What does a DJ do exactly ? Many times I’m asked what is my style, or what kind of music do I play or do I take requests. Yes, of course music is extremely important and that subject can be covered extensively when you’re searching for someone perfect for the type of event, that you’re planning. However, there are a few other extremely important aspects associated with a DJ, that many people take for granted and is often over looked. That is the flow of your event, or should I say creating the perfect work flow.
Creating flow is about keeping an audience engaged and keeping things running in a timely manner. A DJ can actually help facilitate the speed in which formalities take place and the dancing. For instance I just attended an event where the DJ waited until after dinner for people to dance. In fact he waited until after the other formalities were over like cake and parents dances. So from the time we sat down for dinner until after the formalities, 2 hours had elapsed.
There were no announcements made during that time. It wasn’t the venues fault, people at this event were just taking their time eating. Some people enjoy that type of experience. From my perspective, there were plenty of missed opportunities to keep a lively and engaged audience.
So what could have been done differently? One way to create flow would have been to have the formalities in between dinner courses. After Salad, there could be some engaging, sing along type of music, or perhaps some other formalities, like parents dances, could have been completed. Another might involve trivia about the bride and groom.
Another way to create flow is obvious, inviting people to the dance floor. If you have a good dancing crowd, this would be a great time to let people know the dance floor is open, whether it was for a couple of slow dances, or some fast dancing or both.
Creating flow should be something you speak to your DJ about when you’re looking to hire them. You’ll gain some insight, how they handle that sort of thing. Other considerations for creating flow are, lining up the bridal party for the entrances, does your DJ do that or do they rely on the function coordinator. This might not seem like much but a DJ that is proactive can definitely influence the outcome and keep your event lively, on time and fun.