Have you ever attended a wedding, gotten excited about dancing at the reception, and then been totally bummed out that the MC played trap music THE WHOLE TIME. Some trap songs are good quality, but in general, I loathe them. As an MC, the bride’s and groom’s input matters the most to determine the types of songs or genres you will play for the wedding attendees. Some might like disco, some funk, some modern pop. Some might request certain songs be played for the bridal party entrance, cutting the cake, or throwing the bouquet. But as a DJ, you have to play for the crowd.
Let’s get into which songs / genres should definitely be played at a wedding, and which should not. A lot of the choices we make are governed by our own personal music taste, but you have to remember: an MC is not playing a set for you. He’s crafting a set for the crowd, taking into account the statistics, the age range, gender, the likes and dislikes of the wedding party, etc. So, without further ado, LET’S GET ON WITH IT!!!
As a kid, I listened to a lot of classic rock, mostly The Beatles. I kid you not, I know The Beatles like the back of my hand (except for The White Album…maybe I don’t know the back of my hand that well). My Dad played The Beatles all the time: when we were cleaning up the house on the weekends, cooking dinner in the kitchen, finishing our basement, etc. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of their rival The Beach Boys until 8th grade.
Eventually I was able to venture out of that listening space and discover new musical artists and genres thanks to MySpace, Rockband and my friends’ recommendations. After being enlightened, I discovered punk, alternative music, disco, funk, hip hop and many other genres. Boy, am I glad I did.
Then something crazy happened. Due to my friendship with Haute Sauce, I discovered EDM. My musical discovery journey was launched into overdrive and from this point on, I had a hunger to find music with excellent quality that everyone liked. I discovered The Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder, the Spice Girls, Daft Punk and other popular bands and groups that struck a chord with the general public.
Eventually, I started to operate as an MC at friends’ weddings. About a month before every wedding ceremony, the bride and groom and I would sit down and discuss their preferences when it came to the music I would play. As I gained experience, I found out that performing as an MC is not the same as performing as a DJ. DJs have more control of the genres they play and the moods they create, but MCs have got to play the classics. I went into playing a set at weddings with certain expectations. I wanted to play songs that would get me onto the dance-floor. My ego took charge at the start of this endeavour and I had yet to learn that to DJ properly, you have to think about the audience. DJing is the furthest thing from a party of one.
"...because you see, DJing is not just about choosing a few tunes. It is about generating shared moods; it's about understanding the feelings of a group and directing them to a better place." — Bill Brewster
After this realization, I took to social media to find out which songs everyone liked. It is impossible to be certain of songs that eh-vree-won knows, much less songs that everyone loves, but my friends and family had some good approximations given what they knew about humanity in general. Here's a Facebook Post I made a while ago about this.
Christian’s comment “Oh wait — you mean the whole world (not just US!)?” proposed an interesting perspective about my initial question. For the sake of myself and others who speak my native language, let’s only consider songs which are sung in English. I failed to include the fact that I was asking about songs to play at a wedding, which is the reason I am adding this post to my blog. I should have rephrased and asked for the songs that will get everyone onto the dance floor. So now I’m asking you! PEOPLE, PEOPLE! WE NEED YOUR ANSWERS! Please make a comment below with any songs you think must be played at a wedding, or songs that you are almost certain everyone knows and loves.
You can also take a look at the playlist I have added below. The songs on this playlist are organized by genre. I will continue to add to this playlist given recommendations from all you beautiful people. Fair warning: I have only added one line dance song. I only like one of them. Screw the Cha Cha Slide or the Cupid Shuffle. They’re not as fun.
