Why I Don't Send “One Of My DJs” To Your Wedding

Imagine spending weeks choosing your wedding DJ.

You have a conversation with them. You explain the sort of music you love. You tell them what you absolutely don't want. You talk about the venue, the timings, the atmosphere you're trying to create and all the little details that matter to you.

You finally book.

Then, a few days before the wedding, you get an email:

“Great news! We've assigned one of our DJs to your wedding.”

Er... what?

This is one of the reasons I run Offbeat the way I do.

If you book me, I turn up.

There isn't a mysterious DJ waiting in the wings who I've never met, hasn't spoken to you and has been handed your booking notes on the afternoon of your wedding.

You're not booking a DJ company. You're booking your DJ.

There's an important distinction.

Some entertainment companies operate with a whole roster of DJs. That's perfectly legitimate. It can work very well.

But it's not how I want to work.

Offbeat isn't designed to be a booking agency where you choose a brand and somebody else gets allocated to you.

The person you speak to is the person you book.

And the person you book is the person who turns up.

I think that's particularly important for weddings.

Because a great wedding DJ isn't simply somebody who knows how to connect a few speakers and play music.

They're part of the experience.

Your DJ should know what you've asked for

By the time your wedding arrives, I want to know what makes your music taste yours.

What you love.

What you hate.

Whether you're happy with requests.

Whether there are songs you absolutely don't want anywhere near the dancefloor.

Whether you're looking for a packed dancefloor from the first song or something that builds gradually.

Whether your friends are indie obsessives, disco heads, hip-hop fans, house music nerds, pop lovers or a glorious combination of all of the above.

And, importantly, what you actually mean when you say “we want a party.”

Because every couple means something slightly different by that.

Those conversations aren't admin.

They're part of the job.

And I don't want to have them with you so that I can then pass the information to somebody else.

There's a difference between a playlist and understanding the brief

You can give someone a list of your favourite songs.

That's useful.

But a wedding DJ needs to understand the thinking behind it.

If you've given me 30 songs you love, I want to understand why you love them.

Are they songs you want played?

Are they examples of the sort of music you like?

Are they songs that remind you of university?

Are they simply there to give me a flavour of your taste?

There's a world of difference.

Because the job isn't to mechanically work through a list.

It's to understand the people in front of you and use that information to make good decisions throughout the night.

I don't want to hand that responsibility to somebody who has never met you.

And what happens when the plan changes?

Because it will.

Weddings rarely run exactly to schedule.

The speeches take longer.

Dinner is delayed.

The photographer wants another five minutes.

The first dance happens later than planned.

The dancefloor suddenly fills up earlier than expected.

Someone makes a request that changes the direction of the room.

A good DJ adapts.

But there's a big advantage to having someone who already understands the bigger picture.

I don't need to call you over and ask:

“So, what sort of music did you say you liked again?”

I know.

I've spoken to you.

I've been preparing for your wedding.

And I've got a pretty good idea what you're trying to achieve.

There's also something wonderfully reassuring about knowing who's coming

Think about the other suppliers you've carefully chosen.

You choose your photographer because you like their work.

You choose your caterer because you like their food.

You choose your florist because you like their style.

You don't spend months choosing a particular photographer and then say:

“Actually, anyone from the company will do.”

So why should your DJ be different?

If you've listened to my mixes, looked through my work, read my reviews and decided that I'm your kind of DJ, I think you should be able to expect me to turn up.

No substitution.

No surprise DJ.

No “Meet Dave, he's one of our other DJs.”

Just me.

And there's another side to this: accountability

There's something else I like about working this way.

If I say I'll do something, I'm the person responsible for doing it.

There's no chain of command.

No booking agent.

No manager.

No “I'll pass that on to your DJ.”

No confusion over who was supposed to know what.

You and I have the conversation.

I make the plan.

I turn up.

I do the job.

Simple.

And if something needs to be discussed, you know exactly who to speak to.

I don't want to be the biggest wedding DJ company

There are plenty of larger entertainment companies out there.

Some have dozens of DJs.

Some have hundreds.

Some can probably put a DJ in every wedding venue in the country on the same Saturday.

Good for them.

That's not what I'm trying to build.

I'm more interested in being seriously good at what I do.

I'd rather have a smaller number of weddings where I know exactly what I'm doing, who I'm working for and what we're trying to create than turn Offbeat into a machine that simply processes bookings.

Because I don't think a wedding DJ should be a commodity.

You shouldn't be choosing between DJ 47 and DJ 48 because they're both available on your date.

You should be choosing someone whose style you actually like.

You're not booking a brand and hoping someone good turns up

This is probably the simplest way I can put it.

When you book Offbeat, you're not booking a logo.

You're not booking a pool of interchangeable DJs.

You're not booking a company that will find someone available and hope they're a good fit.

You're booking me.

And that's exactly how I want it.

Because your wedding is too important to leave the most visible part of the evening to whoever happens to be free.

You chose your DJ for a reason.

So when the lights go down, the music starts and everyone heads towards the dancefloor...

I think the person you've chosen should be standing behind the decks.