Why Does Your Bar Mitzvah DJ Cost So Much?

Image by IStock Photo

By Anne Cohen November 17, 2015

Shopping for a bar mitzvah DJ is a grueling process. You want someone who can successfully pull off the Cha-Cha-Slide, cajole your 81-year-old great uncle Mort onto the dance floor, give out dollar-store prizes with flair, and lead the hora without amassing a body count — all while being up to speed on the latest from Adele.

Such service comes at a price. A very steep price.

According to a survey conducted by Thumbtack, a California-based company that connects individuals with local services, bar and bat mitzvah DJs cost more than any other kind of DJ.

Image by Thumbtack

After analyzing nearly 300,000 DJ requests on Thumbtack for bar mitzvahs, weddings, school dances, corporate events, etc., they found that the average Jewish family will spend roughly $800 on a bar mitzvah DJ.

Just to put things in perspective, that’s 31% more than a wedding DJ.

Image by Thumbtack

Per the :

“A bar mitzvah DJ is the director of the show: he or she is much more a master of ceremonies than a headphone-wearing song mixer.A bar mitzvah DJ is the director of the show: he or she is much more a master of ceremonies than a headphone-wearing song mixer. In advertising its DJ services, the company SpotlightLA explains: ‘Music, while very important, is only one piece of the puzzle. Our professional Bar and Bat mitzvah DJs will keep the party rocking. Energetic and atmospheric lighting, interactive and immersive décor, and the ability to enroll your guests into a vision of the perfect event…’”

Of course, $800 seems like a paltry sum compared to piles of money that some parents spend to achieve the perfect bar or bat mitzvah. Remember the infamous Nikki Minaj drop-in? Or the $100,000 Lily-Pulitzer-themed bash? When Sam Horowitz dropped in from the sky? Or this video to end all bar mitzvah videos?

A Justin Bieber appearance doesn’t come cheap.

Image by Thumbtack

The real trick is to get these people before they become famous. Case in point: Paul Rudd, who, might I remind you, started his career as a bar mitzvah DJ.

Let’s all take a trip down memory lane:

Bar mitzvah DJ? $800. That yellow blazer/shirt combo? Priceless.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO