Selecting entertainment for your wedding can be a serious challenge, many couples quickly realize when speaking to experienced DJ’s and bands, that entertainment is a more artistic service than they had originally expected. In this article we will discuss the different forms of entertainment that you can have at your wedding and how to determine what is right for you.
PERSONALIZED WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT
At IT’S LIT weddings and events, our owner Alex, has nearly a decade and a half of DJ & entertainment experience for weddings and events as of the time of writing this post. Our goal at IT’S LIT weddings and events is to provide professional wedding DJ’s that are reasonably priced and can customize your wedding to your tastes while keeping your guests dancing! Additionally, we achieve all of this by providing many great individual DJ’s, with the backing of our company’s expertise ranging from popular add-on services such as DJ and photo booth, to backup equipment, and making sure to have every event covered with staff, even if someone is sick or unable to perform for any reason. These are all important factors in your ultimate wedding DJ decision that we will discuss throughout this post.
Wedding Entertainment in RI
We won’t be looking at just DJ’s in this post, many other forms of wedding entertainment exist across RI, MA, and New England and the world at large. Here are a few categories and their definitions. They also come in a variety of formats which we will discuss after the types. You don’t have to decide what you want yet, this article is simply to inform!
RI Wedding DJ
Wedding DJ’s offer some of the greatest variety and combination of services of any vendor. Depending on your unique needs, a DJ may be the most cost effective way to get the services you want and provide the best experience as well.
Wedding Band
Wedding bands also offer a wide variety of styles, and some even incorporate DJ’s into their performances. Bands however, generally offer a more rigid set of performance guidelines, such as specific music, and can be limited by what they know. However, bands can often create custom songs, and learn new ones for your wedding, a unique choice to make your wedding one of a kind.
Solo Musicians
Solo musicians, and small groups, generally offer service for cocktail hours, ceremonies, intimate weddings, or even as part of a hybrid act (defined below). These entertainers may incorporate a single instrument or multiple instruments depending on their skillset.
Hybrid Acts
Hybrid acts, as their name implies, combine a range of different talents for a special performance. This could be a DJ with a saxophonist, a DJ complimented by a drummer, or the combination of all 3. Technically, many other services could be categorized as a hybrid act, but in a non-musical sense. This post is not intended to be the definitive guide to booking entertainment, but at some point, we will likely add a post or mention about hybrid entertainment companies, that offer, for example, DJ and photo booth, DJ and photographer, DJ and lighting, etc)
Side note:
Some performers may be called a “band” but are actually a hybrid act. Especially nowadays; as music becomes more digital, it can be challenging for a fully traditional band to incorporate all music into their sets. Some bands include a variety of different methods of performance, some tailor based on the individual performance, and some operate more like a DJ with singers as a hybrid act. Based on individual needs, this may work better for you, but just make sure you know what you are getting. In the next section, we will discuss how each form of entertainment customizes to your wedding along w’ith their structure.
Types of Entertainment Companies
A variety of entertainment companies exist with many different offerings. For example some companies offer only one entertainer, only one type of entertainment, and some offer all kinds of services from DJ’s, to solosists to bands and more. What you choose depends on your unique needs.
Solo Entertainers/Solo-prenuers
Solo entertainers generally offer the widest range of pricing, and highest level of customization. Some solo entertainers are cheap because they are just starting out, some are incredibly expensive because they are highly customized, some fall in the middle. While you’ll see a range for any of the categories we discuss, the biggest will probably be in the solo category, In our area there are people who would do a wedding for as low as $300 all the way up to $15,000 (at least to our knowledge) that also doesnt factor for out of state entertainers being flown in for events that may cost even more. Additionally, this category includes things like solo performers which may only have an instrument for ceremony, and come at a lower cost. These generally carry the most risk if someone is sick, or other extenuating circumstances occur.
Small Specialist Companies (or Groups)
Generally these companies have only a few entertainers, whether it be DJ’s a band, or groups of soloists. Partnerships also fall into this category. Generally these will come at a higher price, but less risk, for example, they usually have multiple entertainers and connections for backup entertainment in the event someone is sick, but they still cary some risk, as they have a smaller size which prevents certain services and combinations of services.
Mid-Size Entertainment Companies (Multi-Ops)
IT’S LIT Weddings and events would best be categorized unter this heading. We offer multiple different DJ’s but aren’t a huge company. Generally we would also categorize companies that offer multiple services under this, such as DJ, lighting, photo booth, and other similar services. A company with say, only DJ and photo both, would probably be a step down. Companies like this generally offer a pretty predictable range of pricing, and slightly less flexibility of services, they are a great middle ground for most, without breaking the bank, and offer the ability to choose from many services. However, you’ll probably face resistance if you want something customized to your budget, as these companies generally want to stick to packages, and operate more as actual businesses with full time staff and overhead costs.
Large Entertainment Companies (The Everything Company)
We can separate this really into two further categories, the company that does anything and everything (ever heard the” we have bands, DJ’s photo booths, photographers, planners and more), and the specialist company that has many services and many in that service such as “we have 40 DJ’s in the company”. Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with these companies. Generally they have found a way to economically offer many services with quality, but you’ll probably find yourself pushed into a cookie cutter mold with these companies, or paying a hefty price for extreme customization, if they event offer it. Additionally, you don’t need to worry if they will show up, unless the company is poorly managed, generally their prices can actually be more variable, but some of that is due to the breadth of services they offer.
Some Commonly Missed Aspects of Your Wedding Entertainment
For most people, professionalism and the look of the setup will matter at a wedding especially since photos are usually being taken. We have certain standards for a DJ setup, for example, there has to be a DJ facade in front of the main DJ table unless they have a DJ table which is decorative (often called a bunn table or command center). We require scrims on the speaker stands and cables to be wrapped for a professional appearance. However, not every company has the same standards, we have provided services such as Marquee Letters (Only) for weddings and seen that the DJ had no scrims and even had a banner with his contact info in front of his table, we believe this is incredibly un-professional and strictly prohibit this for our DJ’s.
What is included with a wedding DJ
Make sure you know what you are getting with a wedding DJ package, for example, not every performer includes lighting for the dancefloor. Our wedding packages include a wireless microphone for toasts, basic lighting, basic sound system and DJ of course. Some companies will charge extra for everything to make their price seem very affordable but, keep in mind that $2,000 for “full wedding coverage for 6 hours” is the same as $1,500 for reception + $500 for cocktail hour, ceremony, and an extra hour of time. In some cases, these companies may be more expensive when they do it, similar to the budget airline anomaly. However, consumer behavior doesn’t change based on DJ’s nickel and dime-ing. A budget airline will see less baggage (becuase they charge for it), whereas a budget DJ will do the same number of cocktail hours as one that includes it in the package, because you’ve probably already determined your timeline if you already booked the venue.
Some companies offer to guarantee the DJ and assign them when you book, others assign closer to the event. We assign DJ’s when the event books, but may change the assignment up to 30 days before. This is for two reasons, first, employees are usually at will and can leave at any time, while we don’t expect it, we would rather connect you once, than deal with your DJ leaving and make you confused. Number 2: We want you to have the DJ who is the best fit, that may change as your wedding needs change, since, you are booking 6-18 months in advance of your wedding, before you have many details set in stone. Ideally, this makes you have the best experience.
Need a Wedding DJ in Rhode Island?
Do you need an RI wedding DJ, contact us today! Or learn more at our RI wedding DJ page.
