DJs are not just responsible for playing music; they play a massive role in the success of your wedding. Whether you're looking for a DJ to also announce the bride and groom's entrance, provide sound system support for MCs or musicians, or if you're just looking for someone to set the mood with some upbeat tunes, a DJ's importance cannot be understated. As such, there are a WIDE variety of price points.
The cost of a wedding DJ will vary depending on their experience and what is included in their services. For example, if you're looking for someone to do your ceremony as well as your reception, that would be considered two separate events and would cost more than just one event.
Generally, for a full service wedding reception, it can be broken down like this; <$800 Hobbyist
$800 - $1,200 Semi-Professional / REALLY Experienced Hobbyist
>$1,200 Professional
Having said that, even as professionals, there are a lot of factors that push our pricing all over this range:
Season: Demand during the summertime in Alberta is higher than other seasons and as such, the price increases.
Day of the week: Getting married on a Saturday? Guess what; so is everybody else, which increases demand, which increases the price.
Start and end times: A standard 5:00PM - 1:00AM reception is going to have a completely different price tag than a condensed 12:00PM - 3:00PM service.
Venue-specific costs: Did you know that some Edmonton venues charge for power access? They do, and this will affect what a DJ will charge. There are also general costs like parking to consider as well.
This is obviously designed more as a budgeting tool than as a price guide for entertainers. Having said that, it's really easy to tell which experience bracket people fall under with this method.
If something seems too good to be true, that's because it probably is. If somebody is offering to do your wedding for $500 and a few beers, they're definitely a hobbyist, they probably have next to no experience, and you're not setting yourself up for success. A dead giveaway - aside from their price - is that they don't have a publicly posted client review database for you to peruse.
Similarly, if somebody is quoting you $3,000 and they're not a name brand DJ like Armin Van Burin, you're probably overpaying. I'm not saying that they're not good; they're probably VERY good. But I am saying that you could likely get service that's just as good from a much more reasonably priced company.
At any rate, figure out what you can afford before shopping around so that you don't get overwhelmed!
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