Karaoke Forums

Babs, I think you are somewhat right, here in my part of Texas $1000.00 would be very high for a wedding. I been to a few weddings lately and knew one of the DJ's and what he charged and it was a little less than half of what Eben was originally asking for.

Funny thing is though around here you make a few announcements, but mostly it's the priest ( for catholic weddings ) the best man and some well wishers who do most of the talking. This Dj did not do karaoke and his mic was a cheapie Radio Shack brand and his and everyone elses voices were mostly unintelligible. May have been partly a mixer problem also. At least with a decent KJ/DJ you should be able to understand what people are saying.

I have been to about 3 different karaoke shows out of town in the past few months and all of the KJ's were competent and enthusiastic, where they lacked was they used a cheap rig that put out very little sound and all I could hear was myself singing. I would say that at least 2 of them had legit music due to having the original discs. Whether it be karaoke or a DJing a wedding what would be important to me would be sound quality. That being said I don't think you need a JBL stadium type set up, just something that can fill a small hall if it had too. I guess in a long winded way I am saying the market sets the price. Rudy.

Maybe I’m misinterpreting it.

Maybe he/she didn’t specify in his/her bid that the $250 was for gasoline,

but something doesn’t add up.

Raise your rate, more chance you’ll lose the gig. It happens, nothing necessarily wrong with that, it's just a chance ya take.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

Eben, can you give us an idea of WHAT services you provide for your hi-end weddings?

I believe a few kjs here haven't performed weddings yet and might not know exactly what they entail, or why so much money is involved.

To date, i have personally performed 43 weddings and my company over 110, ranging from $400-$5000. We also performed a multiple-couples wedding for 5 couples at the same event for over 800 guests in 2002. This included subcontracting singing acts, bands, videographers, caterers, and costumed impersonators. Huge reception to say the least....and months of preparation!

What do your wedding couples experience at your receptions, and do you also sub contract outside services, or is everything in-house?

Sorry this particular couple decided your price was too high, but i'm sure they missed out on a great performance by YOU. Not EVERYONE can be a good wedding deejay! It takes a lot of everything in spades to make it very sucessful.

Aloha. J.R.

Well, most DJs charge a lot more than karaoke because of the gear used. Most KJs don't put light rigs into their shows (some do, I know) and that takes a bit of work to set up right and they are pricey pieces of equipment.

Well, first of all, you have to understand that everything, I mean everything in my area is expensive. Let's talk gasoline. Lonnie is right about what I meant, gas price is the one relevant reason for the raise but everything else has gone up too except for housing (mean used to be $750,000 for a house is now about $600,000) Besides, what professional would tell the customer the amount you raised to them? I sure don't and I didn't. I just quoted them the price and what it would include. I never said I would charge them $250 extra for the gas, this is just what I am telling you. Also, what I didn't mention, is that I used to have a van but I couldn't justify keeping it with the number of gigs I do. Now, I have to rent vehicle to haul my gear, which is an extra so I tack that on the quote.

So, what do I bring to the wedding? First, I have an assistant to help set up and break down, as well as stuff to do during the event and I have to pay him. I have a lot of equipment and there is no way I can set it up and break down within reasonable time. My partner is a musician so he knows what to do so things go fast. For the gig, I have a big rack for my equipment, along with all the lighting 4 Par cans, 4 LED pars, mirror ball simulator x 2, two moving heads, strobes and three separate stands to put these lights on. I control the DMX with a DMX controller and non DMX with straight power controller. This is all running through my rack mount computer then to power speakers which needs to be on the stand. I also have tons of boxes to carry these and a entire rolling cabinet for other stuff, like cables, etc. It's a lot of work.

That is just for the wedding. If I do Karaoke mixed in, I have to bring my monitor screen, stage audio monitor, my books, mics, cables, accessories like blow up guitar, etc. and set them all up.

We also make sure we buy all the music they request via CD then ripped in to the computer to be played, which depends on a wedding could take hours. We come out in advance and scout the venue before we play there and visualize our set up, which again cost gas to get out there and back. We also do MC for the ceremony, any special request within reasons.

I think it's worth what we charge. It's a lot of work and I don't do it as my main source of income. It does provide me with money to buy new equipment.

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Seize the day and SING!!!

Well, if you read my original post. I bid one with raised price and one at regular price and both came back as being high, thus my original question.

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Seize the day and SING!!!

Reading your previous post… wow, you do provide a lot.

I think money is tight everywhere, and people are skimping wherever they can, apparently, even on their weddings. I think even people with money are genuinely scared right now with all that’s going on in this world.

I’m no pro, and I wouldn’t know what to say other than to wish you luck.

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Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick