An education in DJs

After having a total spaz attack regarding the cost of the sole DJ I contacted, I made it my mission to find the best DJ bargain I could.  I scoured the internet, trying my absolute best to find someone who seemed reliable, professional, and reasonably priced.  I even made a spreadsheet in order to keep track of all the details - prices, availability, location, hours included in package, extras, etc.  Here are the three most important things I learned when hunting for a DJ online:

1) Virtually no DJs (at least the ones I looked at) post any sort of pricing information online.  They all want to lure you into the trap of talking face-to-face or over the phone before pricing even comes up.  Superbly aggravating.  I sat through a 90-minute phone presentation with a very nice DJ only to discover that her prices were almost 3 times as expensive as the previous quote I had received... and that quote had made my eyes pop out of my skull, let alone 3 times that!

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2) Looking up DJs online is kind of a crapshoot.  At least with photographers, you can see their work, allowing you to decide if they are a fit or not.  With DJs, you have no real way of seeing their wedding services in action, so it can be kind of nerve-wracking.  Fortunately, I also learned that there's a pretty active DJ network, so you can get some pretty honest recommendations from people who know what it takes to be considered a good DJ.

 

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3) Last, but not least, DJs cost a great deal more than what I expected.  I found a few super bargains, but those kind of made me wary -- why would these individuals charge so much less than their competition?  Are they cheap because they are desperate for business?  Are they desperate because they are below-average DJs?  Excluding those cheap-os, the vast majority of the quotes I received fell within a narrow range of the original quote I received.  So, after much research, it became clear that the real problem with the DJ budget wasn't the price... it was my perception of what the price realistically should be.  Once I wrapped my head around that, the entire booking process became much more palatable.

In the end, we decided to book Top Dog DJs, a Johnstown-based DJ who provided us with that fateful first quote.  I didn't have the same "OMG YES WE NEED YOU" reaction to the DJ as I did to the photographer, but that's OK.  As long as he plays some sweet jams that get people on their feet, I give him two thumbs up.

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(Sidenote: this cake was featured in an episode of Glee... it was presented to the shop teacher who had successfully returned to work after an wood-working accident.  That's right... he cut off both his thumbs.)

Did any of your vendor searches end right where they began?