Six tips to making your own wedding playlist from wedding professionals

TORONTO – The temperature is rising and bouquets are flying: it’s wedding season.

This year, many Canadian soon-to-weds will decide against a wedding DJ in favour of a self-curated playlist.

If you are planning on going your own way, you might still benefit from a wedding DJ’s experience.

Below, six tips from the pros on how to keep a wedding rolling:

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Easy, right? Unless your soiree has swollen to the tiers of fringe acquaintances (our condolences), you should have at least a vague notion of your guest list.

But there’s a tendency among some married couples to ignore dance floor demographics to toast their own taste.

Early in his career, Edmonton’s Tarcy Schindelka spun for a bride and groom who wanted nothing but Top 40.

“The rest of the crowd, they were not having fun,” said the owner of Advanced DJ Services.

“Three-quarters of the people left, and they all gave me dirty looks and complained to me. … When you have 200 people there, you want as many people as possible dancing.”

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2. CHEESE IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

It seems no one can agree which wedding faves have become wedding fromage.

Scott Rideout, owner of the Halifax-based True North DJs, files “YMCA” and the “Chicken Dance” among his personal “Do Not Play” list.

“There’s nothing wrong with these songs but for some reason they polarize a room,” he said.

Across the country, Schindelka disagrees.

“Even the bird dance — as annoying as it can be at times — kids love it and grandparents love it,” he said.

“There’s no song that’s really off limits to me.”

When in doubt, however, they agree: you cannot go wrong with Michael Jackson.

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3. CLEAR EYES, FRESH EARS, CAN’T LOSE

Let no playlist addition — no matter how beloved — pass by without new scrutiny.

“As much as ‘American Pie’ is a great song — all 14 minutes of it — it’s not good for dancing,” said Schindelka. “You have to remember that we’re there to make people dance, not just to be a jukebox of songs you love.

“You have to think: Is it a movable song? There’s a lot good songs out there that are terrible to dance to.”

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4. CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT

Kristoffer Benoit of Calgary Show Services estimates that only one in 12 people who rent equipment for weddings have any problems with setup — and those are typically easily resolved over the phone.

But it’s still best to become familiar with the gear at pickup, not later. And a backup plan never hurts.

“I’ve had laptops crash, I’ve had Windows decide to update me … I’ve had mixers give me hassles,” Rideout said.

“It’s never fun, it’s always stressful, and it’s always at the worst time.”

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5. BE FLEXIBLE, SOMEHOW

By enlisting an iPod DJ you are, to some degree, sacrificing read-the-room spontaneity.

But it’s likely that at some point in the evening, you will feel the need to tweak, so assign someone the task beforehand.

“By pre-planning your music, you’re making assumptions on how the night will go,” noted Toronto wedding planner Rebecca Chan, who has leapt into last-minute iPod duty in the past.

“But you never know how the night will go.”

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6. TAKE, DON’T NECESSARILY HEED, REQUESTS

As the wine flows, the musical opinions of your guests may grow in number and volume.

If so, do as the professionals do: listen, nod, and commit to nothing.

“You gotta take requests — whether you play the request is up to you,” said Rideout.

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