As a DJ who plays both clubs and the mobile circuit, I have done many weddings over the 24 years I have been working. Some at very small venues and some at some rather more upmarket events, but one question always remains the same…
What to play before the food?
You may think this is easy, after all no-one is going to dance because:
a) They are all coming in at different times and talking to friends
b) The first dance hasn’t happened yet
c) The dancefloor is normally full of kids doing knee slides or just standing there
or (and this is the most likely one)
d) They are not drunk enough to yet
Normally, we DJ’s have to get there at 7pm yet often the food isn’t until half past 8 or 9pm which results in having to fill 90 minutes, but what with? Do you go for stuff that is background such as Michael Buble, Sammy Davis Jr or Elton John where people can listen and tap along to while talking to family and friends, or do you go for pop like Take That or Lionel Richie where some people may get up and dance.
I generally speak to the bride and groom beforehand and try to give an outline of the night which I find helps as things can frequently change on the day regardless of the planning. I usually indicate that the music will be “background” until the buffet and most of the time this is ok with them. Occasionally you will get guests coming up asking for more upbeat music but I tend to explain why it is and take their requests for later.
I find that the Mastermix Grandmaster series comes in useful as they are a good CD’s to put on and leave running for twenty minutes at a time then change over so you don’t use tracks that you might play later. It also means that you aren’t changing records every 4 minutes. You can use the “Year” series (2007 Part One is a particular favourite one of mine) or genre specific ones like Northern Soul or New Jack Swing as they are both light and still provide music for people to nod their heads to.
Sometimes you have to play music for people to dance to but I have a policy of not playing the same record twice in a night (unless it’s the B&G’s request) so in that case I tend to keep away from the normal “party floorfillers” (Abba, Shania, Billy Ocean, etc) and keep it on the pop scene to save the others till later. Nothing worse than throwing Dancing Queen away to an empty dancefloor!
Dave Evans
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Hi Dave,
Good article. My line is up to buffet time, I use GM Goodgroovin 1 and / or 2 and a bit of 5. Also, depending on how long I need or the sort of night it is, I also use GM Power Ballads, GM Pop 1 or GM 00’s. A bit of handy preselections and hot starts with the CD player allows me to take out certain songs. I mean, how can I play “Somebody else’s guy” at a wedding!!
If there are loads of kids in, a bit of High School Musical, especially if they are girls, goes down really well.
I use the Mastermix Wedding disc during the buffet and if I need a bit more, select a mix from somewhere depending on what I thing will go best. With half an eye on kick-off, I try to lean towards chart stuff,especially if there are kids around.
Its been a long time since Sax or Piano moods were used or even before that Klaus Wunderlicht or James LAst albums whirring round on the turntables!!
And talking of Dancing Queen to an empty dancefloor, I had exactly that at around 11pm a while back!! Just wanted to go home there and then, so you can imagine what the next 2 hours were like!
Matthew Western