How to not make it a hodgepodge but still "us"

dolewhipper

So the "Music" board is kinda dead so I figured I'd ask you ladies on music advise.

Fi and I love ALL kinds of music, and obviously want it played at our wedding. Is this a bad idea? We love current Country music (FL/GA Line, Luke, Miranda, Little Big Town...the top 40 of Country), Classic Rock (Led Zep to Bruce Springsteen to Queen), my family is Hispanic so of course we need the Latin music during the reception, and Fi has said he wants something like Jazz/Early Swing playing during cocktail hour (we have art deco/20's elements to the wedding so he thought that may be nice to get the feeling started). 

Should I tell our DJ that we want ALL that played at our wedding? I don't want guests to be salsa-ing it up and then, oh hey, here's a random Luke Bryan song. I know it's the DJ's job to make the music flow; am I over thinking this? Should we ask for some genres to be played during eating vs. dance time?

Maggie0829

I would tell your DJ what kind of music you enjoy listening to as well as a list of must played songs. Then trust your DJ to use his best judgement on how he will mix all those music genres together.  We had rock, pop, country all played out our wedding.  The DJ just took cues from the crowd as to what would be best to play and at what time.

I also think having nice background music like jazz during cocktail hour would be nice because it isn't super loud and people can easily talk to each other without being like "what they hell is this playing?"

[Deleted User]

No DJ for us, but we're in a similar boat.  We love so many styles of music, so we're just going to play them all.

We're not dancing at our wedding- if people want to dance, they can, but it's not a focus for us which is why we're not having a DJ.  The music will be there more for background purposes.

I'd tell your DJ what you like and let them figure out the best way to present it- that's part of what you pay them for.

I went to a wedding where the B&G loved rap but no one was dancing to it.  He recommended changing things up and they filled the dance floor almost the rest of the night.  If you trust your DJ, let them use their expertise to create the right atmosphere for each part of your event.

kat1114

I don't think there's anything wrong with requesting your DJ to play a variety. Your DJ will know how to make it flow so it's not jarring. We had a variety of music (oldies, alternative, Top 40, some Selena) and I never felt like it didn't flow properly. I just added a variety of songs for our "must play list" and trusted the DJ to do the rest.

dolewhipper

Obviously over thinking this as I'm getting down to the wire (40 days).

Thank you ladies! I need more wine. 

AprilH81

Our DJ played a variety.  We had Michael Buble/easy listening oldies type music playing during cocktail hour and lunch at a low volume so people could talk.

During the dance portion we had some rock, pop, oldies, 80's, country, and other stuff.  I gave him a "must play" list that was fairly short and a "do not play list" that was a lot longer and the request to make judgement calls on requests from guests and to pay the clean versions of songs if there were any questionable lyrics.

wandajune6

I gave our DJ a list of must-play songs. About an hour into the wedding he pulled me aside and told me that our list wasn't really working with our guests. He was right. I told him to use his best judgment and he had the dance floor hopping all night.

Think about your audience. We're in our mid/late 30's as are our friends, we had lots of people 60+ and 10 who are 80+. DH's family is Hispanic (Mexican and Puerto Rican) so we had lots of salsa, meringue, and Spanish-language pop as well as oldies that appealed to my parents and cohorts. It worked nicely. Plus, his mom taught my mom and all of her friends/cousins how to salsa. They're all still talking about it!

dolewhipper

wandajune6 said:

I gave our DJ a list of must-play songs. About an hour into the wedding he pulled me aside and told me that our list wasn't really working with our guests. He was right. I told him to use his best judgment and he had the dance floor hopping all night.

Think about your audience. We're in our mid/late 30's as are our friends, we had lots of people 60+ and 10 who are 80+. DH's family is Hispanic (Mexican and Puerto Rican) so we had lots of salsa, meringue, and Spanish-language pop as well as oldies that appealed to my parents and cohorts. It worked nicely. Plus, his mom taught my mom and all of her friends/cousins how to salsa. They're all still talking about it!

I have a feeling my step mom will teach my Fi side also!

I just want to know also if I should ask that the majority of the non-dancey stuff, ie. most of the country, classic rock, be played during dinner since I know my crowd will like to hear it, but not necessarily dance to it. Does that make sense?

princessleia22

That's part of a DJ's job... to figure out the best flow of music.  That's why people hire them instead of just hooking their ipod up to speakers.  We thought about just doing our own music, but decided to use a DJ just for that reason... because we figured they would be better able to get a good flow of music and read the crowd to determine what is a hit and what music is a flop. 

 

ElcaB

We had a song request line on our RSVPs --- not to mention the fact that we both love all kinds of music. We played it all --- even a polka for my grandpa! Everyone had a great time and the dance floor was hoppin' all night. I wouldn't worry about it!

emmaaa

I literally told our DJ that we liked country, rock, pop, oldies, beach music, and almost anything really. He played a mix of things and other than specific songs we requested to be played, we just let him do his thing.

novella1186

I think it's more fun when there's a random variety of music. I'm not a fan of country so if it was all country the entire night, I wouldn't be feeling much like dancing. But if it was a few country songs, a classic rock song, a Latin song, an oldies song, etc in a random mix, I wouldn't care. Ya know? I mean there's no way to please everybody with the music but if there's a variety, everyone is bound to like something. 

I agree with PP, tell your DJ what you like and trust him to mix it well. 

We're kind of doing the same thing at our wedding; live bluegrass band during cocktail hour, and then some indie songs that we love, "Piano Man" must be played because it was playing when we got engaged, the Beatles are a must, obviously good dance music is a must, so... I'm just gonna trust the DJ. 

loveislouder

We just met with our DJ on Thursday and he was telling us about this couple that hired him and gave him a must play list that literally said Kesha and a do not play list that said "Everything else."   No one danced.

BrandNewJ

If you have a meeting with your DJ, tell him/her what you want to hear. A professional should be able to make it work, no problem. 

We plan on going through the decades ending the party with current club music. This way everyone at some point in the night will enjoy the music (myself included since I love the 60s).