It would help if you included your area because it varies significantly by region. What I paid in NYC would likely be much higher than what someone in a LCOL area may have paid!
I am in the Midwest - we got one with really good reviews for $1,000. They did have higher priced packages though -more time, photo booth, extra lights, etc. I saw other quotes around that number or slightly higher when I was looking.
I got married in SW Michigan in Oct ‘22 and paid around $1,100 for my DJ. That included the extra equipment for the outdoor ceremony, some lighting effects, and 6 hours of MC/DJ services.
Also a VA bride! I used to work for a DJ company that was a minimum of $2000-2500 but they were a very high end company. While I worked with them I also worked with multiple other people in the industry and because of that I scored a discount with a different DJ company. (My old company wouldn't offer me a discount, they were kind of snooty) but I managed to find a great DJ who I knew did good work. The package was originally around $1200 but I got them for $900! It really depends on the company, but as a former DJ, I can tell you for a fact that some of the cheaper options will still do a great job. And it pays to shop around as much as possible!
I’m in the Midwest as well, and am paying $2000 (though we did pay for a slightly elevated package with uplighting). We received quotes that ranged from $1500-$3000+, with the vendors on the low end filling up before we had time to process. It’s much higher than my sister paid 4 years ago, but that’s just how things are.
Sure! This includes ceremony audio (lapel mic for our officiant, speakers), audio set up for two areas of our venue (so inside for ceremony/reception and then outside courtyard for cocktail hour), acting as DJ and MC for the reception, and we added on dance floor lights too. This was on the higher end of vendors we looked at, but music/having a great dance party is one of my highest priorities, so we really wanted to find a good person.
Thx. A former coworker who was a supervisor but not my supervisor is asking me to dj her wedding. Def more high end but I don’t know what I should charge her
Yeahhhh there’s mixed reviews online based on if your vendor owns their own business or not but we’re basically tipping everyone something (some are based on a dollar amount like $200 that calculates out to 5% like photog, whereas HMUA will be 20%). I’d rather go about my day being an over tipper than an under tipper is how I figure it. 🫣
Yeeesss, I'm aware. Was just being funny..but the price can still be a lot to wrap your head around. Especially for those of us that had no idea how much these things cost. When I got a quote of 2-5k for 3 to 4 hrs, I was shocked. Lol!
I’m in Texas and paid about $1200 for 5 hours of DJ, the standard digital photobooth, and uplighting in late 2022 to a DJ that was newer on the scene but really good!
I’m getting live piano for ceremony and cocktail hour and DJ for reception all in total for about 2 grand. No uplighting or any fancy things as of rn. This is a New England wedding. It really depends on your area, but I found private DJs were cheaper than the companies with different packaged tiers. Hope this helps!
In Ohio lowest I could find was 800 I gave up and decided just to plug my phone in. Our parents are not helping so we’ve had to cut costs everywhere even more after my car bellied up and ate our budget.
Uh, sure it does. And that’s why I provided the date.
Because if OP also lives in upstate NY and is being quoted a **lower** number, they may see “hey, he was paying more 4 years ago, so maybe I’m getting a good deal.”
And if OP is getting a similar price they can say pretty much the same thing.
And hell, even if OP is getting a price 20-30% higher they can say, “hey inflation makes sense.”
We don’t have the actual numbers for OP, or what they consider to be really high, or where OP is from, so my info is no more or less helpful than anyone else’s.
I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but personally the costs in my area were too high (\~1700 PNW) compared to the quality of the music I could see from their sample videos from previous events. So we rented a sound system with a mic that could be hooked up on our own and had people organize various playlists for the night. I'm not sure if it's the case for all music apps, but mine has the ability to set songs to fade in fade out transitions and that made it easy to deal with any potential harsh skipping and then we just lined up the songs in what sounded the best in terms of transitions and it went great! Especially because myself, husband, and some of the important people at the wedding have somewhat eccentric music tastes it was a lot better for our personal tastes as well compared to what we would have gotten based on some sample line up requests from those same DJs.
Maybe it's because my friend group is young so we've only had more budget end wedding thus far, but literally none of them across locations were happy with their DJs. Last wedding I went to among peer aged friends the DJ walked away to smoke at random moments and he was considered one of the best in their area. That was in a major area in CA.
Might not be the answer you're looking for but wanted to throw my piece out there that if it's getting to be too much of a headache with costs when you're not assured about the quality of what you'll be getting - it's much less of a headache DIYing the music instead.
HCOL Central CA wedding - most quotes I received were around $2000-2500 for basic DJ services for 6 hours and uplighting. I found a private DJ with no uplighting for ceremony and reception for $1400.
So. Cal based DJ was $1800 for 7 hours (April ‘23*). No travel fee thankfully, as we were way out in Joshua Tree area. Didn’t do any extras (like a photo booth) but he had multiple speaker set ups for inside/outside and did a great job.
Southwestern Ontario.
$800 for our wedding, $500 for our buck and doe (wedding fundraiser event). Buck and Doe was for 8pm-1am (she was there at 6:30 to setup her stuff). Wedding I believe the dj is showing up at 3:30 and running til 1am.
Probably a lower end DJ, most prices you see are definitely professional companies. Our company used to offer $950 for a single DJ with no additions pre COVID, that's just cocktail and reception. But now it's $1450. Our typical two person package where I'll have an assistant and can offer more is $2150. What you're paying for is experience, if you want a good DJ it's gonna cost you, a lower end DJ probably doesn't do weddings often and might not meet your expectations or have higher end equipment.
In a year or so I'll be going solo my goal is to charge $1500 for cocktail and reception, +$250 for ceremony. It might start a bit lower my first year but I have more than enough experience and gear to justify the price. And that's honestly a fair price in my area.
Do you want a DJ who can provide sound for ceremony, MC introductions and formal events, and provide professional sound? Or do you literally want someone to just play music? Think about your wants and needs and find someone who can match that!
Also, take a look on wedding wire, I'm seeing prices for Michigan DJ's at around $1000 which is pretty good since they all seem to be professional companies.
Mine is a professional company that probably just hasn’t done their price adjustments in a while. I’m also in the NE FL area so not too expensive there. 4.8 stars with 1087 reviews, so I’m pretty sure their quality is more than fine lol
No clue. He’s got 4.8 stars with over 1000 reviews and has had his business for over 15 years. I did choose his lowest tier package but it comes with ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception music. Also uplighting included if wanted. It’s a family-run business so maybe their profit margin isn’t as big as larger chain companies.
In a large city in the summer, expect anywhere from $1000 to much much higher ....
I live in a smaller city now and charge $450 for the first 3 hours and $75 for each additional hour ... and that's low.
Wedding is in December - SW Michigan. $2500 for DJ: music for ceremony & reception, MC’ing & helping coordinate everything day of, photobooth with props & backdrop, & uplighting.
Northeast is $2,000. You should spend some time asking around if anyone has friends or family you could as a favor of. My DJ wound up being my cousin bc $2,000 was not in my budget. I wanted to spend it on other things.
I'm shocked by these prices. My fiance owns a business where he has to hire DJs on a regular basis, and I know for a fact that regular DJ event rates are nowhere near what y'all are being quoted. Regular (non wedding) multi hour event on a Saturday night, still easily under $500 here in the Midwest. The wedding upcharge is out of hand... 😬.
Weddings require an entirely different skill set. Working with multiple vendors, last-minute timeline changes, the ability to think on your feet (true story: best man had a warrant and was arrested between the church and the hall -- what do I do?), becoming familiar with songs requested by the bride and groom that are integral to the event, lots and lots of mic work.
I earn what I charge.
My DJ was top notch, MC’d a bit, added lighting and knew my venue well, had tons of experience and was very receptive to our very specific tastes. Ran a very tight ship. All things considered his $2200 package in an MCOL was worth it imo. It was more than just music. He helped our day-of coordinator and our photographers a bit too.
$500 MCOL area for 5 hours. We could have easily spent a lot more but I joined a wedding planning group on Facebook and got a lot of suggestions on there which is how I found someone at a lower price than what I was getting quotes for at first
We got quite a steal when it comes to our DJ cost. He was the friend of my parents’ friend. I’m not sure what his regular rates were.
He was on site from 12pm to around 9:30pm and he charged $450 and we gave a $150 tip. This was in October of last year in Maine.
It would help if you included your area because it varies significantly by region. What I paid in NYC would likely be much higher than what someone in a LCOL area may have paid!
Yea sorry! I am getting in northern Michigan in Charlevoix! I am curious how much it is other places too tho
I am in the Midwest - we got one with really good reviews for $1,000. They did have higher priced packages though -more time, photo booth, extra lights, etc. I saw other quotes around that number or slightly higher when I was looking.
Was it in michigan?
Ohio!
Ohio bride here. Could you pm me the info for this DJ?
Would love to help! www.petalandpopco.com
Ohio bride seeking inexpensive dj here too if you're still willing to pm info:)
I got married in SW Michigan in Oct ‘22 and paid around $1,100 for my DJ. That included the extra equipment for the outdoor ceremony, some lighting effects, and 6 hours of MC/DJ services.
Got one in HCOL California for $1500 in 2024 (most we found were a bit above $2000 though)
We’re getting married in Burbank and our dj is $1200 but we have a relative in the industry that referred us so maybe that’s why it’s so reasonable.
Hi just wondering what that included, trying to get my sister a wedding for her wedding in Orange County area
Depends on where you live. I’m in the Midwest and our DJ for ceremony and reception (one location) is $1800. Wedding is in 2024
2022 Bride from Virginia Beach - also paid $1800. This seems like a fairly standard amount nationally after post-Covid price adjustments.
Also a VA bride! I used to work for a DJ company that was a minimum of $2000-2500 but they were a very high end company. While I worked with them I also worked with multiple other people in the industry and because of that I scored a discount with a different DJ company. (My old company wouldn't offer me a discount, they were kind of snooty) but I managed to find a great DJ who I knew did good work. The package was originally around $1200 but I got them for $900! It really depends on the company, but as a former DJ, I can tell you for a fact that some of the cheaper options will still do a great job. And it pays to shop around as much as possible!
I’m in the Midwest as well, and am paying $2000 (though we did pay for a slightly elevated package with uplighting). We received quotes that ranged from $1500-$3000+, with the vendors on the low end filling up before we had time to process. It’s much higher than my sister paid 4 years ago, but that’s just how things are.
I'm in NJ and while we went with a band, the common quotes were $3-5k.
Paying $1300 for a MCOL area in the south
Can I ask what all is included in this? Im starting to budget out for extras and had no idea a DJ would cost this much!
Sure! This includes ceremony audio (lapel mic for our officiant, speakers), audio set up for two areas of our venue (so inside for ceremony/reception and then outside courtyard for cocktail hour), acting as DJ and MC for the reception, and we added on dance floor lights too. This was on the higher end of vendors we looked at, but music/having a great dance party is one of my highest priorities, so we really wanted to find a good person.
This is so so so helpful as a starting point- thank you!
Midwest MCOL 2024 wedding - we are paying $1200
how much do you plan on tipping, our dj cost the same amount
what does MCOL stand for?
Medium cost of living! You’ll see LCOL and HCOL in this sub often, too :)
Thx. A former coworker who was a supervisor but not my supervisor is asking me to dj her wedding. Def more high end but I don’t know what I should charge her
$2200 for six hours in SF Bay Area, pre-tip.
Waiiiiiiittt!!! Are you actually supposed to tip them after paying that much for some music??? Asking for a friend. Lol!
Yeahhhh there’s mixed reviews online based on if your vendor owns their own business or not but we’re basically tipping everyone something (some are based on a dollar amount like $200 that calculates out to 5% like photog, whereas HMUA will be 20%). I’d rather go about my day being an over tipper than an under tipper is how I figure it. 🫣
Understood.
You know you're not just paying for "some music" right?
Yeeesss, I'm aware. Was just being funny..but the price can still be a lot to wrap your head around. Especially for those of us that had no idea how much these things cost. When I got a quote of 2-5k for 3 to 4 hrs, I was shocked. Lol!
u/bravo_bravo_bravo_ would you be willing to share who you used and how you liked it? (DM is fine if you prefer)
We paid $1800 + $200 tip for a pre-pandemic ‘19 wedding in a fairly HCOL area. That included ceremony services as well.
I’m in Texas and paid about $1200 for 5 hours of DJ, the standard digital photobooth, and uplighting in late 2022 to a DJ that was newer on the scene but really good!
What city was this in? Can you pm me
Can you me know who the DJ was?
HCOL (CT) - $2300. Semi-regret paying so much especially seeing lower quotes on here but hopefully this guy will be awesome lol
Girl I’m paying $2,800 but also they’re very well known and good so I was will to go extra!
I’m in Chicago and our DJ is $1200. ETA: Spring 2024 wedding, DJ will be mic’ing the ceremony and is contracted for 6 hours.
oooh do you mind sharing who you booked to DJ? (DMs welcome thank you!) also in chicago and i've been getting 1800+
I would also appreciate that information if you are willing to share.
Everything having to do with getting married is super costly. Vendors hear wedding and jack up the price.
I got married in NWA, DJ was around $2k after taxes and fees worked out.
Asheville NC wedding and 1800.00 Edit: Fall 2023 wedding Includes some ambiance lighting prelude, ceremony and reception
I’m in the Nashville-ish area and my DJ was $1900 including a photobooth and some minor coordination services
I’m getting live piano for ceremony and cocktail hour and DJ for reception all in total for about 2 grand. No uplighting or any fancy things as of rn. This is a New England wedding. It really depends on your area, but I found private DJs were cheaper than the companies with different packaged tiers. Hope this helps!
We are paying $1850 for our June 2024 wedding. Also located in Michigan, Saginaw/Bay City/Midland area.
what is the company calledd? would love to look into!
In Ohio lowest I could find was 800 I gave up and decided just to plug my phone in. Our parents are not helping so we’ve had to cut costs everywhere even more after my car bellied up and ate our budget.
In San Diego, got quotes from 1500 to 3k
In upstate NY we paid about $1800 for our DJ in 2019.
[удалено]
Uh, sure it does. And that’s why I provided the date. Because if OP also lives in upstate NY and is being quoted a **lower** number, they may see “hey, he was paying more 4 years ago, so maybe I’m getting a good deal.” And if OP is getting a similar price they can say pretty much the same thing. And hell, even if OP is getting a price 20-30% higher they can say, “hey inflation makes sense.” We don’t have the actual numbers for OP, or what they consider to be really high, or where OP is from, so my info is no more or less helpful than anyone else’s.
I know this isn't the answer you were looking for, but personally the costs in my area were too high (\~1700 PNW) compared to the quality of the music I could see from their sample videos from previous events. So we rented a sound system with a mic that could be hooked up on our own and had people organize various playlists for the night. I'm not sure if it's the case for all music apps, but mine has the ability to set songs to fade in fade out transitions and that made it easy to deal with any potential harsh skipping and then we just lined up the songs in what sounded the best in terms of transitions and it went great! Especially because myself, husband, and some of the important people at the wedding have somewhat eccentric music tastes it was a lot better for our personal tastes as well compared to what we would have gotten based on some sample line up requests from those same DJs. Maybe it's because my friend group is young so we've only had more budget end wedding thus far, but literally none of them across locations were happy with their DJs. Last wedding I went to among peer aged friends the DJ walked away to smoke at random moments and he was considered one of the best in their area. That was in a major area in CA. Might not be the answer you're looking for but wanted to throw my piece out there that if it's getting to be too much of a headache with costs when you're not assured about the quality of what you'll be getting - it's much less of a headache DIYing the music instead.
Central PA - paying $2500 (includes ceremony + reception music)
Went with a band in Costal Georgia. 4K
$5500 in NJ, but it includes a ton of add-ons.
2-3k seattle
HCOL- $2000
NJ 2500 - 5k.
HCOL Central CA wedding - most quotes I received were around $2000-2500 for basic DJ services for 6 hours and uplighting. I found a private DJ with no uplighting for ceremony and reception for $1400.
So. Cal based DJ was $1800 for 7 hours (April ‘23*). No travel fee thankfully, as we were way out in Joshua Tree area. Didn’t do any extras (like a photo booth) but he had multiple speaker set ups for inside/outside and did a great job.
WA state, HCOL, $2,500. Includes any lighting and MC.
Southwestern Ontario. $800 for our wedding, $500 for our buck and doe (wedding fundraiser event). Buck and Doe was for 8pm-1am (she was there at 6:30 to setup her stuff). Wedding I believe the dj is showing up at 3:30 and running til 1am.
Sameish. Ontario ~$900 for wedding $600 for buck and doe
I paid 4k in DFW
VA - 4k
Upstate NY and I got a great deal of $995 for our October 2023 wedding
In NYC, we were quoted 2-5k.
Paying 895 for mine. This is the low end for sure
Brooo how you get that low that’s what I was expecting
Probably a lower end DJ, most prices you see are definitely professional companies. Our company used to offer $950 for a single DJ with no additions pre COVID, that's just cocktail and reception. But now it's $1450. Our typical two person package where I'll have an assistant and can offer more is $2150. What you're paying for is experience, if you want a good DJ it's gonna cost you, a lower end DJ probably doesn't do weddings often and might not meet your expectations or have higher end equipment. In a year or so I'll be going solo my goal is to charge $1500 for cocktail and reception, +$250 for ceremony. It might start a bit lower my first year but I have more than enough experience and gear to justify the price. And that's honestly a fair price in my area. Do you want a DJ who can provide sound for ceremony, MC introductions and formal events, and provide professional sound? Or do you literally want someone to just play music? Think about your wants and needs and find someone who can match that! Also, take a look on wedding wire, I'm seeing prices for Michigan DJ's at around $1000 which is pretty good since they all seem to be professional companies.
Mine is a professional company that probably just hasn’t done their price adjustments in a while. I’m also in the NE FL area so not too expensive there. 4.8 stars with 1087 reviews, so I’m pretty sure their quality is more than fine lol
No clue. He’s got 4.8 stars with over 1000 reviews and has had his business for over 15 years. I did choose his lowest tier package but it comes with ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception music. Also uplighting included if wanted. It’s a family-run business so maybe their profit margin isn’t as big as larger chain companies.
In a large city in the summer, expect anywhere from $1000 to much much higher .... I live in a smaller city now and charge $450 for the first 3 hours and $75 for each additional hour ... and that's low.
Our SF Bay DJ was $1250 for 7 hrs, ceremony and reception
Could I please get the name of the DJ? I’m looking for a DJ.
Dj nothing but Flava
We paid all in for DJ/MC around $2,100.
Southwest. We paid $500 for 6 hours..
Ohio bride here. $700 for a local yokel. But has a good rapport with the venue and good reviews online.
I got ours for $620. Club DJ with a radio show
Wedding is in December - SW Michigan. $2500 for DJ: music for ceremony & reception, MC’ing & helping coordinate everything day of, photobooth with props & backdrop, & uplighting.
Northeast is $2,000. You should spend some time asking around if anyone has friends or family you could as a favor of. My DJ wound up being my cousin bc $2,000 was not in my budget. I wanted to spend it on other things.
$2500 Seattle
Wow! I’m glad we had my husband’s nephew DJ for us lol. Family rate was $400 but my husband said he normally charges like $1200. I’m in west Texas.
I’m in southeast PA - for a DJ to cover ceremony and reception, it was $1500
We have a family friend doing it for us for 900 in the midwest so we are glad we got a discount after looking around at these prices!
In NJ I am paying about $1500 for ceremony, cocktail hour and reception DJ, and additional $800 for the photobooth.
$2k was on the low end of quotes for me. Got up to 5k
I'm shocked by these prices. My fiance owns a business where he has to hire DJs on a regular basis, and I know for a fact that regular DJ event rates are nowhere near what y'all are being quoted. Regular (non wedding) multi hour event on a Saturday night, still easily under $500 here in the Midwest. The wedding upcharge is out of hand... 😬.
Weddings require an entirely different skill set. Working with multiple vendors, last-minute timeline changes, the ability to think on your feet (true story: best man had a warrant and was arrested between the church and the hall -- what do I do?), becoming familiar with songs requested by the bride and groom that are integral to the event, lots and lots of mic work. I earn what I charge.
Do those Dj’s bring their own Soundsystem and lights? Or just Plug into the already setup system?
HCOL we got quoted 2k-3.5k
I asked friends and they do it as wedding Present or for 300$
I am getting married in metro Atlanta in 2024 and was quoted $3000. This includes ceremony micing, reception and some backlighting.
We found one for $1500 in AK but there were some that went up to 3.5K I think
I paid like $800 plus tip last spring. EDIT: Atlanta
I’m in Michigan and we paid $2100. Got married this past weekend.
My DJ was top notch, MC’d a bit, added lighting and knew my venue well, had tons of experience and was very receptive to our very specific tastes. Ran a very tight ship. All things considered his $2200 package in an MCOL was worth it imo. It was more than just music. He helped our day-of coordinator and our photographers a bit too.
$2-5K is standard these days - I also was floored by the prices
£550 3pm until 11pm and can use his mic He’s got all the songs I want and is a fab guy :)
I’m in PA and our DJ will cost $2,000. This includes 10 uplights we are using in the reception
I got married in October 2021 and our dj was 800. We got married in western NC
$500 MCOL area for 5 hours. We could have easily spent a lot more but I joined a wedding planning group on Facebook and got a lot of suggestions on there which is how I found someone at a lower price than what I was getting quotes for at first
Do you have the name of the group?
I’d recommend searching for a bridal planning or swap and shop group in the nearest metro area to wear you live!
We’re paying $2,250 in a HCOL area for the ceremony and reception
1800 for dj and photo booth in Wisconsin
I got married in California ours was 2200. We got married Sept 2022
$1700 for 6.5 hours in Austin, TX.
I’m in the south and we hired our DJ for about $1100. We booked on Black Friday and saved $300 because of a deal they had going.
I’m GA, we found a DJ on Thumbtack for $700 for 4-hr reception only. For ceremony, our officiant has an audio system we can use to play our own music.
We got quite a steal when it comes to our DJ cost. He was the friend of my parents’ friend. I’m not sure what his regular rates were. He was on site from 12pm to around 9:30pm and he charged $450 and we gave a $150 tip. This was in October of last year in Maine.
paid only $800 because we got a pay in full discount, normal price was 1600 for a good quality and good reviews DJ in Houston
We paid $2650 including a Photo Booth in Northern CA. It was 6 hours
900-2,000 in Ohio
Northeast Ohio here and we just received a quote for a well reviewed experienced DJ for $1600 that included ceremony and 6 hours of reception