I've spent a lot of time in clubs and at festivals listening to DJs. Those guys on stage with their hands in the air dropping huge slabs of bass on systems over-weighed with subwoofers that reorganise your internal organs. And they're great! I've even spent quite a fair amount of my own career in music doing that very same-thing often along side some of the biggest names in the bass-heavy world of Electronic Dance Music. I've shared bills with Pendulum, Andy-C, De La Soul, Gramatik, Shapeshifter and Sigma to name a few.
Many of the people I've performed with in that world are insanely talented and highly skilled. They're tight and what they do is inventive and creative. But even if they were interested in playing a Wedding they're probably not going to be the best fit!
A Club-DJ isn't used to playing to the type of mixed crowds that weddings are made of, there are never nights in clubs where toddlers and grandparents are sharing the dance-floor with people in their 20's, 30's and 40's!
A Club-DJ typically stays within a few specific genres of dance music, and more often than not they only play music from a sub-genre of a genre of Dance Music! They're specialists and it is their strength and weakness. They may be able to seamlessly move from track to track in the genre of Future Bass, but get them to smoothly go from Uptown-Funk to Oh What a Night and they might be scratching their heads. As a club DJ you can be more focused on your mix, than making sure 3 generations of a family are finding musical common ground that they can connect over. Big egos often come with success in the club world, and most of these guys would never take a request.
Wedding DJs on the other hand have their own set of peculiarities. At their worst they're basically playing one song after the other from the same old playlist they always play from, essentially being a McDJ. There's little craft, creativity or passion in their performance that you would see from the pro-dj. I've seen Wedding Djs whose setup is just a laptop into a line mixer. No Crossfader, No decks, No Dj Controller. Without the ability to mix tracks, change tempos and pitch, mix by key or remix on the fly, what's the DJ even doing? Just plug in a phone and push play on a playlist. Job Done!
But there is a third type of DJ, the one who takes the skills and craft of professional club and festival DJs and applies those skills to make someone's wedding day one of the best days of their life! They play to a broad audience, they take requests, they play a wide range of genres and make it all seamlessly blend together. They mix and cut and crossfade. They take you up and keep you there and they bring you down, so they can take you up again. Their satisfaction comes from seeing their clients and guests have an amazing time. Skills and Humility.
They're the hybrid of a club dj and a traditional wedding dj. They're the DJ you want to book!
Thats me with a very famous DJ, (SIGMA UK). Before I became a Wedding DJ!