2026 Event Count Prediction. How many do you anticipate you will work in 2026?

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How many events do you believe you will work in 2026

  • RETIRED so ZERO!

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • ONE SINGLE EVENT will be booked and performed

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 2-5 events

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • 6-14 events

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • 15-20 events

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • 21-30

    Votes: 2 15.4%

  • 31-40

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • 41-50

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • 51-65

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • OVER 65 EVENTS in 2026

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Total voters
    13
djtaso said:
Not that I do this often, as I tend to attract couples of particular style venues… but if you don’t like the load in or anything else in particular, just don’t accept gigs there. Venues with stairs I’ve practically all but eliminated, same w venues that have small set up windows or have sound restrictions etc. It’s ok to say no.
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I wish I could do this but as a subcontractor all I do is agree to a date and then take what is given to me. The companies that subcontract me know what I will and will not accept so they filter the gigs for me. To put this in perspective, I often don't speak to the bride and groom until after the ceremony. Quite often I don't even know the names of the couple until I get onsite. I get a date a time, location and playlist for the important songs ang requests.
 
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logisticalstyles said:
I wish I could do this but as a subcontractor all I do is agree to a date and then take what is given to me. The companies that subcontract me know what I will and will not accept so they filter the gigs for me. To put this in perspective, I often don't speak to the bride and groom until after the ceremony. Quite often I don't even know the names of the couple until I get onsite. I get a date a time, location and playlist for the important songs ang requests.
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Wow, I can’t imagine operating like as the DJ or more importantly the company that is subcontracting you. What horrible way to treat a wedding couple on their part
 
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tunes4046 said:
Why do you have line item pricing instead of just quoting the gig?? This makes no sense to me
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I show my pricing on the website. Everyone gets the same price. Complete transparency. How does that not make sense?

DC locations are an additional $150 on top of the package cost.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
I show my pricing on the website. Everyone gets the same price. Complete transparency. How does that not make sense?

DC locations are an additional $150 on top of the package cost.
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I guess I’ve always sold on how I can accommodate their vision of their event and provide a quote based on what it takes to make that vision happen instead of them shopping like they are filling their Amazon order
 
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tunes4046 said:
Wow, I can’t imagine operating like as the DJ or more importantly the company that is subcontracting you. What horrible way to treat a wedding couple on their part
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Back the cart up.
It sounds like he's simply the DJ and the company more than likely sends their own emcee who is the primary contact with the couple. Being the DJ doesn't necessarily mean he's the one running the show.
 
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logisticalstyles said:
I wish I could do this but as a subcontractor all I do is agree to a date and then take what is given to me. The companies that subcontract me know what I will and will not accept so they filter the gigs for me. To put this in perspective, I often don't speak to the bride and groom until after the ceremony. Quite often I don't even know the names of the couple until I get onsite. I get a date a time, location and playlist for the important songs ang requests.
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Besides the songs for the formalities how do you know what music to play for the wedding?
 
tunes4046 said:
I guess I’ve always sold on how I can accommodate their vision of their event and provide a quote based on what it takes to make that vision happen instead of them shopping like they are filling their Amazon order
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BS.

"Every Wedding is custom and all are different so I can't show any pricing because I have no idea what your wedding will cost" ...This is a lie.

It's not rocket science to price your service as a Wedding DJ. This comes from the car sales mentality of seeing how much you can extrapolate from each customer after feeling them out.

Every wedding or event as a DJ cost the same base level costs for you to provide the service. It's repetition. The things that can make costs go up are more equipment, logistics, labor, and actual location increasing travel costs. Those are called add ons and travel/lodging fees. It is quite easy to have a set price, and why should that price be hidden from your customers until after you schmooze them over to see how much more you can get out of them? I hated how this industry was put together on making prices up in the past. I am glad that in the last 10-11 years more transparency has come about. It's the old heads set in their ways that will criticize showing prices to a prospect as a DJ.

If I ever step onto a car dealership and the cars don't have prices shown either on their website or on the car door sticker, I won't do business with that place.

Would you go into a restaurant that does not show menu prices, and eat there knowing it's a mystery until after you have eaten and you see the bill? I personally would never do that.
 
DJ Ricky B said:
It's not rocket science to price your service as a Wedding DJ. This comes from the car sales mentality of seeing how much you can extrapolate from each customer after feeling them out.
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It depends on the variation of what you have to offer whether you're willing to price that way or not.

Should I charge the same thing for a DAR wedding with stair load in, dinner in a separate room requiring remote speakers as I do for some standard ballroom with a rolling load in and single-room?

Should I price a 65 person intimate space wedding the same way I would for 250 guests out on the water at Whitehall?

I try to standardize as much as I can. But a standardized price ultimately means that some clients potentially pay more for what they need versus making the most appropriate quote you would give if you have all the facts.
 
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Albatross said:
It depends on the variation of what you have to offer whether you're willing to price that way or not.

Should I charge the same thing for a DAR wedding with stair load in, dinner in a separate room requiring remote speakers as I do for some standard ballroom with a rolling load in and single-room?

Should I price a 65 person intimate space wedding the same way I would for 250 guests out on the water at Whitehall?

I try to standardize as much as I can. But a standardized price ultimately means that some clients potentially pay more for what they need versus making the most appropriate quote you would give if you have all the facts.
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True, If you feel that rolling a cart into a ballroom should be HUNDREDS less than dealing with the load in at DAR then price that way. I simply chart a flat rate for dealing with DC locations.

The amount of time is relatively the same on your end, and you are booking DATES. However, this comes from a mentality of feeling out clients and thinking up a number of how much you believe they will pay for your service.

You can always have a set fee for additional costs incurred at hard load in locations. How much more money does it honestly take to motivate you to do a wedding at DAR with stairs and a long walk hand carrying everything vs doing a wedding at the Double Tree with a cart load in right into the ball room from the parking lot? The actual time invested on the day of is maybe 45 more minutes load in/load out. There could also be an additional 30 minutes dealing with traffic getting to DAR vs the Hotel wedding in the suburbs.

Surely, every DJ has a minimum price they want to earn on a Saturday wedding. It should be a part of our business plan.

I'm an advocate for showing pricing, but at the very least, a DJ should be able to tell EVERY prospect, my wedding package price starts at $XXXX and then depending on what you want for your day it can increase from there. Even better is a REAL RANGE of what costs to expect if a DJ is afraid or has some sort of emotional issue when it comes to showing actual prices to people.

Let's be honest though. MOST if not nearly ALL DC venues are about the same level of PITA to deal with. Some are especially awful, but I personally feel that if I need to charge an additional $400 or $500 to a client JUST because their wedding is at a particular venue and I hate working there then maybe I should just black list that venue all together from event considerations because I hate dealing with the place so much. This is why I believe a set surcharge for ALL venues in D.C. is the fair way to go about dealing with the additional head ache and time these venues cause me.
 
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Proformance said:
Back the cart up.
It sounds like he's simply the DJ and the company more than likely sends their own emcee who is the primary contact with the couple. Being the Dj doesn't necessarily mean he's the one running ths show.
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This is true, I never considered they may send a master of ceremonies to oversee the production
 
DJ Ricky B said:
How much more money does it honestly take to motivate you to do a wedding at DAR with stairs and a long walk hand carrying everything vs doing a wedding at the Double Tree with a cart load in right into the ball room from the parking lot? The actual time invested on the day of is maybe 45 more minutes load in/load out. There could also be an additional 30 minutes dealing with traffic getting to DAR vs the Hotel wedding in the suburbs.
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Because of the changes that I've made to my system, it's a meaningfully different approach depending on what I want to do.

If it's a relatively small guest count, oldies focused music, and I can run a smaller Evox-J8 rig... I can do that myself and hand-carry everything up those stairs.

If they've got 150 guests, want hip hop or EDM music as a featured part of their playlist, and I'm going to bring my AX-18s that are 100 pounds each... I'm hiring help to get them up the stairs safely.

So that alone I've probably got a $200-$300 difference in my cost to produce the event depending on what I decide to bring.

I can take that same system to other places and handle it myself. But when you factor the load-in constraints, it's tricky. So yes, I think those should probably have a different price point.
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
Besides the songs for the formalities how do you know what music to play for the wedding?
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They send me playlists with requests via Spotify, Tidal or Apple Music. I usually have 95% of the requested music already so I just make playlists for the event based on what they send me.

tunes4046 said:
This is true, I never considered they may send a master of ceremonies to oversee the production
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I wish that were usually the case. The gigs where the client pays for an MC are always easier for me.

I know it seems hard to believe that a company operates like that but I make it work with the information I am given combined with my experience and preparation for the unknown. I used to DJ for The Pros aka The American Wedding Group many years ago and they operated similarly just with horrible pay. Maybe that is why I am able to work with companies that operate like that. The DJs that I work with now trust me to execute the gig with no issues. I always show up early and ready for anything. They know I won't be calling them from the gig because something unplanned happened. I've earned them many 5 star reviews over the past few years with the client specifically mentioning me.

Another thing to consider is the fact that I am just being booked as the DJ and not the wedding coordinator. The clients always have a coordinator that gives me direction throughout the event. I know a lot of DJs pride themselves on being able to run the entire show but that is not my style or what I agree to. As the DJ I am the face of the entertainment and when it is time to make announcements, introductions and motivate the dancefloor I do my job and do it well, but I leave the coordination to the coordinator. Now I have been in situations where the coordinator was in over their heads and I would help them with keeping the event moving. I'm a team player and have no problem stepping in when needed but I don't step on other vendors toes.

With all of that being said, as I mentioned previously, I am getting out of the wedding game. I'm still DJing and taking on other kinds of events but this year I will be surprised if I do 5 weddings.
 
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logisticalstyles said:
They send me playlists with requests via Spotify, Tidal or Apple Music. I usually have 95% of the requested music already so I just make playlists for the event based on what they send me.


I wish that were usually the case. The gigs where the client pays for an MC are always easier for me.

I know it seems hard to believe that a company operates like that but I make it work with the information I am given combined with my experience and preparation for the unknown. I used to DJ for The Pros aka The American Wedding Group many years ago and they operated similarly just with horrible pay. Maybe that is why I am able to work with companies that operate like that. The DJs that I work with now trust me to execute the gig with no issues. I always show up early and ready for anything. They know I won't be calling them from the gig because something unplanned happened. I've earned them many 5 star reviews over the past few years with the client specifically mentioning me.

Another thing to consider is the fact that I am just being booked as the DJ and not the wedding coordinator. The clients always have a coordinator that gives me direction throughout the event. I know a lot of DJs pride themselves on being able to run the entire show but that is not my style or what I agree to. As the DJ I am the face of the entertainment and when it is time to make announcements, introductions and motivate the dancefloor I do my job and do it well, but I leave the coordination to the coordinator. Now I have been in situations where the coordinator was in over their heads and I would help them with keeping the event moving. I'm a team player and have no problem stepping in when needed but I don't step on other vendors toes.

With all of that being said, as I mentioned previously, I am getting out of the wedding game. I'm still DJing and taking on other kinds of events but this year I will be surprised if I do 5 weddings.
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I have a question for you. You mentioned that company you used to work the pay was horrible. What did they pay you and what would have made good pay in your opinion?
 
tunes4046 said:
Why are you so obsessed with what people are paid??, you yourself don’t DJ for the money.
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What I have seen with such multi ops is that on average they pay the DJ $500 or less. That may not be in every case. They just pay a DJ a small amount where they collect a substantial amount. Enough that they could afford to pay a bit more.
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
What I have seen with such multi ops is that on average they pay the DJ $500 or less. That may not be in every case. They just pay a DJ a small amount where they collect a substantial amount. Enough that they could afford to pay a bit more.
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I would assume their business plan is predicated by the cost of entertainment, once you get big costs of doing business increase exponentially, what they pay the dj is only a very small part of the cost associated with securing the event running the business paying proper taxes, marketing, insurance and much much more
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
What I have seen with such multi ops is that on average they pay the DJ $500 or less. That may not be in every case. They just pay a DJ a small amount where they collect a substantial amount. Enough that they could afford to pay a bit more.
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The amount of marketing a big company needs to do is mind boggling. One company I know spends $200k alone in advertising and of course needs insurance that covers 10+ events at a time. Add workman’s comp, payroll tax, warehouse, office staff… and that’s just off the top of my head
 
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