Image Credit: Samantha Kensell Photography – Maine Wedding Photographer
Memorable Moments Come Without a Microphone
We get a lot of questions about our “style”. The best way our “style” can be described is: As involved as you would want but as laid back as you need. It’s vague – I get it. It’s meant to be.
How many times have you been at a wedding and you can think of an obvious, clear as day, signal that a moment is going to be remembered by everyone? Uncle Jon with a tie around his head, all of the groomsmen shirtless and holding hands in a circle, or Aunt Sandy getting down to Uptown Funk? If you have been to a few weddings we know that this resonates with you. These moments have two parts:
First, the moment that that Uncle Jon through the tie on his head, or it was too damn hot for the groomsmen, and Aunt Sandy had a few too many specialty drinks were out of the control of the entertainer. They happened to play the right song that resonated with those individuals – you can argue that this was a conscious choice made by the entertainer – and this is true when we focus on a dance floor in its entirety… not just one moment as we are doing here.
Second, the moments happened without the entertainer getting on the microphone and saying “Alright now – all you groomsmen take your shirts off. Uncle Jon you’d look good with a tie on your head and Aunt Sandy – get down girl those Smirnoffs got you!”
Creating moments with music looks more like this…..
Your Entertainer Needs to Know YOU
You read that right – without knowing ones clients how can your entertainer do anything out of the ordinary and memorable for you? They can’t unless they get lucky. Taking pride in learning about our clients and asking specific questions about their tastes is just as important the tastes of their guests. Hell, you know them better than we do, right? That’s step number one – get to know your entertainer and your entertainer should make attempts to get to know you.
Swap Out The “Cliche” Songs
We all look at a wedding reception and expect that certain songs are going to be played. This is for a reason and we cover more about that subject here. Creating moments with music can be as simple as merging two songs together or putting another big hit, by the same artist, in place of. In our experience these songs can be swapped for the one next to it:
- Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk / That’s What I Like
- Taylor Swift – Shake it Off / 22
- N Sync – Bye Bye Bye / I Want You Back
- LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It / Party Rock Anthem (Or, depending on the crowd, Shots)
- Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreets Back) / Larger Than Life
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the songs above – the point being is the alternative is much more memorable… because it is rare that anyone ever hears them.
Image Credit: Two Adventurous Souls – Maine Wedding Photographers
Image Credit: Two Adventurous Souls – Maine Wedding Photographers
Your Entertainer Needs to Know YOU
You read that right – without knowing ones clients how can your entertainer do anything out of the ordinary and memorable for you? They can’t unless they get lucky. Taking pride in learning about our clients and asking specific questions about their tastes and just as important the tastes of their guests. Hell, you know them better than we do, right? That’s step number one – get to know your entertainer and your entertainer should make attempts to get to know you.
Swap Out The “Cliche” Songs
We all look at a wedding reception and expect that certain songs are going to be played. This is for a reason and we cover more about that subject here. Creating moments with music can be as simple as merging two songs together or putting another big hit, by the same artist, in place of. In our experience these songs can be swapped for the one next to it:
- Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk / That’s What I Like
- Taylor Swift – Shake it Off / 22
- N Sync – Bye Bye Bye / I Want You Back
- LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It / Party Rock Anthem (Or, depending on the crowd, Shots)
- Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreets Back) / Larger Than Life
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the songs above – the point being is the alternative is much more memorable… because it is rare that anyone ever hears them.
Image Credit: Samantha Kensell Photography – Maine Wedding Photographer
Image Credit: Paradis Photography – Maine Wedding Photographer
Requests Are Allowed
but your entertainer needs to be the gatekeeper. It doesn’t matter how much Nana and Grampy like “Ring of Fire” it just isn’t going to work when everyone is jumping to Nicki Minaj – Pound the Alarm. Right? Bad requests are common at every single wedding. Guests think they know best when, usually, their request suits them. That’s not to dismiss every single request we get – but there is a general rule: We love requests and if the request fits the moment it’ll get dropped in a song or two. Other than that “That’s a great song choice and we’ll see what we can do.” You don’t want a DJ to play every request nor do you want one that doesn’t play any… you also don’t want to dictate the only things the DJ can play.
The most recent example is a wedding we did at Beech Ridge Barn on June 25th, 2022. Morgan and Marcs wedding was a party – Nana, Grampy, Bridesmaids… and the groomsmen with no shirts on mentioned above… The thought came from Morgan and Marcs wedding, and all of the guests in between were on the dance floor. Morgan reached out to me after the wedding and I quote:
“Chris,
Holy crap…you are the best wedding DJ of all time! Our friends, family and Marc and I have not stopped raving about how good the music was. One of my bridesmaids is getting married next summer and told me she is dying to have you at her wedding! Our wedding would not have been as much as a hit as it was if it wasn’t for you! You absolutely crushed it and we thank you!!!! Especially for the extra songs at the end. Closing Time = 10/10 ending. One of my favorite parts of the entire day and such a special moment that we can cherish for the rest of our lives. Please please let us know where we can write any raving reviews!
THANK YOU!
Morgan & Marc”
We stayed past our contracted time because it was just too much fun to stop. At the end of the night we had declared the sad ending with the last song and the best man ran up to the DJ booth: “Dude you have to play Closing Time because it was a total jam for all of us back in college!” We remember the internal struggle with this song because it is super cliche – but taking into consideration the tearful moment this best man had during his toast we knew that he knew (and knows) a lot more than us. The song was played and the reaction we got is a bunch of grown men with no shirts on while signing the song.. both Morgan and Marc in the middle of it.
Image Credit: Samantha Kensell Photography – Maine Wedding Photographer
Requests Are Allowed
but your entertainer needs to be the gatekeeper. It doesn’t matter how much Nana and Grampy like “Ring of Fire” it just isn’t going to work when everyone is jumping to Nicki Minaj – Pound the Alarm. Right? Bad requests are common at every single wedding. Guests think they know best when, usually, their request suits them. That’s not to dismiss every single request we get – but there is a general rule: We love requests and if the request fits the moment it’ll get dropped in a song or two. Other than that “That’s a great song choice and we’ll see what we can do.” You don’t want a DJ to play every request nor do you want one that plays every single request… you also don’t want to dictate the only things the DJ can play.
The most recent example is a wedding we did at Beech Ridge Barn on June 25th, 2022. Morgan and Marcs wedding was a party – Nana, Grampy, Bridesmaids… and the groomsmen with no shirts on above… The thought came from Morgan and Marcs wedding, and all of the guests in between were on the dance floor? Morgan reached out to me after the wedding and I quote:
“Chris,
Holy crap…you are the best wedding DJ of all time! Our friends, family and Marc and I have not stopped raving about how good the music was. One of my bridesmaids is getting married next summer and told me she is dying to have you at her wedding! Our wedding would not have been as much as a hit as it was if it wasn’t for you! You absolutely crushed it and we thank you!!!! Especially for the extra songs at the end. Closing Time = 10/10 ending. One of my favorite parts of the entire day and such a special moment that we can cherish for the rest of our lives. Please please let us know where we can write any raving reviews!
THANK YOU!
Morgan & Marc”
We stayed past our contracted time because it was just too much fun to stop. At the end of the night we had declared the sad ending with the last song and the best man ran up to the DJ booth: “Dude you have to play Closing Time because it was a total jam for all of us back in college!” We remember the internal struggle with this song because it is super cliche – but taking into consideration the tearful moment this best man had during his toast we knew that he knew (and knows) a lot more than us. The song was played and the reaction we got is a bunch of grown men with no shirts on while signing the song.. both Morgan and Marc in the middle of it.
