Budgeting for your wedding can be one of the most stressful parts of planning for your special day. This sometimes causes wedding couples to choose the lowest price over the better quality. Also figuring out your budget and how much you should spend on your Venue, Food, Entertainment, Flowers, Dress, Photographer, etc. can be really overwhelming sometimes.

The average budget for a 2011 wedding in Canada was $23,330 up from 2010’s average of $20,129.

Here is a suggested budget percentage breakdown for weddings.
Venue, Food & Beverage 40 – 50%
Photography / Video: 10 – 15%
DJ / Entertainment: 5 – 10%
Bride & Groom Attire: 5 – 10%
Decor & Centerpiece: 5 – 10%
Flowers: 5 – 10%
Wedding Planner / Coordinator: 5 – 10%
Wedding Rings: 3 – 8%
Cake: 2 – 3%
Transportation: 2 – 5%
Invitations: 1 – 5%
Officiant: 2 – 3%
Hair & Makeup: 1 – 3%
Favours & Gifts: 1 – 3%
Miscellaneous: 1 – 3%
Unexpected Expenses: 5%

When it comes to the entertainment for your wedding ceremony and reception, it is often over-looked until after the fact. Researching your entertainment options is very important before simply booking with the lowest price or a referral from your venue. The internet has made researching wedding vendors quite easy for wedding couples. It is also quite easy for people that may not be so experienced or professional able to advertise themselves as wedding professionals with a little to zero investment. Taking a good look at your DJ or Band’s website is a good start to your research. Does it look professional? Are there event photos? Are there real testimonials? Do they seem like a good fit for what you are looking for in a DJ or Entertainment? It is also a good idea to look at third party testimonial sites and if possible view original testimonials or direct testimonials from their past clients.

What will your guests remember from your wedding? Statistics show that close to 40% of your guests will remember the entertainment the most over anything else about your wedding reception. Check out this chart from Modern Bride Magazine.

Here are a couple of real life scenarios to think about.

Scenario #1 – You ask your cousin to play your ceremony and reception music on an iPod and paid $100 on a sound system rental. Your cousin gets delayed at the rental company picking up the sound equipment and has very little experience setting up this type of professional equipment. The ceremony is now delayed by 15 minutes while guests are watching your cousin try to get the sound working. When it comes time for you to walk down the isle, your cousin plays the wrong song. At your reception, the majority of your guests leave early because there is no flow to the dance floor and the pre-programmed music lists aren’t the type of music your guests want to dance to.

Scenario #2 – You hired a DJ from a classified site without properly researching the DJ or company. It’s now your wedding day, the DJ shows up 2 hours late wearing jeans and a golf shirt. As he finishes setting up throughout dinner and speeches it is now time for the dance with your father. After a few minutes of dead silence, the DJ apologizes for not having the right song. You are upset, leave the dance floor and don’t have that special dance with your father.

Scenario #3 – You have your DJ narrowed down to two choices. The first choice had a modern website and you felt really comfortable when you met with them. The second choice has a really outdated website and you weren’t able to meet them in person due to lack of flexibility in their schedule. The second choice is about $500 cheaper than the first choice and they claim to have over 30 years experience, so you hire them. When you show up to the reception on your wedding day the DJ’s equipment looks outdated and visually unappealing. During speeches the wireless microphone cuts in and out making it impossible for anyone to hear.

The average price of a Professional DJ varies due to regional area, experience and reputation. In the Greater Toronto Area, average starting rates are typically $1000 – $1500 for basic DJ Services. Professional DJ’s in Canada should carry an AVLA license which allows them to play music in public commercially. DJs and Bands should also carry liability insurance as well.

I reached out to find couples who wished they would have researched their wedding DJ’s a bit better. Here are two examples of these couples:

“I got married 7 years ago and thought I had done my research, but I don’t think I did enough.  My DJ was very nice but not on the ball, for the price we paid I think we got ripped off.  It took forever to have a meeting with him, finally he decided to come to my house but at the last minute called to tell me he had his 2 young daughters with him. One under 1 and another about 3 years old and wanted to know if he could bring them.  At this point I had to say yes because I had no time to wait for him or look for another DJ.  He promised me that I was the only wedding for him that day and that he the owner was going to do my wedding not one of his employees.  On the day of our wedding everything was going smoothly until I arrived at our reception and was just ready to do the intro when in walks the DJ, he had booked himself that morning and it had run late and instead of being set up before we arrived he was setting up when we were doing the congrats line. There was a couple songs I requested that he chose not to get for me, which bummed me out.  I would never go with that person again, I found out after the fact that he over booked himself and his employees all the time.” – Michelle Roberts

“I just wanted to give you our experience with hiring a DJ for our wedding last year. Tash said they were really accommodating to our needs and wants, and worked well with our budget.  They supplied their own equipment and music, and followed our request and our guests requests.  My biggest issue with them is they did not use the correct version of our first dance song.  We requested a specific artist and song, but what they played was not the correct version.  I’m sure if we had more of a sit down formal meeting with them, this would have been averted.” – Kev and Tash MacIntyre

The best thing I can recommend is to do your research when hiring a DJ or Entertainment for your wedding. Be weary of low prices, do your research, have an in person meeting, ask your other trusted wedding vendors for referrals and ask your recently married friends and co-workers about their experiences. This is your special day and you don’t want to be stressed out or disappointed because the DJ you hired wasn’t professional or dropped the ball.

Terry Holdershaw, Entertainment Specialist & DJ
Scotia Entertainment Services
www.ScotiaEntertainment.com

Scotia Entertainment provides Professional DJ, Live Entertainment & Audio-Visual Services for Weddings, Corporate and Social Events throughout Toronto, Mississauga, Kitchener, Muskoka and Surrounding Areas.

We welcome your comments and wedding stories below.