This post is part of a recurring series here on BSB – we share a wedding budget tip every Tuesday to help you save money on your wedding! You can also see past posts (and a sneak peek at what’s ahead) on this wedding budget tips page for your convenience and future reference.

Wedding Budget Tip #18:

Be your own DJ or appoint a friend to do the job!

Have you looked into the cost of hiring a band or DJ for your wedding? If you have, you’ve probably realized that they don’t come cheap!

Now, it is definitely true that a good emcee or DJ can really impact the tone and fun level of your reception, but perhaps when you crunch the numbers, the entertainment falls lower on your list of wedding priorities.

If that’s the case, (like it was for me) then I totally recommend going the DIY DJ route. Yes, you can become your own DIY wedding DJ with just your iPod / laptop and a speaker system.

See our previous post on being your own wedding dj here.

In fact, that’s what we did at our own wedding. And to make it even more budget savvy, we just borrowed a speaker and the necessary cables from a friend, so our wedding entertainment was totally free.

My hubby and I spent time pruning the perfect playlist prior to the big day, and when the big day came, we just plugged it in and let it loose! For the few moments that we needed to get everyone’s attention or give speeches, we had a microphone in order to speak over the music.

Overall, I was thrilled to not have to pay for something that I so easily did myself. I’ll be the first to admit I was a low-maintenance bride, so maybe this idea isn’t for you if you’d rather pass it off to someone else. You can still get a friend to run your playlist and make introductions and save yourself a ton of money. (Most DJ services start at $500!!)

When it comes to selecting the music, you can either use songs you already own, purchase new music from iTunes, or try out a site like Slacker Radio or Spotify to build the perfect playlist from a nearly unlimited library of songs. (You can get a free trial of spotify premium here, which eliminates commercials.)

There’s also a great app, the Wedding DJ App, that can help you manage the evening’s music that’s worth checking out.

So tell us:

would you consider going with a diy wedding dj?

Leave a comment below and let us know!

Want more wedding budget tips? Come back next Tuesday for the next post in this series.