Wedding Ideas

Hey guys,

So I'm djing a wedding and have a couple questions (deja vu anyone?).

So for mixing with top 40 and having to play slow songs, well I'm not quite sure the best way to do this. I have it in my mind that if the dancefloor starts clearing a bit to put on a slow song and then pick it up with a dancey but not so full-on track. I also have it in my mind that this is the perfect time to jump around bpm, like if I start getting stuck in a certain range of bpm I can just kind move into another one with a slow song. I also keep hearing it's something like 4:1 dance songs to slow songs. That seems like so many slow songs.

My second question is I have an option of setting up on stage or ground level, which should I pick. On one had I would want to be on the floor since it's a friends wedding and I will have some friends there but on the other I don't want to get badgered for requests. There may be some other reasons to do it one way or the other that I don't know or haven't thought about, any ideas?

Also I have been looking around for gig logs to see what people are playing but can't really find any. Any recommendations on links or search terms to find more.

Thank you in advance!

The slow song thing, IMO, depends upon how diverse/old your crowd is. Old folks tire quickly and leave early. You want them dancing before they go home, even if it's a slow dance or two. I think the 4:1 ratio would be good for after dinner and in between cake cutting. Time to use that crossfader! My humble opinion would be to just keep the dance floor going as much as you can. People will come and go in between songs regardless of what you play. . .best to save the crowd favorites when people are nice and saucy. Let your instincts decide, I say.

Just did a friend's wedding two weeks ago and some dumb Australian broad asked for an LMFAO song over and over again. Do yourself a favor and set up on stage and set a rule about requests. People at weddings these days seem to think DJs are a human jukebox with a wireless connection - they will bombard you. They also have no concept of "DJ flow" - they will want to hear "Africa" by Toto after you just played "Whip It" by Devo. Ya feel me? And if you got Grooveshark and a 3G connection or something on your phone. . .it is a good idea to have that if you are going to play requests just in case the bride absolutely must hear Madonna or some shit. Depending upon how things are set up, being on a raised platform and being able to see your crowd is always a good thing.

You may already know all of these things. I am just providing my two cents. Also, since your name is DJ On It, you must play Apache (Jump On It) by Sugar Hill Gang. It is a necessity. Good luck with everything, dude!

Sit down with the Bride & Groom to be, find out about songs that mean something to them and they want to here to give you a base to build a playlist from.

Also make sure to ask what they DO NOT want to hear. you don't want to be stirring up the wrong emotions on the Brides special day ;)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like maybe you haven't DJ'd at too many weddings? If so, whatever you do, don't overestimate how easy it'll be. Wedding crowds don't care about how great your taste is, or whether you have the newest underground tracks. They (for the most part) only want to hear what they hear on the radio. Even if you have the latest Justin Bieber album (just for example), people will only be familiar with what has been released via the radio and/or music video. Which brings me to my next point, you have to have EVERYTHING. Realistically you don't actually have to have everything, but everything they'll ask for. While a lot of wedding DJ's in my city boast 15,000-20,000 track libraries, I only have a playlist of approx. 3500 that I use for weddings. I'm always updating and adding to it, but I'm at the point where I have a pretty hard time thinking of what I need that I don't have, and 9.9 out of 10 times, I have what people are looking for. Even though I download the latest tracks from my MP3 pool, 95% of the request are driven by older music, like retro eg: Michael Jackson, Madonna, etc...And it's not surprising since most people that get married are between 25-35 so they know what they know and that's what they want to hear.

I wouldn't bother trying to establish a "no requests rule". Nobody will follow it, and if you don't have what people are looking for, some of the more rude guests might not hesitate to make you feel like crap. When I started doing weddings I got all kinds of comments like "what kind of DJ are you?!" and don't think because they're your friends that you know their crowd. There's likely to be a bunch of people that they don't know (or maybe don't like)...And why wouldn't you want to play requests??? You want everyone to have a good time right? Imagine if you went to a party and the DJ played everything you ever asked for, I bet you'd love it. I would too, except since I know what it's like I would rather not bother the DJ. As for the flow between different BPM's, I wouldn't waste my time trying to figure out how to beatmatch 90bpm hip hop with 130 bpm LMFAO. Just use a delay, or play the song almost to the end, and come in hard with a dancey bass beat while quickly (but not abruptly) pulling the fader down on the hip hop. There are some tricks you can use, like quickly increasing the tempo on the hip hop song to match a quicker BPM, but you really have to know your music, or have some preset songs lined up which doesn't really align with "taking requests". Sometimes if it's obvious people don't like the track you just put on, do a quick spin back (practice if it's something you don't usually do), and throw on the next track starting with the beat.

As for the slow songs, I try to never play them. The only time I'll put one on is when the dancefloor is empty. If you have 3-4 people dancing, a slow jam is sure to get at least 4-5 couples back on the floor, especially the wives who claim their husbands won't dance with them unless it's a slow song. Dancing fast requires a certain degree of confidence (rhythm also helps), while slow dancing is something anyone can do so it's no surprise that people that won't dance can be convinced to slow dance. Then when it's over, come back in with a bang.

If you can think of a way to copy the text from an itunes playlist and copy it into a word doc. I'd be more than happy to share my playlist with you. I've been doing this for 20 years.

Most of all, have fun. I'll be honest in saying I can't stand commercial music to any degree. I love indie, and indie electronic. I don't even practice with commercial music at home. But you hear it everywhere, so it's impossible to not be familiar with it and remember where all the breakdowns and melodies come in. Despite this, I always have fun working the crowds at weddings, and it's effortless to get someone that says "YOU'VE EXCEEDED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS OF A WEDDING DJ!" which makes it all worthwhile.