At first glance, it may not appear that the wedding DJ is a big part of a wedding until you take a step back and look at all that goes into it. A great wedding DJ has the ability to command a room with their emcee skills and experience, but today we are going to focus on the music aspects for a dream wedding, starting with the pre-ceremony music all the way to the final dance.
Here’s 5 must have wedding playlists to help you with planning your best day ever.
1 – Ceremony
As the soon-to-be married couple, you won’t hear much of this music, but this is will set the vibe for the moments before you two say your “I Do’s”. We have some of our favorites below
- Vitamin String Quartet (VSQ) – this group takes modern songs and play them in a way that adds familiarity combined with the elegance of classical music
- Acoustic Guitar – similar to VSQ but in a lighter tone
- Instrumentals or ballads
- Classical Music
After your guests are seated, their phones are silenced, and the photographers and videographers are ready, we move into the processional songs. Typically there is a song for the wedding party.
This can include the groom and the parents, or there can be a separate song for them. As the flower girls and ring-bearers make their way to the alter, there is a moment of silence, the officiant asks the guests to all rise, and the processional song plays for the bride to stun the audience with her beauty.
After the vows, I-Do’s, and your first kiss, the officiant will introduce the two of you as the newly married couple. That’s the precise moment that the recessional song plays announcing the new power couple to the world!
Here’s some of our own curated wedding playlists for the ceremony.
2 – Cocktail
After your ceremony, your photographer and videographer will then take you two off with your family and wedding party to take additional photos and footage while your guests transition over to wet their whistles and catch up with stimulating conversation. We recommend music that can blend in the background and keep the energy going, but not too much energy.
If there is music that you want in your wedding, but you know that it isn’t dance-able music, cocktail and dinner music is a perfect place for it. When you two are done with your photos and video, come in and enjoy cocktail hour with your guests. We can do a Grand Entrance as we transition into dinner.
You’re going to want to take a look at these weddings playlists for your cocktail hour.
3 – Grand Entrance
This is the part of the celebration where the DJ/Emcee will introduce the wedding party and the newlyweds to the reception in a fun and energetic way. The song choice should be match that tone, and the wedding party is introduced as pairs or trios. Then the DJ asks the guests to rise as the newlyweds enter the room.
The grand entrance song can be different for the newlyweds or keep the same song. After the grand entrance is a great time to transition into dinner. Dinner music can be the same as the Cocktail music, or we can create an alternative playlist.
Here’s just a few grand entrance songs to add to your wedding playlist.
4 – Specialty Dances
After dinner, toasts, and other events like cake cutting, bouquet and garter tosses, this is the moment where the two of you can dance together for the very first time as the newly married couple, aka your First Dance. Some couples choreograph their first dance, others just wing it, and some just know how to dance together well.
The ideal time for your first dance is between 1.5 to 4 minutes. This allows you two to truly embrace each other, let your love sync in, and the photographer and videographer can capture all the magic. When we DJ, we always give an “escape hatch” for any dance: just give us a glance and we can wrap up the dance and move to the next event effortlessly.
The Parent/Child Dances such as Father/Daughter and Mother/Son dances can be combined or separate. They can also be renamed to fit any special dance that you want, with anybody special in your life to whom you want to dedicate a dance.
The ideal length for these dances are between 1-3 minutes. We can even invite other guests to join halfway through, combine dances with multiple people, or any way you can imagine.
Here’s some great specialty dance songs to consider adding to your wedding playlist.
5 – Dancing!
To kick off the dancing, one thing that we love to do here at Epik Weddings & Events is get everyone together for a group photo in the middle of the dance floor. The wedding DJ will get on the microphone to get everyone together. We’ll have the newlyweds in front, then family, wedding party, and everyone else. We take three photos, smiling, silly-face, and then the newlyweds kiss while everyone cheers.
That is when we drop into a fun dance song to kick off the dancing and keep it going until your final dance song. We can end the night in an upbeat, energetic song or end in a loving embrace with a ballad.
The Do-Not-Play List
Are there certain songs that you don’t want to hear on your wedding day? This is where your do-not-play wedding playlist comes in. Some couples don’t want to hear the chicken dance or not a fan of the Cha Cha Slide. These songs were added to the do-not-play list.
We keep a close eye on this wedding playlist as guests come to the wedding DJ booth to submit their request. If a song is requested that you have on your do-not-play list, we’ll politely decline their request and ask for an alternative.
What’s an Epik wedding like? Take a peek at the video below.
If you’re planning a wedding in the Lake Tahoe or Reno area, schedule a no-strings-attached consultation here.
