Music - Band or DJ???

So, in the inevitable planning process you may be going through for your wedding, you are going to be faced with one VERY IMPORTANT DECISION: Band or DJ??

Let's face it, in today's day and age, music is an essential part of everyone's life. You can't walk down the street, or through a mall, or even an office building, without seeing at least a dozen people listening to their iPod. The advent of MP3's has made our music collections so portable that we can carry TONS of music with us at all times.

Hell, I've got enough music on my iPhone alone to never repeat a song for 4 days. That's right, a continuous 96 hours. All on my phone. You're jealous. I know you are.

But, back to the whole point of this post. Since music is so important in everybody's life, you have to seriously ask yourself how you want that music at your own wedding. Are you going to want a DJ or a full band? People want two things at a wedding: food and good dancing music. So, let me go through a few of the plusses and minuses for both DJs and bands.

Again, going back to the whole portability of music collections, a DJ will have THOUSANDS of songs at his/her disposal. You will be able to hear all of your favorite songs as they were played and recorded by your favorite artists. This is HIGHLY appealing to a lot of people. Not only that, there is a lot of variety that can be had with much less effort.

That's a huge plus for a DJ. However, there is a huge minus that can come along with having a DJ: the DJ VOICE. You know what it is. That really FAKE tone of voice, and he says the absolute DUMBEST things. Do you really want that at your wedding? I know I don't.

You know what I also don't want? The chicken dance. That song, "We are Family". I have no desire for all of that typical wedding, boring-ass, songs. And if you don't explicitly state that to your DJ, he WILL play them. I guarantee it.

So, maybe you decide to have a band. That's also a great choice. You get to have a band where, if they're a good band, they have a chemistry that will just spread to your entire reception. It can be pretty infectious if the band is just feeding off each other. That energy will spread to each and every person who is in that room.

Unfortunately, the chances of having a very wide range of music that they can play is very small. Also, even the best wedding bands might know only a few hundred songs. That might sound like a lot, but I can guarantee you that majority of those songs will be ones you may not want to hear. To know that many songs, you have to cater to the "popular".

Look at the Top 40 charts over the past few years. You know all those songs you've just become SICK OF? Those are the songs that the band will most likely know. To be honest, there is no amount of chemistry that a band can have that will make me like Lady Gaga. Guaranteed.

Also, and this might be specific to me, I know I could never have a live band at my wedding because I would be picking them apart the entire night. Being a musician myself, I tend to over-analyze any other band I see. I have no desire to be doing that all night.

Additionally, if there were a live band, I would probably get so fed up with them that I would have the guys in my own band take over their instruments and we'd play an impromptu concert. While that would be kind of awesome, I kind of want to spend my wedding day with my wife and not on stage.

So, I think it goes without saying that my wife-to-be and I are going to have a DJ. Also, it's so much easier for me to shake my ass with the wide range of music a DJ has. And as long as I'm dancing, and my future in-laws are dancing, everything's gonna be all right!