When putting together your ideal wedding reception playlist you’re often trying to avoid songs that will make your conservative family members happy while also getting everyone dancing. This can be a real tight rope walk to balance those two goals! You certainly don’t want to bore your younger friends and family members but you have to make sure not to make certain people uncomfortable. We’ve got some advice on planning out your song choices and the music genres to go with to make sure you can make both groups happy!
The Wedding Playlist Options to Get Everyone Dancing!
Complete DJs always play clean versions of the music you want to hear, but that doesn’t always mean that certain suggestive themes won’t make grandma feel a bit uneasy. When it comes to making sure everyone gets their type of music played at a wedding, there are a lot of different options and ways you can make this happen! Here are the best options for making everyone happy with your wedding music:
Option 1: Old to New
The most traditional way to satisfy everyone’s music preference is to start with older music that your older relatives might want to hear then slowly move to more modern styles of music throughout the night. For example, we might start with songs like “Shout” by the Isley Brothers, “Twist” by Chubby Checker, and “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison then move through the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, all the way to modern dance songs. This is the most natural way to go through the reception playlist as the older guests will begin heading home first and you’re typically left with the younger people at the end. This will allow us to play your crazy party songs and not have to worry about who you might offend at 10pm!
Option 2: Squeaky Clean
Another popular choice is to use clean music all night. The honest truth is that there are plenty of songs that are 100% clean but still modern and fun! For example, we can always get away with plenty of Bruno Mars and other top 40s artists that allow us to stay modern and get people dancing without throwing out any Lil’ John or Migos. This will get EVERYONE dancing without having to worry about lyrics or music selection, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that everyone has a chance to hear what they like without worrying about anyone getting uncomfortable.
Option 3: Mix It Up!
The most fun option, we think is mixing up a plethora of music genres and mixing things up all night! This is all about finding the right music for everyone and that doesn’t always necessarily mean it has to be appropriate for everyone but maybe just music that everyone likes. Your guests might have the most fun when we’re able to play music from the 60’s and 70’s then mix it right up and go to some Top 40s! Your guests might want to cycle between dancing and talking/hanging out at the reception. This allows your DJ to get creative and gives everyone a reason to stay on the dancefloor since a song they love might pop up and play at any moment.
Option 4: Go Old School!
Honestly, who doesn’t love the old-school hits?! At this point, old school really means anything from Elvis to Michael Jackson to The Backstreet Boys. Going “old school” will actually give your DJ a major list of songs to choose from over decades of music and will ensure that everyone gets a bit of what they want! Old music tends to be much cleaner as well so you don’t have to risk making your older guests uncomfortable with any newer, riskier music.
There are plenty of options available to you when attempting to stick with a clean playlist for your open dance. Our DJs will ensure that everyone is able to dance and enjoy the night comfortably. After all, it’s your big day so you should dance to whatever you want and if that means keeping things clean with the playlist we are always more than happy to accommodate!
Complete Weddings + Events Kearney
Complete in Kearney offers DJ, photography, videography, photo booth, and uplighting. We love pairing our couples with the package that fits them the best! Let us get the perfect package together for your big day by visiting us here!