Most of our couples are concerned with avoiding cheesy wedding music. I’m talking about stuff like the Chicken Dance, Macarena, or the YMCA. And most of our couples want to include their favorite songs in the day. So creating a playlist for the reception seems to make a lot of sense.

We love including your favorite music in your wedding reception. It’s an easy way for us to make your wedding personal and unique. And it’s meaningful to you when you hear a song that makes it really feel like it’s your day.

But picking your music can be tricky – and here’s why.

You won’t be able to force your family and friends to dance to the music you chose any more than you can force them to have fun. You may have chosen the coolest songs, but if your guests don’t respond to them your DJ won’t be able to prevent an empty dance floor.

As a DJ, that’s about the worst thing in the world. So DJs have developed different ways of dealing with the playlist question. Some DJs will only allow you to request a limited number of songs so that they still have the flexibility to keep the party going. Other DJs will play anything you want and put the success (or lack of success) of the party in your hands.

We encourage couples to be involved in the music selection. We want you to tell us what you like. But if we’re given a very long list of Must-Play songs the dance floor may suffer. It all hinges on the songs on your list. If you keep it classic, familiar, and easy to dance to everyone will get involved. But if your songs are eclectic or if your group is very traditional the party may not work out the way you expect.

We’ve found that it works best to have a Do-Not-Play list of forbidden songs, a list of Must-Plays, and a list of songs you’d like to hear. Combining that with our experience and ability to read the crowd we’ll be able to fill your dance floor. We will play all of the Must-Plays and as many of your other requests as possible while still working to keep your dance floor packed!

Which brings us to the second part – trust.

If you want the best of both worlds you need to trust that your DJ understands you and your vision for your wedding. If you don’t have that trust you won’t be able to let go of control and trust them to do what’s best for your party and for your wedding.

So what should you do?

First – choose the right entertainer. This is the most important part. You need to feel understood. Talk about how he will handle your request list and what he will do if it isn’t working.

Second – decide what is most important to you. Is it important for you to hear every song on your list? Or is it more important that your guests are having a great time and dancing all night long? You can have both, but one must have priority over the other.

Ask your entertainer for his professional opinion on whether your requested music will keep people dancing. He should give you an honest assessment based on his experience. If you picked the right entertainer he’ll be a pro – and he’ll be good at what he does. Trust him and take his opinion into consideration.

It is your wedding and ultimately you are paying someone to play music for you. If you need to choose every song that gets played then it is your right to do so. The dancing may not be as good as it could have been though. We prefer to talk as much as we need to with our couples about what songs will and will not be played. There is always a way to work in your favorite songs – even the ones you can’t dance to – and keep your guests having a good time.

This weekend I was asked by Marta of M8 Events to provide uplighting for Annie & Edwin’s wedding on Saturday at the Strathcona Community Hall in Northwest Calgary. Anna of Affordable Chair Covers provided the backdrop.

I could have gone crazy, but we decided instead to keep it simple using just 9 lights to accent the room and bathe it in a subtle glow. 3 lights were used on each of the side walls of the hall, while we used 3 lights on the back drop behind the head table.

I really enjoyed the transformation this room makes with the lighting – Check out the before & after shots below.

Before

After

The Head Table

From The Entrance 1

From The Entrance 2

]]> http://danceshout.com/blog/events/uplighting-at-strathcona-community-hall/feed/ 0 http://danceshout.com/blog/events/our-photo-booth-at-the-calgary-outdoor-adventure-travel-show/ http://danceshout.com/blog/events/our-photo-booth-at-the-calgary-outdoor-adventure-travel-show/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:29:29 +0000 Jason http://danceshout.com/?p=984 We had our photo booth down at the Calgary Outdoor Adventure & Travel Show this weekend in the Western Arctic & Nahanni Parks Canada booth. Madi was there all weekend using the magic of green screen technology to whisk visitors away to famous Arctic landmarks like the Pingo. Check out the post on our Calgary Photo Booth site to see all the pictures. We had the Stampede Queen & Princess in the booth, along with Parks Canada’s new Mascot, Parka!

As a member of the CDJA, we feel its very important for all DJ’s to handle their business in the most ethical and moral way possible. Aside from municipal business licensing, all DJ’s should be licensed with the AVLA.

Every DJ should be willing and able to show you their license.

It shows they support the music of the artists they are playing.

We’ve got ours…

Check out the photos on our School Dance page – and here’s the video!

]]> http://danceshout.com/blog/events/st-marys-high-school/feed/ 0 http://danceshout.com/blog/having-fun-in-a-calgary-photo-booth/ http://danceshout.com/blog/having-fun-in-a-calgary-photo-booth/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:18:41 +0000 Jason http://danceshout.com/?p=734 Check out the new promo for our photo booths!

We’re now booking for 2012 – Book your photo booth now!

I’ve always been a Boney M fan! Rasputin is the obvious go-to Boney M song, but you can’t forget Ma Baker, Brown Girl In The Ring, Rivers of Babylon, Night Flight To Venus, and now this one – Gotta Go Home!

Call me crazy if you want, but I am totally digging this track! I don’t know much about Gums beyond the promo information that came out with this single

Something new in French music scene! A strange artist, with a strange name and an electric look is coming from St Barth, to fire up the Dancefloors. Gregory Gums is only 23 yo, but has already done so many things. Real prodigy at tennis, he started a professional carreer at early age, winning everything until he was #2 french player, among the stars. Gums (easier to say than Gumbs) continues his carreer in Miami, travelling all around the world, enlightning his musical culture. Aside from tennis, music was always his companion, and he was performing freestyle Dancehall in the streets of St Barth. Naturally, Gums became closer to Jamaican culture, and he stayed in Kingston between competitions. It is in a sport store that Gums fate was completely changed. He met the producer Cutee B (Bob Sinclar’s hit maker), who decided at first listening to carry the project. After a few weeks, this collaboration gave birth to an album: “Sunshine”. First single is “Don’t Give up” and gives a true image of the album colors! Gums sings just like he is, open, warm, and generous.

Tennis Prodigy, picked up by Bob Sinclar’s people eh? Well I’m loving it!

I saw this posted elsewhere:

Start of her career – She hit the earth like? a meteor

Comeback – She comes back harder than ever

Could this be an all new Brit? Could this track be bigger than the new Lady Gaga – Born This Way? With the publicity of this video, it maybe could…