DIY wedding music

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Some perhaps good wedding songs, for various purposes:
Leonard Bernstein, "The Dance of the Great Lover"
Neil Young, "Harvest"
The Manhattans, "Shining Star"
Loketo, "Extra Ball"
Dave Matthews Band, "#36/Everyday"

gabbneb (gabbneb), Tuesday, 18 October 2005 23:55 (eighteen years ago) link

also, allyzay: i totally volunteer for free to push whatever cd player buttons you need pushed at your wedding.

AWESOME. Are Tom and I really this charming or do you just wanna get drunk catering style twice? ;) I offer the same to you (though if you ever heard my radio show maybe you don't trust me to push buttons correctly)

We are going to have to play pretty much 18 tons of Clash and Billy Idol records to appease our crowd, I think.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 00:16 (eighteen years ago) link

DESPITE YOU, NED!

Ahem.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 00:28 (eighteen years ago) link

I gotta stick up for an old friend who is a wedding/event DJ and say, are you having this as an exercise in taste or are you trying to show people a good time? A good DJ knows what music works and how to read a crowd. They'll also listen to you when you say no chicken dance or whatever. The trick is finding them, I guess. They're way less expensive than the photographer, don't sweat it.

teeny (teeny), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 00:43 (eighteen years ago) link

whatever. program what you love to hear and as long as there is plenty of booze and you are dancing, people will dance with you.

If i ever get married (god forbid) i will play diamanda galas and miles davis's fusion years if I want to.

Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 00:49 (eighteen years ago) link

"Freeway of Love"

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 00:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Listen to songs in your living room, and if it doesn't make you want to bust a move then pass. Do play Rob Bass, though.

Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 00:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Jukebox not accepting actual $$$s but tokens

Duh, duh, duh. I sat there four hours ago trying to figure out how to circumvent putting a bowl of actual quarters on every table, and that is exactly how to do it.

You can't have it be "free" or some people would enter in their favorite song over and over. But you can't have it actually cost something. The token idea is akin to my company's Christmas party where we get drink tickets for the open bar.

(And the drunks descend onto the sober ones to scanvege their tickets, but that's another thread.)

Anyway. Here are the songs that were played at our reception:

Wild Night ... Van Morrison
Old Fashioned Love Song ... Three Dog Night
Just the Two of Us ... Bill Withers & Grover Washington, Jr.
Roseanna ... Toto
Could It Be I'm Falling in Love ... The Spinners
I Can't Tell You Why ... Eagles
True ... Spandau Ballet
A Girl Like You ... The Smithereens
Black and Brown Blues ... Silver Jews
No One Like You ... The Scorpions
Magnet and Steel ... Matthew Sweet
I Can't Help Falling In Love ... Elvis Presley
Reminiscing ... Little River Band
Cruel To Be Kind ... Letters To Cleo
For Once In My Life ... Stevie Wonder
Plateau ... Meat Puppets
More Than This ... Roxy Music
You Make My Dreams Come True ... Hall & Oates
You Are the Woman ... Firefall
Lookin' Out My Back Door ... Creedence Clearwater Revival
Thing For You ... Alex Chilton
___________________________________________________________

The One Thing ... INXS
Fade Into You ... Mazzy Star
Heavy Heart ... You Am I
You're My Best Friend ... Queen
Beyond The Sea ... Bobby Darin
I Was Made to Love Her ... Stevie Wonder
La La Love You ... Pixies
Take Me Out ... Franz Ferdinand
She's A Lady ... Tom Jones
Love And Happiness ... Al Green
She's Got A Wa ... Billy Joel
My Wife ... The Who
I Saw The Light ... Todd Rundgren
Passionate Kisses ... Mary Chapin Carpenter
The Killing Moon ... The Quake
Living on a Prayer ... Pastel Vespa
Another Night ... The Tremors
Save Tonight ... Eagle Eye Cherry
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life ... Stevie Wonder
I Can Dream About You ... Dan Hartman
Send in the Clouds ... Silver Jews

Pretty pedestrian, but like I said, we weren't kicking up a lot of dirt at the actual reception anyway. It was more or less background music as the guests drank champagne and milled about on a cold and happy January night.

Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 03:27 (eighteen years ago) link

the fucking dork who dj'd my wedding can go jump off a cliff.

bingo (Chris V), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 09:21 (eighteen years ago) link

My friend was married in august and she had specifically requested Champagne Supernova be played as her first song because it was the absolute only thing that meant something to the pair of them.

She phoned the band and told them that she didn't care what else was played - this was the most important.

So, the band came on and fucking sang Angels by Robbie Williams! Not wanting to make a fuss, they danced to it anyway, but it really took the shine off their day.

Rumpie, Wednesday, 19 October 2005 09:52 (eighteen years ago) link

teeny, I agree with you, a good DJ can do that, but "good DJ" and "wedding DJ" generally don't mesh. I mean, everyone's going to dance to something like Macarena because, well, they're drunk! But they'd rather be dancing to something they like better, and it's hard to find a DJ with taste (including non-wedding DJs these days). I mean I think you are aware I'm not the world's most tasteful music listener...It's just too much of a risk! I would trust a friend if they wanted to DJ because I have a couple friends who are excellent DJs, good at reading crowds and with big collections (plus my collection anyway), but it's like someone said upthread about wanting your friend to party instead of work...if a guest volunteered to do the duties or something, it'd be a different story but I don't wanna ask.

Allyzay knows a little German (allyzay), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:08 (eighteen years ago) link

Two and a half words, buddy: Hall and Oates

I have a feeling mookie is a good dancer...I just SENSE it somehow

:)

God Body, Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:47 (eighteen years ago) link

i defy anyone to find a better suited song than "in the aeroplane over the sea" for a wedding.

Lovelace (Lovelace), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Listen to songs in your living room, and if it doesn't make you want to bust a move then pass.

This was the principle we applied. We had about 5 mix CDs in the end and the two of us loved every single track. Didn't care overly much about anyone else, because it was our wedding and if nobody but us was dancing then so be it. We were total control freaks about the whole day I guess but why when you spend so much time planning every other detail would you let the music be decided by someone else?

As it happened everyone else liked our choices too (or was drunk enough not to care).

Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:53 (eighteen years ago) link

one of the loveliest weddings i ever went to had 'in the aeroplane over the sea' played by a solo violinst.

i have djed weddings before from cd-rs. it is a really good time! and no one has to wear a foam hat. THAT'S A GUARANTEE.

(so, if anyone needs a dj ...)

maura (maura), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:54 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.brockvillecountryclub.com/shorty/images/pink_foam_hat.jpg

maura (maura), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:54 (eighteen years ago) link

My friends got married in September and put an iPod (actually it wasn't an iPod but some other brand of mp3 player) through a mixing board and it worked great. On the other hand, at my wedding we had a DJ who was playing dismally shite music until my mum went up and told him to stop playing crap records (unprompted by me). He also made snarky remarks after playing songs off the CDR we made of songs we liked (e.g. "the Cramps? Who are they? That was reaaaally good wasn't it" - got more people dancing than fucking Elton John, mate).

Can't complain too much cos he did it for free (son of a friend of my mum's) and drove us to the hotel afterwards, but still, I know which one I'd go for with hindsight.

Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 13:58 (eighteen years ago) link

I got around the problem of wanting my friends to DJ and party by asking two people to DJ the reception. That way they could go in shifts and not get anchored to the DJ table. As it was though, they both ended up voluntarily staying behind the decks for much of the night. I brought a ton of music and they did the same and it was great.

ianinportland (ianinportland), Wednesday, 19 October 2005 14:25 (eighteen years ago) link

six months pass...
I thought about doing this too (mixes or iPod), but my first thought was "Fuck, I'm going to spend way too much time making mixes when I should be planning other things, and then I'm going to want to fiddle with the music during the reception."

Any reason not to just get a friend or some local hipster bar DJ instead?

Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 20 April 2006 02:06 (eighteen years ago) link

we're really liking that "friends in shifts" concept for ours, but feel clueless about the technical/equipment side of things. where would you get that kind of stuff?

Kim (Kim), Thursday, 20 April 2006 02:35 (eighteen years ago) link

the wedding planner that we spoke to (but did not hire) totally threw shit all over the idea, but she was unhelpful and not to be trusted.

Kim (Kim), Thursday, 20 April 2006 02:40 (eighteen years ago) link

I assume you have to at least rent a PA and that you'd need a minimum of two music apparati (two turntables or two CD players or one of each, but preferably more than this) plus a mixer. People who DJ regularly tend to already have equipment, which is one of the advantages. Plus you should consider the fact that if it's friends who don't have any DJing experience, that they might not be good at keeping things moving, making smooth transitions, etc.

Wedding planners strike me as people in the business of convincing you to spend money you don't have on things you don't want, though they should know a thing or two about potential logistical problems that you don't know.

Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Thursday, 20 April 2006 02:43 (eighteen years ago) link

one year passes...

On a self-made wedding mix (ok, a playlist) how many Prince songs is too many?

G00blar, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 12:11 (sixteen years ago) link

Should I include "slow songs"?

Will people dance to "How Deep is Your Love"?

G00blar, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 12:21 (sixteen years ago) link

I included one slow song for about every five uptempo songs. This worked out well early in the evening, but it seemed like after an hour or two, people just wanted to dance dance dance. So if you're programming your playlist in order, maybe keep the slow songs to the first half of your playlist?

I think we only had one Prince song, but it was near the end of our playlist and people kept asking "Why aren't you playing any Prince?" and eventually I skipped ahead to the Prince song so people would shut up about it.

n/a, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 12:24 (sixteen years ago) link

haha ok.

That seems smart re: slow songs early in the evening.

G00blar, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 12:30 (sixteen years ago) link

if you're programming a list in order here's my never-fail slow-dance one-two punch:

Unchained Medley >>> Wonderful Tonite

Those are basically the only two slow songs you need in the last two or three hours of dancing; play them back to back.

gr8080, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:05 (sixteen years ago) link

I am DJing a friend's wedding this weekend and have spent much more time on it than I expected. Some of the songs they wanted me to play I had to search out and download, and now they're having me make two back-ups: a second iPod and then all of the songs on audio CDs.

I am a little torn as to whether I want to actually "play DJ" -- i.e., pick and choose on the fly among the 150 or so songs I have in a playlist on my iPod -- or just sequence a mix beforehand. The former would be more fun, I think, but the couple is so particular about what they want played that it's not like I'm going to be suddenly wowing the crowd with something unexpectedly awesome. Plus, my girlfriend wants to dance with me without me having to rush over to the stereo after three minutes to cue up the next song.

jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:17 (sixteen years ago) link

Also, I have learned two things from having informally done this in the past: a) you can never have too many Prince songs and b) you need to have "Livin' on a Prayer" or else drunk guys will yell at you.

jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:19 (sixteen years ago) link

are you getting paid?

gr8080, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:20 (sixteen years ago) link

No.

jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:22 (sixteen years ago) link

Processional: "Isis" -- violin, guitar, drum instrumental
Recessional: hand yanked bells
Cocktail hour/Dinner: ipod shuffle of 1950s rnr n lee perry tunes
First Dance: "Sea of Love" -- percy vers for the heads
Father Daughter Dance: "I Wonder Why" -- Dion/belmonts
Bouquet Toss: "Edge of 17"
Garter Toss: "Pour Some Sugar On Me"
Last Dance: detroit techno banger with fireworks
--we had our pals tag team Djs with equpiment borrow from all over the country, but then again our pals are all superhuman .... NOTE:
All above worked like gangBUSTERS!!!, (except 50s music alienated no-kids baby boomer contingent to a degree)

sexyDancer, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:23 (sixteen years ago) link

then just do the playlist and dance with your GF.

XP

gr8080, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:24 (sixteen years ago) link

Bouquet Toss: "Edge of 17"

Mikey/Freddie used to play that at Plant bar, once that was the only record he brough, and he played it over and over again.

dan selzer, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:35 (sixteen years ago) link

oops actually reverse that:
Bouquet Toss: "Pour Some Sugar On Me"
Garter Toss: "Edge of 17"
...this union thing gets confusing
(sounds like she's singin who who who)

sexyDancer, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:39 (sixteen years ago) link

I've dj'd 3 friends weddings in the last year, each time with a large set of CDs called "the ultimate wedding songs according to Dan" and I will be selling it soon on late night TV via Ronco.

I will say selecting songs on the fly is pretty important, less about wowing and more about adjusting to the crowd. If nobody's dancing then the mix goes into some 80s hip-hop staple or something and everyone's dancing, it'd probably be smart to play a few more songs like that and not just let the mix move onto whatever genre is next.

The most recent wedding I did was for good friends who were serious indie-rockers, so I was nervous. I know I've seen people DJ stuff like that before, but it's not my forte. But I pulled out some alternative dance classics and mixed it up with my usual stuff (disco, new wave, mostly).

Suprising and effective segways:

Violent Femmes-Blister in the Sun followed by Neil Diamond's Cherry Cherry
Outkast's Hey Ya followed by Iggy Pop's Lust for Life
The Humpty Dance followed by Cannonball by the Breeders.

These aren't the kinds of segways I normally would put in a set, but I was trying to please many folk. Generally I think you want to make all these groups happy...the really old people, the parents, the drunk cousins, the close friends etc etc. I found I was able to move between lots of different genres and as always rely on certain key transition songs to help move between disco and rock or whatever else.

Basically I opened with the oldies following the dance with the parents, Build Me Up Buttercup, some Motown or Stevie, then move into a more 70s old-school vibe into disco then using something like Blondie's Heart of Glass or Bowie or Queen Another One Bites the Dust to go into a some 80s and New Wave, staring with disco-y/clubby New Wave like New Order then moving into the Cure Just Like Heaven for a bit of an alternative set and so on...and from 80s stuff Madonna or Prince can take you back to more clubby/old-school stuff. Maybe later when I have my CDs out I'll list the most effective tracks. Anyway this all depends on the kind of wedding and kind of crowd, I think if I was at a wedding that expected or required Living on a Prayer, I wouldn't want to be djing.

And I still don't know what the Cha Cha Slide is.

dan selzer, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:47 (sixteen years ago) link

Violent Femmes-Blister in the Sun followed by Neil Diamond's Cherry Cherry

I'll remember that. Both are on the playlist. (As are "Hey Ya" and "Cannonball" but not "Lust for Life" and "The Humpty Dance.")

jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:54 (sixteen years ago) link

And you're absolutely right about adjusting to the crowd.

jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:54 (sixteen years ago) link

which is why ipods are good for "mood music" but not so much for serious dancing.

sexyDancer, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 20:57 (sixteen years ago) link

this is the playlist i ended up putting together (on a laptop, with another as backup). we'd told people to suggest songs on the invitation, so some are requests. number 1 was kinda my standing-around-waiting music, number 2 was her entrance music, number 3 was the after-kiss music, the next bunch was supposed to be for cocktails, the bunch after that for dinner, number 53 was the "first dance" and then the rest was for dancing. not everything got played, if i was nearby i would sometimes bump it--i kind of wish i'd been available to actually dj, but then i was too busy having a really good time.

1. Yo La Tengo - Big Day Coming (7:05)
2. Jon Brion - Phone Call (1:03)
3. Superchunk - Throwing Things (3:26)

4. Death Cab for Cutie - A Movie Script Ending (4:19)
5. Edith Frost - Cars and Parties (3:24)
6. The Pogues - Gridlock (3:33)
7. The Black Crowes - Remedy (5:12)
8. Aimee Mann - Save Me (4:35)
9. Beastie Boys - In 3's (2:19)
10. Calexico - Sunken Waltz (2:27)
11. Afghan Whigs - 66 (3:23)
12. Elliott Smith - Thirteen (demo) (2:48)
13. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (4:25)
14. Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde (4:42)
15. Los Lobos - Saint Behind the Glass (3:17)
16. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize?? (3:32)
17. Ray Charles - What'd I Say (4:30)
18. The Dismemberment Plan - A Life of Possibilities (4:34)
19. Stars - Look Up (4:18)
20. Luna - Sideshow by the Seashore (3:08)
21. The Notwist - One With the Freaks (4:02)
22. Beth Orton - Stolen Car (35:04)
23. Nico - These Days (3:33)
24. Bloc Party - So Here We Are (3:53)
25. Chavez - Unreal is Here (2:12)
26. Yo La Tengo - My Little Corner of the World (2:25)
27. Ted Leo/Pharmacists - Me and Mia (3:31)
28. Low - California (3:26)
29. Matthew Sweet - I've Been Waiting (3:36)
30. Pretenders - Brass in Pocket (3:03)
31. The Karminsky Experience Inc. - Exploration (5:35)
32. James - Laid (2:38)

33. The Shins - New Slang (3:51)
34. Cannonball Adderley - Work Song (5:07)
35. The Andrews Sisters - I Can Dream, Can't I? (2:37)
36. The Beatles - Here, There and Everywhere (2:25)
37. Combustible Edison - The Millionaire's Holiday (2:15)
38. Milton Nascimento, Lô Borges e Márcio Borges - Clube da Esquina No. 2 (3:38)
39. Bebel Gilberto - Sem Contenção (3:10)
40. Damien Jurado - Never Ending Tide (4:44)
41. Bobby Timmons - Moanin' (5:08)
42. Yo La Tengo - A Worrying Thing (2:54)
43. Dusty Springfield - The Look of Love (4:08)
44. Stan Getz & João Gilberto - Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) (45 Version) (2:20)
45. John Coltrane - Nancy (With the Laughing Face) (3:10)
46. Cannonball Adderley - Sticks (3:54)
47. B.B. King - Sweet Little Angel (4:09)
48. Yo La Tengo - Pablo and Andrea (4:16)
49. Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey (6:56)
50. Grandaddy - The Warming Sun (5:43)
51. The Allman Brothers Band - Stormy Monday (8:48)
52. Lemon Jelly - The Staunton Lick (5:22)

53. Sarah Vaughan - Polka Dots and Moonbeams (2:36)

54. 1979 Super Steelers (2:32)

55. Prince & the Revolution - Let's Go Crazy (4:39)
56. Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours (2:48)
57. Sister Sledge - We Are Family (edit) (3:18)
58. Chic - Le Freak (3:35)
59. Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (4:49)
60. Barry White - You're the First, the Last, My Everything (4:35)
61. The Pogues - Fairytale of New York (4:35)
62. The Smashing Pumpkins - Luna (3:20)
63. The Go-Go's - We Got the Beat (2:33)
64. Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf (3:25)
65. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - I Love Rock N' Roll (2:55)
66. Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me (3:36)
67. The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men (3:31)
68. The B-52's - Rock Lobster (4:54)
69. The Commodores - Easy (4:14)
70. Feist - Now at Last (3:15)
71. Beck - Debra (5:37)
72. Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man (2:29)
73. Rick James - Super Freak (3:25)
74. Greyboy - Got to Be a Love (3:27)
75. Kool & the Gang - Get Down On It (3:33)
76. Neko Case - Pretty Girls (3:25)
77. Tom Waits - Little Trip to Heaven (On the Wings of Your Love) (3:38)
78. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head (3:50)
79. Beastie Boys - Sabotage (2:58)
80. Archers of Loaf - Web in Front (2:04)
81. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger (4:21)
82. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun (2:24)
83. R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix) (3:03)
84. Kelis - Milkshake (3:06)
85. Outkast - Hey Ya! (3:48)
86. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (3:57)
87. Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure (3:42)
88. Prince - 1999 (edit) (3:37)
89. The Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed (2:45)
90. The Knack - My Sharona (4:56)
91. Soft Cell - Tainted Love (2:41)
92. The Smiths - This Charming Man (2:42)
93. The Clash - Train in Vain (3:13)
94. New Order - Regret (4:08)
95. Blondie - Call Me (3:29)
96. Ohio Players - Love Rollercoaster (4:46)
97. Wyclef Jean - Gone Till November (3:16)
98. Nellie McKay - I Wanna Get Married (4:01)
99. Peggy Lee - Bye Bye Blackbird (3:03)

mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 21:26 (sixteen years ago) link

awesome!!!

Curt1s is coming to Zwinktopia !, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 21:28 (sixteen years ago) link

number 2 was her entrance music

Aw.

jaymc, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 21:29 (sixteen years ago) link

thanks!

mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 21:36 (sixteen years ago) link

82. Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun (2:24)
83. R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix) (3:03)
84. Kelis - Milkshake (3:06)
85. Outkast - Hey Ya! (3:48)
86. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (3:57)
87. Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure (3:42)
88. Prince - 1999 (edit) (3:37)

*standing, applauding*

a) you can never have too many Prince songs and b) you need to have "Livin' on a Prayer" or else drunk guys will yell at you.

a) Thank you, this affirms what I was leaning towards (i.e., pretty much all of the greatest hits).
b) Way ahead of you--I'm from New Jersey, and thus, there will be a number of NJ fellas attending who will demand this song.

G00blar, Wednesday, 12 September 2007 22:37 (sixteen years ago) link

Our external hard drive crashed pretty soon after the wedding so I lost our playlist. ;_; I made a copy for my sister before it died but I doubt she is willing to go through and type up a list of every single song on the cd.

n/a, Thursday, 13 September 2007 12:38 (sixteen years ago) link

have her drag it into winamp and export an html file of the playlist

mookieproof, Thursday, 13 September 2007 20:22 (sixteen years ago) link

3. Superchunk - Throwing Things (3:26)

number 3 was the after-kiss music

<3^^^^^

Dear Mookie:

I kind of love you.

Love

Mr. Que

Mr. Que, Thursday, 13 September 2007 20:26 (sixteen years ago) link

awwww.

it was the no pocky version, too, not the acoustic.

mookieproof, Thursday, 13 September 2007 20:44 (sixteen years ago) link

I'm thinking of renaming my mp3 of "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" something else, like "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" or "Groove is in the Heart", so whoever is manning the iPod can't foil my plans.

G00blar, Thursday, 13 September 2007 21:05 (sixteen years ago) link

ten months pass...

We also included the "Please select two songs for the reception" form in our invitations and with a few executive editorial decisions came up with this playlist - it went over well and accommodated all the parents, relatives, friends, coworkers, and drone rockers in the audience ranging from age 14 to 92.

Aside #1: There was another differently-ordered playlist set aside if there was going to be a big dancing crowd, but as it turned out most people were into socializing, chowing down on food/drink, and maybe dancing on occasion. I had way more music set aside than what was actually used, but all turned out well

Standing-around-waiting music was provided by a fellow band member who played backgroundy ambient stuff on electric guitar where he switched to an instrumental "God Only Knows" for us to walk down the aisle together. After the "ladies and gentlemen, may we present Mr. & Mrs..." the Beach Boys' version kicked in. We didn't do a first dance per se, but the first song on for us was Spiritualized's "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" (the full "Elvis ending" version)

In the end, the playlist was:

The Beach Boys - "God Only Knows"
Spiritualized - "Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Elvis Mix)"
Harry Connick Jr. - "It Had To Be You"
Django Reinhardt - "All Of Me"
Frank Sinatra - "I Get A Kick Out Of You"
Etta James - "At Last"
Diana Krall - "I've Got You Under My Skin"
Tom Waits - "Little Trip To Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love)"
Frank Sinatra - "I Could Write A Book"
K.D. Lang & Tony Bennett - "Dream A Little Dream Of Me"
Billie Holiday - "The Way You Look Tonight"
James Carr - "Young Lovers"
Al Green - "Let's Stay Together"
Count Basie And His Orchestra / Frank Sinatra - "The Best Is Yet To Come"
Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto - "The Girl From Ipanema"
Jane Birkin - "69 Année Érotique (en duo avec Gainsbourg)"
Françoise Hardy - "Ce petit coeur"
The Beatles - "In My Life"
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - "Stick With Me Baby"
Stevie Wonder - "Ribbon In The Sky"
John Lee Hooker - "Dimples"
Frank Sinatra - "Always"
Ingrid Michaelson - "The Way I Am"
Jonathan Richman - "I Took A Chance On Her"
Vashti Bunyan - "Some Things Just Stick In Your Mind"
Roxy Music - "Take A Chance With Me"
Lush - "Sweetness And Light"
Ivy - "Edge Of The Ocean"
The Verve - "Space And Time"
Mazzy Star - "Fade Into You"
Ed Kuepper - "I'm With You"
The Jesus And Mary Chain - "My Girl"
Survivor - "The Search Is Over"
The Beatles - "Here There And Everywhere"
The Electric Prunes - "I Happen To Love You"
The Kinks - "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy"
Snow Patrol - "Chasing Cars"
The Call - "Like You Never Been Loved"
Maria McKee - "You Gotta Sin To Get Saved"
Little Heroes - "One Perfect Day"
Emmylou Harris - "(You Never Can Tell) C'est La Vie"
The Spinanes - "Sunday"
Love - "You I'll Be Following"
Tindersticks - "A Marriage Made In Heaven"
The Association - "Cherish"
Weezer - "Island In The Sun"
Brian Eno - "I'll Come Running"
The Lovetones - "Inside A Dream"
Goo Goo Dolls - "Give A Little Bit"
Lush - "For Love"
Aretha Franklin - "Respect"
The Drifters - "Save The Last Dance For Me"
Roy Orbison - "Oh, Pretty Woman"
Hope - "Who Am I To Say"
Manic Street Preachers - "Everything Must Go"
Tapes n Tapes - "Crazy Eights"
The Proclaimers - "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
Sarah Vaughan - "Ain't Misbehavin'"
Edwin Starr - "25 Miles"
The Four Tops - "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)"
Spectrum - "How You Satisfy Me"
Talking Heads - "Take Me To The River"
Blondie - "Dreaming"
Katrina And The Waves - "Walking On Sunshine"
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - "Falling Slowly"
Bob Seger - "Old Time Rock & Roll"
The Rolling Stones - "Happy"
Outkast - "Hey Ya!"
Ryan Adams - "Wonderwall"
Madonna - "Holiday"
Sister Sledge - "We Are Family"
Kool And The Gang - "Get Down On It"
Percy Sledge - "When A Man Loves A Woman"
James Brown - "I Got You (I Feel Good)"
Modern English - "I Melt With You"
The Pussycat Dolls - "Don't Cha"
No Doubt - "Underneath It All"
Julieta Venegas - "Limon y Sal"
Weddings Parties Anything - "Knockbacks In Halifax"
Persephone's Bees - "Paper Plane"
Smoking Popes - "Need You Around"
Doris Day - "A Bushel And A Peck"

Elvis Telecom, Monday, 28 July 2008 01:33 (fifteen years ago) link

i think someday, with the benefit of perspective, he will look back and be thankful that he spent his reception with his new bride instead of playing drums with his pals.

call all destroyer, Friday, 15 April 2022 14:22 (two years ago) link

for our wedding we had extensive convos with our DJ about what we wanted him to play during the dancing portion, and what we wanted him to *not* play (equally crucial imho). we made sure to include in the former category stuff that we remembered dancing to w/ our friends who were attending, stuff we both personally liked and wanted to dance to, and a couple of “classic” songs for the scant number of boomer-aged ppl in attendance. ironically, after all was said and done i can name maybe four or five songs that i remember dancing to that night because it was all such a blur (and not even a drunken one! i had maybe three drinks that whole day).

donna rouge, Friday, 15 April 2022 14:23 (two years ago) link

last wedding i DJed the couple gave me a curated playlist to work off of which was like 75% 2000s NY hipster dance stuff that the couple was obviously nostalgic for and 25% 21st century stuff like Miley & Kelly Clarkson which arent ABBA but certainly still feel like standard meat & potatoes type wedding jams. i tried my best to split the difference but pretty quickly found myself caught in the "who do i please" conundrum as aunts & uncles were vocally annoyed with anything from the hipster column & dgaf about the fact that these were the couples favorite songs that they asked to hear. i deferred to the couple bc they were having the time of their lives & it was worth it for the moment near the end of the night when the bride dragged her grandma out onto the dancefloor and asked me to play Lightning Bolt and they both headbanged together

nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 15 April 2022 14:46 (two years ago) link

honestly need a full map wedding mix (even if it didn't precisely happen that way)

― mookieproof, Friday, April 15, 2022 2:55 AM (thirteen hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

honey child every mix i do is a wedding mix

the cat needs to start paying for its own cbd (map), Friday, 15 April 2022 15:17 (two years ago) link

i'm going to be that guy for a second on this thread and say weddings are weird and overblown and maybe not entirely congruent with the spirit of love. but my baby has good health insurance now which was tbqfh the most important part of doing it.

the cat needs to start paying for its own cbd (map), Friday, 15 April 2022 15:22 (two years ago) link

i was such a dumbass during my wedding that i ended up djing my own wedding because the guy who was going to do it was too wasted. prince had just died so i played a bunch of that in a row, with extensive outros that left people shuffling around while making fun of me. it was a great time

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 15:34 (two years ago) link

please tell me you dropped “Automatic”

assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 15 April 2022 16:24 (two years ago) link

i still have my playlists in itunes! this is how things kicked off

https://i.imgur.com/gnUQlAB.png

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 16:33 (two years ago) link

honestly i would have been happiest with a complete purple rain LP listen party, but compromises were made.

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 16:35 (two years ago) link

anyway, going back to the thread, sorta, i think most of my friends were happy to dance to a bunch of prince songs in a row. not because we used to do that together - i'm not much of a dancer and hadn't really danced with friends on a regular basis since my early 20s - and not because prince is awesome - although obviously that - but because it was me and my partner's night, and we were very happy to be dancing to prince and hoped that they would be too. i don't know. maybe i'm alone in that, but if i go to a friend's wedding and he's super into ben folds five, then for that night i am going to channel my BFF fan days and hope that they play a deep cut from whatever and ever amen

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 16:38 (two years ago) link

I'm currently planning on doing this for my own wedding (DIY DJing from my own playlist(s)) so this thread has been useful food for thought. Unfortunately, I lost the argument that our first dance should be to "Feel U Up" by Prince and we are instead opting for the more palatable "I Only Have Eyes for You" by the Flamingos so I will definitely goose the playlist with loads of Prince, including "Feel U Up" somewhere deeper in the mix.

Judi Dench's Human Hand (methanietanner), Friday, 15 April 2022 16:53 (two years ago) link

My husband and I made our own playlists and got my cousin to be in charge of switching as needed. We had time period playlists ie before dinner, during, first few hours after, “people are drunk now” and for the most part the decades went in line as well- 40s and 50s stuff before, 60s during dinner, start dancing with the 70sish. We kicked the dancing time off with Rockin’ Robin and made sure to have Crazy in Love. Around midnight, I sequenced a rick roll to cut off California Love. Ben Folds loving husband had our first dance be to The Luckiest. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We did have song requests on our invites so everyone had a small say. Even our friend who always requested NIN’s Closer.

Best laugh to me was us using Then He Kissed Me/Then I Kissed Her back to back for garter and bouquet toss. Whichever was second, someone rushed up to me concerned that the song was starting again.

she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 15 April 2022 17:11 (two years ago) link

Ben Folds loving husband had our first dance be to The Luckiest. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i would be crying my eyes out in the audience. i'm such a sucker for stuff like that <3

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 17:17 (two years ago) link

It was kinda sweet, except for the bit where the old man watches the kid bike past! Heh

she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Friday, 15 April 2022 17:23 (two years ago) link

lol

What if I'd been born 50 years before you
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

yeah, that is a very odd sentiment from mr folds there! because at first you think, well this could be a grown person riding on a bike, there's nothing inherently - and then you remember "50 years before you", so the best case scenario is that you're born 50 years before a...40 year old, so you're 90, and you're watching her bike and thinking "could that have been the one for me?"

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 17:28 (two years ago) link

was Howard Marshall II the luckiest?

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 17:31 (two years ago) link

Re: the weddings are weird comments - yeah I think weddings are pretty weird, especially at my age. Maybe everybody goes through this, but a ton of my friends, including myself, got married within a span of three or four years. It started with "whoa you're getting MARRIED? That seems so SERIOUS!" to "I've been to so many fucking weddings and I'm spending all of my money on plane flights from California to the East Coast" that I kind of never got into them on an sentimental level. Even my own was almost more of an excuse to throw a super elaborate party. Like, it felt great to get married, but it wasn't overly emotional. Probably because it smack in the middle of the Great Wedding Onslaught. People flew to that shit from overseas. I feel guilty about it now if I think about it.

Anyway, this wedding I'm involved in next week... I love the bride and groom so much so I'm mainly just so happy that they are so happy. They do seem pretty lovey-dovey about all of it and it's pretty wonderful. I wish I could feel that way!

Karl I Wanna Be Your Lover is one of the first tracks on my "off the hook" list! We'll see what happens.

Holy crap, Lightning Bolt at a wedding!? I was just concerned about playing Buffalo Stance.

SA, Friday, 15 April 2022 18:14 (two years ago) link

xposts methanietanner

one piece of advice i got and was too lazy to heed was to give the playlist a quick check to see if there are any with extended outros, silence, strange codas, etc. it didn't end up being too big of a deal at my own - there were definitely a couple times where there was an awkward extended song, and i'd just walk over to the computer/mixer and say whoops! and hit fast forward. but if i would have listened to that ahead of time i probably would have been more prepared, and probably gone to the trouble of doing quick edits of certain tracks to fade them out early or cut at a certain length

Karl Malone, Friday, 15 April 2022 19:19 (two years ago) link


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