I also want the contract to include an ironclad "No Chicken Dance" clause.

November 14, 2011 11:01 AM

I'm looking for Boston-area DJ for my wedding. How does one find a DJ (yes, the Google, but how do you pick)--particularly given that my fiancee and I have particular musical parameters (on the hipstery/dancey spectrum)? Feel free to post/MeMail particular recommendations.

I think the only thing that my fiancee and I really care about for this wedding is 1) good booze and 2) a great big sweaty mass of people getting sloppy on the dancefloor. It's just supposed to be a fun party. Fuck the centerpieces, we don't give a shit about the catering, and she's not planning on wearing a wedding dress.

We probably don't want a DJ from a big company that sends guys out with just a laptop full of the top 40 stuff on Q107 or KISS 104.7 or Z103 (or whatever).

We'll have a young 30s, international, also hipstery/artsy crowd that will dance. Parents and other relations will dance too, with the occasional 60s soul or disco (both of which are fine by me).

If I were programming this the wedding playlist today, I'd put on stuff like Yelle, Robyn, Chromeo, Justice, Phoenix, but also Michael Jackson, Madonna, Sylvester, who knows. Pulp's Common People will be played, it goes without saying.

I don't want to go the iPod route--I really do want someone fully in charge of this who is not a guest (and we'll need them to arrange for a PA). I also think it will be fun not to know what's coming up next--but I'd like to be comfortable knowing that the DJ understands that busting out with Shimmy Shimmy Ya is awesome (at least later in the evening), but Usher's "Without You" is totally fucking not OK (ever).

How do you build that rapport? How do you find the line between programming the whole night and giving the DJ the 10 must have tracks and trusting them to slot them in to a larger set?

posted by Admiral Haddock to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Do you have a vendor that you already like and trust and be frank with and kinda maybe even feel like you could hang out with them as a friend? That vendor probably has friends in the business who you'd like, and who would be easier for you to build a rapport with.

Our experience: we went to an alternative bridal expo to meet a bunch of DJ's and hear them work, then had sit-downs with the one we liked the most and asked for suggestions for a first dance. We're in Philly, but we knew we'd found our guys when they suggested the string version of the Yeah Yeah Yeah's "Maps".

After that, we told them a couple must-have tracks, gave them examples of artists and specific songs we wanted to fill out the rest, chatted some more about music so they knew I loved DJ Earworm, then let them do their work. Both the old people and the "hipster/artsy/grad student/we used to be cool in college, but then we went to law school and work for a V50 firm these days" crowd at our wedding danced their faces off.
posted by joyceanmachine at 11:35 AM on November 14, 2011

Not sure of his contact info, but I'm pretty sure DJ Phat Mike (who does the My So Called 90s Nights at Common Ground) has DJ'd a few weddings in his time.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:37 AM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think you're going to have the best luck finding a small-timeish party/club DJ who's willing to do a wedding, rather than a wedding DJ (shudder) with decent taste/restraint. Do you have favorite dance nights at local bars? Ask those DJs, and then have them add in stuff that's not normally in their repertoire.
posted by supercres at 11:44 AM on November 14, 2011

Bradley Jay was an amazing DJ at the now-defunct "Rock of Boston," WBCN. He creates trippy music and also DJs at clubs worldwide. I don't know if he does weddings, but he'd be a good resource to ask.
posted by kinetic at 12:51 PM on November 14, 2011

I'm pretty sure some friends used Jetset Sounds and were really happy with them. Their tagline is "We are an exclusive DJ service that focuses on those who know the difference between electronic music and the electric slide" - might be worth a conversation.

I'm not sure if they're wedding material, but Soul Clap has a good party-DJ reputation.

Beat Train has provided the music for a few different events and they're also known for being "non hokey". I like this testimonial: "He was extremely professional and didn’t have any of the cheesy gimmicks a lot of DJs use at weddings. He was very committed to not playing anything that was on our “do not play” list. We had a couple of guest come up to us and tell us that Ari needed our permission to play a couple of songs such as “Cotton Eyed Joe” or whatever that song is called. Ari arrived looking sharp in suit, skinny tie, and classic black framed glasses. He brought his turntable and his computer and set up everything very compactly in the corner. He has a natural read on the vibe and kept it going from immediately after dinner until they closed us down."
posted by barnone at 1:23 PM on November 14, 2011

robocop is bleeding: "Not sure of his contact info, but I'm pretty sure DJ Phat Mike (who does the My So Called 90s Nights at Common Ground) has DJ'd a few weddings in his time."

He is married to kpht.
posted by mkb at 2:08 PM on November 14, 2011

I can attest to this guy's awesomeness as a DJ: http://www.southcoastdj.com/
posted by lazywhinerkid at 3:45 PM on November 14, 2011

Oh hi! So yes, I'm married to DJ Phatmike, who is awesome. Memail me, or email him at [e-mail] for a faster reply since I've got a busy few days coming up. This is pretty much in line with the weddings my husband does, we've done weddings where Justice and ODB were involved. The setlist from our own wedding included Common People (and if I had to do it again, I'd add Disco 2000).
posted by kpht at 7:17 PM on November 16, 2011