can take their empty plates or refill drinks. She has even offered to help guest with small children to be an extra pair of hands to hold a plate.

I'm having a DJ, but only because I'm having dancing and all. I feel like in a situation where it's just a nice dinner an iPod would be sufficient. I saw a post within the last week or so on here about a certain app I think. It allows you to make multiple playlists ahead of time. It's like a "DJ" app. I'm sure with a little googling and you could find it or something similar. Did you think about how the restaurant may be playing music as well? Every restaurant I've ever worked at played music over the speakers.

I do not think it is needed for a dinner at a restaurant. My friend did the exact same thing for her wedding and everything was great. What you might want to consider is maybe designate someone to be a host/hostess or announcer and organizer? Way cheaper than a DJ if all the partying and dancing is not going down.

There isn't a buffet, it is a sit down dinner so there will be waiters and orders being taken so I won't have issues that come up like that. If the restaurant does play music they can accommodate our private room and not play anything. They do weddings and events with music all the time. I just don't want it to be weird for my guests. I want them to have a nice time but I'm not really looking for my wedding to be a huge party. We only invited 80 people so it will be fairly small. I guess I am mostly curious of people who have actually done the iPod thing and either had success or failures with it.

I was at weddings with both. The wedding with the ipod was very hard to hear and to get the dancing going. It is important if you use an ipod to have speakers and test the sound in the reception room to see how it is with all the guests. Also, if you do not have DJ you can have one of bridesmaid/groomsmen or other friend with a larger personality do the announcements and keep things going with just a microphone.

Kristi, I may have mis-understood your initial post. It sounds like you're in a small room and I'm wondering if you even have room for a dance floor. Assuming your final guest count is 40-60 and you're not doing the formalities (cake cutting, 1st dance, parent dances, bouquet, etc.), and not after a dance party, I'd skip the DJ.

A (good) DJ is best when there is dancing, and there are special events that the group needs to be led through. Am I missing something above?

I may have missed it, but make sure the restaurant will let you have one. Some won't let you bring in musical entertainment like bands or DJs.

The room definitely has room for a dance floor. And they will let us have one. I would like to do the cake cutting but none of the dancing. If i go the iPod route I will have all the music I would have used as the first dance, parents dance ect. on the playlist. I just won't have someone announce it is time for whatever dance. I like the idea of having a DJ to just direct everything but I just wonder what they would charge for that.

Kristi, our baseline pkg is $700. Not sure what the going rate is in your market but $600 is the bare minimum I'd hire in Nashville. If you have a dance floor, and budget for a DJ, then hire one. Even with just cake and dancing, you'll be amazed at how much more pressure you're going to feel to keep things moving. If you didn't have budget it might be different but, under your circumstances, do you really want the stress and pressure to be the main thing you remember about your wedding day?