DJ as the leader at weddings

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Sarge's thread about other wedding vendors prompted this.

In the United States, for the most part, the wedding DJ is expected to be Master/Mistress of Ceremonies, coordinator, and entertainer all rolled in to one.

We call ourselves Discjockeys. According to Webster’s on line that definition is:

Main Entry: disc jockey
Variant(s): or disk jockey
Function: noun
Date: 1941
: an announcer of a radio show of popular recorded music ; also : one who plays recorded music for dancing at a nightclub or party.
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“One who plays recorded music for dancing at a nightclub or party”; that’s it. That is our job; we are there to play the music, nothing more. So, why do we take on the role of coordinator and MC? Well, mostly it is tradition; nobody else will step up to the plate, and our general ego drive to be the leader.

Face it, we are entertainers with egos and need to be the focus. Argue all you want that it is the bride and groom’s day but when push comes to shove it is the DJ that makes the party happen. As stated by Ducky, we don't do it all but, even so, why do we need to be the coordinator and MC?

So, since by the definition of discjockey we really should not be filling these roles but are expected to, why not get something out of it? Go to the interview with the entertainment only attitude and if they want you to be their MC and coordinator then it will be an extra charge. Otherwise, go in as the entertainment only and let somebody else handle the MC and coordination duties.
 
Mark Beecher said:
Tom, don't limit yourself with dictionary definitions.
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Mark:

Not limiting myself, just thinking outside the box. Wouldn't it be refreshing just once to be just the entertainment; to not have to worry about all the other stuff?
 
I call my self "Reception Entertainment" when referring to my services.

I don't have a DJ name. But brides tend to use the term "DJ" when they really mean all the other stuff too.

Brides often don't know the exact definition of many things when it comes to a wedding because, hopefully, they just do it one time.
 
The other stuff sets up the entertainment and I'm not keen on trusting someone else to do it and affect the entertainment outcome.

Would it be nice?
It would be nice not to handle sales
It would be nice not to haul and set up equipment
It would be nice not to have to keep up with all the new (mostly bad) music
It would be nice not to pay taxes
I could go on all day...
 
I think I am with you on that one MBM!

I am a Wedding Dj (and can do more than just weddings)
 
I think that rather than dumbing ourselves down to meet an outdated and non-applicable definition of a term, we lobby for an expanded definition or explanation of the term itself.

That being said, just understand that in 95% of the case, you will be expected to do this at a wedding.

If you want to do a wedding "without the wedding stuff," you'll be very harshly limiting the number of jobs you will be able to get.

People are expecting more than just music that is sure, and we can talk about the origins of the expectations or where/how they creep in all we like, but in the end, we are either satisfied or resigned to meeting those expectaions and filling the roles, or we aren't!

Don't want to MC or do wedding stuff? Don't do weddings!

Or you could work up the model we see every now and then where every wedding comes with a DJ and a separate MC. Then you just spin.

As for why we are the MC, I'm just satisfied giving the answer that I don't want those clown spitting on, dropping, spilling drinks on, and tapping my $600-$800 mic all night!:sqlaugh:
 
Arghhhhhh!!!

Why the hell is everything done in Entertainment in relationship to power, authority, and command presence called ego? It's the crux of the entire job!

All humans have egos, with some more demonstrative than others, so why is the term ego always friggin used as a negative term? Other watered down synonyms are entrepreneur, career drive, energetic, motivational, and on and on.

Though the meek will inherit the earth, in the mean time, I'll take the work.
 
He who gets to the microphone first has the power. :D

Folks, I dunno whether wedding DJs or MCs should be regarded as an authority but in some cases we are, just the same. It would be nice if all we had to do was play music.

I sometimes hate to be the one who has to walk out on the floor, drag a chair out and then try to round up the B&G for the bouquet and garter. Sometimes I feel foolish announcing a special dance when the dancers are outside smoking. But if there is no coordinator on site, no one else is gonna do it. If yas rely on someone else to do it, it won't get done.

There's one thing that sets us apart from our fellow vendors ~ the amplified sound system. We have the bully pulpit, so to speak. We have the ability to get people's attention. No other vendor can do that. So they rely on us for it.

Thoughts?
 
GoodKnightDJ said:
Mark:

Not limiting myself, just thinking outside the box. Wouldn't it be refreshing just once to be just the entertainment; to not have to worry about all the other stuff?
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Move up here. Most times, at least around here, we are just the entertainment. On an average wedding the most MCing I have to do is the intros and the garter and boquet
 
Consider this: Everything we do is done in front of everyone, in real time. If the chef drops a chicken breast on the floor in the kitchen, no one sees it. If the dress maker makes the dress too snug, she can let it out before the wedding day comes. If the baker does a marble cake in stead of half-chocolate and half-white, no one knows the difference. But everything I do is done in full view of everyone and is done in real time, as it happens.

I don't perform with a giant ego. I am, however, the FACE of the reception, like it or not. Someone drops a glass on the dance floor, and they come to me. Someone threw up in the corner, and they come to me. There's a blue sedan in the parking lot w/ its lights on, and they come to me. Try to find a venue manager when you need him; or try to find a wait staff person who isn't "busy" rolling linen napkins in the kitchen in prep for the next wedding. And when things don't go right, whether it was my fault or not, I am the face guy, and often times therefore, the fall guy. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. I like the comment from above, there are DJs and there are wedding DJs.

--Will
 
As the "front man/woman" of entertainment at an event, doesn't it make a certain amount of sense that the role of leader be part of the roll of duties?

I mean really, if we aren't in touch with all the individual captains, and get blindsided by a surprise, whose gonna take the fall when your plans with the bride & groom fall apart, because the meal wasn't released at the expected time, pushing back everything... We need to take at least some leadership in this, or we will fail miserably.
 
I like the last two responses, as well as Fred's.

It is just a fact that second only to the B&G, we are the most prominent aspect of the reception. Not ego talking, but just plain ol' fact. (though the ego's of some do feed off of and capitalize on that fact... nothing inherently good or bad about that either).

So if our business consists of occupying this position of high-visibility, and we are to stay IN business by appearing to do what we do well, and also assuming that a certain checklist of things NEED to be done, and that there is no one else to DO them, then it does become incumbent upon us to do these things and fill these rolls.

As for the "I just wish I could play music" part... As was said above, it's the difference between being a dj and a "wedding dj." You don't (shouldn't) move from the first into the second unless you not only admit and understand that the scope of your responsibility will by default increase beyond "just dj'ing," but until you also determine that you will find some level of enjoyment in those additional new responsibilities, or at least will not see doing them as "a downer."

A good analogy would be a restaurateur who really started because of a love for "cooking food" and "making people happy." There's nothing wrong with doing that, or with enjoying doing it. Some amount of time after opening his own restaraunt, he starts to get burnt out by the BUSINESS aspects of owning and running a business, and isn't getting the satisfaction he thought he would from the whole thing.

Those other additional aspects are just part and parcel of owning a restaurant, and of dj'ing weddings.

Unless your personal satisfaction from "just cooking" or "just playing music" and "making people happy" can stretch to also include satisfaction from the additional responsibilities and aspects of the job.... why go there?

I'll admit this stance is from a newbie, being only 5 years into the game myself... but even after I've been doing this for 20 years, if I end up doing that, I am burnt out on what is involved in weddings, I will simply stop doing them!
 
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