Music-By-Mitch DJ Productions

I found this article about unusual wedding song requests and found it to be good reading. Myself, my favorite is when a couple would request “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston or Dolly Parton for their first dance song not knowing it is a song about breaking up. Anyway, enjoy!

The Most Unusual Wedding Song Requests
by Marta Segal Block, Editorial Director, GigMasters.com, published April 25, 2012

The first dance at my wedding was Stephen Foster’s “Sewanee River,” played by a Klezmer band. It sounds unusual, but it had a simple explanation. When we were first dating my husband and I stumbled across an outdoor concert, they were playing “Sewanee River” and we jokingly started to dance. It was the first time we ever danced together, so “Sewanee River” became “our song.”

Less easy to explain is the couple who wanted to walk down the aisle to Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” Chicago-based bandleader Matt Stedman never did get an explanation for that one. Nor did he ever know why a couple wanted Hank Williams Jr.’s ” Family Tradition” as a first dance song. The title sounds promising for a wedding, but the lyrics — about getting stoned and drinking yourself to death — are a little less than wedding appropriate.

Of course, those lyrics aren’t quite as inappropriate as the bride and groom who asked bandleader Tim Adkins of the Michigan-based band, Trilogy, to play “You’ve Lost that Loving Feeling” as a bridal party entrance song, or the couple that asked guitarist Tego Burke to play “Who’s Sorry Now.” Those requests make the one Zane Wooten of Tennessee’s Sound Drivers got for Jimmy Buffett’s “Let’s Get Drunk and Screw” seem almost… appropriate.

For many wedding songs, appropriate and inappropriate are definitely in the eye of the beholder. In GigMasters’ surveys of brides and grooms and wedding entertainers, two of the songs that most commonly show up on the Do Not Play List, “The Chicken Dance” and “Electric Slide,” just as commonly show up on the Must Play List.

Then of course there are the songs that get played over and over again at weddings, regardless of how inappropriate they are. You’ve probably danced to “I Will Survive” at so many weddings you know longer think about the implications for the couple getting married. “I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll” is a wedding favorite, but news flash, “rock and roll” is a euphemism here. Have you ever cried to a mother/son or father/daughter dance to “Wind Beneath My Wings?” Then you probably haven’t really listened to the amazingly self-obsessed lyrics. Just try asking your own father if it’s “cold out there in my shadow” and see if he doesn’t ground you.

Some of the most unusual song requests can also be the most touching. New York guitarist Jason Liebman remembers a bride named Abbey Marie. When she was little, Abbey Marie’s dad used to sing the “Mickey Mouse Club” theme song (M-I-C- K-E-Y ..) only spelling her name. For her father/daughter dance, Abbey Marie asked Jason to surprise her father by playing the song and singing it the way her father used to. Jason did so, but Abbey Marie and her father became so emotional that they spent the whole song standing and crying instead of dancing.

Sometimes it’s not the song that’s unusual, it’s the reason behind it. Whether it goes in the “appropriate” or “inappropriate” category, DJ David Pellot of New Jersey’s SoundBar Entertainment frequently plays The Weather Girls’ “It’s Raining Men” at wedding receptions. But, the most memorable time he played it was for a bride whose aunt had recently died. The aunt always made a big deal about dancing to the song at family events. David was asked to play the song as a way of letting the family celebrate the aunt’s life and including her in the wedding.

Like music, weddings mean different things to different people. Ultimately, when you choose the playlist for your wedding, what someone else thinks is appropriate or inappropriate, unusual or normal, doesn’t matter. Choose songs that work for you. Although really, try and listen to the lyrics first!

Aw, the wonder of technology make things possible we would have never thought of many years ago. My most recent wedding reception had a great example that I would love to share.

The bride was from The Philippines, however, due to travel logistics, her parents could not make the trip to the United States to be part of the wedding in person. So the groom’s family came up with an idea to help them be a part of the celebration even though there would be 15 hours of time difference and over 8500 miles between them.

They hooked up using Skype, a program that uses internet to make calls and video-calls. The groom’s family took the call on their i-pad so they could move around at will. Someone would carry the i-pad around so the bride’s family could watch the reception as it happened. They could also talk to their daughter as well. While I was a bit of a distance away, I could easily see the joy on her family’s faces as they saw the reception in progress.

Many years ago, this would not have been possible. It was a pleasure to see this unfold.

Any DJ who has done a middle school dance knows how kids between the ages of 12-14 can act at dances, especially when they request music. Usually, they will come at you in packs or in rapid fire succession. Sometimes you can remember what they request, sometimes you can not.

For the past year, I have worked all the dances at a middle school in a school district near Houston. At the most recent dance, the sponsor of the dance and I came up with an idea. How about if the kids can request music online via my website beforehand with the understanding that they will not be able to approach my booth during the dance. I currently use a function that is part of the software I use for bookings which allows guests to request music, why not use it?

Well, it went great. The kids responded well, they made nearly 200 requests for music. Of course, I could only play about 40 songs in the 2-1/2-hour dance but the kids seem to love it. If you are a DJ and do middle school dances, I would recommend this.

What did I use? Well, I have an account with DJ Intelligence and used their Guest Request function. You can check out a test version here

Have fun!

How many songs can I play during an event? The thing to consider is that there is only so much time and only so many songs that can be played within a four-hour event. Curious about that, I did look it up and found out that the average song is 3 minutes and 30 seconds long. That means that in one hour roughly 17 songs can be played. In a four-hour event, that means roughly 68 songs. Now, go and make a list of songs you would like to have played. You would be amazed how quick you will make a list of 68 songs. Of course, every event will have interruptions and stoppages. Nonetheless, when making a request, request away but consider that only about 17 songs can be played per hour.

One of the things that one has to learn when they are a DJ, especially for weddings, is that they need to be flexible and “go with the flow”. That became very evident to me this past weekend.

For those of you who do not know, the state of Texas is in the throes of a major drought and has not had any significant rain for quite some time. Especially in the Houston area. Well, the Good Lord decided to answer the prayers and asked Mother Nature to dump some rain in the area over the weekend. A lot of rain.

The initial plan for the wedding I worked this past weekend called for an outdoor ceremony to be held at a gazebo with the reception being inside in the reception hall. However, because of the torrential downpour that was going on, the outdoor ceremony was cancelled.

The first option was the facility’s on-site chapel where the ceremony could have been held. However, this would have required the guests to walk some 100 yards afterwards to the reception hall in the midst of a downpour. Not really a good option.

So it was decided to have the ceremony take place in the reception hall. The problem was that the stage where I would be set up would serve as the altar and that I was already in the midst of setting up my primary system.

At first, I was not thrilled about the prospects of having to break down my system. It takes about one hour to set up, however, I had not really started to connect any cables yet.

I just simply moved, with the help of a couple of the groomsman, my table with some of my system already in place to an out-of-the-way corner, pre-setup what I could, and then prepared my smaller ceremony system. The groom did understand that there would not be any music played during pictures or during the initial part. That was fine with him. He would explain to his bride.

The ceremony went off great and then, when the pictures were done, the same two groomsmen moved my table to the stage. Within 30 minutes, I was set-up and playing music. The reception went great. I also did a very nice tip from the groom as a token of his appreciation and I will also know what to do for the next time something like this happens. I am happy it all worked out in the end.

I am going to be your DJ for your event and you have access to the music request page. You like to make your requests. So here you go, you make your requests. You will find that some of your requests do not get played and you wonder why. Myself, I once did an event where I got a request list that was 150 songs long. That does not sound like much but it is a lot. Please allow me to explain.

The average song is between three and four minutes. Some are shorter, some are longer but I think that is a good average. That means that I can play 15-20 songs per hour.

The average event I do is four hours. That means I will play between 60 ad 80 songs per event. Now start trying to put together of list of songs you have enjoyed through the years. You will find that it will not be long until you have entered 80 songs.

So now you are stuck. You wonder what songs to request and what not to request. You now have any idea of the delemma that is often faced by your favorite band when they are selecting a song list for their set.

If there is one thing I would like to stress to you when you make a request list is that think about the following three things:

1. Your list should contain songs that you absolutely want me to play. (Must play); I recommend limiting this to 20-25 songs. Just think of the songs you know that you want to hear. Just make sure that these requests will help liven the party, not kill it.
2. The list should contain enough requests to give me an idea of what you want for your music. (Play if possible); This could also be 20-25 songs as it will also give me some wiggle room to add similar songs.
3. The list should contain any songs that you DO NOT want played under any circumstances. (Don’t play); I would limit this to 10-15 songs. I know, you do not want to hear the same songs that are played at every reception but more than likely, they will get requested anyway by your guests. You do want your guests to have a great time, right?

Another point I wish to emphasize that you do NOT have to program all the songs for your event. This is not a radio station where the the entire day is pretty much planned out. The dynamics of every event (especially wedding receptions) do change as the event goes along. A good benchmark for total requests should be between 20-40. I will fill in the rest.

See you at your event!

As a wedding DJ, one of the things that does humor me is how brides and their families will try to look for the DJ who only charges $200 to do a four-hour reception but does not seem to blink at the other costs involved which are often as much as four-times higher. After all, a DJ is “only working for fourhours”. I wish to share the following article which I found on the web site for the American Disc Jockey Association, this might be of interest to those who do not think the DJ is a very important part or strong priority for their reception ….

Disc Jockey rates vary based on talent, experience, emcee ability, service,
coordination, equipment needed, music knowledge, mixing ability and
personality.

*These statistics were published in St. Louis Bride & Groom Magazine in 2003. Sources include: Simmons, 2001; USA Today, 2002; National Bridal Service, 2001; The Knot, 2002; Brides Magazine, 2001.

Back in November, I attended my niece’s wedding. She threw a wrinkle into the bride/father dance that I have never thought about.

She asked the DJ to invite all dads and daughters to join her and her dad (my brother) on the dance floor about one minute into the song. I thought to myself “what a great idea!”. It was a major hit.

I have since incorporated it into my shows. Just something to think about.

I found this very interesting article in The Onion about a DJ who made a very bad song choice at a wedding reception.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/weddingreception-djs-choice-of-strokin-proves-cont,285/

My take on this is very simple. If there is any doubt in your mind, do not play the song. It may not go over very well. I know he mentioned that he thought the crowd could handle it but there were kids and older folks in the house. When the families and the older folks have gone home, it is mainly the younger folks, and they have been bending their elbows, maybe you can pull that song out!