making own play list for reception.

DarthV8r

We have very eclectic taste in music. Most  of the music I have on my playlist is  Soul, oldies, and indie rock ( I think what it's considered).  Is this to "out there" to be enjoyable for cocktail hour, dinner  and a couple songs for dancing? I have a few songs from each artist. Here is an example

 al greene

 smoky robinson

Otis redding

the o'jays

 the delfonics

the spinners

andy gibb

the guess who

the classic IV

association

the troggs

david bowie

mazzy star

adele

the black keys

phoenix

 mgmt.

broken bells

yeah yeah yeahs

lou reed

marvin gaye

the gap band

 the bar kays

daft punk

milky chance

dj aoki

usher

de la soul

donethat

Add in some Stevie Wonder, and you're good ;-)

Seriously, this is fine.  When you are making a playlist for cocktails or dinner, it can be pretty much anything you want.  

Once the intention is to create and serve a dance floor, the rule of thumb might be a little different, but again, for cocktails and dinner - your list is great.

Knottie1437830489

I LOVE some of the things you have in there!! We played an acoustic version of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' song "Maps" during our ceremony and we had a bunch of people tearing up.

I just had my wedding in June and my husband and I created our own music playlist, which had a LOT of indie and alternative rock, for pretty much the entire wedding from ceremony to finish. We shortlisted something like 6 hours worth of songs and had our DJ pick from that list (he's done a bunch of weddings, so we figured he could be our third ear and veto some crazier songs - maybe you could have your DJ or someone else do the same?). I think your music should be a reflection of you and your fiancé, and for us music was a huge part in making the wedding feel truly personal. We've been to a few weddings where they play kind of the same "wedding music", and nothing really wrong with that if you enjoy it, but I think guests can appreciate some individuality I walked down the aisle to Opaline by Dishwalla, and we walked off the aisle to Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine. Our first dance was to a french indie song no one else had heard of, but ultimately we got a ton of compliments on our music for the night - many of our guests said they loved it, could tell it was 100% us and that was the most important thing

Knottie42529661

No - not at all! If anything, there should be something for everyone to love! Plus it'll keep things moving and exciting with all the different styles and tempos!

If you and you FI love the music, and it's got a beat to keep people bobbing their heads, then have at it!

Dane311

If it's what you want to hear and it'll keep your party hopping then it's perfect!  I love that you have Mazzie Star and Daft Punk on it!  I'm trying to figure out a way to work the Beastie Boys, 311 and maybe some Bloodhound Gang into our reception.  Have to sit down with our DJ, who luckily is a good friend of my fiance and a professional, to get a game plan worked out!

JediElizabeth

I think this is wonderful! From experience (not weddings, but other gatherings), I'd suggest to make sure there are a few standards that most of your guests will know, even the guests that never listened to any of their full albums. Which I think you have lots of opportunity for there - "Rebel, Rebel," "Let's Get it On," "DJ Got Us Falling in Love" - preferably not back-to-back in that order!

It'll get the less musically inquisitive guests onto the dance floor, too. For example, I love my music, and will listen to entire albums when I know I like a band, but my FI knows only the most overplayed songs. I'd probably dance to anything with a beat, even if I didn't know it specifically, but it takes longer for him to get into something. Even if they're not recent Top 40's, a handful of really popular songs mixed throughout would keep him on the floor.

DarthV8r

CElizabeth419 said:

I think this is wonderful! From experience (not weddings, but other gatherings), I'd suggest to make sure there are a few standards that most of your guests will know, even the guests that never listened to any of their full albums. Which I think you have lots of opportunity for there - "Rebel, Rebel," "Let's Get it On," "DJ Got Us Falling in Love" - preferably not back-to-back in that order!

It'll get the less musically inquisitive guests onto the dance floor, too. For example, I love my music, and will listen to entire albums when I know I like a band, but my FI knows only the most overplayed songs. I'd probably dance to anything with a beat, even if I didn't know it specifically, but it takes longer for him to get into something. Even if they're not recent Top 40's, a handful of really popular songs mixed throughout would keep him on the floor.

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I do have "rebel rebel" on my playlist," I'm still in love with you" , and " yeah". A lot of the songs are recognizable. I just started making the playlist and only have 43 songs. I still need more and have to put them in order so there is more of a flow. Thanks for the suggestion.

ridgeviewwedding

I'm so happy to have found this thread! My fiance and I are planning on doing the same- creating a playlist to have played during cocktail hour and dinner that include some "offbeat" songs that are more low key and easy listening, but definitely not something most of the guests are use to-- however, they are favorites of ours!! I think it is important to keep the wedding true to YOU. However, during the dancing portion, we are going to throw in some popular oldies, motown, and some songs that everyone will be familiar with to keep everyone on the dance floor, with some upbeat songs that are our favorites to keep us happy, too! We will be happy to dance to anything, so we want to keep our guests happy as well. 

However---- we are STRUGGLING with finding a DJ who will playing the list of songs that we want. We seem to be running into DJs who say they have experience and 'know' what to play and we should 'trust' them. I understand that completely, but there are a lot of songs we'd love to hear (as I said, cocktail/dinner) and lots more we do not want to hear just because we are not fans of the artist/song. Anyone else with this trouble?? 

DarthV8r

ridgeviewwedding said:

I'm so happy to have found this thread! My fiance and I are planning on doing the same- creating a playlist to have played during cocktail hour and dinner that include some "offbeat" songs that are more low key and easy listening, but definitely not something most of the guests are use to-- however, they are favorites of ours!! I think it is important to keep the wedding true to YOU. However, during the dancing portion, we are going to throw in some popular oldies, motown, and some songs that everyone will be familiar with to keep everyone on the dance floor, with some upbeat songs that are our favorites to keep us happy, too! We will be happy to dance to anything, so we want to keep our guests happy as well. 

However---- we are STRUGGLING with finding a DJ who will playing the list of songs that we want. We seem to be running into DJs who say they have experience and 'know' what to play and we should 'trust' them. I understand that completely, but there are a lot of songs we'd love to hear (as I said, cocktail/dinner) and lots more we do not want to hear just because we are not fans of the artist/song. Anyone else with this trouble?? 

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My brother is in a band and is  going to school to be a music producer. So I hired his friend who has experience  and has his own  equipment. He is not a d.j.  but he has done wedding ceremonies before.  He only asked for  cds , usb or he can access my playlist via spotify on his laptop.  He is providing a mic for our ceremony too and is staying through out our reception to play the music. 

I would  try finding audio rental companies in your area and maybe they know someone you can hire.