Hello all,
Thought I would get the thoughts of some more experienced DJ's out there..
I have a wedding reception coming up middle of the month and the bride just gave me a play list of songs she wants played.. Well, lets just say the songs are mostly all slow.. fine for slow dancing, but from what I've seen, not stuff thats going to jam the floor..

Whats the best way to get the bride/groom to let you play what you know should be played so that everyone can enjoy the party?

Thanks!
djDenro

well i'm not going to tell you how to do your party, but based on the artists that she has given you, do you notice a specific time period?
Do you know the average range of the crowd, bring everything!!! there's no reason not to. Weddings require either one thing or the other, Interaction, or just Playin Music. You will find that interaction isn't just doing the electric slide etc. . . but some certain songs that you will pull out say like runaround sue may fill your floor and then you pull out brown eyed girl, and that's semi interactive and of course how could you forget meatloaf, just be sure to cue it about 4 mins into the song. . . . play the whole thing and people may be like "oh ok". Other than that, classic disco, swing, salsa(any mobile knows there's always one person), but make sure to bring some new material too.

Not really any themes.. They are a younger couple and the songs are pretty much all newer.. but they are just slow..
I think the thing I worry about is the reputation.. usually if I go to a reception or party and the DJ is playing slow stuff (or stuff that isn't good for dancing) I make the mistake of saying that the DJ sucks.. while he could be playing off some play list that sucks.. ?

Should I press them to let me add some good dance songs or ?

while you did have them give you slow songs, that may be just particular slow songs that they would like to hear, not really a bad thing, i mean really the groom could be a very lucky man, and if you do the right thing you may get a very large tip!!!

How many slow songs did she give you?

Bride and Groom dance -- 1
wedding party dance -- 1
dollar dance -- 3 to 5+ (depending on size)
Bride and father dance --1

Play a couple more during the night and that's 10 slow songs
Did she give you more than that?
If she did I would maybe talk to her before the event to ask her if that is just a suggestion or if all of the songs need to be played. (use more tact than the way I said it). She might have given you that many slow song because it is going to be an older crowd, or maybe she gave you a big list thinking that you might not have some of them.

Another thing to think about.
1. Will there be a dinner at the reception?
2. If so will you be playing background music at the dinner?
3. If not is there a reason you can't play at the dinner? Even though you might not get paid for it -- why not start a little earlier and play softly during the dinner. It will probably get you favorable review from the wedding families if you give them something they aren't expecting, and you could "dump" some of the slow songs during that time.

Thanks for all the posts.. Well, I talked with the bride and all is great now. It ended up that she gave me around 40 songs to fill in time and most of them were slow.. but the reason is that she didn't know any fast or dance songs and wondered if I could help with that..

Looks like I'm good to go. I'll let you know how it turns out.

laterz.

I know im a bit late but ill say this anyways
dont PRESS people into playing dance songs.
Last thing you want to do is go persuading people into things that u and them are gonna regret. For all you know the wedding could only last for a short time, in an area where loud music isn't allowed.
Also one more thing on dance songs, If your like me and LOVE the club scene, music i mean, then DON'T paly any of that!!! it will be the death of you, unless this couple is relaly young and specifically asks you too. Pop and mid dance songs i recommend for weddings. No hardcore stuff.
Just a few tips from my cousins wedding.
if i was into DJing then i would of done it, The DJ the hired didn't turn up!!! so in 30mins there friends friend came in with some of his equipment, not really DJ stuff.
1 Personal cd palyer
1 amp
2 speakers
bout it, ohh and about 50 cds.
The audio was soo crappy it was hard to beleive they had music.

Well see yas

yeah, I do alot of that last secound stuff. its realy nice because I'm sad and have no life. Only good thing is there willing to pay alot.
DJMatrix - http://djmatrix.ath.cx -

Thanks whzzz for the info.. Yeah, I think like you do and don't want to pressure anyone into anything.. however I think this is a special circumstance.. I've known the bride for some time and thought I was able to "level" with her on choices of music.. and no, not any hard club dance stuff, just regular wedding dance music..
Anyway, it looks good so far.. more updates to come later..

laterz,
djdenro