Hiring your San Francisco wedding DJ or band is an important step to making your wedding reception go off without a hitch. They are the ones who help create the soundtrack of your special day and keep your guests dancing all night!
After you’ve done your initial online research, it’ll be time to reach out to a few DJs or Bands. We recommend narrowing down your wedding DJ or Band list to the top 5 contenders. After you narrow things down go ahead and reach out to them and schedule some time to chat. Take this time to get to know them! You want to make sure you are getting a good vibe because they are the ones who will be keeping your guests dancing all night.
We created this handy list of common, important questions to ask during your initial conversations with any San Francisco wedding DJ or Band. Make sure to have the list handy so you don’t forget to ask something that might be important to you!
Preliminary Questions
- Is my wedding date available?
- How long have you been doing weddings?
- How many weddings have you played?
- How long have you been performing together (band question)?
- How many weddings do you do in an average weekend/during wedding season?
- Do you do more than one wedding on a single day?
- Will you be the DJ/bandleader playing at our wedding? If not, who would be there?
- Have you done events at my wedding venue before?
- Do you provide any other services, such as uplighting or a photo booth?
Wedding Music
- Can you help me choose the music for my ceremony, father-daughter dance, etc.?
- How extensive is your music library or song list? Do you keep your music library up to date?
- Do you have a go-to list of wedding songs you play or perform for weddings?
- Can we have “Do Not Play” list?
- Do you take song requests from our guests?
- Do you take any breaks? How many and when? Will music be played during your breaks?
- How many band members will perform that day?
- Do you make all of the announcements during the cocktail hour and reception?
- What do you do to motivate the crowd if nobody is dancing?
- If the DJ or one of the band members scheduled for my event has to cancel, do you have a backup ready to go?
Pricing & Inclusions
- How much do you cost?
- Does that rate include setup and breakdown between ceremony and reception locations?
- How much do you charge for overtime?
- How much is the deposit and when is it due? When do you require the remaining balance? How do we pay?
- What is your refund/cancellation policy?
- How far in advance do I need to book you for my wedding?
Logistics
- Do you provide wireless mics for the wedding ceremony & reception?
- What kind of space or stage do you require for the DJ or band? Do you bring your own stage/booth or am I responsible for that?
- How much time will you need for setup, sound check and breakdown on the actual wedding day?
- What time will you arrive at the site and when you will you leave?
- Will we meet again before the wedding?
- When do we need to submit our music requests and event details by?
- Do you (and each band member) require a meal?
- Is there anything we should know about your services ?
This is not an exhaustive list of questions, but it’ll get you started in knowing what to ask when you first start talking with any San Francisco Wedding DJ or Band. Have fun!
Related
- 25 Questions to Ask on Your San Francisco Wedding Venue Tour
- Holy Shit You’re Getting Married: Here’s 16 Things to Do Now
- 4 Steps to Choosing Your San Francisco Wedding Venue