What is the best mix of music to entertain guests and get them dancing?

melbenso · April 2014

FI and I have been debating the best ratio of fast and slow songs to play at our wedding. We are making our own playlist and want to get a better idea of what our guests would like to hear so as to be good hosts. So, please let me know your preference below. Thanks!

melbenso · April 2014

Again, I apologize for the double posted poll. There are some times when it would be nice to be able to delete threads.

grumbledore · April 2014

I think the ideal mix, in general, would be about 75% upbeat songs, 25% slow at most. And I'd always end the night with a slow song.

melbenso · April 2014

That's what I was thinking, but FI thinks mostly slow songs will do the trick. Which is particularly funny, because he's the one more inclined to dance to fast ones.

We were at a wedding this past weekend where they played a lot of fast songs and very few people were dancing. But the bride and groom and wedding party weren't dancing for a lot of it either. I think people tend to follow their lead too.

ElcaB · April 2014

We are also making our own playlist. The best advice I read is to build momentum, then scale back, then build it up higher, then scale back, etc.

I guess it would be kind of like:

Mellow > great songs > mellow > amazing songs > great songs > BEST DANCE BREAK EVER > amazing songs > OMG EVERYONE IS ON THE DANCE FLOOR AND THIS PARTY IS AMAZEBALLS.

Inkdancer · April 2014

FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

PrettyGirlLost · April 2014

Inkdancer said:
FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

Haha that is so true!

I like to dance but not a fan of slow songs, so I prefer when the DJ keeps it upbeat with a few slow songs throughout the night.

grumbledore · April 2014

melbenso said:

That's what I was thinking, but FI thinks mostly slow songs will do the trick. Which is particularly funny, because he's the one more inclined to dance to fast ones.

We were at a wedding this past weekend where they played a lot of fast songs and very few people were dancing. But the bride and groom and wedding party weren't dancing for a lot of it either. I think people tend to follow their lead too.

I also think it's on the dj to feel out the crowd and make appropriate choices. So if you (general you) are having a dj, trust them to adjust as necessary. If you are making a playlist, make sure it has some flexibility.

Cookie Pusher · April 2014

Inkdancer said:

FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

"Brick House", anything KC and the Sunshine Band... really, almost any of the disco-y pop songs from the 70s seem to get older guests up at events we go to. And if you want the 30/40-somethings, time to put on some Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and other 80s hair bands!

2leadsingers · April 2014

Cookie Pusher said:

Inkdancer said:

FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

"Brick House", anything KC and the Sunshine Band... really, almost any of the disco-y pop songs from the 70s seem to get older guests up at events we go to. And if you want the 30/40-somethings, time to put on some Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and other 80s hair bands!

I am a dj and I subscribe to a 3-2-1 ratio theory of my playlists. 3 songs in the crowd popular genre ( know your crowd kinda thing) , 2 songs in the next popular genre, 1 song in the next popular. 80/20 % fast to slow, make sure after three or four fast ones or long ones you give people a break to sit, drink etc. For instance, in one bar where I dj, the crowd is mostly 40+ with a healthy amount of dancers. 3 classic rock, 2 country and 1 pop song shuffled for the playlist and they want the Cupid Shuffle, followed by the Wobble, and then the Turbo Hustle. Then they want a rock ballad or two, and then they want Eyes Don't Cry and the Casper Slide. Ditto on Brick House.

Obviously if your crowd is mostly 20 something friends and cousins, you might want something different. Most of the weddings I worked as a server in a country club featured 90% todays hits and had a much younger crowd because the guest list was 60% friends and most of the older family left early to avoid the radio djs or moved further from the dance floor to mingle and chat.

Basically, put songs on you know and like, do a search for top requested wedding songs to give you a base playlist, tweak from there and you should be good to go.

theartistformerlyknownas · April 2014

I think it depends a lot more on the type of song than the speed. I.e. at least in my crowd, you try to play techno and the room will clear. But Michael Jackson will get everybody up.

melbenso · April 2014

Our crowd will be pretty well mixed. Most friends are in their 30s or late 20s, but we will have a good number of relatives who in their 40s-60s. Probably about a 60-40 split. We will also have a few little kids there, so I'll pick a couple of songs that kids like to dance to, because -- cute.

I planned on including some songs from the 1950s - 70s (popular crowd pleaser types) and a good number of songs from the 80s and 90s along with some current stuff. FI and I - along with a bunch of our invited friends - go dancing at a Ladies 80s and 90s night from time to time, so I'm sure that stuff will get people up and dancing. I also love swing dancing, so I want to throw a bit of that in. But I know its not everyone's cup of tea. I may even throw in a couple of country songs for one of my bridesmaids. (She loves country, neither FI or I really care for it.)

PrettyGirlLost · April 2014

Cookie Pusher said:

Inkdancer said:

FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

"Brick House", anything KC and the Sunshine Band... really, almost any of the disco-y pop songs from the 70s seem to get older guests up at events we go to. And if you want the 30/40-somethings, time to put on some Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and other 80s hair bands!

Oh God, please no! I had enough of that shit in college at dances and frat parties- I need a break. That music makes me leave the dance floor and go get a drink, lol.

Dance/Pop/Top 100/Rap for me.

lyndausvi · April 2014

PrettyGirlLost said:

Cookie Pusher said:

Inkdancer said:

FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

"Brick House", anything KC and the Sunshine Band... really, almost any of the disco-y pop songs from the 70s seem to get older guests up at events we go to. And if you want the 30/40-somethings, time to put on some Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and other 80s hair bands!

Oh God, please no! I had enough of that shit in college at dances and frat parties- I need a break. That music makes me leave the dance floor and go get a drink, lol.

Dance/Pop/Top 100/Rap for me.

And that makes me leave the dance floor. Too much techno actually makes me leave the entire event. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to suck it up at an upcoming wedding.

PrettyGirlLost · April 2014

lyndausvi said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

Cookie Pusher said:

Inkdancer said:

FI is a party DJ sometimes, and apparently there is nothing in this world like Brick House to get old white people dancing.

He does mostly faster songs, with the occasional slow one mixed in. It keeps the party going really well!

"Brick House", anything KC and the Sunshine Band... really, almost any of the disco-y pop songs from the 70s seem to get older guests up at events we go to. And if you want the 30/40-somethings, time to put on some Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and other 80s hair bands!

Oh God, please no! I had enough of that shit in college at dances and frat parties- I need a break. That music makes me leave the dance floor and go get a drink, lol.

Dance/Pop/Top 100/Rap for me.

And that makes me leave the dance floor. Too much techno actually makes me leave the entire event. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to suck it up at an upcoming wedding.

Lol, I haven't heard that term in forever! I don't think they call it techno anymore ;-)

netskyblue2 · April 2014

I tried to go for 2-3 slow songs after every 45 minutes or so of faster songs in my playlist.

Peaseblossom55 · April 2014

FI only dances to slow songs so I typically don't dance to fast songs unless he also has friends at the wedding. We are working on wedding music now and we are trying to create a good mix of songs from all genres to get people up and interested. I hate loud club like music so there will be none of that being played by our DJ

doeydo · April 2014

I would only dance to a couple slow songs with my FI, but get a few drinks in me and I'll be up there dancing to some faster songs that I love ie. Rockin' Robin by Bobby Day, The Twist by Chubby Checker, Dancing with Myself by Billy Idol, etc.

beharrington · April 2014

PrettyGirlLost said:

Lol, I haven't heard that term in forever! I don't think they call it techno anymore ;-)

DH (who listens to that crap) says it is still techno but moving to being called EDM (electronic dance music).

Jen4948 · April 2014

I'm not a fan of slow dancing, heavy metal, rap, hip-hop, or electronic/techno. If you play too much slow dancing or the other genres, I will leave the dance floor, especially if the volume is cranked up all the way.

SP29 · April 2014

I think a variety of genres is best. Try to choose songs based on the crowd.

Myself? I love a bit of Mowtown, 80s/90s pop hits, classic rock, current pop/dance songs (but not techno), little bit of hip hop (if it's appropriate and I can sing along).

Fairyjen1 · April 2014

I only like to dance to EDM, however, I realize I'm in the minority and it's not generally played at weddings.

We are having a lunch time 18 guest wedding of mostly family so there will be no dancing, LOL.

wrigleyville · April 2014

Our family weddings tend to be large, with a variety of generations, so the DJs tend to open with some golden oldies and other neutral stuff, like "Celebrate", "The Twist", etc. They toss in a few slow songs, but not too many. Then, as the night goes on, they move into more 80s/90s stuff, and then the more modern stuff as it gets really late.

I've been to weddings where they play nothing but country, or a ton of slow songs, and it's so boring. We leave right after they serve the cake.

Liatris2010 · April 2014

Slow songs exclude singles. No one wants to sway awkwardly alone, so unless everyone is paired up, I'd tend toward fast. People like to dance to songs they know, so I would go with whatever the majority of your guests will know, oldies, classics, top 40 are good bets.

Jen4948 · April 2014

Liatris2010 said:

Slow songs exclude singles. No one wants to sway awkwardly alone, so unless everyone is paired up, I'd tend toward fast. People like to dance to songs they know, so I would go with whatever the majority of your guests will know, oldies, classics, top 40 are good bets.

They not only exclude singles, but even couples don't always enjoy that kind of dancing for prolonged periods of time.

cmclaire · April 2014

We'll be doing about 80% faster dancier songs, 20% slower songs. For our crowd it'll be heavy on the cheese - Britney, Abba, Bon Jovi. We're all fairly alternative in our day to day music tastes (The National, Radiohead, Tegan and Sara, Butch Walker), but when it's time to dance we're all about the fromage!

LarraO2530 · April 2014

My FI and are are in our mid/late twenties, our guests will be our friends (same age-ish), and family (ranging from 2 years to about 75 years). We're building a playlist of must-haves with a little bit of everything. We have some country, some classic rock, some of the typical "line/group" dances, some oldies, and even some disco. We do have a "please do not play" list, but everything is flexible to a point, because if a guest requests a song, we'll expect the DJ will be willing to play it unless it's a song we have definite reasons not to play (emotional reasons etc).

melbenso · April 2014

Thanks for the input everyone! I took a screen shot of the poll results and emailed it to FI so he could see what other people thought about the music mix.

What is the best mix of music to entertain guests and get them dancing?

What is the best mix of music to entertain guests and get them dancing? 91 votes

Re: What is the best mix of music to entertain guests and get them dancing?

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