Get These Cases for Your Wedding DJ Equipment

by Chris Brower
Last Updated: January 16, 2024

Starting a successful wedding DJ business means acquiring all the necessary equipment. (See our Complete Wedding DJ Equipment Guide for everything you need.)

It also means taking care of that equipment and making sure it can continue to serve your business for years to come.

Beyond just proper handling of your equipment, this means getting cases to safely transport your equipment to and from your wedding DJ gigs.

When you’re starting out and spending a lot of money on equipment, this can seem like an unnecessary expense. But if you don’t have cases, you increase the risk your DJ equipment will get damaged or simply look bad – as happened to my equipment!

What Happened to My Equipment That Was Not in Cases…

When I started out, I wanted to keep expenses low. Nothing wrong with that! So I didn’t bother getting cases for my speaker stands and speakers.

I figured these are rugged pieces of equipment anyway. Unless if there’s some sort of real collision (they get dropped, knocked over, etc.), they wouldn’t get damaged.

But they did.

Just the general wear and tear of being transported in my car over the years put scratches all over my speaker stands and speakers.

Multiple knobs popped off the speaker stands. One knob just plain broke off. To tighten the stand, I sometimes had to use a wrench.

One of the speaker grills (the metal piece with holes that covers the actual speaker) just came off and was not easy to reattach. I had to add a piece of gaffer tape* to keep it on there tight – yikes!

So while these pieces of equipment generally did still work (phew!), they looked bad.

Just like you wouldn’t show up to a wedding DJ gig poorly dressed, looking dirty or sloppy, it’s important your wedding DJ equipment looks good too.

DJ Equipment Cases Make You Look Professional

DJ equipment cases make you look like a professional, because professionals transport their equipment in cases.

In my rock band days, I could always tell when a band we were playing with were probably amateurs before they even played a note. Why? Because they showed up with their equipment not in cases. Drums were loose. Every little part was on its own or in loose duffel bags, etc.

Now, okay, just because you have cases doesn’t mean you’re a professional! But it does help in crafting your image as a professional wedding DJ and not just some novice. This helps earn trust from your clients and helps non-clients get a sense of your services, which they may want to hire later.

Speaker Cases

Your speakers are obviously a hugely important part of your DJ setup. Plus, speakers are expensive! They’re also one of the most visible pieces of your DJ equipment. Thus, if they get damaged or all scuffed up, they can become an eyesore, and they’re expensive to replace.

So be sure to get speaker cases.

Check if the manufacturer of your DJ speakers also sells matching cases.

For example, for my EV ZLX-12P speakers, EV also sells padded covers that work great.

Some companies also make generic speaker cases that can work for a variety of speakers. The Gator Cases Heavy-Duty Speaker Tote Bag has bags for several different speaker sizes.

If you want cases that are more heavy duty than padded covers/bags, you may be able to find hard-shell cases, often referred to as “flight cases” or “road cases.” Some examples include:

These are considerably more expensive and will take up more room in your car, but they offer even greater protection. They also come with wheels, so it’s easier to push them in and out of wedding DJ gigs quickly.

Ready for the complete guide to becoming a wedding DJ? Here you go.

Stand Cases

Speaker stands and light stands = things that can get scuffed up really easily if you’re not careful.

That’s what happened to my speaker stands. They got so scuffed up from being transported that it was embarrassing to set them up at gigs.

Many speaker stands come with cases, but if yours don’t, you can buy speaker stand cases for fairly cheap.

The stand for my DJ lights, the Odyssey LT-P2, is very tall, so I needed an extra-long bag. Luckily, Gator Cases makes one 58 inches long, which was just enough!

When looking at stand cases, check if they’re single compartment or dual. If it’s dual, you can carry two stands in the same bag and give them their own compartment. Very nice!

DJ Controller Case

Your DJ controller is one of the most important parts of your DJ setup. If something on it breaks, you could be in trouble.

There are several different buttons and knobs that could easily break off if you’re not careful.

That’s why you should transport your DJ controller in a DJ case to make sure its parts don’t get damaged.

If you have an exposed DJ setup – as in, you don’t have a DJ facade in front of your DJ table – then the DJ case is also a way to make your equipment look nicer on a table. It can hide microphones, cords, and other small parts too.

Microphone Case

In general, microphones are pretty heavy duty and can probably go in a plastic tub among other small items. However, if you want more protection, you can get a microphone case.

Many microphone cases also provide some room for microphone clips and cords, giving you a good way to store all your microphone-related equipment together.

Laptop Bag

Your laptop is probably one of the most-expensive (and important!) parts of your wedding DJ setup! Naturally, you really, really don’t want your laptop to get damaged.

Be sure you transport your laptop in a secure bag, such as a messenger bag. This bag can also be used to hold your notes for the wedding, a tablet, pens, and any other small items.

I’ve used the CoolBELL Convertible Backpack Messenger Bag Shoulder Bag for years and love it. It has two compartments for laptops, which lets me carry my main laptop and a backup laptop in the same bag. I have the 17.3″ model, as one of my laptops is 17″.

In the bag I carry:

Both laptops.
The Reception Planner for the night.
Pens.
My external hard drive of all my music in case something should happen with my laptop’s files.
Some snacks in case dinner wasn’t enough.
A bag of toiletries/medical things I may need:

Use Plastic Tubs for Cords and Other Small Items

Get some sturdy plastic tubs to store and transport all your cords and smaller pieces of DJ equipment.

This is a simple way to keep small things organized and together, plus help them avoid getting damaged.

You can stack these tubs, if needed, and easily load them onto a hand truck/dolly as you move DJ equipment in and out of the wedding venue.

Keep the Cases or Boxes Your DJ Equipment Comes In

When you buy equipment, it likely comes in a box of some kind. Don't throw those away! That box can act as a case.

For example, my mixer is one of the items I put in my plastic tubs. The mixer has many small parts that could easily pop off or get damaged if it was carried loosely in the tub. Instead, I store the mixer in its original box (which has some cushion) and then place that in the plastic tub, alongside cords and other small things.

So don't throw away boxes. They can also act as cases and provide some extra protection.

Now, it should be said that if you carry in speakers or other big items in their original boxes, it may look unprofessional or like you literally just bought it from the store 10 minutes ago.

But for smaller items that get placed in the plastic tubs, using the original boxes looks perfectly fine.

Conclusion

DJ equipment cases make you look professional and help your equipment last longer. It's a worthwhile investment to keep your equipment looking and working great.

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