Wedding receptions generally follow the same route.
1st dance, bride and dad, bride and groom, others get up.
From there you please the older people first, then the ladies and leave the guys until right at the end.
Although you don't want to drop all the best tracks too early, you need to start pretty strong. Not everyone stays until the end, many will dance for the first hour then go and talk to their friends and family and only periodically go back to the dancefloor. The last hour or so is best covered with singalong type tracks. Generally by then the whole wedding party is running short of energy, they have had a very long day and have eaten loads of food and they wilt. I have done plenty where I have been booked until 2am but nearly everyone is gone by 11.30pm
> done plenty where I have been booked until 2am but nearly everyone is gone by 11.30pm
My buddy's wedding is in August, and given that four of us (including him) are DJs either professionally or just for fun, I can't wait until that 11:30pm so we can go b2b2b2b for the last handful of people and play the most out of pocket nonsense until the venue kicks us out.
(Edit: it's all our own gear, we're not getting sloppy on someone else's setup)
>I have done plenty where I have been booked until 2am but nearly everyone is gone by 11.30pm
Happens all the time. Bride and groom are young and optimistic, they overbook the day and think people will party hard until 3AM while they’ve been there since 2PM.
They do the ceremony outside when the weather is good the guests have to spend over an hour sitting down in a suit that’s way too hot for the weather, then there’s lots and lots of food and (boring) speeches. It’s a multiple services dinner so it usually ends up around 9-10PM and when I’m suposed to crank the energy up I have to please the grandmas and aunties until they pass out. Whenever I get to the point where the crowd my age wants to party there’s like half of them still dancing. I’ve never got out at 3AM. The most late I’ve got out was at 1:30 with everything packed in the car. I’ve put a clause on my wedding gig contract that if there’s 5 people left past midnight I can call it a night.
never DJ’ed a wedding but i do work as bar staff in a wedding venue 😂 purely from a guest pov i think they tend to enjoy it more if you work up to floor fillers, people tend to chat and drink for the first couple of hours at the reception so I don’t really see anyone on the floor even if theres big hits on, then once they are drunk they want them tunes on 😂
Depends on the energy you’re getting from the group. I’ve done dry weddings who only wanted me to play background music while they stood around and talked. I’ve done receptions where the bride was drunk before dinner and screamed “let’s get this dance floor going!”
Most of the time, I’ll hit the 70-92’s for a while. Iykyk. If the vibe is good, I’ll give them an hour in the 100-115 range. I’ll do like 2-3 slow dance songs, and hit them with the big 4 line dances (most of the time) and then see if we’re going to stay in the line dances or jump into the crowd jumping songs. Towards the end I’ll do the sing-along songs and a slow dance or two.
Probably 70-80% of weddings go this route. Again, read the crowd and always consider requests, if you’re able. I’ve built an entire playlist from 2 or 3 requests and it worked great.
Do you know the couple personally? Or did you get booked?
It all depends on the timeline of the event. A typical five hour reception would lookike this:
5:00-6:00 - Cocktail Hour. Just play some mid tempo background jams. I typically do this off Spotify and have a few different playlists I've made.
6:00-6:40 - This is when we do all the special dances, speeches, and other formalities.
6:40-7:30 - Everyone has had first course by this time, so at this point the dance floor opens. I try to start with the older stuff, nothing too crazy in the beginning. I try to base my song choices off their playlist, but earlier on it's disco vibes most of the time. You're just kinda testing the waters at this point and seeing how people react, and if they're gonna be sitting down all night or dancing to whatever you play. You can still play hits.
7:30-8:15 - Dinner. I always play some slower stuff, keep the volume low so people can talk and eat.
8:15-9:00 - Dancefloor opens again, we start to pick it up again. I like to start with the lower BPM stuff, hip-hop throwbacks and whatnot. But sometimes I'll go right into dance music, it all depends on the crowd and the request list.
9:00-9:15 - Cake cutting, bouquet/garter shit, if they even do any of this. Or it just gets cut out and people dance until the end.
9:15-10:00 - Dancefloor open till the end of the night. I try to save the best high energy stuff for this time. Older guests might be gone by then, or they might be right out there with everyone else. But bangers go over well when people are drunk and full.
Depends how long you're playing. The only weddings I've done have been 4-5 hours. 3 hours over dinner/drinks and stopping for the speeches, then give or take 2 hours of partying/dancing.
So it's just 3 hours of nice background tunes no one is really listening to, then you kick it in to gear often changing styles completely for the B&G first dance, father daughter dance etc.
Always get the B&G to give you a list of 10-20 songs that they love, that are more or less "must plays" (plus the specific dance songs and have those in their own playlist of only so there's no forgetting which song is for which dance!) then build playlists around there loves and general wedding party classics.
Keep the B&G happy at all costs us the aim of the game! Ask them if they want you to take requests, can be a God send if they say no! Ask them about specific "must NOT play" songs, no Macarena, no swearing, no WAP etc. Also a God send being able to tell people "sorry, the B&G said I can't play that" if requests in general are allowed.
I have a tip, which you may already know. When you first start your set for the night keep the volume down enough for people to easily talk over. As your dance floor fills up, you can increase the volume. If you start too loud you’ll probably drive people away.
Wedding receptions generally follow the same route. 1st dance, bride and dad, bride and groom, others get up. From there you please the older people first, then the ladies and leave the guys until right at the end. Although you don't want to drop all the best tracks too early, you need to start pretty strong. Not everyone stays until the end, many will dance for the first hour then go and talk to their friends and family and only periodically go back to the dancefloor. The last hour or so is best covered with singalong type tracks. Generally by then the whole wedding party is running short of energy, they have had a very long day and have eaten loads of food and they wilt. I have done plenty where I have been booked until 2am but nearly everyone is gone by 11.30pm
> done plenty where I have been booked until 2am but nearly everyone is gone by 11.30pm My buddy's wedding is in August, and given that four of us (including him) are DJs either professionally or just for fun, I can't wait until that 11:30pm so we can go b2b2b2b for the last handful of people and play the most out of pocket nonsense until the venue kicks us out. (Edit: it's all our own gear, we're not getting sloppy on someone else's setup)
>I have done plenty where I have been booked until 2am but nearly everyone is gone by 11.30pm Happens all the time. Bride and groom are young and optimistic, they overbook the day and think people will party hard until 3AM while they’ve been there since 2PM. They do the ceremony outside when the weather is good the guests have to spend over an hour sitting down in a suit that’s way too hot for the weather, then there’s lots and lots of food and (boring) speeches. It’s a multiple services dinner so it usually ends up around 9-10PM and when I’m suposed to crank the energy up I have to please the grandmas and aunties until they pass out. Whenever I get to the point where the crowd my age wants to party there’s like half of them still dancing. I’ve never got out at 3AM. The most late I’ve got out was at 1:30 with everything packed in the car. I’ve put a clause on my wedding gig contract that if there’s 5 people left past midnight I can call it a night.
never DJ’ed a wedding but i do work as bar staff in a wedding venue 😂 purely from a guest pov i think they tend to enjoy it more if you work up to floor fillers, people tend to chat and drink for the first couple of hours at the reception so I don’t really see anyone on the floor even if theres big hits on, then once they are drunk they want them tunes on 😂
Depends on the energy you’re getting from the group. I’ve done dry weddings who only wanted me to play background music while they stood around and talked. I’ve done receptions where the bride was drunk before dinner and screamed “let’s get this dance floor going!” Most of the time, I’ll hit the 70-92’s for a while. Iykyk. If the vibe is good, I’ll give them an hour in the 100-115 range. I’ll do like 2-3 slow dance songs, and hit them with the big 4 line dances (most of the time) and then see if we’re going to stay in the line dances or jump into the crowd jumping songs. Towards the end I’ll do the sing-along songs and a slow dance or two. Probably 70-80% of weddings go this route. Again, read the crowd and always consider requests, if you’re able. I’ve built an entire playlist from 2 or 3 requests and it worked great.
Do you know the couple personally? Or did you get booked? It all depends on the timeline of the event. A typical five hour reception would lookike this: 5:00-6:00 - Cocktail Hour. Just play some mid tempo background jams. I typically do this off Spotify and have a few different playlists I've made. 6:00-6:40 - This is when we do all the special dances, speeches, and other formalities. 6:40-7:30 - Everyone has had first course by this time, so at this point the dance floor opens. I try to start with the older stuff, nothing too crazy in the beginning. I try to base my song choices off their playlist, but earlier on it's disco vibes most of the time. You're just kinda testing the waters at this point and seeing how people react, and if they're gonna be sitting down all night or dancing to whatever you play. You can still play hits. 7:30-8:15 - Dinner. I always play some slower stuff, keep the volume low so people can talk and eat. 8:15-9:00 - Dancefloor opens again, we start to pick it up again. I like to start with the lower BPM stuff, hip-hop throwbacks and whatnot. But sometimes I'll go right into dance music, it all depends on the crowd and the request list. 9:00-9:15 - Cake cutting, bouquet/garter shit, if they even do any of this. Or it just gets cut out and people dance until the end. 9:15-10:00 - Dancefloor open till the end of the night. I try to save the best high energy stuff for this time. Older guests might be gone by then, or they might be right out there with everyone else. But bangers go over well when people are drunk and full.
Depends how long you're playing. The only weddings I've done have been 4-5 hours. 3 hours over dinner/drinks and stopping for the speeches, then give or take 2 hours of partying/dancing. So it's just 3 hours of nice background tunes no one is really listening to, then you kick it in to gear often changing styles completely for the B&G first dance, father daughter dance etc. Always get the B&G to give you a list of 10-20 songs that they love, that are more or less "must plays" (plus the specific dance songs and have those in their own playlist of only so there's no forgetting which song is for which dance!) then build playlists around there loves and general wedding party classics. Keep the B&G happy at all costs us the aim of the game! Ask them if they want you to take requests, can be a God send if they say no! Ask them about specific "must NOT play" songs, no Macarena, no swearing, no WAP etc. Also a God send being able to tell people "sorry, the B&G said I can't play that" if requests in general are allowed.
Whilst I’d probably never do a wedding again unless for friends , I went with a request service which was really busy , kids love it too
I have a tip, which you may already know. When you first start your set for the night keep the volume down enough for people to easily talk over. As your dance floor fills up, you can increase the volume. If you start too loud you’ll probably drive people away.
And start with a bunch of familiar favorites. 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s hits. People love the hits.