Ipod instead of Dj??

It’s fine for background music or a dinner party type atmosphere. But if you want any dancing/party vibe you should really get a DJ.

DJs not only play music but they also run the whole event, they make announcements, let guests know when you're cutting cake, etc. They essentially keep the party on track and keep it going. Will you have someone else to do this for you?

So I went to my best friend's wedding last June (2017) and they did an IPOD playlist that they made... It was ok but there were some things that ended up being ehhh. For instance for the intros me and the Best Man came out and had to introduce all the bridal party and someone had to start the first dance, then turn it off and turn it to another play list. Honestly not that many people were dancing. A DJ helps with all song transitions, introducing people and also changes the type of music being played based on the number of people dancing/age/time.

My good friend did this last year, just had a laptop hooked up to a sound system and it was totally fine. She and her husband made playlists for different parts of the day (ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner, dancing) and the best man was in charge of the laptop. Their wedding was pretty small--about 45 people.

I'd probably give someone like 100 bucks to keep the songs on track. I just have a hard time spending more than that for some light music.

View Quoted Comment Thank you! A laptop isn't a bad idea at all! Yeah we are looking at about 60 people, so fairly small

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No problem! With the size of your guest list, I think that you'll be totally fine doing the music on your own and just assigning someone to be in charge of it.

Our "venue" is a home. Theres not really a dance floor, just ceremony, dinner, lawn games and smores making (we wont tell our guests not to dance of course) but ive made a playlist to play certain songs at certain times of the night. We wont be having a dj.

We're doing this. We also have a lunchtime reception, and we do have a dance floor, but dancing at the wedding is not a huge thing that is important to us. Like, if not many people end up dancing, we don't really care, so DJ was definitely something we cut from the budget. I'd rather spend that money on feeding my guests well!

We are playing music from an iPod... we'll set up the playlist in advance (1 slow song for every 4 fast songs) and we'll have different playlists for cocktail hour and the reception. FH's best man will be in charge of the playlist, to raise/lower the volume, pause it if necessary, etc. He will also be doing the little MCing that is necessary (announcing our entrance and our first dance, announcing the cake cutting). He's excited to be doing this haha, it'll be fun for him!

We talked about not having a DJ, because our wedding is small, 55 people. But when I talked to the reception venue, they said if we are “music people” (we very much are) we might want to consider a DJ. I also didn’t want to deal with laptops or playlists, or have any of my wedding party dealing with it either.

So it really depends on what you want and what your wedding vibe is. I have been adamant from day one that there MUST be dancing at my reception, and I wanted to make sure the flow of the evening was flawless. We found a DJ at a very affordable price too, so that also helped us in our decision.

We’re having a small, sit-down reception, so our ipod playlist works for us. We’re also going to have someone on the mic for announce various parts of our timeline to guide everyone along.

I think it really depends on the type of wedding you’re having

For background music, yes, an ipod playlist would be just fine. However - if you want a dance party, that is when you need to invest in a DJ.

We're actually doing a brunch wedding as well. Hiring a DJ really wasn't on the list. Neither my fiancé or myself like to dance so a party atmosphere isn't us at all. We're creating two Spotify playlists - one for "background music" during cocktails and dinner, the next is dance music. Our MC will put on the dance music after dinner and people can dance if they choose.

I think it depends on your vibe and the size of your wedding. But I really think a DJ can help read the crowd, keep people dancing, and keep things running smoothly.

I would just caution you against leaving devices unattended. I had a customer who was using her phone for music at a venue for her wedding and the phone was stolen.