Vendor Tips For Brides – Finding the DJ

Another tip for not only my brides but all brides for every photographer around the world. I guess since I haven’t posted anything in 2 months I am on a rampage today. HAHAHAHA…. SO I was looking through a lot of photos from 2008 and doing some portfolio albums and I began to realize something. There are a few dj’s that are still stuck in the 1980′s and use some pretty extreme lights and use them at the total wrong times. What happens is it kills the mood and sometimes kills the images.

I have two tips for brides that they need to share with their dj’s to make sure they get great photos for the reception.

Tip #1. Tell your DJ not to use very harsh lighting during main events at the reception. Such as first dance, garter, bouquet, cake and money dance (if you do a money dance). I did a few weddings with some dj’s that used a super bright red light during the garter and bouquet that kind of looked like a 1980′s red light special from an x rated adult film. This light was so strong that even when I tried to over power it with my lights it did not work. So I had to get creative and in the end I got the images but it was HELL because the DJ had to use these light. The guests complained, I asked to turn it off and he just ignored. Thankfully for the bride I know what I am doing and was able to get the shots I needed but it was not a fun task. So tell your DJ to leave the red light special at home.

Tip#2. Umm fog machines and strobe lights are something to be left at clubs. We did 3 weddings in 2008 that had both and again, not fun to shoot with. They are cool for the first 10 minutes and something you can play in to them and get some very cool and awesome effects. But again, just like the red light special lights, they are annoying to your guests and makes for bad photos. I did get what I needed but when you have 350 photos of fog and strobe lights it gets old and boring for the bride to view the same type of photo over and over again. 

Don’t worry not all DJ’s are like this and in fact, the majority of the DJ’s we work with are awesome. 

Some of the few we LOVE to work with and have a blast with are: Jeremy Ganss – Elegant Weddings www.jeremyganss.com, Eric Schiemer schiemerentertainment.com, Rockin Bob www.rockinbobs.com, DJ Mac dancinthenightaway.com, and many more. Sorry if I left a few of you guys out. But the above few DJ’s are awesome and do what the bride wants. gets people dancing without the use of obnoxious lights, fog and props. They are very nice, get the job done and are among the best here in PGH.