Ireland wedding DJ vs Ireland party DJ
Recently we had a discussion with another Ireland party DJ about all sorts of DJ related stuff. This ranged from the geeky technical stuff about what lighting to use and sound equipment to the more exciting subject of music! Like what sort of music our DJs would play at a wedding party in Ireland. Would the music chosen would be similar in England? Or would they want something much more cool and funky than your typical cheesy wedding disco! The findings were very interesting, but we will leave that for another discussion!
We found one discussion very enlightening, the subject of this blog “Ireland wedding DJ vs Ireland Party DJ what is the difference?”. Depending on what part of the world you live this question will have a few different answers. However for now were apply this to our Local area of Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and southern Ireland. Here’s what we found.
The first comment one Ireland party DJ blurted out was… “That’s easy mate.. Weddings take planning, but parties don’t” lol he is sort of right but NOT!
One party one vision
A party DJ only has one vision, that is, to fill the dance floor and keep people on the dance floor. A good DJ will know how to pace the music to keep the dance floor busy, you can only take music so high in energy for so long then it has to come back down settle on a groove and then build up the tempo again and then at the right time the DJ will take the music up again and do this throughout the night normally building to the biggest climax towards the very end of the night. Job done!
One wedding many visions
A Dublin wedding DJ has to maintain the right party vibe while following a schedule. There are so many things to be taken into consideration. These things can certainly trip up the party vibe if not executed in the right manner. This includes the grand entrance(when the bride and groom are announced into the room, sometimes to a theme song of their choice). Cutting the wedding cake, the first dance, throwing the bouquet. Sometimes the removal of the garter and the all important final song. Oh, forgot to mention being in charge of the confetti cannons(Making sure they are released at the right times for the first dance and the final song of the night) Just getting started and you can already see there’s so much more involved to being a wedding DJ than a party DJ. No wonder a Dublin wedding DJ should cost more!
A party DJ normally arrives around early evening to setup his sound and lighting equipment up. It does not matter too much about the aesthetics of his sound and lighting equipment. Evening will come and it will soon be dark and know one will care! The music sounds great sound. Probably quite loud and the effects his or her disco lighting creates looks nice. All the party DJ has to worry about now is playing music to keep a dance floor busy all night. Job done!
Professional Dublin wedding DJ
The truly professional Dublin wedding DJ will be at your chosen venue ready for action anytime from midday. He or she will also know how to be an MC or master of ceremonies for the day. Taking care of things like introducing the wedding party and/or the grand entrance. The cutting the wedding cake, the first dance and throwing the bouquet. Sometimes the removal of the garter and organizing everyone for all important final song.
A wedding DJ will know the best music to play during the dinner part of the reception vs the party part of the reception. A party DJ might not have the same skill sets. We have heard about wedding receptions with inexperienced wedding DJs where key moments have lost their impact due to the DJ not announcing the wedding party into the room, the guests were confused and never knew what was happening and the music played during dinner was shocking, were talking deep house music with lots of vocals. Clearly the DJs own music tastes! Not the sort of thing you want to hear at a wedding reception.
How loud should the DJ be?
Speaking of Music, brings us to how loud the music is required to be. Party DJs plays tends to play his or her music loud! To be fair most of the time this is correct. However a wedding DJ will need to make sure the loudness of the music is just right. Not too loud or too quiet, but enough to keep the dance floor buzzing. This will also keep the more mature people happy so they can talk to each other and still enjoy the music, not everyone want’s to dance all night at a wedding reception.
Professional wedding DJs will be with you for most of your wedding day. Therefore, he or she will make sure their DJ setup is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The wedding DJ will do their utmost to make sure it blends with chosen wedding theming and the room. You and your guests don’t want to see an unsightly mess! 8 hours is a long time to have to look at it, lets face it you can’t escape it! Most wedding DJs supply a package that includes uplighting/mood lighting that will help transform most venues into the perfect wedding space.
More than just a DJ
We almost forgot a Wedding DJ/MC or if you prefer the more respectful title, a master of ceremonies will have to be able to coordinate with your other suppliers. Example, before the cake cutting is introduced and the song starts, the wedding DJ need to make sure the cake, the bride and groom and the all important knife if in place! It has happened more than once where the knife has disappeared(probably to do with health and safety) Eventually one of the venue staff turn up with it! It’s Very important to time everything correctly, also making sure the photographer and video people know exactly what is going on and that they are ready to capture that all important spotlight moment!
Just a party DJ
A party DJ will dress in pretty much anything, jeans, tee shirt, polo shirt, trainers. Some dress slick and seriously funky. Many of the smarter more corporate party DJs dress in smart blacks as we say in the industry, black shoes, black trousers and smart black shirt! Great for blending in at night, but not so much during the day at an all white wedding! We hear of many times of DJ in black being asked for something to eat or drink as a guest thought they was a waiter. How awkward and embarrassing for everyone. You will rarely find a party DJ dressed in a suit, let alone a three piece suit, many wedding DJ turn up suited and booted blending in perfectly.
I hope you find this discussion informative. At MINT DJ we provide both, we provide wedding and party DJs, uplighting/mood lighting, dance floor hire in Wicklow, Dublin, Kildare and Galway. Also we provide expert wedding DJs for events in Kerry, Cork, and southern Ireland. We also provide specialist corporate DJs for corporate events.
What the difference between a corporate event DJ, a wedding DJ and party DJ? The short answer, a corporate DJ is a mix of the two. we will leave that discussion to another time!