What is your definition of a cheap wedding?

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DJCC said:
What I call bull**** above is in red, my reason for calling bull**** in blue.





lets state some facts.

* There will always be a demand for $250 weddings dj's, because there will always be those that CAN NOT afford more then $250.
* The fact that someone is doing weddings for $250 IS NOT hurting "us" in this business, unless you are doing $275 weddings and the other guy is getting all your gigs.
* You have done ONE wedding this year. I think that one speaks for itself. On the other hand I have done 19 so far this year, with 14 more to go, so far.
* You worry to much about getting a wedding so that you can take pictures to get more weddings.....kinda like the chicken/egg question.
* Yes, pictures can help you get bookings, but more so are true references.
* You LIE to your prospective clients on your web site because you advertise services that YOU don't have to offer. Do you tell them that you are sub-contracting those services out?

Stop worrying about pictures, craigslist, and $250 wedding dj's.
Get yourself a business plan & marketing plan together.
Get your website together, if the person working on your website is not doing the job in a timely manner, fire his ass!!!!
Stop trying to sell services that YOU don't have to offer, or be upfront and tell them that your are outsourcing those items.
Get a base pricing plan together.
LISTEN to the great advise that has been offered by numerous people here @ODJT.
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Where did you see where I said I was worried about a $250.00 wedding DJ? I said that a DJ can do as they please. You keep thinking I'm talking about you. I said as a whole. That does not include everyone. It's a trickle down affect. What I learned is that why should someone pay you say $500.00 if they can get the same thing from another for $250.00? That's the secret trick. If you can't do that then it's a mute point. So let's stop war of the words. Obviously I take it you're good at what you do. I'm just looking to get back into an area I was into before.

I just hate when I was into it I didn't think of getting referals or pictures of us at weddings. I didn't think that was all that important. I was just into having fun at the time. The big thing I find is to have it where you have a price point that you won't go below. I've made that mistake too many times. I've had to learn from that mistake because people decided I would easily cave in from finding out from others that's how I rolled.
 
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MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
Where did you see where I said I was worried about a $250.00 wedding DJ? I said we that a DJ can do as they please. You keep thinking when I'm talking about you. I said as a whole. That does not include everyone. It's a trickle down affect. What I learned is that why should someone pay you say $500.00 if they can get the same thing from another $250.00? That's the secret trick. If you can't do that then it's a mute point. So let's stop war of the words. Obviously I take it you're good at what you do. I'm just looking to get back into an area I was into before.

I just hate when I was into it I didn't think of getting referals or pictures of us at weddings. I didn't think that was all that important. I was just into having fun at the time.
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You are worried about the $250 dj's or you wouldn't keep making threads about "cheap" dj's.

I never said you were talking about me, I know better.

I don't think that you have learned anything.

I didn't think we were having a "war of the words".


I wish you good luck Mix, but I am done trying to help you.
 
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I made this thread because I felt disrespected with Jimmy saying I should just do cheap weddings. It's not that I have a problem with a DJ that wants to do a wedding reception for $250.00. If that's where you're at fine. That's just not for me today.

Doing a ceremony for that price sounds very good. The question is how much of that is profit? I would say majority of it should be. Yet there are expenses. What I had to learn the hard way was to quote a price that after expenses it would be worth me doing the event.

Now let me say this last. A DJ can go do a wedding for 1k and still be on the losing end. It depends on what the DJ is offering the bride. I learned I need to stop giving a really cheap price and then giving stuff away to win their business. If they booked me it would make them happy but hurt me. Also I learned that just because I might be broke at the time I needed to stop doing events for practically nothing. Because when I would finish doing the event I would either be broke or near broke again after expenses.
 
DJCC said:
lets state some facts.

* There will always be a demand for $250 weddings dj's, because there will always be those that CAN NOT afford more then $250.
* The fact that someone is doing weddings for $250 IS NOT hurting "us" in this business, unless you are doing $275 weddings and the other guy is getting all your gigs.
* You have done ONE wedding this year. I think that one speaks for itself. On the other hand I have done 19 so far this year, with 14 more to go, so far.
* You worry to much about getting a wedding so that you can take pictures to get more weddings.....kinda like the chicken/egg question.
* Yes, pictures can help you get bookings, but more so are true references.
* You LIE to your prospective clients on your web site because you advertise services that YOU don't have to offer. Do you tell them that you are sub-contracting those services out?

Stop worrying about pictures, craigslist, and $250 wedding dj's.
Get yourself a business plan & marketing plan together.
Get your website together, if the person working on your website is not doing the job in a timely manner, fire his ass!!!!
Stop trying to sell services that YOU don't have to offer, or be upfront and tell them that your are outsourcing those items.
Get a base pricing plan together.
LISTEN to the great advise that has been offered by numerous people here @ODJT.
Click to expand...

Curt I agree with everything you say there except the bold selling the extra service and outsourcing can be a great source of income and telling the client who is doing it is really immaterial as long as you have a reliable source for the extras because obviously they know you won't be personally handling DJ,Video, pictures, catering, and anything else you promised but again you have to have reliable sources and a PLAN
 
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Mix, I will ask again. When was the last wedding you did? Also you have learned nothing because you have put nothing that has been told to you in to practice. All you keep repeating is you won't do low priced weddings/parties. Yet you get offered nothing else. So please answer my first question.
 
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Jeff Romard said:
Curt I agree with everything you say there except the bold selling the extra service and outsourcing can be a great source of income and telling the client who is doing it is really immaterial as long as you have a reliable source for the extras because obviously they know you won't be personally handling DJ,Video, pictures, catering, and anything else you promised but again you have to have reliable sources and a PLAN
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I agree Jeff, to a point. I work with a lady here that has a photo booth and I up-sell that service. But I tell my client, from the start, that the photo booth is sub-contracted, and I do not charge any extra $ for that up-sell. I get my cut from the lady with the photo booth for selling her services.

I will not sell someone's service as my own and then have them drop the ball and leave me hanging out to dry.

Being up front and honest with my clients is a must for me. When I give prospective clients the link for past client reviews and references they even get the ones that are not 100% positive. They find it refreshing that I'm not selling them a line of false bull****.

Just my .02 YMMV
 
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DJCC said:
I agree Jeff, to a point. I work with a lady here that has a photo booth and I up-sell that service. But I tell my client, from the start, that the photo booth is sub-contracted, and I do not charge any extra $ for that up-sell. I get my cut from the lady with the photo booth for selling her services.

I will not sell someone's service as my own and then have them drop the ball and leave me hanging out to dry.

Being up front and honest with my clients is a must for me. When I give prospective clients the link for past client reviews and references they even get the ones that are not 100% positive. They find it refreshing that I'm not selling them a line of false bull****.

Just my .02 YMMV
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You are getting paid for the photo booth plain and simple. Unless the Photo Booth has a separate contract with the Photo Booth Vendor's name on it as the provider and the Clients name, then it is your deal. You are simply then buying wholesale and selling retail. If you feel so removed from the transaction, then you should just pass on your cost to the client and not add the profit to it. There are many DJs I know who don't even own a PA just the Sound source, does that make them any less of a DJ? There is no false bull involved. A Florist does not grow flowers herself, she buys wholesale and sells retail. If you rent a van to transport your gear do you have to also tell the client the name of the Van Rental too, in case it breaks down on the way so you won't be blamed?:rolleyes:
 
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ahoustondj said:
You are getting paid for the photo booth plain and simple. Yes, I am getting paid a cut of the deal. I am in business to make money. Unless the Photo Booth has a separate contract with the Photo Booth Vendor's name on it as the provider and the Clients name, then it is your deal. There is nothing about the photo booth on my contract. There is a separate contract with the provider. You are simply then buying wholesale and selling retail. If you feel so removed from the transaction, then you should just pass on your cost to the client and not add the profit to it. Do you not read? I said that I get a cut from the provider, NOT the client. There are many DJs I know who don't even own a PA just the Sound source, does that make them any less of a DJ? There is no false bull involved. A Florist does not grow flowers herself, she buys wholesale and sells retail. If you rent a van to transport your gear do you have to also tell the client the name of the Van Rental too, in case it breaks down on the way so you won't be blamed?:rolleyes: Now your just being ignorant.
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Response in red.
 
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DJCC said:
I agree Jeff, to a point. I work with a lady here that has a photo booth and I up-sell that service. But I tell my client, from the start, that the photo booth is sub-contracted, and I do not charge any extra $ for that up-sell. I get my cut from the lady with the photo booth for selling her services.

I will not sell someone's service as my own and then have them drop the ball and leave me hanging out to dry.

Being up front and honest with my clients is a must for me. When I give prospective clients the link for past client reviews and references they even get the ones that are not 100% positive. They find it refreshing that I'm not selling them a line of false bull****.

Just my .02 YMMV
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Then the above post is confusing. If there was a separate contract between the Photobooth Provider and the Client then YOU did NOT upsell the service, the Photobooth Provider did. You made a referral for which you collected a fee. There is nothing wrong with that. If you had made yourself clear, then even Jeff would not have responded the way he did in post # 65. I viewed it just the way he did. Can we then let this drop? I now understand what you meant to say. However, it no longer matters to me.
 
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ahoustondj said:
Then the above post is confusing. If there was a separate contract between the Photobooth Provider and the Client then YOU did NOT upsell the service, the Photobooth Provider did. You made a referral for which you collected a fee. There is nothing wrong with that. If you had made yourself clear, then even Jeff would not have responded the way he did in post # 65. I viewed it just the way he did. Can we then let this drop? I now understand what you meant to say. However, it no longer matters to me.
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Yes we can let this drop. But if it no longer matters to you, then why even respond.
 
Mix, if your searching for a definition of a cheap wedding, My most basic package, 3 hours no lights two speakers no custom intros nothing fancy with with one of my DJ's who is in his first year of doing weddings solo is $795 and I rarely sell it every body wants more time, more experienced DJ or something else. any thing less than that i would consider to be budget/ cheap wedding territory. my average wedding rate is around $1500
 
Thanks tunes that was great! That's what you get and I'm proud of you for that way to go.

Jimmy look where I posted the last time I did a wedding. Also sir we've got a backyard cookout for the same client that had us do her grand daughters sweet 16. This time it's for 5 hours and she's paying $450.00. Not bad because I know she could have found someone to do it cheaper. The big plus is it's around the corner from where I live and might take me 2 minutes to get there after loading up the van.

Not every potential client that contacts us is looking for the cheapest DJ they can find.
 
DJCC said:
Yes we can let this drop. But if it no longer matters to you, then why even respond.
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I responded before it no longer mattered to me. Once you explained yoursef that's when it stopped. Capiche?
 
rickryan.com said:
With amazing consistency, I find that cheap weddings are often followed by non-appreciative, often abusive B&Gs (and family). The people that I charge the most are respectful and express their appreciation more.
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That would be a failure on the DJs part to properly screen the customers, or a personality issue that invites hostility from clients as the relationship progresses.
It has nothing to with whatever rate is settled upon. A number is just a number - nothing more.
 
Proformance said:
That would be a failure on the DJs part to properly screen the customers, or a personality issue that invites hostility from clients as the relationship progresses.
It has nothing to with whatever rate is settled upon. A number is just a number - nothing more.
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Hogwash. I see you're not doing much wedding work. Low budget wedding clients are usually (not always) on the lower end of the financial AND social spectrum. They typically are more rude, expect more for less, and rarely are diligent about their affairs. Yes, it's just a number and there are some exceptions to the rule but on average, working for less generally means more trouble and abuse for the DJ.
 
Rick I agree with you. Such clients act like they are doing you a favor by booking you. They expect so much from thinking they are paying you a lot of money.. For their money some want the world and everything in it. The more money a client spends usually means they trust that you know what you're doing.
 
MIXMASTERMACHOM said:
Rick I agree with you. Such clients act like they are doing you a favor by booking you. They expect so much from thinking they are paying you a lot of money.. For their money some want the world and everything in it. The more money a client spends usually means they trust that you know what you're doing.
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I don't agree and that has not been my full-time experience over the last 25+ years.

The begrudging nature of your complaints to me, seems to indicate that there is something about you guys or your approach that is attracting a disproportionate number of negative minded customers. You may be delivering a message or behaving in such a way that is an attraction to people who's nature is to exploit. In a milder sense, you may simply be promoting messages and policies that tend to draw out the wrong expectations from otherwise perfectly qualified customers.
 
Proformance who said that such things happen regularly? Over the years my experience has taught me what to watch out for. There are certain clients and gigs I've learned to stay away from.

That comes from making mistakes and learning from them.
 
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