Weddings What's Your "one Thing"

[mikemerlin]

Every wedding is the same and every wedding is different. Same events, different people, different playlists, different needs, etc. With this being said do you have one thing you always do at a wedding that always works? My "one thing" is to always have the Mother Son Dance lead right into dancing and halfway through the dance invite the guests to join the Groom and Mother ("Brian and his mom have requested" that you join them etc) It always fills the dance floor and instantly breaks the ice and guarantees a strong dance floor from the 1st song

What's your "one thing?"

 

[oldschooldj]

It all depends on the crowd, I spend the entire dinner hour, as a playlist is automixed, talking to the guest at thier tables, I do the following as I visit with them:

Look at the average age
Guage the energy of the guest by age group
Pick a few guest that I know will hit the dance floor immediately and carry the group
Take request from those guest that are ready to hit the floor

Then I return to my table, modify my play list to insure I get the high energy folks on the floor with music from thier era and mix into songs for other age groups that match well with the start up songs, then I run the entire night with sets that work for the different age groups.

 

[DJ Wes]

I have several 'tricks' that I use to help motivate the crowd. The one I use is based on the information I gather during the planning consultations and also the 'moment' as it happens.

 

[mikemerlin]

I've had great success with "inside" information gathered during the consultation process. For this past Saturday's wedding I went over some of the must play songs with the B&G and found out the Sister Hazel "All for You' request was a song the Best Man and one of the Groomsmen sang to. When I played it everyone went nuts and it turned into a singing/hug fest. They of course were completely sh*tfaced. LOL

 

[Scott Hanna]

I'm not sure there is one thing.

I do try to make each event unique(the MCing part), although there are things that will certainly be used again. To me, it's more important to know when to use it and when to use it and when not to.

People tell me I do a great job of reading the crowd and knowing what to play and what not to. I have a casual friend that knows a TON about music. I think he tries to get people to broaden their horizons at events and plays things on occasion that they've never heard. He gets a hard time for it. He told me he had some girls tell him thy couldn't dance to a song because they've never heard it. He was trying to convince them that they could. He will lose that argument every time. I happen to see him at a bar one night. He played several songs that I never heard of. He seemed proud that he "stumped" me. My friends kept telling me to tell him to play something we know. He did mostly. But that's what they remembered. ....the dj played a "bunch" of songs they didn't know.

I saw a thread recently on another forum. The dj said it was a tough pool party. The client requested top 40 and hip hop so he spent several hours putting lists together and making sure he knew what songs mixed with what. But the crowd requests were way different and he didn't know what to do. He ended up playing the requests as they came in. He said he felt like a jukebox and couldn't mix.

I can take requests all night. It's knowing what requests to play, when to play them, what to play after, and what requests NOT to play that sets some djs apart, IMO. Every song I play teaches me something about that crowd

And , yes, I do guess wrong on occasion. But I learn from that too

 

[Ausumm]

I kinda do the same thing, Mike. (or TRY to)
I like to save the special dances until right after dinner, when the floor is usually a little "lean" anyway...
and it sucks up some time when people are eating their cake.
I go with Mother/Son first, because Father/Daughter is always more emotional,
and then I throw in a Wedding Party/Parents dance.
That way there's a dozen or so people on the dance floor when I start open dancing (with a slow song)

 

[mikemerlin]

I think each wedding varies and you have to gauge whether or not people are ready to dance but I can't remember the last time I started off with a slow song but again completely dependent on the crowd. A few weeks back I had a wedding where the couple loved old time jazz/showtunes etc so I kicked off the dancing to Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" on a hunch and it absolutely killed. This past Sunday I did it again and it killed again. Old folks loved it young kids thought it was fun and started "swinging" then into Rockin Robin-Rock Around The Clock-B-52's and it was on like Donkey Kong from there. I may have a new "opener" lol

 

[Ausumm]

I can't remember the last time I started off with a slow song but again completely dependent on the crowd. A few weeks back I had a wedding where the couple loved old time jazz/showtunes etc so I kicked off the dancing to Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" on a hunch and it absolutely killed.

I usually start slow, just cause it works better with the crowds around here.
But I did use Jive Bunny's "Swing the Mood" to kick off the fast dancing many a time.
If it didn't work, it would be 6-minutes of torture unless you faded out of it.

 

[ahoustondj]

"Unchained Melody" by Righteous Brothers gets them on the Dance Floor every dang time followed by "Lets Get It On" by Marvin Gaye.

 

[mikemerlin]

I usually start slow, just cause it works better with the crowds around here.
But I did use Jive Bunny's "Swing the Mood" to kick off the fast dancing many a time.
If it didn't work, it would be 6-minutes of torture unless you faded out of it.

But if you use my mother/son invite guests onto dance floor tric you'll always have a full floor to start off with

 

[Ausumm]

But if you use my mother/son invite guests onto dance floor tric you'll always have a full floor to start off with

I have no problem GETTING them there. It's keeping them there that's the issue!
I was commenting on the importance of choosing the perfect "first fast song".
(Sometime we win, sometimes we lose...)

 

[Jas]

No, I don't think I have one thing that I do at every wedding that's any different than what other DJs do. I listen to what the bride and groom want during the planning phase and may make suggestions that will work with what they envision. If they don't want any participation dances I don't play them. If they want the bouquet toss, garter toss, dollar dance, anniversary dance and shoe game I'll try to accommodate but let them know that we might have to eliminated one of those when the time comes. Adapting to the unknowns is what I do at each wedding.

 

[TwinSpinDJ]

At the end when I'm loading out, "Damn, this job is getting physically more challenging" or words to that affect! LOL

Usually, I play a song that the B&G have set for their last dance; however, more often than not I prompt the Bride to see if she wants a slow or fast song or a different one than prior selected. If not, I play whatever the crowd wants to hear. Poll the crowd!

 

[TheOlogee]

Starting last month I had a great response after the groom/mother dance inviting the mother in law to dance with the groom then invited the father in law to dance with the bride. As both couples danced I then asked guests to surround the dance floor then cut into We Are Family inviting all to dance. It was a lot a fun and worked well so far.

 

[DjDennis]

the ONE thing that I get asked for More on WOM than anything is me playing special effects
when I am MC and do the speeches

havent dont any the same way twice (never have)

but this is how I made a special way on how I do things over the years
started off when I use to do it with Cassettes now its the laptop

have expanded on it over the years and have shown a few specials on here a few times just go looking
I wont post any here again!

 

[bombdhell89]

I'm still searching for my "one thing"

Although, if I had to find something that I do pretty consistently as far as programming goes- I usually always play "Don't Stop Believin'"
second to last song and end on a high energy tune. Journey always kills here and the high energy track ends it on a high note and leaves them wanting more!

 

[Jeff Romard]

I'm still searching for my "one thing"

Although, if I had to find something that I do pretty consistently as far as programming goes- I usually always play "Don't Stop Believin'"
second to last song and end on a high energy tune. Journey always kills here and the high energy track ends it on a high note and leaves them wanting more!

I do the same thing very close to the end of the night usually second last fast one. Sometimes I'll time out the last dance of the evening to 5 minutes before end time and then play I've Had The Time Of My Life. I like them having that thought as they go home

Like it's been said I don't think there's one thing...

I generally start the evening with a mix of old rock and roll and 90s country with a spattering of 2000s (usually something like I gotta feeling) then a bit of a mix of disco in to more modern. A couple of hours in when they are better lubricated I put in YSMANL, Old Time Rock And Roll, Footloose etc

I also look at the Bride and Grooms ages and pick life points. What years were they in Middle School? What year did they graduate? What years were they in University? If you can pick the hits they listened to between 18-24 you can pretty much play anything around that

 

[bombdhell89]

Great advice! I played I've Had The Time of My Life last recently, on a hunch based on the crowd and it went over really well! I may try it again soon, if the crowd is right!

View: https://youtu.be/dFaeN4OUpQI

 

[rickryan.com]

I'm with Scott, there is no magic "one thing". That said, in trying to keep with the discussion, I guess my "main thing" is programming style on music during the dance segment. I don't do the generational thing, where you start with the old people music and work it up to modern. I drop the hammer at the start and then flip genres and tempos in 4-song cycles. The theory is that grandma is cool with Lil Wayne/Ludacris, just as long as there's something to push her buttons within that 4-song cycle. Same thing holds true for the 20-somethings. They're cool with Chubby Checker or BeeGees, just as long as they have something coming up fairly quickly as well. The object is to basically confuse the Hell out of everyone in attendance and leave them wondering what's coming up next. I also urge the client to space out their room-focus events (special dances, cake, bouquet, etc) so that we never have more than a 30-minute segment of any one thing. Using this approach seems to work almost all the time and in any setting; alcohol, non-alcoholic, dancing crowd or non-dancers.

 

[bombdhell89]

I drop the hammer at the start and then flip genres and tempos in 4-song cycles.

I do this too, actually! I get a way better response and crowd participation (young and old) when I throw on something like Uptown Funk early on rather than something older, like Twist and Shout or something like that. Besides, I don't want to keep a lot of people, who may be on the fence about leaving, waiting to hear the new stuff either. This last wedding I did, I had an older gentleman come up to me during dinner and request Uptown Funk! You just never know who digs what!