A guide for couples
How to Choose a Wedding DJ in Cape Town
Choose a wedding DJ in Cape Town by what you can check: real wedding experience, the DJ who will play, a full set to watch or hear, a replacement DJ and backup equipment, a plan for your venue’s sound limit and for load-shedding, and Google reviews that name the DJ. Ten questions follow, with what a good answer sounds like.
The DJ Company is a Cape Town wedding DJ specialist with branches in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban. We’ve played 4,000+ weddings and events at 850+ venues, with 28+ years experience since 1998, so after each question we say how we answer it.
Updated
1. Has the DJ played real weddings, at venues like yours?
Look for a number, not an adjective. A wedding is not a club night: the DJ cues the processional, signing and recessional music live, runs the speeches and takes guests of every age from dinner to the dance floor.
Ask
How many weddings have you played, and at which venues?
A good answer
A number, a few venue names, and what each venue asked of the sound: a sound limit, a marquee with its own power.
How we answer
The DJ Company has played 4,000+ weddings and events at 850+ venues. Our venues page names venues we’ve played, from the Cape Winelands to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, and if yours isn’t listed we may still have played it, so ask.
2. Will the DJ you choose be the DJ who plays your wedding?
It should be, and the company should be able to show how its DJs earn the job. Ask for your DJ’s name to be written into the contract.
Ask
Will the DJ I meet be the DJ at my wedding? How do you choose and train your DJs?
A good answer
A name, a plain condition such as availability on your date, and a process you could check step by step.
How we answer
Ask for any DJ on our DJs page by name when you enquire. If they’re free on your date and at the level your package includes, they’re the DJ who plays. Every wedding package names its DJ’s level, and every new DJ comes through seven steps:
- Review: We carefully review every DJ’s press kit and past work.
- Meeting: Promising DJs meet us, so we can see how they communicate with clients.
- References: Our recruitment team calls their references to make sure they’re legit.
- Trial gig: They play a trial event, where we check they’re on time, professional and know the equipment inside out.
- Feedback and coaching: We collect the client’s feedback and coach them on their strengths and what to work on.
- Moving up: DJs rise through our levels (Rising, Signature, Elite and Master) as five-star feedback comes in.
- Every event: Our DJs arrive 3 to 4 hours early, and we send a replacement DJ if one ever falls ill.
Featured on the official Pioneer DJ blog
Liam walked Pioneer DJ through how we choose our DJs (opens in a new tab)
3. Can you watch or hear a full set before you book?
Yes, and you should: ask for a full set from the DJ who would play your wedding, not a short highlights clip.
Ask
Can I watch or hear a full set from a real wedding, by the DJ I’m considering?
A good answer
A full set from the DJ you would actually get, and an offer to build a playlist around your night.
How we answer
Some of our DJs have full sets on video, and we have full sets in audio, shared on request by Delilah Yeowart, our Managing Director. We also make custom playlists on request for each occasion.
4. How does the DJ read a crowd and plan the music with you?
A good wedding DJ plans the music with you before the day, then adjusts to the room on the night.
Ask
How do we plan the music with you, and what if our guests are mixed in age and language?
A good answer
A form or a call covering your must-plays, songs to leave out, genres and who your guests are, plus an example of the DJ changing a set to suit the room.
How we answer
You plan the music on our Wedding Music Request Form. It takes your must-play songs and a Don’t Play list, both included in every package, the background music for your ceremony, canapés and dinner, the songs for moments like your processional and first dance, and your genres: more than 20, from the 50s to amapiano, Gqom, Afrobeats, Afrikaans and langarm. It also asks your guests’ ages and languages, so your DJ can shape the dance floor around your guests.
Crowd reading is part of how we level our DJs, up to a Master Wedding DJ who reads a crowd of every age and culture. Both of our owners are working musicians who also play weddings: Liam Pitcher studied music at the University of Cape Town, and Adrian Fowler, co-owner and Head of Production, has toured Europe with Cape Town singer-songwriter Sean Koch.
One couple wrote of Liam:
“… His vast knowledge of music, together with his ability to read a crowd, was a symphony in itself. …”
5. What happens if your wedding DJ is ill or the equipment fails?
A professional company sends a replacement DJ and brings backup equipment, and can describe both in specifics.
Ask
If my DJ is ill on the day, who plays? What do you bring in case something breaks?
A good answer
Another DJ held to the same standard, and a list of what is duplicated: at least the music source and the microphone.
How we answer
A replacement DJ steps in, held to the same standard as the DJ you booked. Backup equipment comes to every event, including a backup music source and a backup microphone.
One couple’s review:
“… Our guests by mistake damaged Liams equipment but he remained so calm and made a plan for the party to go on. …”
6. Can your wedding DJ also MC?
Some can and some can’t, so ask before you book: someone has to announce your entrances, speeches and the cake cutting, and it can be the DJ, a friend or a professional MC.
Ask
Will you MC? If someone else does, how will you work with them?
A good answer
A clear yes or no, and a plan for how the DJ and the MC cue each other.
How we answer
Most of our DJs are capable MCs, though not all. Tell us you want one who is and we’ll match you. A dedicated professional MC in Cape Town can be arranged as a specialised service at extra cost. If a friend or relative takes the mic, add their details to the MC section of the Wedding Music Request Form.
7. Can the DJ work within your venue’s sound limit?
Yes, if the DJ plans for it: most venues limit the sound after a certain time, so the DJ should know the number and have a way to measure it.
Ask your venue first
When must the music stop? What sound limit applies, and from what time? When can suppliers arrive? What power does it have? Are haze, smoke, CO2 or lasers allowed?
Ask the DJ
What do you bring for the ceremony, the canapés and the dance floor, and how do you stay under our venue’s limit?
A good answer
An equipment list for each space, a decibel figure and a meter, not “we’ll keep it down”.
How we answer
Most venues limit the sound to 90 dB or less after a certain time. We work with your venue and its dB meter and keep the sound below the threshold, tuning the system with a graphic EQ so the dance floor still sounds full. Every Cape Town wedding package has separate sound for the ceremony and the canapés, then one setup for the reception and dance floor, from the speeches to the last song, lit with moving heads and a laser. Your DJ arrives 3 to 4 hours early.
8. What is the plan if there is load-shedding?
Ask for a specific plan: in South Africa a wedding DJ needs a way to keep the music going through a power cut, and a generator option for bigger events.
Ask
What happens to the music if the power goes off during the ceremony or the first dance?
A good answer
A specific plan, such as battery speakers for a short outage, and questions to you about your venue’s own backup power.
How we answer
We have Bluetooth speakers available to keep the music going through a power cut, and for larger weddings we can bring generators at an additional cost. Tell us about your venue’s power and whether load-shedding could touch your date, and we’ll plan around it.
9. Which music licences and contract should a wedding DJ have?
In South Africa a wedding DJ should be licensed with SAMRO and SAMPRA, send a written contract and tell you what the price does and doesn’t include.
Ask
Are you licensed with SAMRO and SAMPRA? Do we get a written contract? What isn’t in the price?
A good answer
Yes to both licences, a written contract, and a quote that keeps travel and extra hours separate from the package.
How we answer
Our music licensing is with SAMRO and SAMPRA. SAMRO licenses the songs and pays composers, authors and publishers, and SAMPRA licenses the recordings and pays recording artists and record labels. A deposit and a contract secure your date, and we send the contract with your invoice. Every wedding package runs from your ceremony to midnight with one DJ. Travel isn’t in the package price and is quoted separately once we know your venue. If you’d like the dancing to carry on past midnight, tell us when you enquire.
10. What do past clients say about the DJ, by name?
Read the reviews for the DJ who would play your wedding, not only the company’s star rating.
Ask
Can I read reviews that name my DJ? Are they recent, and from weddings like mine?
A good answer
Reviews from the last year or two, in clients’ own words, that describe the music and the dance floor and name the DJ.
How we answer
We have 200+ verified 5-star Google reviews, with a 4.9 average, and you can read every review in full on Google (opens in a new tab). A selection sits on our About page, and some DJ profiles show the reviews that name that DJ. Two examples:
“… DJ Greig really understood the atmosphere we wanted and delivered beyond our expectations. …”
“The DJ Company was such a great choice for our wedding, and Mat was truly incredible! From the first song to the last dance, he read the room perfectly and kept the energy just right all night long. …”
A checklist to take to every wedding DJ
- Weddings played, and at which venues
- The name of the DJ who plays, and whether it is in the contract
- A full set from that DJ, on video or audio
- A replacement DJ if yours is ill, and backup equipment
- Must-play and Don’t Play lists, both included
- Whether the DJ can MC, and what a professional MC costs
- Your venue’s sound limit and how it is kept
- A load-shedding plan
- SAMRO and SAMPRA licences
- Set-up time: arrival 3 to 4 hours before the start
- A written contract, with travel and finish time spelled out
- Recent Google reviews that name the DJ
How much should you budget for a wedding DJ in Cape Town?
Our Cape Town wedding packages start at R24,999, and the price rises with the DJ’s experience, the lighting and production, and the crew, from a Signature Wedding DJ with The Deluxe Package to a Master Wedding DJ with The Forever Package. Compare any quotes by what each one includes, not by the total.
Ask every company for the same list: the level of DJ, the hours, the lighting, the crew, travel, and what happens after the finish time. The Cape Town wedding DJ packages page sets our three packages side by side. Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban have their own pages: Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban. Travel to your venue is quoted separately.
When should you book your wedding DJ?
As soon as your venue and date are confirmed. Couples book with us anywhere from a few months to a year or more ahead. Send your date and venue through Check Availability; if the date isn’t fixed yet, a best guess is fine and we’ll tell you whether it’s free. We usually reply within minutes during office hours, and within 24 hours at the latest.
Ask Us the Same Ten Questions
Put these ten questions to every DJ on your shortlist, including us. We’ll answer them for your date and venue: WhatsApp +27 72 330 6409 or email delilah@thedjcompany.co.za.
Meet the DJs on our DJs page, see who runs the company on our About page, check the venues we’ve played on our venues page, or browse more answers in our FAQs. The DJ Company was named Best DJ Hire in the Western Cape by LuxLife, and has 200+ years of combined team experience.