Wedding DJ's 16 & Under?

[Mark Wild]

nope, my mum used to drop me off and collect me at the end

Says it all really

[Pe7e]

This is obviously just my opinion, it would be nice to see what the general feelings are on this. But remember, think how you would feel if you turned up to your wedding reception to find the D.J. is 14/15/16 how would you initially feel?

I'm with you on this one, I don't doubt for a second that they're 16 year old DJs out there, who DO have the required maturity and ability to handle such an important event, but IMO they are few and far between. I think the larger and more formal an event is, the more experience and gravitas is required of the MC/DJ to pull it off. The problem with experience is, until you have it, you don't realise it was missing in the first place, and I've seen many young DJs who don't know their limitations.(and a few older ones too) The same can be said about corporate events as well as weddings, few young DJs will have the required experience to do the job professionally.

[Javlingames]

Says it all really

what do you mean?

[Shaun]

This is obviously just my opinion, it would be nice to see what the general feelings are on this. But remember, think how you would feel if you turned up to your wedding reception to find the D.J. is 14/15/16 how would you initially feel?

I know there are many mature young DJs, we have some on this forum. Personally, I wouldn't hire someone so young to DJ at my wedding.

That may sound hypocritical seeing as I used DJ at weddings as a 16 year old. I thought I knew a lot about music back then, but it's only as I got older that I that I really started to learn and perfect my trade. With age comes experience.

[Mark Wild]

what do you mean?

Just the whole "My mummy dropped me off" and "My mummy's picking me up" lacks the maturity and professionalism I think is needed to handle such a big occasion. Regardless of D.J skills, it's also a professional service people want, from the first point of contact until the last song.

[daz226]

I'm with you on this one, I don't doubt for a second that they're 16 year old DJs out there, who DO have the required maturity and ability to handle such an important event, but IMO they are few and far between. I think the larger and more formal an event is, the more experience and gravitas is required of the MC/DJ to pull it off. The problem with experience is, until you have it, you don't realise it was missing in the first place, and I've seen many young DJs who don't know their limitations.(and a few older ones too) The same can be said about corporate events as well as weddings, few young DJs will have the required experience to do the job professionally.

surley that is the beauty of a forum like this the wealth of information shared on here helps the young and old go in the right direction. you only need to look at Charlie ( example ) when he first came on here he was posting 10 a hour trying to get information and learn now 18 months later look at what he is doing and the equipment he now has. he is 16 going on 32 in terms of what he has acheived so far and like has been said in another post if he spends time with a more experienced dj he will go on to learn more and improve to the point where no booking would phase him. The future of the mobile DJ is in the hands of these young dj's and i welcome that with open arms providing the customer is happy and the guests have a great night then no matter the age of the dj the job was done

[Javlingames]

Just the whole "My mummy dropped me off" and "My mummy's picking me up" lacks the maturity and professionalism I think is needed to handle such a big occasion. Regardless of D.J skills, it's also a professional service people want, from the first point of contact until the last song.

What a load of rubbish

[Mark Wild]

What a load of rubbish

What do you mean?

[Javlingames]

I did weddings on a weekly basis and my professionalism was never questioned. Fact

[BeerFunk]

This really depends on the maturity and skills of the DJ.

I think that's the real issue - age isn't completely relevent. Say what you will about maturity and attitude, it's highly unlikely that a 16 year old will have the musical knowledge and intuition to cover all eventualities and requests. In saying that, as someone already mentioned, there are DJs of 40/50 years who don't seem to tick this box either!

As for experience, well again, how many gigs could you have played by the age of 16? If something goes wrong, have you had to deal with it before, and can you deal with it now?