dj Playlist - your songs or songs for your guests?

On the rsvp of the wedding website we asked a "what's a song that will make you get up and dance?" We will use a mix of those, ones we like, and what the dj thinks. We are paying him to know what to do to keep people on the floor.

Our DJ took requests from guests during the evening. We honestly didn’t choose specific songs aside from the key dances. Our main focus for the reception was for guests to have fun and dance, so they played a mix of stuff from our generation, as well as a bit older. Although we both love music (husband plays guitar and has been in bands…none famous lol), we felt like the reception wasn’t the place to just play music we like. We can do that at home.

I’m putting a strong emphasis on generally popular songs (FH is not with his selections lol). So I’m skipping a lot of my favorites that I don’t think people know as well or using them for other parts of the wedding (like our choice for the cake cutting song). We’re also doing a private last dance to “our song” which is not a mainstream hit that people would otherwise know. We’ve also included requests for hits from prior generations for our older guests. The reason being that the last two receptions I went to, I was bored and barely danced because the music was reflective of the couple’s tastes (totally understandable, it was their day), and it ended up being a lot of music I hadn’t heard of. I feel like even if I don’t like a hit song/artist, if I at least recognize the song, in party mode I’m going to jump up and dance anyway.

I agonized over this. I love jazz, but most people don't like it. I wanted to have live jazz at the reception, but figured having a party with people to celebrate me warrants having music they also enjoy. We're having a mix of rock/pop at the reception to keep most people happy and having jazz during cocktails. Out of curiosity, what is "your" music?

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LOL - FH and I are products of the 60's/70's era so that is "our" music. I haven't been able to drag him into the 2000 but he does tolerate me playing Pink at high volume and singing along. LOLOL We do enjoy a LOT of music genres, but ....... this is what we grew up with and know.

View Quoted Comment My mom is from a similar generation. But she loves Barry Manilow, so we’re telling our DJ to throw her a bone and play Copacabana at some point in the night. 😂

We picked a bunch of songs we love (which was mostly older songs played during dinner including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Elvis. etc.) and our DJ gave us an online portal for guests to request songs as well. We put it on our website knowing our guests would pick a range of genres for dancing. This is exactly what happened and we let the DJ fill in any gaps, so we ended up with a great variety with something for everyone. Worked out perfectly!

I selected songs from all genres because of the crowd that had. There was definitely a generation gap. I had picked was songs that everyone would like me included.