I’m twenty-seven years old. No one ever told me that was the official year that everyone you know gets married. First of all, I’ve been to three weddings this summer. And there’s a fourth one coming up. I have eaten more overcooked steak, listened to more Black Eyed Peas songs and cringed during more drunken best man speeches (“If I’m the best man, why isn’t she marrying me? Am I right? Hiccup!”) than anyone I know.
Anyway, one of the weddings that I’m actually quite looking forward to is coming up. It is the wedding of my sister and her fiancee, who also happens to be a good friend of mine. They’ve sort of asked me to DJ the wedding, or at the very least, work with the DJ on creating the playlist for the reception and party.
Now since I started reading this blog, one thing that has been made abundantly clear is that the writers and commenters all know music. Really well. It’s a little intimidating. Obviously you don’t know my sister or her fiancee, but my sister likes almost all music and her fiancee is a big Ween fan, so that probably won’t factor into the playlist too often. So I put it to you, Great Whatsit, on this Friday the 13th:
- What are some great dance songs that have surprised you at a wedding?
- What are some great slow songs for parents to dance with their kids, or for the married couple to dance to?
- What are all the classics that you can think of?
- What are some new(ish) hits that won’t offend my parents’ ears?
Really, any suggestions are welcome. Otherwise my sister and her fiancee might have their first dance to “Let’s Get Retarded.” And we all know where that’ll end.
“Hava Nagila”.
Andrew: check this.
That’s a good thread, Rach.
“Don’t Stop Believin’” will get every drunk white person in the room on the dance floor. It’s inexplicable but true. Follow it with something really danceable so you only lose half of ‘em — maybe “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire. Then keep it going. People love disco if it’s stuff they’ve heard, but straight people don’t tend to like disco they’re not familiar with. Michael Jackson is a must, and something by Prince. Madonna, of course — I think “Ray of Light” is one of the great dance songs in the history of dance songs, but make sure the bride and groom don’t hate it. G-Lock in that other thread suggests “Groove Is in the Heart,” and that’s really a perfect wedding song: everyone knows it, it’s kinda cheesy and silly, and it’s completely danceable.
For the wedding mentioned in that thread, the bride and groom had their first dance to “Love Hurts,” which was awesome.
Oh man! I typed in “wedding” and “playlist” to make sure I wasn’t doing a repeat, but I guess that happened. Thanks for the link Rachel, I’m going to check that out.
Dave, those are great ideas. I’m with you on “Ray of Light”. Actually Madonna in general is something my parents would probably get down to. “September” has played at a few that I’ve been to before, and you’re right, it was a hit. Love Hurts is a fantastic idea too…
I actually went to a Star Wars themed wedding a few years back. Their first dance was to the Star Wars Cantina song, which if you listen to it, is really just a great jazz song with some Caribbean influences. They were good dancers and were throwing each other all over the dance floor. It was pretty fantastic. Not sure if my sister and Jerome could pull that off.
Hall & Oats and Lionel Richie always bring the generations to the dance floor.
one of the funniest things I ever saw / heard at a wedding was one time when the dj (very good friend of both bride and groom, so no one was offended) played “The Thrill is Gone” when the bride and groom took their first turn on the dance floor. It seriously brought down the house.
Andrew,
Have I ever said how much your posts make me laugh? Thank you. We need to meet some day. There’s a t-shirt set aside for you. Anyway, I was part of the comments in Rachel’s link so I won’t add another song here, EXCEPT, I heard the Cure’s Just Like Heaven the other day and thought, damn, that’s a good wedding song. Oh, and yeah, I’m white.
Actually Madonna in general is something my parents would probably get down to.
Whoa. Does anyone have a coffin I can crawl into?