One of the biggest concerns about a wedding dinner or party is how to get your wedding guests to let their guard and hair down and boogey the night away. Let's admit it, apart from wearing the most smashing gown and handsomest man on your arm, the next most important thing is how much fun your friends are going to have on your wedding night. The wedding DJ has a huge role to play in ensuring that. It is, arguably, one of the most important facts to look into, apart from booking a limousine ride for your wedding arrival. The wedding guests may not remember the gown you wore or the dinner dishes served but guests remember your wedding by how much fun they had!

So, I'm going to broach the subject of hiring a DJ for your wedding today.

Most of the DJs hired for weddings have experience running the pubs and night clubs. There's a plus point to that and there's also a negative point. A club DJ spins and mixed the tracks in the clubs....giving the music he or she plays a new personality. In a wedding, a good wedding DJ has to play music according to the needs of the people at the wedding...not for his own pleasure! It makes a difference whether you hire a wedding DJ individually or through an agency. When you're discussing the details of hiring a wedding DJ, be sure to get the name of the DJ who is going to be at your wedding. I mean, don't just let the agency decide who to send to your wedding! BIG mistake there. They could be sending you a rookie who plays songs totally unsuitable for your wedding guests for all you know. So, check the name of the DJ, get his background and experience...THEN sign a contract.

Another thing that is totally important when hiring a wedding DJ is to meet with the DJ before the wedding...not ON THE WEDDING DAY itself. I know it sounds like a lot of work and troublesome but if you want to be safe, this is the way it has to work. Get the DJ's number and invite him/her out for a short meeting in a neutral place...definitely not in a night spot....a simple nearby restaurant or fast-food joint seems like a good meeting place to me. You can have different ideas but it's up to you where you want to meet the guy.

During the meeting with your wedding DJ, check his background and ask him/her where he/she has been playing all this while....and the kind of events too. It's imperative that you know so that you know what to expect from the wedding DJ. Here's something that you should ask the wedding DJ before hiring him/her....'If everyone was sitting down staring at the ceiling, what would the DJ do to get the people moving? What kind of song would he/she play to get people's toes tapping and when would he play these days'. Get his/her brain juices flowing a little bit...you can gauge how experienced the wedding DJ is just by asking that question, folks!

I don't particularly mind how the DJ dresses for a wedding, really...but if you do, make sure you mention this. Most wedding DJs know that if there's a code for clothing EVEN for DJs, they'll do as told. A friend of mine didn't want her wedding DJ looking like the janitor of the high class hotel where she held her wedding dinner. Other things to ask the wedding DJ is, of course, the fee (if he's a freelancer), is there an overtime fee if they need to stretch the dancing a little, do they require a tip, if the fee includes controlling the lightings, does the fee include traveling to and from the wedding location...etc. It's important if you don't want to be surprised with a bigger-than-expected wedding DJ bill. Usually, when you hire a wedding DJ, you'll have to work out all the sound and light system with them to see who supplies what and if the hotel can accommodate the equipment. A lot of minute details to work out with the wedding DJ...and you may not cover everything with just ONE meeting, so, expect to meet up with the wedding DJ over time.

For whatever it is worth, I hope this wedding DJ tip helped a little. If there's one thing I hate about weddings, it's when things get totally boring and the DJ is sitting there sipping his free drink doing absolutely nothing to lighten up the mood. A total no-no for me...and I believe you will feel the same way.