Thread: Did anyone hire a DJ?

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My party is adult and usually a large crowd. I have a donation jar and everyone is happy to contribute to the DJ, I used him for New years eve, and a luau this summer.. If the amount is not met I make up the difference which is not alot. The guy I use does this on the side and is not really that expensive. Check around with some friends that may know of someone. It really makes it easier for me, I don't have to worry about keeping a check on the music and can enjoy the others things going on.

I DJed a few gigs this year and did lighting only for some others. Sometimes lighting can really set the mood!

Hire A DJ

We have had so many party's that we bought our own dj eqipment.We not only don't have to spend that money to hire one.But everyone loves what we do that we have been ask to dj alot of events.So the equpment has paid for itself.

We have hired a lady who does Karaoke (Scaraoke) for our party for the last eight years and everyone loves it! I give out a trophy along with the costume trophies for best Karaoke and it is highly coveted among my friends. She arrives at the party early and sets up all her equipment and places her books and papers and pencils on the tables and has music going before anyone shows up. She plays dance and party music in between people singing. Once the alcohol starts flowing everyone wants to sing!! LOL She is awesome and has been at my parties so long she knows most of the regulars and looks forward to it each year. We give her our most comfortable outdoor chair and a heater at her feet if the weather is cool, as well as carpet for her to place her table and sit on so she stays warmer. She usually is here until 4 am so we want her to be comfortable. We do Karaoke in our driveway with a stage set up for the background band...The Band of the Damned, starring skeletons dressed as Elvis, Jimmy Hendrix, Curt Kobain, Michael Jackson, and the latest member, Amy Winehouse. Of course the girls always like her to play the typical songs you here at weddings where everyone gets up and dances and she gladly abliges. It really gets people invovled and the trophy and gift bag are a great incentive. Hope this helps for next year!!

I used to own a DJ business and it's about playing entertaining music to suit your specific crowd. I did reunions, a Luah, weddings, clubs, and restaurants. Requests can become a problem when you're doing an anniversary party with 90% adults and a few teens keep requesting hip-hop. A DJ should always respect whomever is paying them first, but it's no fun having people get angry with you because your selection doesn't fit their tastes. Usually these are the ones hardest to please regardless and I ignored them. I also preferred to let the music compliment the event. Be upfront if your host wants it, or background if that's their wish. I've seen a number of DJs trying to become the entertainment personally with all their dance instruction moves but they weren't particularly talented in this area. In summary, each job is different. And yes, a bunch of parties with a friend or relative doing the gig for free with mixed results. We never had a DJ at our home party. We never wanted a party that was too big and loud in our home. I prefer playing atmospheric stuff like A NIGHT IN A HAUNTED HOUSE or THE GHOUL LOG.

I would love to have the budget to be able to hire a DJ...last year we had a friend of my son's from college come and play. He did pretty good, but later in the evening had all this stuff that no one knew what he was playing...This year my daughter worked with my playlist and came up with a beginning party playlist with alot of mixed music with halloween flavor, monster mash, thriller, bad moon rising...then later in the evening we started another playlist with dance music. It worked great and it's saved for next year on her itunes, so all we will do next year is add maybe any new current dance song or halloween song. I love the idea of Scaryoke...that sounds like fun!

Originally Posted by brew8354

We have hired a lady who does Karaoke (Scaraoke) for our party for the last eight years and everyone loves it! I give out a trophy along with the costume trophies for best Karaoke and it is highly coveted among my friends. She arrives at the party early and sets up all her equipment and places her books and papers and pencils on the tables and has music going before anyone shows up. She plays dance and party music in between people singing. Once the alcohol starts flowing everyone wants to sing!! LOL She is awesome and has been at my parties so long she knows most of the regulars and looks forward to it each year. We give her our most comfortable outdoor chair and a heater at her feet if the weather is cool, as well as carpet for her to place her table and sit on so she stays warmer. She usually is here until 4 am so we want her to be comfortable. We do Karaoke in our driveway with a stage set up for the background band...The Band of the Damned, starring skeletons dressed as Elvis, Jimmy Hendrix, Curt Kobain, Michael Jackson, and the latest member, Amy Winehouse. Of course the girls always like her to play the typical songs you here at weddings where everyone gets up and dances and she gladly abliges. It really gets people invovled and the trophy and gift bag are a great incentive. Hope this helps for next year!!

We have had a karaoke machine for years and finally decided to use it this year.It was a hit.