Ipod at your reception??

[tberube]

Ever since my DJ fiasco last week, my fiance has been playing Devil''s Advocate on the idea of just setting up our Ipod at the reception, for free, rather than have a DJ there. I am aware of the pros and cons of this. Has anyone done this or been to a wedding where they''ve done this? Is it totally cheap-o and noticeable?

 

[oobiecoo]

I am planning on doing music with my laptop at our wedding. We will make the whole playlist for the reception and have a family member help with volume and pausing songs for the cake cutting and all that. I''d also like to see other people''s opinions of it.

 

[happilyeverafter]

I''m doing up a CD of songs for my reception, but we''re not having toasts, dances, cake cutting, etc - just 26 people eating and visiting - so it''s easier to execute. There''s no stopping or starting the music. I think if you can rely on someone to work the music (and have it in a place where not just "anyone" can get at it) then you should be fine.

 

[FacetFire]

After our wedding and dinner, we are planning a drink and dessert cruise on the river. It will only be around 35 guests, but we are planning on using an iPod for music. I am a bit nervous about it, actually, because I have no idea what kind of music to use. What kinds of songs were you planning to use? Just dance music, or background music also?

 

[ChargerGrrl]

we were all set to do the ipod thing and I was beginning to investigate logistics, but then a friend who does sound for bands around here in L.A offered to take care of the music. we still used our ipod (made various playlists on it- reception dinner, dancing), but he "ran it" and plugged it into his professional sound system so that it was a bit more structured.

i think it's a good way to go, i'm just not sure how you would go about managing it during the evening. we're lucky we had a pro doing that!

 

[rainbowtrout]

We''re doing it. I hate DJs and I can''t afford a good band. Just rent good speakers and an amp.

 

[Sabine]

I wouldn''t see it as cheap, and I actually think it''s a great way to personalize what you want to hear. The only reason I wouldn''t do this is because it seems like you will need someone whose job it is to to make sure it runs smoothly/stop and start it for toasts, etc/ and still need someone to make announcements like we will be doing the cake cutting in 5 min. so don''t run off. It seems to defeat the point of saving on a dj if you pay someone to do this, but I would also not want to ask a guest to do it because I would want the person to pretty much stand at the ipod in case of problems.

 

[Elmorton]

We did an iPod reception and I don''t regret it for a second. Our reception was in a theater, so it already had an audio system. We asked two of DH''s friends to man the thing and we made a detailed schedule of when the music should be played - both friends came to the rehearsal and were given a run-down of how to work the equipment. Our reception space also had a wireless microphone, so my dad, a former radio broadcaster, announced our wedding party as we entered, and our BM and MoH used the mic to make their toasts. After some drinking and dancing, the microphone also made an appearance when my best friend from college and I hopped on stage to sing "Here I Go Again" (not really wedding appropriate, but it had special meaning to us). DH and I also announced the bouquet/garter toss ourselves, which was fun and goofy and we didn''t have to worry about a DJ saying something that would offend our single friends. Anyway...I mention the mic because you''ll want to make sure that you have/can rent the appropriate sound equipment for your space.

In terms of organization, we had multiple playlists; 1 entire reception list that I think was mostly used throughout the night since we were on schedule, and then we had one for cocktail hour, dinner, first dance, parent dance, cake cutting, bp entry...and these were each a little longer just in case our schedule was thrown off. Also, we made CD backup just in case, had another ipod with the same playlists, and my laptop computer. I had some serious nightmares about this, can you tell?

Oh, and we ran our slideshow synced up to our first dance and parent dance music off of my laptop.

In the end, we did have a slight problem with a short in the wires we were using, so for the first two hours, you could hear the music but no lyrics. I was a little bummed out by that, but no one noticed, and those who did thought we''d found special versions of our favorite songs so they were more appropriate for background music. Honestly, even the pros have tech mishaps (I''ve been to two weddings now where the 1st dance was horribly botched by the DJ), so I can''t complain too much about that minor issue. After the mishap with the short, they ended up throwing a CD in for about 2 songs while using the computer to run the music for the rest of the night. While there was an issue, we had all the right stuff to make it right within a few seconds. If you''re going to do the iPod thing, definitely think about back-ups.

DH and I openly despise DJs - we''ve been to so many weddings where the DJs were downright lewd, and we love our weird taste in music. Believe me, not many DJs have Sara Gazarek or Joe Bonamassa on their playlists (and I''ve heard plenty of horror stories about DJs saying they have the music and then showing up without it). Two weeks before the wedding, our friends sent us e-mail suggestions for the playlist and it was downright fun to put it together. We had all the songs that had college/high school/childhood memories associated with them, songs my parents love, that my grandparents could dance to, and all of the control to put it together. For us, the ipod was a no-brainer.

Plus...on the honeymoon, we both had our ipods on the plane/drive to the airport, so we had a blast remembering all the night''s events as we listened to the music we played. I love having my reception playlist to listen to whenever I want.

Listen to your FI! iPod is seriously the way to go.

 

[Julianna]

I love iPods at receptions! A friend of mine had an iPod hooked up to the outdoor speakers and it was great! All of the music was good, and at no point was there an instance of the "chicken dance" or "Electric Slide". I see no problem with this strategy and intend to employ it myself someday.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 11/19/2007 4:24:00 PM
Author: Sabine
I wouldn''t see it as cheap, and I actually think it''s a great way to personalize what you want to hear. The only reason I wouldn''t do this is because it seems like you will need someone whose job it is to to make sure it runs smoothly/stop and start it for toasts, etc/ and still need someone to make announcements like we will be doing the cake cutting in 5 min. so don''t run off. It seems to defeat the point of saving on a dj if you pay someone to do this, but I would also not want to ask a guest to do it because I would want the person to pretty much stand at the ipod in case of problems.

My thoughts exactly. It sounds like a good idea, especially for a smaller guest list, but I''d feel uncomfortable asking one of my guests to be in charge of it.

 

[oobiecoo]

Our reception venue has a sound system that we are hooking our laptop or ipod to so the sound quality should be good. We will probably ask one of FI''s brothers to make sure it runs smoothly. He is an usher and still in high school so I don''t think he''d mind checking on it once in a while... it''ll give him a chance to get away from all the "old people" there. We might pay him a little bit also.

 

[Heidi]

I haven''t decided using an ipod or computer for my wedding... but my fiance was the "computer DJ" at his good friend''s wedding over the summer, so I have some advice. Our friends made a play list, and my fiance downloaded all the music, put it into order (with the bride/father dance, bride/groom, groom/mother, etc)

First of all - yes, it saves money.. but make sure the person you ask understands that its pretty much an entire night job. My fiance was told it would be a "bring your music equipment/speakers, plug in, do a little intro, press play - and enjoy the evening!" - well, it ended up with him sitting next to the computer all night. It was worse a few hours into the night when my fiance takes a few minutes to sit with me and eat dinner. As soon as he was away from the computer, the couple''s drunk friends started passing the laptop around (nearly dropping it a few times) trying to find their favorite songs, so my fiance had to bring his dinner plate over to the table, and eat with the plate in his lap - guarding the laptop .

At the end of the night, when everyone had way too much alcohol, alot of the guests were getting upset with my fiance that he didn''t have certain songs (Michael Jackson''s Thriller, Justin Timberlake). He had to keep repeating "I''m not the DJ! I''m just playing music that "bride" and "groom" chose!". My fiance was not only using the playlist the couple had created, but was using music from his itunes library.

So... if anyone is thinking about using a friend/family member for this job, try to make it as easy as possible for them. I''d say that you should create a play list of what you THINK the guests will like, and then make a separate playlist of popular downloaded songs that may be requested. Don''t worry about all the work the "ipod DJ" will be doing - if they are a close friend or family member, they won''t mind doing it and will be happy to take such a big part in your wedding day - just don''t forget to give them a giant THANK YOU!!!! at the end of the night.

oh, and everyone make sure to include "Thriller" in their playlist.

 

[Fancy605]

We did something similar--but we didn't use an ipod. We used my husband's lap top to make the play list. A friend of ours builds and rents out audio equipment, and he let us borrow a sound system as part of our wedding gift (he built the speakers especially for our wedding, which was really cool I thought). He also volunteered to supervise the play list to make sure everything went smoothly like the transition from the "dinner" play list to the "dancing" play list. The first dances, etc. We were afraid he wouldn't be able to enjoy himself if he had to fool with it all night, but he was out there dancing with us half the time, so I don't think it ended up interfering with his fun. So, we were able to have the exact play list we wanted in the order we wanted. We could play songs that DJ's don't necessarily always have. We didn't have to worry whether the DJ would do anything irritating. Plus, we saved a LOT of money which allowed us to have more room for budgeting other things. It is one of the best decisions we made about our wedding.

If you go with it, just make sure you have someone who can sort of supervise it for you.

 

[gtn]

I''ve been to weddings where the dj is just managing a playlist... no different from an ipod. I say go for it. Just make sure you have someone man the ipod and make sure the sound system is good.

 

[misysu2]

I'd say go for it if you are having a relatively straight-forward and simple reception. I hired a DJ because I knew I didn't have music other people would want to hear, and also because I needed a sound system for my outdoor ceremony. Also FI had concerns about logistics and starting/stopping, etc. I will also be having my grandfather sing at the reception and knew I wouldn't be skilled to handle the sound for that.

However, I do plan on hooking up the Ipod for dinner/drinks music. The music will be jazz standards and low in volume anyways, and I don't think this justify's paying the DJ for another hour. He's going to sit that one out. If he doesn't let us use his speakers for that hour, so be it! We'll hook up our own.

 

[tberube]

Thanks for the advice, everyone! Sounds like it might be a great idea for my budget. Will make it easier for me to deal with that open bar everyone thinks I should have!

I guess we''ll see...

 

[Independent Gal]

I totally think an IPod is a great way to save money. As compared wtih a DJ who plays songs, it's really the same except you dno't have to worry about the DJ being annoying. Think about being at a restaurant or lounge with cool music but no DJ. No problem, right? It affects the guests' enjoyment of your party not one bit, and you have one less person to worry about. Unless you think managing it, in terms of speeches, etc. could be a problem. But perhaps you have a friend or brother who'd be willing to see to it?

We are having a DJ, but she is not a wedding DJ. She's an awesome lounge / club DJ who specializes in chilled out new-jazz and latin flavoured stuff. Very easy on the ears, no 'thumpthumpthump' but totally danceable. So, she actually 'makes / mixes' the music, not just playing song after song. Our weddnig is (hopefully) going to have a cool cocktail lounge feel, so this is what works for us. Plus, she is only charging us about $500 (plus cocktails!) for 4 hours and I assume this is because 'wedding' is not part of her normal vocabulary. She initially said 'I don't do weddings'. And we said 'Exactly. We want a dj who doesn't do weddings.' The only problem is that, because of that, we have only a verbal agreement. Which is making me nervoussss....

IPod is our back-up plan.

 

[MoonWater]

My fave wedding ever (and I didn''t even know the couple, I was a caterer) was with a young couple who had their own home and had the reception on their front lawn. They put up a nice tent and had food and drinks and the music was amazing. All played on the husband''s Ipod. It was perfect, no obnoxious DJ, no human error, just great music. I was so planning to steal that idea.