20 Questions to Ask Your Wedding/Event DJ!

If you google “wedding DJ Austin,” you’ll get over 21 million results. You’ll probably check out page 1 and 2, maybe page 3, but how do you determine which DJ or DJ company will best suit your needs? A great way to do this is to narrow down your results and get at least 3-5 quotes from companies who meet your price range, have available DJs, and are reputable. Once you’ve received quotes, the next step is to ask them questions, to determine who will best meet your needs.

Here are the 20 most frequently asked questions from our customers and our answers! Feel free to use our list to ask your DJ, even if you’re not booking with us! Though we cannot understand why you’d book with anyone else! 🙂

Question 1. Can we create our own playlist or request songs to be played?

Answer: Yes, we encourage all of our clients to fill out our music planning sheet that will have the genres of music you prefer, as well as a list of favorite artists and any must-play or do-not-play songs! We do not charge extra to create your playlist and we do not have a predetermined list of songs for you to pick from. This is your wedding and you should be able to decide what we play!

Question 2: How many people will be working the day of our wedding or event?

Answer: It depends on the needs of your event. We typically have two people at every wedding/event that we do, but sometimes, just one person is available. We may have additional people come early, to help us set up, but by the start time, only one or two people will be at the entire event.

Question 3: Will you need a dinner or drinks for you or your staff?

​ Answer: No, we do not require food or drinks. It’s a nice gesture to ask and we always appreciate it, but we are aware that the food/drinks must be paid for and therefore, we do not require it. I’ve seen many companies that do, but we do not.

Question 4: Do you or your staff drink alcohol on the job?

​ Answer: Absolutely not. We’ve seen many other DJs, photo booth staff, photographers, and other staff, help themselves to a plate of food and help themselves to the open bar, which we completely do not understand. We’ve seen other staff intoxicated, while on the job, and we’re always amazed at how they stay in business. We’re professionals and we do not do this and require that all of our staff do not do this, either. We’ll gladly accept water or non-alcoholic drinks if you offer, but this is also not required.

Question 5: Do you bring all the necessary equipment for our event or do we need to provide anything?

​ Answer: We’ve heard of other DJs and DJ companies requiring the customer to rent the sound system, which is surprising! We bring all the equipment we need for every event we provide services for. We simply need an 8X8 area to set up, near a standard power outlet. If the venue offers free tables, we always love it if there is a 6 ft table set up in the area you need us to set up, but if they charge you for each table (which many venues do), we’ll gladly save you some money and bring our own table.

Question 6: Do you bring back up equipment, in case anything happens?

Answer: Yes, we certainly do. All of our DJs are very experienced and know how to handle a situation where they may need to make adjustments, if equipment isn’t working correctly. We always check-in with our staff during set up and are available “on-call”, if problems arise at any time during the event.

Question 7: Do you have other staff, available, if the DJ or photo booth attendant gets sick or has an emergency?

Answer: Yes, we have 6 DJs that work with our team and we always check in with every DJ, the week of the event. We also check in with the DJ/photo booth attendant 3 hours before the event start time, to ensure they’re going to make the event. If a DJ or photo booth attendant is sick or has an emergency, we will notify the customer immediately and provide an experienced, professional staff for the event.

Question 8: What is your cancellation policy?

Answer: Our cancellation policy states that any event that is cancelled at least 31 days (preferably sooner) before an event will receive 100% of their deposit and any payments made to Austin’s Best DJs. If the event is cancelled within 30 days of an event, we will keep the non-refundable $75 deposit. We will, however, refund 100% of any payments made toward the balance, outside of the deposit. Fortunately, our deposits are very reasonable. Most DJ companies require 50% of the total balance, to book an event and the deposit is non-refundable. We do not do this. We’d certainly not be okay with losing that much money and don’t subject our customers to this, either.

Question 9: Is there an additional charge for any dance floor lighting?

Answer: We bring dance floor lighting and it is included, at no additional charge. If there is a particular light that you request that we do not offer, than we can obtain the light(s), if needed, for an additional charge. Many companies “nickel and dime” customers by charging extra, for things you’ll need, such as lighting. We are fair and don’t do this.

Question 10: Do you provide an “MC” for our event, who will make necessary announcements?

Answer: Yes, we certainly do and no, there is not an additional charge for an MC. Many companies charge an extra fee for an MC, which to us, is crazy. So the DJ will not say a word, unless you pay him/her? Wow. Again, we’re fair and don’t do this.

Question 11: Do you have bilingual DJs, who can make announcements in Spanish?

Answer: Yes, nearly all of our DJs are bilingual, and can do this. If there is another language in which you need announcements, we will certainly let you or one of your guests make any announcement(s), with our PA system. We’ve done several weddings where other languages were spoken/used, (Chinese, Vietnamese, ASL) and clients designated a person to make announcements for guests, in addition to our announcements.

Question 12: How long does it take set up and break-down your equipment?

Answer: Depending on the needs of your event, the set up can take anywhere from 45 minutes, to 2 hours or more. Most weddings and events that we’ve done in venues in Austin and Central Texas, take about 60 – 90 minutes, to set up. Break down takes about one hour (or more if using multiple systems).

Question 13: Is set-up/break-down time included in the time we purchase or charged separately?

Answer: We will arrive approximately 2 hours before any event, to set up, and we do not charge extra for set up; your time starts when the music starts, not when we arrive to set up. You are also not charged for break-down time, either. Exception: if you need us to set up earlier than 2 hours, or break-down later than one hour after the event ends, there is an additional charge. Example: wedding ceremony starts at 5 pm, and we’d normally arrive at 3 pm, to set up, but you need the DJ or photo booth to set up at noon. Many companies do not include set-up/break-down time and charge additional fees for this time. Again, we do not do this.

Question 15: What do you typically wear?

Answer: We always dress appropriately for the occasion. Our staff will wear slacks and a button up dress shirt. For outdoor, summer events, we have company Polo shirts we typically wear, with slacks. If we need to dress more formal, please let us know and we certainly can do this. We’ve seen many vendors show up in shorts, flip flop sandals, T shirts, baseball caps, tank tops, etc., to a wedding. We can never understand how they stay in business.

Question 16: Is there a minimum amount of hours to book?

Answer: Yes, we require a two hour minimum for DJ and/or photo booth services.

Question 17: Will the DJ take requests?

Answer: Yes, we can certainly take requests. We will do our best to play all requests, given that we have the song and there is enough time to get through the written playlist and must-play songs. We ask all our clients to let us know if requests are okay and ask for any restrictions on requests, such as: “Yes, play requests, but no rap, metal, etc.”

Question 18: If the crowd is shy or not dancing, do you motivate the crowd to dance?

Answer: We rarely have to do this, but yes, we certainly can. We do numerous weddings and events, all year, so we know what people like and want to dance to. We play great music and people will dance!

Question 19: Can you assist me in finding music for our ceremony or reception?

Answer: Yes, we’ll be glad to assist you in planning your ceremony and reception music. We have numerous planning tips on this blog, just scroll down!

Question 20: Do you provide any other services for weddings or events?

Answer: Yes, we certainly do! We provide: photo booth services, uplighting, monogram lighting, sound for live ceremony performances, custom music mix/mash-up, projector, projector screen, and more.

We certainly hope this list of questions has been helpful for you. As always, if you have additional questions, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

– Austin’s Best DJs Team