Do We really Need a Dj?

We used Pandora one plugged into an amp and it worked out great (and it's free for 30 days so you wouldn't even have to pay for it) we made a playlist and also let guests choose songs too

We used a Spotify playlist and honestly it worked out great for us, but it was definitely not as simple as I thought it would be so you should probably know the inconveniences of it before deciding to do it. It’s difficult to plan a playlist not knowing specifically what’s going on in the wedding at the time when the certain part of the playlist is going on. You really need to read the room in order to choose the next song sometimes… are people actually still dancing? Do they want another upbeat song? Is it time for a slow dance break?

I thought it would be as simple as just pressing ”play” on a playlist, but it wasn’t. I actually ended up going over to the playlist to change the song multiple times throughout the reception. Honestly, to me, it was kind of fun 😂 I liked choosing what song was going to play! But I know a lot of people would be stressed out by having to basically DJ their own wedding. My husband’s best man was also very helpful at choosing songs and helping read the room to choose what to play, when I was too busy.

Basically I definitely think it’s fine to not have a DJ (it worked great for us)! But, if you think you its as simple as pressing play on a playlist and still getting people up and dancing, you’re probably wrong! I’d assign someone to be in charge of at least changing the song if it doesn’t seem to be going over well (and make sure it’s someone who would actually have fun with that, not feel inconvenienced by it). Or if you don’t care much if people dance, then it’s probably fine to just stick to the playlist.

I thought this way at some point during my wedding planning. The Husband and I had debated on if we really needed a DJ and if we could get someone at the venue to coordinate doing songs or announcing, as I got a coordinator in my contract. It was a plausible idea, but also seemed a hassle. It's very hands on and despite the fact that music can keep running, people request things and you have to have an announcer for your guests and you should make sure to figure out your microphone/sound situation for your wedding ceremony as most DJ's take care of that too in their time.

We ended up settling on live entertainment - Dueling Pianos. We thought that if we were going to pay anything, we might as well have something unique that we wouldn't have thought: "I could have done this" -- later. It was fun. My guests got to request songs for them to play on the piano and sing and people were buzzing about it.

Ultimately, you can do it yourself and it probably won't be too difficult -- but there's a lot of details you gotta iron out. Sound system, how to play it, who's going to control it, Announcers, Coordinating dances/speeches/etc, ceremony sound/microphone, etc. Definitely doable and a money saver, but not as easy as it seems, imo.

I would hire a DJ if you can. We went to a wedding that had a friend DJ and it was such a noticeable difference in the party atmosphere because of that.

There's so many playlist options you could have instead of a DJ. its just easier to have one in case of technical issues or making announcements but i don't see it being a must have

I think it depends what you’re going for, really. It’s not a necessity but it is useful (aside from
playing music our DJ kept our whole reception on track). I think a DJ *is* important if you’re going for a dance party type event— traditional, evening, lots of dancing. You can have a nice party without a dj for sure but if a packed dance floor is your goal, you’ll find a DJ well worth your while. But, there are plenty of great weddings that ARENT dance parties— so if that’s not your vibe , a playlist could be a nice solution.

We put together playlists on iTunes and plugged in my computer to the venue sound system. I rarely hear DJ's that I actually think are good and music choices were really important to us so we did it ourselves. It definitely took time, but wasn't difficult my any means.

Pretty sure my sister (MOH) announced dinner, then just grabbed the mic again for her toast (2 other toasts followed), then we went right into the first dances. I generally don't like when the DJ talks a lot so we chose not to have a lot of interruptions.

I made a playlist on my phone, we hooked it up to a Bose speaker and viola! Cheap and easy. Our officiant agreed to do all the announcing for us at the reception and my cousin ran my phone. I made a second play list of "special songs" that were for first dances, etc

I was at a wedding where the couple skipped the dj, they just asked guests for a song request with the rsvp , it was awesome i'm also considering to skip the dj too.

So glad I'm not the only one debating this! I'm definitely leaning towards not having a DJ. None of us are really big dancers, but I'm super big on music and already have my perfect wedding playlist planned. Just not sure if it'll be too hard without having one... although, my MOH would be happy to announce things and control the music for the night! Just depends on the vibe you're going for I suppose!

I personally say yes! We had a DJ and he did a fantastic job!

Thanks for all the input! After reading through, I think it will depend on whether or not we have a day-of coordinator who feels comfortable announcing/hitting play for the evening.

I had a DJ, and I think he was super important. He kept people on the dance floor all night. Also, for the spotlight dances, and he was able to fade the songs in a natural way so that we didn't have to dance for the whole 3 minute song. He had us give him a signal of us just standing with both hands holding each other's hands as his cue. You don't realize how long a song is until you're slow dancing to it with everyone watching you. We definitely did not dance to the whole song for any of the spotlight dances. He also kept everything flowing throughout the reception seamlessly. Their expertise is reading the room is what you're paying for. If you're really strapped for cash, I'm sure you can get by without one. However, I think he really made the reception into what we wanted for our guests.