Aloha,
http://youtu.be/JP8u_Ufue20
This news report hit the air waves on January 19, 2013. The report is about how companies hear the word wedding and automatically raise their prices by an average of 46% with regards to DJ Services. This report obviously is edited to make to favor the research, but with that being said, here is my reasoning to different prices from doing a 40th Birthday to doing a Wedding.
In performing at a 40th Birthday Party, I usually have 2 to 3 meetings with the client and will perform a site visit prior to the event. On average the birthday party will consist of music, disco lights and a microphone to do a birthday announcement. The event consists of 3 hours of play time. Total planning is about 5 to 8 hours.
In performing at a Wedding in Maui, more often than not, clients are on the Mainland and meetings happen over the phone, email and through Face Time or Skype. Wedding DJs need to coordinate with Wedding Planners, Day of Coordinators or the person in charge of keeping the itinerary. More often than not, a Disc Jockey is also going to act as the MC (master of ceremony) of the event. Information is needed for Introductions, First Dance, Father/Daughter, Mother/Son and Money Dances. There’s the Garter Toss, Bouquet Toss and the Cake Cutting. Dinner Music and Toast background music. Then there is the Dancing Music. Dancing Music needs to appeal to all ages and most of please the Bride and Groom. All this music needs to coordinated, researched for proper versions and played for quality (some music tracks need to be adjusted for quality). Then there is set up and break down. I show up around 2 to 2 1/2 hours prior to the start of the event and leave when the event is over. Average time at a wedding is 10 hours. Now lets talk about the lighting. Wedding Lighting is an essential piece of the ambiance. Lights need to accentuate the chosen colors of the wedding party and placed as so they blend in and become part of the event and not the center of attention. At times, the number of pieces reach up to 15 to 20 wash lights, GOBO lighting and Disco Lights. Disc Jockeys should also be properly attired. A suit is the minimum a DJ should wear at a Wedding. Put all this together and planning time is roughly 25 to 30 hours.
Now this is just one person’s opinion and set up for both type of events. Attention to detail is needed for both events, but Weddings generally have many more people involved with the itineraries and multiple meetings are needed with all.
Thank You for reading my blog and if you have any questions please let me know. I love my job and the most important thing to me is to make sure that the client is ALWAYS taken care of.
Aloha and Mahalo,
Chris