Gigs & business
Wedding DJ
A wedding DJ runs the music for a reception — often also handling announcements, the first dance and the schedule. The brief is a room of every age with no shared taste and one night that cannot be repeated.
In practice
Every age, no shared taste, one night that cannot be repeated. Reliability matters more than taste.
Get the couple’s must-plays and, more importantly, their do-not-plays in writing well ahead. Agree the schedule in detail — first dance, speeches, cake, last song — and keep a printed copy, because the person who knows the plan will be busy. Build the floor from the middle outward: start with something broadly familiar rather than something you like, and read which generation is actually dancing before committing to an hour. Carry spares of everything.
In writing
Must-plays and do-not-plays
Printed
Where the schedule lives
Familiar first
How to build the floor
Where these come from: Wedding and function practice, not a catalog figure. For what we can measure, see the wider format.
Why it matters
The hardest part is genuinely hard and rarely acknowledged: making a floor work for a crowd spanning sixty years, half of whom do not go out, in a room that was not built for it. A club crowd shares a reference point and a wedding crowd shares nothing except the couple.
The stakes are also unlike any other booking. A club night that goes badly is forgotten by Tuesday; a wedding is a single event people will look at photographs of for decades, which is why reliability, redundancy and a clear schedule matter more here than anywhere else.
Frequently asked
What should I ask a couple beforehand?+
Must-plays, do-not-plays, and the schedule in detail — first dance, speeches, cake, last song. All in writing, and keep a printed copy on the night.
How do you please every age group?+
Build from the middle outward. Start broadly familiar rather than with what you like, watch which generation is actually dancing, and move toward them.
Why is reliability so important here?+
Because it happens once. A club night that goes wrong is forgotten by Tuesday; a wedding is looked back on for decades, so spares and a clear plan matter more than taste.
Related terms
Mobile DJ
A mobile DJ brings their own sound, lighting and equipment to venues that have none — parties, corporate events, functions. The music is only part of what is being booked.
Booking fee
A booking fee is the agreed amount a DJ is paid to play, independent of how the night performs. It is sometimes called a guarantee, because that is exactly what distinguishes it from a share of the door.
Deposit
A deposit is part of the fee paid before the event, typically on signature or a set number of days ahead. It converts an intention into a commitment, and it is usually non-refundable if the promoter cancels.
Advance
Advancing a show is the exchange of practical information between artist and promoter in the days before it — times, equipment, travel, contacts. The document that results is usually called an advance sheet or day sheet.
Explore: DJ contract template · Mobile DJ · Deposit · All DJ terms