If you're considering booking a DJ for your Wedding celebration, you may well be asking "Whats the difference?".
This is a very good question, and its easy to assume there isn't much!

Most DJ's can attend a wedding and play music - so why hire a specialist Wedding DJ?

A Wedding DJ will be familar with Wedding Protocol, and able to accomdate the varying needs of Wedding Clients and their chosen venue.
They will focus on this area of the DJ business, and so know the importance of being 100% reliable, and providing great customer service.

Whilst the core part of a DJ is to play music, the differences between the diffent types are interesting.   When looking at hiring a Wedding DJ, its worth considering who you are hiring.
All have their skills, and all can be hard work.  Its also worth remembering that many Wedding DJ's started off as a Pub or Club DJ.

Pub/Bar DJ

A pub/bar DJ is often tasked with playing the latest commercial releases, with a mix of older classics depending on the venue.  They are often seen at a lower level than Club DJ's, and whilst mixing is prefered, its not a required skill.  Mic work is required to entertain the clients and tell them about drinks promotions.
The work can be hard, and will require good people skills to manage difficult situations.  The income is normally low, but is often in exchange for regular bookings.

Needs to: Keep the venue full of people, increase bar turnover, assist with drinks promotions, have a personality

Does not need to: Dress formally, play "party" music, set-up equipment, have great mixing skills - but this varies with the venue

Club DJ

Club DJ's often work shorter "sets" than Pub/Bar DJ's, and can normally plan ahead what music they'll play.  Mixing is critical, and they'll probably have their own style and favorite genre of music.  Large nightclubs will have a few DJ's on for a single evening, allowing each DJ to provide a great show over 1 or 2 hours.
Some club DJ's are able to work 2 Clubs in a single night, and income is better than pub DJs - but competition is fierce from other DJ's.

Needs to: Keep the venue as a "place to be", keep the venue full of people, provide the coolest music

Does not need to: Dress formally, play music outside their comfort zone, make annoucements, have their own lighting or PA system.

Wedding DJ

A Wedding DJ normally has knowledge and experience to make sure the evening runs smoothly.  They'll be organised, and have more admin to ensure everything runs to an agreed plan on the day, this will include liasing with the venue and viewing it in advance if they have not played there before.
The will have Public Liability Insurance (PLI) and their equipment will be tested for electrical safety (PAT), as most Wedding Venues require this.
They will often carry back-up equipment to ensure a failure does not end the night, and also ensure any special requests can be made from their wide selection of music.

Needs to: Be 100% reliable, Dress Formally, make announcements, set-up the equipment, carry a wide range of muisic, provide personal service, organised and customer focused.

Does not need to: Play remixes or unfamilar music, mix songs to club level, make jokes.

If you are considering a Wedding or Civil Ceremony in Hertfordshire, its worth being aware of the differences.  Your DJ should reflect the occasion, so a Club/Bar DJ may be suited for an 18th Birthday, but unless experienced, are not suited to Wedding where expectations are high.

Picking a DJ that is not experienced in Weddings does expose you to some risk, and so we try to find out what our clients need, rather than blindly take each booking.

Please contact us with any questions about this page, it was created from a few conversations where a specialist wedding DJ was seen to be a DJ in a suit.