*****I need some Opinions*****

2010 bride crashing here.....

I have been to 2 weddings in the past year. One had a dj, the other a band. The one with the dj was much more fun because they were able to play a wide variety of music - from the current/popular music to the bride and grooms choice of lesser known bands. The dance floor with the wedding with the dj was so crowded while the one with the band not so much.

It really depends on your musical taste and your budget. My FH and I felt differently when it came to music. He REALLY wanted a band and I wanted a DJ. I feel like it is really hard to find a band that sings a variety of music well. I would rather hear the songs I want sung by the original artist. I personally have had more fun at weddings where there was a DJ not a band. Its a personal decision, listen to your gut

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Posted by ELluvsMB

I've only been to 2 weddings in my life and It's making wedding planning a little hard because I just don't really know how it will all come together.

Right now I'm trying to choose between a band and DJ. After figuring out the costs, a DJ was an obvious choice. But my FIL's weren't crazy about the idea and now decided to pay for part of a band. Nothing too expensive (around $6k give or take). So now here is my question....what should I do?? I went to see a band that was give good reviews on here and really disliked it. I felt that they really botched up the music and just wasn't happy with the performance. I'm going next week to see another one which I am much more positive about.

If you could choose between a band or DJ what would you do? I know this can be different for everyone but I'm really on the fence. If I went with a DJ I would have all the ad on's (singer, percussion, ect).

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well no matter what dont be forced into any decision. Go with what you like bc what works for others doesnt work for you.

For me the answer was clear and knew what i wanted but i also had alot of reasons. I went with a dj bc for one my family really wanted some culturally songs to be played and if i did this i also had to play some italian songs for dh's side. I know i couldnt find a band that played songs in both languages plus english of course lol. Not only that but with my must play list which I HAD to have these songs, it was best to go with a dj. Dont get me wrong i know bands can be great, i saw one showcase and they were singing alot of pop songs that are on the radio and did an amazing job and sounded just like them. I saw heart and soul and they did the pussycat dolls, nelly furtado and MJ perfectly. But i also dont really like alot of pop music. I had a very wide variety of music played. I definitely wanted hip-hop, reggae and i couldnt picture a band singing these hip-hop songs and reggae songs. Also towards the end of the night we played house music and again, not something a band can do. I mean i wasnt even going to look at bands, considering i was going to have songs in 3 languages, oh wait actually 4 bc i also requested some spanish music which i really wanted. So a band who can sing in 4 languages, plus do hip-hop, reggae, rock and house. The other song choices they could've done such as mo-town, a few pop songs and the slow music but definitely not everything on my playlist. If i am going to play a sean paul i want to hear sean paul sing it lol, or if i play a hip hop song i want to hear that hip hop artist sing it. Also had rock songs and wouldve been hard to pull off

so not that a dj is always the best choice but just for me personally a dj was the way to go bc of what i wanted. Ive been to weddings with bands and if you do alot more pop songs, mo-town alot of top 40 type songs then its great bc they are amazing.

I think this is a very personal choice. Unlike many of the other posters above... Ive been to MANY weddings where ppl just did not get up for the DJ, and where there was a band everyone was on the floor all night. a lot of bands can do todays music really well, and if you want your wedding song played by the original artist, just request it, and they will play it from a cd...they have the ability to do that. (check out faze 4)
Also, i was just at a wedding two months ago where the DJ stopped the 'first dance' song abruptly in the middle and then had to restart it from teh beginning!!!!! He also destroyed their entrances.
Anotehr wedding I went to with a DJ was insane bc the music and bass was so loud you couldnt hear the person next to you speak!!

Things can go wrong either way :)

I struggled with this as well, and in the end booked renegade (band)... bc I said to myself, I can hire a DJ for any other party for the rest of my life... and this will be the only time ever that I will be able to splurge and have live music. No other event will call for it again.

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Posted by Jessiegrl

Many people can say 'they want to hear the original voice' and that's fine, but if you get a good band the music will sound great. To me..I don't like the throw away's and lights. I'm not into that at all IMO I think it's looks like a sweet 16. That's my opinion. I've been to weddings where the DJ S*CKS! No one was on the dance floor, b/c the music was just straight out cheesy. You always have to watch b/c the music can skip. I take this all into consideration. I've always been to weddings where the band stinks. It really all depends on who you go with, that's why it's so important to go to the showcases and check them out. As the poster above said..if there is a song that you really, really want the band can play it by CD just like a DJ does. To me the most important thing at a wedding is the music, food and pictures. The music and food will make your party, and the pictures you will treasure forever. This is where we are spending our money.

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lol many dont do throwaways for their wedding, i said absolutely no to do this...thats an extra if you want it added on lol

like you said it depends on the band or dj. I went to a wedding recently that had a band and most ppl didnt dance, the bride even went off on the band at the end of the night they didnt play alot of songs that the younger crowd liked and they took a bunch of breaks but cant blame them bc they had to eat too. I also went to another wedding that had a band and people danced all night, so did dh and i but at the same time it wouldnt have been music i wanted played for my wedding not that its bad but not a fan of alot of pop music and alot of radio played songs.

Also, keep in mind that wedding bands have changed DRASTICALLY over the past few years. When i went to a showcase last year i was surprised bc they did all look great and were young. I went to some weddings in the 90's and let me say none of the bands ever looked anything like the band i saw at the showcase. You had alot of older ppl who were still stuck in the 80's so they gave a cheesey effect, kinda like the wedding singer hahaha. I guess for me that also sticks out in my head and what i remember from weddings in the 90's lol...they are completely different now though, well alot of real popular ones you see on here. When i saw heart and soul at a showcase i was impressed. Infact i was walking up the stairs to walk into the room they were doing their showcase and heard the nelly furtado song they were singing and i really thought it was on the radio or something. All the women in the band were in their 20's mostly and looked great, very modern. I thought about it for a second but then i also heard the songs they sang and knew i wouldnt play just those pop songs or top 40 songs at my wedding. They also did not do songs in all the languages i needed, and i know they wouldn't be able to do the rock songs, reggae or hiphop i wanted and then my end of the night house music session wouldnt be possible.

i had lights and I LOVED it but i think its different than what youre saying, i did not have strobe lights or anything like that...it was just lights that gave the whole room a different effect and the lights didnt move, i think its called intelligent lighting or something. I dont know but dont think my wedding was anything like a sweet 16 lol.

You can have a dj that s*cks or you can have a band that s*cks, whichever you pick as long as theyre good then you'll have a fun wedding. My dancefloor was completely packed all night long. Never was a time where you just saw 10 ppl or so on the floor. Most of the night more than half of my guests were dancing and people even had to dance outside the dancefloor right around it bc there was no more room on the dancefloor, luckily there was alot of room around it where they were able to do this. Even dh's friends whom i never see dance at weddings or parties were dancing so much and i was shocked, they even told me they never danced so much at a wedding before. Ill take credit for it bc my playlist was awesome plus it worked out for me bc 2 of my favorite moments was when our videographer did a quick edit of our day and played our wedding movie trailer during our reception, we were able to do it bc we had plasmas. After the wedding most ppl mention this to me as their favorite part and a nice touch. I also loved our photo montage, which both i surprised dh with.

here is the lighting that dj's offer now, most classy dj's wont do the strobe lights or anything close to it lol, just the lighting that changes the color of your room...here is how it looked at mine

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Posted by Espo22

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Posted by Jessiegrl

Many people can say 'they want to hear the original voice' and that's fine, but if you get a good band the music will sound great. To me..I don't like the throw away's and lights. I'm not into that at all IMO I think it's looks like a sweet 16. That's my opinion. I've been to weddings where the DJ S*CKS! No one was on the dance floor, b/c the music was just straight out cheesy. You always have to watch b/c the music can skip. I take this all into consideration. I've always been to weddings where the band stinks. It really all depends on who you go with, that's why it's so important to go to the showcases and check them out. As the poster above said..if there is a song that you really, really want the band can play it by CD just like a DJ does. To me the most important thing at a wedding is the music, food and pictures. The music and food will make your party, and the pictures you will treasure forever. This is where we are spending our money.

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lol many dont do throwaways for their wedding, i said absolutely no to do this...thats an extra if you want it added on lol

like you said it depends on the band or dj. I went to a wedding recently that had a band and most ppl didnt dance, the bride even went off on the band at the end of the night they didnt play alot of songs that the younger crowd liked and they took a bunch of breaks but cant blame them bc they had to eat too. I also went to another wedding that had a band and people danced all night, so did dh and i but at the same time it wouldnt have been music i wanted played for my wedding not that its bad but not a fan of alot of pop music and alot of radio played songs.

Also, keep in mind that wedding bands have changed DRASTICALLY over the past few years. When i went to a showcase last year i was surprised bc they did all look great and were young. I went to some weddings in the 90's and let me say none of the bands ever looked anything like the band i saw at the showcase. You had alot of older ppl who were still stuck in the 80's so they gave a cheesey effect, kinda like the wedding singer hahaha. I guess for me that also sticks out in my head and what i remember from weddings in the 90's lol...they are completely different now though, well alot of real popular ones you see on here. When i saw heart and soul at a showcase i was impressed. Infact i was walking up the stairs to walk into the room they were doing their showcase and heard the nelly furtado song they were singing and i really thought it was on the radio or something. All the women in the band were in their 20's mostly and looked great, very modern. I thought about it for a second but then i also heard the songs they sang and knew i wouldnt play just those pop songs or top 40 songs at my wedding. They also did not do songs in all the languages i needed, and i know they wouldn't be able to do the rock songs, reggae or hiphop i wanted and then my end of the night house music session wouldnt be possible.

i had lights and I LOVED it but i think its different than what youre saying, i did not have strobe lights or anything like that...it was just lights that gave the whole room a different effect and the lights didnt move, i think its called intelligent lighting or something. I dont know but dont think my wedding was anything like a sweet 16 lol.

You can have a dj that s*cks or you can have a band that s*cks, whichever you pick as long as theyre good then you'll have a fun wedding. My dancefloor was completely packed all night long. Never was a time where you just saw 10 ppl or so on the floor. Most of the night more than half of my guests were dancing and people even had to dance outside the dancefloor right around it bc there was no more room on the dancefloor, luckily there was alot of room around it where they were able to do this. Even dh's friends whom i never see dance at weddings or parties were dancing so much and i was shocked, they even told me they never danced so much at a wedding before. Ill take credit for it bc my playlist was awesome plus it worked out for me bc 2 of my favorite moments was when our videographer did a quick edit of our day and played our wedding movie trailer during our reception, we were able to do it bc we had plasmas. After the wedding most ppl mention this to me as their favorite part and a nice touch. I also loved our photo montage, which both i surprised dh with.

here is the lighting that dj's offer now, most classy dj's wont do the strobe lights or anything close to it lol, just the lighting that changes the color of your room...here is how it looked at mine

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Who said the throw away's are a must??? I have booked DJ's before.I know that they are an add on. I said in my opinion I do not care for the look.
I also said that there are good and bad bands and DJ's. That's why I wrote you have to go to the showcases and check them out for yourself.

I just want to thank everyone for they're very helpful comments. To be honest I think I've always leaned towards a DJ because I like modern music. I know there are bands out there that can play this as well but I'm sure I can't afford it....someone suggested renegade, and Faze 4. I've heard amazing things about both but they're $8k and up. But I have to admit the live music is something I always wanted to make it classy. I guess I will have to go with my gut. Thanks again for all of the advice you guys are really the best, I don't know what I would do without you!!!

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Posted by ELluvsMB

I just want to thank everyone for they're very helpful comments. To be honest I think I've always leaned towards a DJ because I like modern music. I know there are bands out there that can play this as well but I'm sure I can't afford it....someone suggested renegade, and Faze 4. I've heard amazing things about both but they're $8k and up. But I have to admit the live music is something I always wanted to make it classy. I guess I will have to go with my gut. Thanks again for all of the advice you guys are really the best, I don't know what I would do without you!!!

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you can always add muscians - we are having a bongo player but since we know him i think he is bringing a crazy drum set up - like a kick drum and all - ive also seen sax players and stuff like that - so there are def live musician you can add on to make it different and fun