What type of music moves your soul? “Reading the room”

Will guests request songs at “your” event???

Yes, yes they will.

Guests will make requests, not because I am playing bad songs. They request songs because of personal taste.

Country vs Rock n Roll

Many times I meet with Wedding clients that may have 50 to 75% of the music they want played already picked out for the event.

The opposite has also happened at Wedding meetings. The client has no idea what they want played. The Wedding couple may have a first dance or bridal party song chosen, but not much else. They are open to reading the room and having guest request songs.

A sit down meeting is the place to iron out all the music details. The type of music you choose will influence the guests and family to be involved, or sit on the sidelines and socialize. Quite frankly doing both is fine with me. It is almost impossible to have 100% of the guests on the dance floor at the same time.

If I see over 50% of the guests dancing at any one time, it is a success.

Country music: Real country music, not country pop. I find that at a majority of Wedding guests know popular Country songs. Country slow songs will bring married and dating couples to the dance floor.

Will every one dance to country music? No.

Is Country music popular? Yes, yes it is.

Country music love songs and 2 step tracks are big movers at any Wedding event.

But no love them and leave them songs please.

Speaking of 2 steps songs. Cumbia tracks are normally a 2 step beat as well. Almost any 2/4 beat song is easy to dance to. It is very distinct and easy to follow.

Pop, top 40 dance & adult contemporary pop: This category covers decades of music genre. It is always best to be detailed about your needs. Each decade in this area of music has it’s own texture.

Electronic Dance: “EDM” Some people call it Tecno, others call it electronic and old schoolers may call it Disco or Clubbing. Any way you slice it up. It is danceable, is over 128 BPM and has lot’s of bass and Synthetic sounds. Drum beats are heavy and drive the track into your brain. “It makes you move”

Rock, rock n roll, glam rock and heavy metal: Depending on your guests this could be a hit or a wipe out. I have worked Weddings that could of been a scene at a Sturges biker bar. Gritty, hard rock and heavy, but still very fun. I do not care what I play, because I like all kinds of music. If your guest are into it, it’s fine with me.

Classics and Old School: I love this genre, it will get young and old out on the floor.

Novelty Dance Music: Line dances, slides and participation songs. A big one is the YMCA, others like the cha cha slide or the electric slide are still popular. I like to talk about novelties at the sit down meeting. I find that the right kind of novelty track can fill or clear a dance floor. Novelty songs are like salt is to cooking, you only need a pinch for taste.

I am sure you understand what I am saying.

The biggest concern for any Wedding event, is time. A Wedding reception may last from 4 to 6 hours on average and 40% of the music played is for Wedding themed activities. 10% for cocktails. 15% for dinner. the remainder of time is for dancing.

It is very important to talk about the best music to use and when to play it. It’s all about timing. Weddings have a time limit and it is best to focus on the best of the best to maintain momentum and keep guests and family engaged.

Yes I do take guests requests, unless you tell me not to.

Yes! It’s exhilarating to be newly engaged, your getting married! But now it’s time to do the wedding-planning.

Some of the things that you will need to do before you say “I DO” will test your patience. Do not let wedding details break your brain.

Music is something I can help you with, because, I do music. 🙂

It’s easy to lay out music needs for your wedding day itinerary. It’s best to start with a list of activities for the event. A majority of events follow a standard wedding format. You will need music for guest seating, the ceremony, cocktail hour, a grand entrance, dinner, basic wedding activities “first dance, anniversary dance, father-daughter, mother-son, money dance, cake cutting, after-cake transition, general dancing and your big exit at the end of the night. A typical 6 hour wedding event, start to finish will need an average of 90 songs.

Easy right?

A great way to plan music, is to build your music needs around your wedding guests.

The guests you invite to your wedding will be a big part of the energy of the day. Music that involves your guests will help everyone have more fun. It’s important to note your guests may like music that is very different from your taste in music.

Let’s get started.

Wedding Party: The first guests to focus on are in your wedding party. Ask your wedding party to list one or two favorite dance songs and slow songs. Your event will have slow dancing and fast dancing. Your wedding party is close to you and may know your style of music. Getting each guest in your crew, to give you song suggestion’s is a great starting point. In a short time you will have a small pool of music choose from.

Next up…

Family: Ask close family the same questions. Something fast and slow. Plus add two more questions. 1st: If your family members are married, what song did they used for there first dance. 2nd: Do they have any traditional songs they would like played. The goal is to collect music ideas for your wedding. Close family will feel honored to share something personal with you. Lastly your family will have more fun being involved at the event.

But wait, your not done yet:

Guests: Ask all the guests to give you a fast song, a slow song and a dedication song for the bride and groom. A dedication song will normally express devotion or nostalgia and will be more heartfelt. A majority of guest will put some think time into the song they choose.

Getting ideas from everyone will open up a the variety of music. Your guests may suggest songs you have never listened to before. So, go and explore the songs they tell you about.

Nothing is set in stone. You are just getting a feel for what your guest like.

If your wedding has a theme. Let your guests know. You may be surprised by the feedback.

Music moves the soul. Weddings are just a formal party. With the right music on hand, the event will be awesome.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. The music you collect from guests and that you may want to use will go into a master play list. The top songs you like for each task during the event will be in it’s own activity list.

Everything is pre-programed, >>> but it’s not.

I will take requests from guests as long as they are clean. Weddings have a wide age group of guests. Not every guest will like explicit content. You are in control of content. If you want songs that have dirty or suggestive lyrics. I will play them. Dirty pg13 or nc17 tracks should be played later in the dancing portion of the event. No one will like explicit content during dinner.

Bride and Groom table

The wedding is for the bride and groom. Guests are invited to celebrate the special day. Keeping your guests engaged and active is critical to fun memories. My job is to help you plan a fun event. It’s also my job to keep everything moving smoothly. Weddings have a time line to keep. A wedding DJ wears many hats. the most important hat is the party hat.

Weddings are a party with purpose…

Novelty music at weddings, say it’s not so.

What is a novelty song? It can be a one hit wonder by a big name artist. It can be a song that is from a movie soundtrack. It can be a catchy song that is always used at sports events. It can even be from a “life moment” from an event that is personal to you.

Dog listing to music
Funny dog is listening to music from vintage gramophone

Over the years, I have seen silly songs, fad songs and party highlighters.

Now, back in the 80s a very popular song was Footloose. It was played at almost every event for years and years. In the 90s, the big ear worm was the Macarena. In the 2000s the Cha Cha Slide was the stand out track. All you have to do is search the web for what’s the top wedding tracks in any year of your choosing.

At a wedding you may hear any combination of novelties depending on the general age group of the event. You never know what guests will request.

Oh yeah, I take requests.

Every event planning session I do with a client, we will touch base on the topic of novelty songs. Every client has different needs. The age of the guests is a factor. If the event has a theme and the music is part of the theme. Plus it’s very important to talk about songs that should not be played.

“No play” songs could be because the client hates a song or it may be because its not appropriate for the guests.

Any way you look at music planning for your event, you need to be open to music variety.

In the last 10 years I have seen 6 songs that guests always seem to ask for. Now, your tastes may vary, but remember a wedding event is an all ages party. So the list is not in the order of favorites, but the one that seems to be the top novelty track, is the last song in the list.

: The Cha Cha Slide

: Shout

: The Cupid Shuffle

: The Electric Slide

: The Chicken Dance

: The Y.M.C.A.