Five Mistakes Couples Make When Creating Their Wedding Playlist

A few years back, I worked with a couple for their wedding day. During our initial meeting, I was informed that they wanted "nothing but hip hop" played during their reception once the dancing got underway. I explained that they would most likely have a wide range of guests at the reception with different musical tastes and those that didn't like hip hop would most likely leave early. The bride bluntly said "I don't care. That's what I want. I want music that my bridesmaids and I like."

That was my first red flag. The bride clearly had no regard for her guests, this reception was to be all about her and her tastes. I laid out the reasons WHY this was a bad idea and that a variety of music that was known to all of her guests was the better choice but she wouldn't budge.

Long story short, it was a battle that I lost. I came thisclose to turning the party down but I had been in this situation before and the results were always the same ... once the guests realized they were going to be bombarded with nothing but one genre of music all night, they began leaving in droves and the bride quickly caved and what was left of the reception was salvaged.

But this particular bride did not cave. And the reception died a quick and painful death. Within 30 minutes of dancing, the reception was over. It came to a screeching halt 90 minutes before its planned ending time. It went exactly like I knew it would ... music that the guests weren't familiar with meant a scant few people on the dance floor which does NOT equal "celebration". It equals "sad and pathetic". And on a day that was supposed to be joyous, people don't like pathetic. That was not only a reflection on my skills and business but it was also a reflection on the couple.

Many couples suffer from the same delusion. They think if they like the music, everyone will like the music. And no matter the genre of music ... hip hop, rock, country, classical, jazz, etc ... it's not going to work. A successful wedding reception incorporates ALL of these types of music played AT THE RIGHT TIME to produce a successful reception. A true professional DJ already knows this.

And now, here's a great article on this and other mistakes that couples make when choosing music for their reception.

​https://www.shefinds.com/collections/wedding-playlist-mistakes/#slide-1