We Don’t Do Requests

You have spent countless hours working on making sure your wedding goes off without a hitch, and you have done all you can to make sure that your reception is rocking, your guests are dancing, and everyone is having a good time.

Then you see him.  Uncle Floyd is heading over to your disc jockey, where he is going to request that the disc jockey start playing polka music.  Does your disc jockey have a deer in the headlights look on his face?  Hopefully not. 

In your conversations with your disc jockey leading up to the day of the wedding, you should talk to him about how to handle requests from your guests.  It is inevitable that someone will go up to your disc jockey and ask for their party favorites to be played, and you should have a plan worked out with him ahead of time so you both know what will happen when Great Grandma Joan requests they play gangsta rap.

The best way to handle it is up to you. If you don’t mind if your disc jockey takes requests from your guests, then by all means, make sure he knows he can feel free to work in the requested songs as he sees fit.  You could tell him to just graciously offer to make an effort to play the requests without veering too far off of the play list you have already agreed upon.  Another option is to see how many of your family and friends are requesting a song or a specific type of music.  If it seems that he is getting a lot of requests to play an Irish slip jig, it might just be best if he plays one.

You can set guidelines for your disc jockey to follow with regard to the type of music you want played.  If your new husband once dated Sade, and you are insanely jealous, preferring that none of her music be played, let your disc jockey know that you don’t want any requests for her music honored.  You could even have your wedding planner, like the ones at www.alohaislandweddings.com run interference for you, taking the requests from the guests and then not relaying them to the disc jockey.

It is ultimately your decision about what gets played at your wedding, although you do want to take into consideration the crowd you are working with.  Allowing a few requests will help diversity the music a bit, and should not interfere with the integrity of your wedding theme.  Have your guidelines in place, make sure your disc jockey is prepared with a polite smile and a kind way to inform guests that he will try to honor their requests without actually playing them, and let the good times roll.

The Other Side of a Disc Jockey

You had the best wedding reception, and months after the big event, people are still complimenting you and telling you what a great time they had at the party.  You know that a big part of the reason your wedding reception was such a success was because of the phenomenal disc jockey you had to entertain your guests.  He played all the right music, he interacted with everyone, he taught dances, and he encouraged your guests to participate without making them feel uncomfortable for just sitting at their table and tapping their feet if they chose to.

So what else can you use this guy for?  He made your wedding a resounding success, so why not have a disc jockey for some of other life’s special moments?

Many people only think of hiring a disc jockey for a big event, like a wedding, a bar mitzvah, or a sweet 16 party.  Disc jockeys, however, can make any party more festive!  You might think it’s overkill to hire a disc jockey for something like a house warming party at your first home.  You’re afraid your new neighbors will have the police out at the house for you disturbing the peace.  You couldn’t be more wrong.

While you are used to seeing disc jockeys with all of the equipment they bring to weddings, night clubs, and other big events where there are going to be large groups of people, they can absolutely scale down their equipment – and their volume – to entertain at any type of gathering.  Even if you just want someone to play background music while guests to your home mix and mingle, a disc jockey can provide you with the soundtrack that will make your guests comfortable, allow them to talk, and keep you from having to worry about changing the CDs in your CD player or having to download a whole new batch of music on our MP3 player. 

Disc jockeys can play at children’s parties, and especially for the tween and teen set, a professional disc jockey playing all the latest tunes is going to grab you many more bonus points as a parent than a magician or a clown.

Are you at a loss as to where to find a disc jockey for a smaller affair?  Contact an area wedding coordinator, such as the people at www.alohaislandweddings.com , who would be familiar with disc jockeys in your area and what types of events they work.  Have people talking about how great your parties are, no matter how small!