DJ Question: Contract or no contract?

[ams0124]

I''m having a sort of internal dilemma with our DJ, and could use some opinions...

Last fall FI and I went to our friends'' wedding where we became friendly with the DJ (we''ll call him DJ T). He''s a local DJ on the dance club level and typically does not/will not do weddings (i.e. only for friends will he consider it).

He did a GREAT job at our friends wedding. He was very professional, he did a great job MCing the event. I thought he really helped the night go smoothly...I had casually mentioned to FI after the wedding how great it would be if we could find someone like him to DJ our wedding. This was before we were even engaged so FI just kind of blew the comment off...which I expected.

Fast forward to now...FI has been corresponding with DJ T since last fall on a friendly "hey how''s it going basis" through email. FI remembers how much I liked what DJ T did at friends'' wedding and asks him if he would be willing to DJ our wedding...DJ T says "yeah for sure!". FI comes home and says guess what I got us a DJ and it''s DJ T!! My first reaction is AWESOME! 1) FI actually did something wedding related and wasn''t asked to

and...2) He got someone that I loved and TOTALLY would have never thought would be able to/want to!!

BUT....Then I go into "bridal mode". I start thinking to myself...can we really trust this guy? Yes he did a great job and was very professional but you never know right?!? So I asked FI to talk to him about a contract and/or deposit...FI does this and DJ T says "I usually don''t ask for a desposit or contract from people I know or friends but if you really want one than I suppose we can write one up"...FI says (w/o talking to me 1st) "no dude that''s completely understandable we trust you"

...men!

Here''s my question...Would you write up some sort of contract in this situation? DJ T will be DJ''ing another one of our friends'' weddings in Sept so we will be seeing him "in action" if you will before our wedding...One of my main fears is that if for whatever strange reason DJ T doesn''t show up on our wedding day...then what! No contract, no DJ, no recourse...

Soooo....contract or no contract? Deposit? Both? Other suggestions?
THANKS LADIES!!!

p.s. sorry this got long!

 

[panda08]

I''d do a contract with a deposit. This person is not really a friend who you can trust to show up on your wedding day. Right now, you just have his word that he''ll be there but there is nothing legally binding him to do so and if he flakes, you have no recourse against him.

Just draft something short and simple and explain to him that you''re super excited to have him DJ your wedding and that a contract with a deposit would show him that you''re serious and acting in good faith and that you contract with all your vendors.
Good luck!

 

[kama_s]

Contract AND deposit, just like you would with anyone else. Doesn''t matter if he''s a friend or a cousin, you gotta cover your ass!

 

[ams0124]

Ok I completely agree! That the best and safest thing to do is get a contract and pay him a deposit...FI seems to think that it would be rude if we did that after DJ T said it wasn''t necessary

...He said it would be like we didn''t trust him...To which I''m thinking to myself...DUH!!! Don''t trust ANYONE when it comes to your wedding

I was thinking to make FI more comfortable and not to seem like we don''t "trust" him we could just say "hey since ams'' mom is paying she''d prefer to have contracts and deposits with all vendors, friend or not for book keeping reasons"...

What do you think good plan?

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Contract, contract, contract!! And deposit.

Sorry, lol...I don't trust anyone enough to not have a contract.

 

[iheartscience]

Date: 5/7/2009 1:42:17 PM
Author: ams0124

Ok I completely agree! That the best and safest thing to do is get a contract and pay him a deposit...FI seems to think that it would be rude if we did that after DJ T said it wasn''t necessary

...He said it would be like we didn''t trust him...To which I''m thinking to myself...DUH!!! Don''t trust ANYONE when it comes to your wedding

I was thinking to make FI more comfortable and not to seem like we don''t ''trust'' him we could just say ''hey since ams'' mom is paying she''d prefer to have contracts and deposits with all vendors, friend or not for book keeping reasons''...

What do you think good plan?

This sounds like a perfect way to bring it up! I would definitely get a contract (I bet you could find a standard one on the internet) and give him a deposit. FYI, we just met with my DJ last night and he requires a $200 deposit up front.

 

[Lynnie]

AMS, we went the same route also... A friend of a friend DJ''s weekly at a bar, and did their wedding, though he doesn''t usually do weddings. It''s weird - we know this guy through several people. My brother''s best friend''s uncle (haha) owns the bar, too. So he agreed to do ours. At first, I was really nervous, because the guy initially said sure, but then we were having trouble contacting him, and he wasn''t returning our calls. Turns out, he''s just that type of dude. He hadn''t been planning on a contract, either. No mention of it at all. So DH had asked him about a contract, and DJ had no problem with it. Even though he said we didn''t need one, he''d be there, etc, he totally understood the want for one, so he drew one up and we signed via email. No deposit, we just paid cash on the wedding day.

Totally good idea to mention that mom is anal!

 

[ams0124]

Thanks ladies!!

Date: 5/7/2009 10:39:52 PM
Author: Lynnie
AMS, we went the same route also... A friend of a friend DJ''s weekly at a bar, and did their wedding, though he doesn''t usually do weddings. It''s weird - we know this guy through several people. My brother''s best friend''s uncle (haha) owns the bar, too. So he agreed to do ours. At first, I was really nervous, because the guy initially said sure, but then we were having trouble contacting him, and he wasn''t returning our calls. Turns out, he''s just that type of dude. He hadn''t been planning on a contract, either. No mention of it at all. So DH had asked him about a contract, and DJ had no problem with it. Even though he said we didn''t need one, he''d be there, etc, he totally understood the want for one, so he drew one up and we signed via email. No deposit, we just paid cash on the wedding day.

Totally good idea to mention that mom is anal!

This is what we''re in the process of doing now...Everything should be signed and official by the end of the day!

Add a check to my to do list!!