The FTC's rule on hidden fees does not cover this category, and it is worth knowing before you compare quotes. Since May 2025 businesses have had to show the total price upfront, but the rule reaches exactly two things: live-event tickets and short-term lodging. DJs, planners, caterers and party services all fall outside it. A DJ runs $75 to $200 an hour and a party planner averages $530.
| Service | Typical |
|---|---|
| DJ for a partyNational range | $75 to $200 per hour |
| Party plannerNational range | $250 to $1,120 per event |
Ranges last checked September 2026. They come down automatically when they are due to be rechecked.
Every figure above comes from a named source we can link to, with the date we last checked it. We publish ranges rather than single prices because a range is what a provider will actually give you: the same job moves with what is being worked on, the materials, how hard it is to get at and how busy the trade is locally. Treat these as the order of magnitude to expect before you call, not as a quote.
The figures here are national. Where a source publishes figures state by state, the state pages carry that local figure instead of this one. We do not scale a national number by a multiplier of our own invention.
Every range carries a review date. When that date passes the number comes down until it is rechecked, rather than sitting here undated.
The FTC's Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees took effect on 12 May 2025 and requires businesses to disclose the total price a consumer will pay upfront and prominently, with only taxes and government charges, shipping, and genuinely optional add-ons disclosable later.
It covers two categories and only two. Live-event tickets, meaning concerts, sporting events, theater and other performances an audience watches as they occur. And short-term lodging, meaning hotels, motels, vacation rentals and home shares. A DJ, a caterer, a planner or an entertainer is outside both.
That is not a criticism of the trade. It is a reason to ask for the total yourself, because no rule is going to make it appear. The add-on list on a DJ quote alone runs from a hundred dollars for basic dancefloor lighting to five hundred for uplighting, with photo booths, lasers and karaoke on top.
This page publishes no typical deposit or retainer percentage. Three separate pricing sources were checked and none of them states one, which means any figure printed here would be invention rather than research.
What that leaves is a question rather than an expectation: what is the deposit, is it refundable, and by what date. Ask it in those three parts, because a non-refundable deposit and a refundable one are different products at the same price.
The FTC Cooling-Off Rule reaches this trade even though the fees rule does not. It gives until midnight of the third business day to cancel a sale made at your home, your workplace, a dormitory, or a seller's temporary location such as a hotel room, convention center, fairground or restaurant. Saturday counts as a business day; Sunday and federal holidays do not. The seller must refund within ten days.
The distinction is where you signed. A planning contract signed in your living room is cancellable. The same contract signed at the planner's own office is not.
Ask for the all-in number in writing, itemized. It is the only way you are getting one in this category.
Ask for the add-on list before you compare hourly rates. Two DJs at the same rate can differ by several hundred dollars once lighting is added.
Ask the three-part deposit question: how much, refundable or not, and until when.
Ask what happens if they cannot make it, and whether they will send a substitute or refund. That answer is the difference between an inconvenience and a ruined event.
Note where you signed. If it was at your home or in a hotel meeting room, you have three business days.
About $75 to $200 an hour. A birthday or anniversary package runs $250 to $1,000, corporate $300 to $1,000, a wedding $500 to $4,500, and a bar or bat mitzvah or quinceanera $1,000 to $2,000 and up.
Sound equipment, a music library across genres, setup and teardown, and limited MC services. Dancefloor lighting at $100 to $400, uplighting at $250 to $500, photo booths, lasers and karaoke are all extra.
An average of $530, with a range of $250 to $1,120. Planners bill hourly, as a percentage of the party budget, or as a flat fee running from about $900 for a simple children's party to $7,500 for a large coordinated event.
No. The rule that took effect in May 2025 covers live-event tickets and short-term lodging only. Event services fall outside it, so ask for the all-in total yourself.
This page does not say, because no source checked publishes one. Ask three things instead: how much, whether it is refundable, and until what date.
Yes, until midnight of the third business day, under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule. It also covers signings at your workplace or at a seller's temporary location such as a hotel or convention center. Signing at the seller's own office is not covered.
Yes. Sunday and federal holidays do not. The seller must refund within ten days of a valid cancellation.