Do You Play Any Music We Want?
This is a very common question from most brides who call to book our DJ Services. About 95% of our prospective clients are very concerned about whether we just play a bunch of clubby, techno type music; have a set playlist that we use over and over again; or let the clients choose.
I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about what DJs have done. As a matter of fact, at my own wedding in 2004 (six years prior to forming our company), the DJ called out at the last minute and sent a substitute who not only didn’t have all the songs we requested, but only had about 20 CDs on him in total. He literally played the YMCA twice! One of my best friends, Marty Defilippis (who in 2010 helped Michael and me start the business and continues to help to this day) actually went out to his car on my wedding day and brought in all his CDs with my favorite songs. And he had to play them for this so-called DJ also. Thank goodness for Marty’s large music collection and knowledge of technology. Even back when DJs used CDs and records and had to haul all those crates everywhere, they still should have been listening to their clients and advising.
So the answer we give our brides is always that we will play whatever you want but are here to advise. In other words, when you give us a list of songs you want for your reception, if we don’t have them, we can get them prior to the wedding; however, we will also discuss your choices. Often brides and grooms like a certain type of music and want to hear all or mostly one genre at their wedding because after all, it’s their wedding and it should reflect their life together and make them happy. While we totally agree that brides and grooms should have their weddings their way, we feel we must explain the tradeoff of choosing only one type of music at their receptions- people aren’t going to dance much. If you want to have a lot of people on the dance floor, the DJ needs to incorporate all genres for all types and ages of guests. Grandma doesn’t want to hear “Party Rock Anthem” and “Shots,” but surprisingly, it’s very likely she does want to hear Pitbull and is in love with “Blurred Lines” and “Can’t Stop the Feeling.” Bet you didn’t know that. But she also wants her “Runaround Sue” and some “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer. We recommend using your ceremony, introduction, and special dances music to display your personality. We will get into these choices in a future blog. Cocktail and dinner music are not too important because everyone is mingling and eating. We just make sure it’s not too loud. Also, you might get two and a half hours for your dance party if you are lucky. That’s only roughly 35 songs. So making a playlist with two-hundred dance songs isn’t going to work either.
Based on the ages of the bride and groom and average age of guests, we always pre-make a playlist using the bride and groom’s selections and the songs that are popular at the time based on our experience as DJs and Zumba® Instructors. But we always have to watch the crowd and feel them out when we get there. The playlists often change about 10 percent on the spot if the bride and groom agree that their choices shouldn’t be the only ones. We also highly recommend participation dances such as “Cha-Cha Slide” and “Cupid Shuffle” even if the Bride and Groom think they are corny because those songs ALWAYS get everyone up dancing. Then we follow it with something that everyone likes such as “We are Family” and they all stay. Consider participation dances as your wedding reception ice breakers.
If we meet with a bride and groom and explain all of the above and they remain set on a playlist which is non-dance-friendly, we simply go along with it but are always prepared to switch it up on the spot in case they change their mind. Ninety-nine percent of the time, that’s what happens. In the end, everyone is always happy with Music in Motion’s DJ Services!
Music in Motion’s 10 great songs that always get and keep people dancing at wedding receptions (not in any order):
- “September” by Earth Wind and Fire
- “Suavemente” by Elvis Crespo
- “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake
- “The Twist” by Chubby Checker
- “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bonjovi;
- “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer
- “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” by The Gap Band
- Anything by Pitbull
- “Respect” by Aretha Franklin;
- “Hot Hot Hot” by Buster Poindexter (use leis and do a conga line)