We all know that wedding planning is filled with big decisions: color schemes, flower arrangements, how many bridesmaids, etc. When we first think about planning a wedding and what needs to be done, we immediately think about the ceremony.
The big moment: walking down the aisle, making that lifelong commitment in front of your nearest and dearest. Everything must be perfect.
But, what about the reception? What about the music?
Finding a DJ for your afterparty can be tricky, especially if you’re a bit of a music geek yourself. After all, no one wants to end the night dancing to S Club Juniors’ cover of ‘Puppy Love’, like in the scene from Love Actually.
So, how do you find someone who you can trust with all that responsibility? Can you really trust someone with that responsibility? After all, think about it… you need someone who shares your immaculate taste in music. Someone who really knows what the people want.
If you’re here, the odds are that you know what needs to be done.
Keep reading to find out how you can get everyone on the dance floor at your own wedding… and, yes, I said everyone!
1. Find A Backup Buddy
The biggest worry when it comes to DJing your own wedding is that you won’t be able to enjoy your own creation: you don’t want to be stuck in the booth, watching everyone else having the time of their lives on your big day.
Your best bet is to find a trusted person to share the burden with you. While you will have planned everything ahead of time, it is important that this person can help you out and handle the music while you enjoy yourself, letting you know that everything is going to plan.
You can still stay in control, keeping an eye on the playlist and making sure everything is how it should be, but all while eating, drinking and dancing to your heart’s content. Find someone who will share that responsibility with you: after all, a problem shared is a problem halved!
2. Find Some Equipment
Unless you plan on playing music from your phone through some feeble Bluetooth speakers, you’d better think about finding some suitable equipment to use.
It’s most likely your booked venue will already have these appliances available on site, but it is so important that you check this beforehand. If they don’t, you need to be prepared to bring your own gear!
Hire some top quality amps, and get yourself a laptop with suitable DJ programs installed. Spotify Premium is a safe backup providing you don’t want anything fancy – just some songs played on shuffle throughout the night.
However, if you want to sound professional, it is recommended that you spend some money on a software that allows you to mix your own music, shuffling with style. Do your own research, and be careful with what you choose! This could be the make-or-break of your MC experience.
Once you have your equipment, you’re onto the fun stuff!
3. Create Your Playlists
While this may seem like the easy part, it may be the most challenging. You’ll need to create a mix that will satisfy everyone in the room, from the teenage, Ariana Grande-obsessed bridesmaids, to uncle Mike at the back who just wants to hear some Elvis. It can be a tricky line to steadily walk across.
It is recommended that you include some cheesy classics that everyone can get on board with: for example, Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, Bryan Adams’s ‘Summer of 69’, and Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’.
These now-classics are failproof. We can guarantee almost everyone will know the words and will be running onto the dancefloor, no matter how old they are. The Grease Megamix is yet another safe bet.
You should also consider creating playlists for different points in the evening: the main music event will be the reception, but you should think about what music to play during the ceremony, during dinner, while your guests are finding their seats, etc.
It’s important to think about background music, even when you think no one will be listening! Make sure you include more than enough songs than you think you’ll need: it’s always better to have too much than not enough, and you do not want to run out of songs before the night is through.
Tip: A great idea being used in a lot of weddings these days is asking your guests for requests ahead of time! Perhaps send an email, or a note attached to their invitation, asking them to pick one song that they would like to be played. This way, everyone is satisfied, getting the chance to dance to their favorite song at least once throughout the night.
4. Edit, and Run It Through!
Thoroughly fine-tune your music, arranging the songs in an order that you feel works best (e.g. playing a round of romantic songs to slow-dance to, then a round of cheesy pop hits for everyone to enjoy).
Once this is complete, do a practice run! In fact, do SEVERAL trial runs before the wedding. You do not – I repeat, do not – want to leave it until the big day, only to find out that all the songs crash halfway through the mix.
In fact, it is probably best that you come up with a back-up plan in case this does happen… but if you have done several trials, and you feel that you’re ready to go, brilliant! Just please make sure you have planned the set out thoroughly, playlist-by-playlist.
This is your big day, and you want it to be perfect… and if something does go wrong, you don’t want it to be something that you were in charge of!
Are You Ready?
Congratulations! You are on your way to becoming your own wedding MC.
You can happily look forward to your reception, knowing that (almost) every song will be a masterpiece, mostly handpicked by yourself. Time to leave everyone speechless with your superior music taste, ensuring everyone will walk out that door at the end of the night saying, ‘I have never heard a wedding DJ set as good as that!’
Now, it’s in your hands… go create the playlist of Gods, and blow them all away!
