Our guide to choosing music for your event

Your choice of music

Some Mobile DJs prefer to control the majority of the playlist and supplement their choices with a small handful of your specific requests. Other Mobile DJs prefer to let the client choose the majority of the music, and then use their expertise to make it all work. The right DJ should be accommodating of your music tastes, and you should feel comfortable with the DJ’s approach and the amount of involvement you’ll be able to have in choosing the music. We see this as entirely your choice because, quite simply, it’s your party. So, whether you pick the music, we pick the music, or we meet somewhere in the middle, it’s entirely up to you.

We have put the following guide together to assist you in your music selections which we hope you find of use.

Mix it up a bit

The key to sustained success when selecting the music is variation, and this all comes down to your crowd. Are the guests at your event going to be a mixture of ages, from different eras of music? Are they likely to be dancing all night, or only once they’ve had a few drinks? By providing a diverse choice of music to your DJ, it gives them licence to use their experience to play the crowd, whilst keeping everyone interested throughout the event. It’s almost impossible to keep everyone happy all of the time, but as an event can span a number of hours, there’s plenty of time for everyone there to enjoy themselves. Remember, it’s never good to peak too early!

Think about the party

It sounds like an obvious one, but think about the reaction a dancefloor may have to your request. Whilst a particular song may be close to your heart, if nobody else knows it, is it really worth sharing to your guests in this environment? Our DJs will know which songs are suitable and which are not, but will understand that certain requests may be of real significance, so will always look to accomodate where possible.

Trust your DJ

Our DJs have vast experience, an exceptional knowledge of music and a huge collection from which to choose. We’ve been doing this for long enough to know what works and what doesn’t, but appreciate that every crowd is different in their own way, so what may work for one crowd may not work for another. The request list you provide the DJ is the first opportunity they have to read your crowd. Should the request list not be working, the DJ will typically use his experience to change the music to something that will work, but then look to go back to your requests if possible. Sometimes the dancefloor needs a kickstart! When choosing your list, please keep in mind that the party you’ve visualised in your head may not be the same as it pans out in reality, so offer different directions to the DJ. Not many are required, just enough to let the DJ know that, for example, some people in the crowd might prefer something like some 80’s pop classics, rather than modern chart hits.

Some genres to consider

We could quite easily reel off some of the guaranteed dancefloor hits from over the years, some obvious, some not so, but we would prefer the list to be personal to you and your crowd. What we would like to do though is ask you to consider lots of different genres. Don’t just think decades, also think about soul, R&B, pop, rock, disco, electronic music, rock, indie, sing-a-longs, dance-offs, etc, to name just a few. Don’t come up with a list for the story of your life, come up with a list for the party of your life!

The first dance at a wedding

Some brides and grooms really relish the thought of the first dance. They have had a special song in mind since the beginning and look forward to sharing it with their family and friends. Others (usually the ones with two left feet) dread this part of the day and will do anything to avoid it, or at the very least get it over with as quickly as possible!

For the first dance lovers out there our advice would be to go for it. This is the first day of the rest of your lives together, so the bigger spectacle the better, and you can include confetti cannons, choreographed dance routines, father and daughter dances, mother and son dances, even surprise street dance routines, either on your own or rope the in-laws and bridal party in. Just make sure someone is on hand to capture all the first dance shenanigans on film!

For the first dance haters, remember, you don’t actually have to do it. There is no law that you have to have a first dance on your wedding day. If you do have a special song that you would like to include then you can play it at another point in the day, such as during the signing of the register, the arrival drinks or during the wedding breakfast. If you really feel like you should have one then speak to your DJ to see if they can do a shorter version, ask your friends and family to join you half way through, or you can have it later or even at the end of the night when you’ve loosened up a bit. Remember, it’s your big day and there are no rules other than you have to have a good time, so do what makes you both happy!

If you are having a first dance but are struggling with which song to choose, the below list of the most popular first dance songs of this year so far may be of use:

Or, if you’re after something a bit more timeless, maybe the following might spark an idea or memory:

Whatever you have in mind, please speak to us about it. We may be able to edit part of a song for you to suit your requirements.