The cost of a wedding DJ really does depend on a few important variables, including your wedding date, day of the week, time of the year, location, etc. I know what you’re thinking. Here you are, asking a specific, direct question – “How much does a wedding band cost?”, and here we are, giving you a vague answer. Surprise surprise. If you want me to cut to the chase, and give you a price range, here you go: For the most part, you should expect to pay anywhere from $950 to $1950 for a DJ based on a few factors involved that you should be aware of:
- Saturdays from May through October are the busiest New England wedding days of the year, so DJ prices will reflect that. Not all, but Many DJs will offer discounts for Fridays, Sundays, or off-season weddings.
- Most price quotes are for up to 5 hours – including a cocktail hour and four hours of dinner & dancing. Ceremony music and microphone systems usually cost extra, due to logistics involved.
- Some, but not all Boston based Wedding DJs will charge travel fees. This can be anywhere from $25 to $200 based on how far from home a DJ will be traveling.
- Most DJs will charge an “event minimum” price – meaning it would cost the same for 2.5 hours as it would for 5 hours. DJing a wedding is more than just spinning tunes and heading home. After factoring in music preparation and planning, loading equipment into a vehicle, driving to the location, setting up and testing equipment before the gig, and breaking down and packing up equipment afterwards, it’s pretty much a whole day’s work regardless of how long the performance is. Plus, if you were to want a DJ only for the last two hours of a wedding, you wouldn’t want the DJ setting up & testing equipment during dinner would you? That would cause quite a disruption with your guests.
- Some DJs are including uplighting and photo booth packages in their prices. Like anything – you get what you pay for. Chances are, a super-cheap, bargain-basement company who bundles services together, and pitches a generic no-name DJ instead of an actual person can be risky. Sure, a $595 all-inclusive package sounds enticing, but what if they send a student with limited knowledge of all music genres, sub-par audio equipment, poor microphone skills, and bright pink & purple uplights from 2002? It might not be worth the risk of saving a few dollars. You should always be leery of booking anyone you don’t personally speak with.
- Should I tip my DJ? Gratuities are not always expected. If you feel your DJ did a great job, a tip would always be appreciated.
These older, obsolete pink uplights are much too bright pink
