“Our deejay was a master of ceremonies and kept things moving along in the correct sequence at our reception,” says Jaclyn Angermeier, a bride who recently had her reception in Little Egg Harbor Township and used the services of Chris Vito from Over The Top Entertainment (609-226-1588; ottdjs.com). “We wanted someone who could take command of the evening by queuing up important events like the cake-cutting and toasting since we were so busy with everything else going on,” says Angermeier. “We probably would have completely forgotten to cut our cake if the deejay had not come to get us and made the announcement to our guests!”

John Christian Colaneri, owner of John Christian Entertainment (888-813-2623; johnchristianentertainment.com), a company that provides both live music and deejay packages, affirms that a professional entertainer or deejay not only helps keep the reception running smoothly by making important announcements, but also by keeping guests on the dance floor. “A good deejay is looking at the tables to see who your guests are, and calling upon his or her experience to determine what songs will work best for the people in the room,” he says. “An iPod does not have the ability to control the level of energy in the room and it can’t make on-the-spot decisions or know when to change the music based on the crowd’s energy.”

Because of the important role that a deejay or band has in ensuring that your reception runs well, it’s also important to hire experienced professionals who specialize in weddings.

“It’s true that anyone can play music,” says Jerry Brown, owner of Affordable Entertainment DJs (609-927-4796; affordableentertainmentdjs.com) in Somers Point. “But not everyone knows what to play, when to play it, or how to run the reception. A deejay that is popular at a local bar might have people dancing at the bar all night—but a wedding is a whole different ballgame,” says Brown. “There’s a lot involved and we end up acting as the coordinators for the reception. Providing entertainment but also doing things like talking to the photographer and coordinating important shots, talking to the servers about the meal or the cake-cutting, and making sure people are rounded up when they need to be.”