Haha. Ive been to a lot of weddings and only met a couple DJs Id recommend to anyone. You wouldnt believe how bad some of them are.

I'm quite sure that I have moderate to severe hearing damage. Mostly because of attending underground breakcore events and dabbling in DIY explosives. Surprisingly enough I still can hear to about 17Khz although I'm sure that higher frequencies are masked by tinnitus. I'm also astonished that everyone who tries out my headphone rig turns up the volume, especially my father, who is 49 (I'm 25, btw). Then again he rides an HD Electraglide...

Fortunately I don't have much hearing loss, my ears get checked every year for my job. I notice I'm very sensitive to loud audio, when I listen on other people's headphones/systems, I always have to turn the volume way down after they have listened. When I listen to AKG K1000's I snap my fingers once in a while to compare the volume a bit, not sure if its accurate, but my ears never hurt, have never had ringing or temporary loss. When I play with my band, I always use hearing protection, those drummers are soooo loud, and everybody has to match the loudness. Party's, Disco's, Concert's sometimes even Cinema's are way too loud.

When the DJ has no taste I leave. When the loudness is not tolerable I leave too.

I once worked at a gig where a national gig was performing but the volume was too high the sound pressure from the subs was painful at its peaks. We couldn't even understand each other if we yelling at the top of our lungs. I asked the party manager for hearing protection and she told me there wasn't any. She thought I was exaggerating and told me not a make fuss. If I didn't have to work that night I would have dragged her to the performing stage and stuck her head in the subs  .

At the end of that night I wasn't tired of the work, just numbed of the sonic torture. Since then I always have hearing protection with me. You only have one set of ears for fuck's sake...

I DJ'd a friend's wedding social few months ago. I tried to keep music at a reasonable level so people could actually talk, and the older folks enjoyed the danceable stuff I was playing. Once the "bar crowd" got going though, they kept demanding I turn it up. I had my headphones on most of the night just to block out noise. It's bad enough being on the wrong end of the speakers and hearing everything all garbled, but at those earsplitting levels it's unbearable.

Sounds like you did a good job! Start out low - allow the old folks like me to talk for at least a little while - and then crank it up once the party gets going with the bar crowd. Everyone is happy.

When the DJ has no taste I leave. When the loudness is not tolerable I leave too.

DJ's who have no consideration of the audience or their function as a DJ are assholes.