Should I hire a DJ????

We are getting married in May at Dreams PV. Our party will be around 20 people including me & FI. We are having a family-style dinner, just one long table. The DJ is going to run about $800 I am estimating for the entire wedding, but now I don't know if I should waste that much money. They have the option for IPOD hook-up but I really dont feel like dealing with that or leaving someone responsible for the music. I just cant imagine eating dinner with no music playing, please help!

Why dont you try posting this in the Dreams PV thread? There you will get advice from people that were married there.

Otherwise, make a playlist on your ipod and let it go if you want music and dont want to spend the money. Now if you want to have a dance you may want to splurge.

Does your resort offer a disco for everyone to go to dance after dinner? I'm thinking about making a playlist for just the cocktail hour and dinner (2.5 to 3 hours worth of music) so there isnt any silence. Then going to the disco afterwards for the dancing... something you can think about since your group is small like mine...

If there were 50 people or so coming to the wedding then I would spend the $800 on a DJ... otherwise use that money for your guests (comes out to $40 per guest with 20 people). That could be used for a spa day or a tour, etc... I think people would enjoy that vs. having a DJ and it's not guaranteed that they are any good.

Just my thought...

Ack, that's a tough call. If you can designate someone in your wedding party to play the right songs at the right times, then I think I-pod would be ok (followed by disco at the hotel or off site!). At the end of the day though, you gotta DANCE!!!!!!

Hmm. How long is your reception? Why not book the DJ for just an hour or two? I'd imagine the first hour or so people will be dining. So you could use the ipod the first hour or two and then have the DJ for the last hour or two. If that's not in your budget I'm sure the ipod will be just fine

we went back and forth with this- and finally decided to have a dj... it will make the reception flow more smoothly.... I am making a playlist and handing it to him though

We are debating on having a dj. We have 16 people and don't know if we want to $1,000 on a dj.

I got a DJ- I just thought that I'm only going to have one wedding so why not do it right

I have the DJ but our reception is 4 hours so no music would be absolutely sad. It is quite pricey but so is everything else wedding-related. If you don't want to spend the money, an ipod can also work. I would just check w/ brides that already have done it at that particular resort to see if it all went smoothly. At the end of the day, it's all about what you think will work best without digging yourself into a financial hole.