As soon as you use the word wedding the price rockets right. I'm going to expose the wedding industry in the UK for what it truly has become. I'm going to expose a bunch of scammers, who prey on unsuspecting couples and hike up prices because they have a large wedding budget. I'm going to expose the Wedding Tax...
There is a perception out there than Wedding DJs can cost an average of 50% more than a standard party DJ. Some couples are also quite wary about actually looking for a specialist wedding DJ and many more baulk at the prices. Even the likes of Consumer Champions Which exposed this deceit and accused the industry of causing brides and grooms additional stress before they head down the aisle. It’s a pure scandal, right?
Wrong!
So before you all head off and start sending us hate emails and commenting on social media posts I’m going to reveal the very real reasons why a wedding mark up exists, and what the main differences are between a Wedding DJ and a Party DJ. Djs fall into two main categories, those who charge the same for all bookings and those who have different prices for different occasions.
So is it wrong that a DJ should charge a different price for a Wedding and a Engagement Party?
Absolutely not... A full-time wedding DJ not only works the day of your wedding but is putting in time and effort all week to ensure not only the success of your event but all of their bookings. First off there is the stress of being self-employed and having the daily worries of running your own business. We are entrepreneurs, creators, dreamers and we not only have a DJ hat, but we have to run an office doing all the admin, accounting and secretarial work.
Without this we wouldn't get our bookings, so we need to be salesmen, advertisers, website designers the list goes on. This can include attending wedding fayres, making posters, working on photos and videos. Here is a short list of some of the things that actually have to happen on a weekly basis:
Responding to emails, requests for information and sending quotes
Meeting clients or having skype conversations about their weddings
Downloading music, doing edits and keeping the library sorted
Updating social media, advertising campaigns and responding to messages
Keeping accounts on income and expenditure
Maintaining equipment, fixing broken items and testing leads
Many of these scare/scam stories make us out to be confusing clients making us sound sneaky and greedy. We actually work very hard for our money and struggle to maintain that all important work-life balance. We work unsociable hours, long days, and have a lot of expectation resting on our shoulders. People are always price shopping or looking for discounts because they don't appreciate the work that actually goes into a booking and simply thing were stand on a stage for 4 hrs pressing the play button.
A wedding from start to finish might consist of:
Up to 20 emails from requesting information, sending a quote, keeping touch, providing documents and getting the fine details
Meeting the clients face to face for a consultation which can take a couple of hours
Sending out information, contracts and little surprises
Working on the playlist and music and often doing song edits
Planning routes and contacting the venue for information
Getting our clothes ready for setting up and performing
Getting up early on the big day to pack the van, get refreshments and travel to the venue
Setting up a smart presentable rig and testing everything
Performing for up to 8 hrs and keeping on our "A" game
Packing away and driving home
Getting home late often in bad weather, having to unload then perhaps update social media and wind down
Waking up the next day with ringing ears, headache, swollen ankles and knees and having to do it all again
When you compare this to a normal birthday party booking many of these elements diminish or disappear. For example, bookings are shorter, less emails, no meetings, normally more local venues and far less planning. Parties are also much shorter between the point of booking and actual event sometimes only a matter of weeks rather than 12 months or more. Without sounding to blasé we will often turn up and play a selection of music and keep the guests happy. There is far less mic work required and we can dress down a little.
Birthday, Engagements, Christenings etc are big days but often not on the same level as a wedding and have much different running orders. Ultimately there is a lot more risk involved in weddings and you need to get it right. If we happen to screw up it can hugely affect your business and livelihood. This is why we do the months of planning and preparation behind the scenes. It can be annoying for a DJ to hear the industry get bad mouthed in these magazines and articles. It’s already a challenging time for small businesses and this added disrespect for our prices and fees can make it even more of a challenge to get work. If anything, DJ prices haven't really risen over the past 20 years.
We are quite proud of our price and remain as competitive as you will find in this region for a high quality professional wedding DJ. We know companies who charge more than double and still get regular work. In many cases we feel we actually offer more but prefer to stay in the affordable bracket.
Please whatever you do - understand that there is a difference in price because there is an actual difference in what we offer and what you get.
Andy P