I enjoyed this one….A LOT!
When I spoke to Christine and Marcus, they said they wanted to be different with their wedding entertainment.
So, challenge accepted the day rolled around and went like this……
Christine and Marcus tied the knot at Peckover House, a beautiful Georgian townhouse in Wisbech now owned by the National Trust. The downside to this was that the ceremony had to be at 10am….and that’s early for a wedding!
My brief was to arrive at the reception venue (Central Hall in Emneth) for a 6pm start of light background music whilst the evening guests arrived, settled in and readied themselves for the evening party……which was to be a little different from the norm.
The playlist was provided by Christine and Marcus, and they were keen that I stuck to their choices for the evening. Not a problem – I’d entertained for some of the guests in the past and knew the selections would work (see the playlist below). The tracks aren’t to everyone’s taste, and some of them are songs I rarely play at all….let alone at weddings! It was going to be a break from the norm.
Add to this, they also said they’d like to use my Retro Roadshow for the light show. Again, not a problem (in fact it fitted in well with the music selections). Again, not something I use for a wedding too often these days (normally it’s nice to be able to control things like colours for the first dance and with the Retro Roadshow….that’s just not possible).
So, everything on-site, setup, checked and it’s time to settle in for background music until the allotted time for the first dance. During this time, I confirmed all of the timings with Christine and Marcus and liaised with the photographer on how things were going to be done for this section of the evening.
I always work with the photographer….they have the most important job of the day in capturing the memories that will last a lifetime and the plan agreed was to do the first dance, and then into Oops Upside Your Head (NOT one I’d normally play at a wedding I might add but it was one that had been requested and always produces some interesting and fun photos)…..so off we went.
The rest of the evening followed in a similar vein, with the big difference being the buffet at the half way stage. These days, we as DJs don’t tend to stop for the buffet. We tend to let people continue dancing and eat when they need a break. Christine and Marcus had requested that I do things the old fashioned way though and this meant fading down to background levels whilst the guests tucked in.
The second half of the evening went a little differently. Some of the guests persuaded Marcus to deviate from the playlist a little in favour of chart music. I have to say, that was probably a mistake and cleared the dance floor in seconds 🙁 (the majority of the guests were never going to be into what’s in the current charts).
Eventually we steered back to the playlist and re-filled the dance floor, but by then it was starting to get late and many of the guests had been with the happy couple since 10am for the wedding…..a very long day. As predicted when we spoke before the wedding, guests started to say their goodbyes shortly after the evening buffet.
All in all though, a good night and something a little different from the usual pattern of wedding receptions – it was a refreshing change.
So, to the playlist….
The vast majority of the music below was requested by Christine and Marcus (I’ve marked the part below where guests overrode these choices). A lot of the music isn’t stuff I’d generally play at a wedding (in fact the “action dances” such as Superman and Oops Upside Your Head are generally on the banned list) – but I pride myself in being able to provide what my brides and grooms want and was happy to go along with their selections – all of which were well received by their guests.
Jennifer Rush – The Power of Love (First Dance)
John Denver – Annie’s Song (Second Dance)
The Gap Band – Oops Upside Your Head
Bill Haley & The Comets – Rock Around The Clock
Jerry Lee Lewis – Great Balls Of Fire
Chubby Checker – The Twist
Elton John – Crocodile Rock
Status Quo – Fun, Fun, Fun
Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers – That’s What I Like: Hawaii 5-0
Mud – Tiger Feet
PSY – Gangnam Style
LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
Maroon 5 Feat Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger
Katy Perry – Firework
Little Mix – Black Magic
Village People – YMCA
Various Artists – The Grease Megamix
Love Won’t Be Denied – Len Boone
The Spice Girls – Megamix
Black Lace – I Am The Music Man
Tweets – Birdie Song (Full version)
***Pre-buffet slow songs as requested by Christine & Marcus***
Dolly Parton – I Will Always Love You
Elvis Presley – Can’t help falling in love
***Buffet background music***
Adele – Chasing Pavements
David Cassidy – Cherish
Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
Neil Diamond – Cracklin’ Rosie
Benny Hill – Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West
Elvis Presley – Moody Blue
Carpenters – Please Mr Postman
Duffy – Warwick Avenue
Boney M – Rivers Of Babylon
The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody
Elvis Presley – Always On My Mind
***Second half of the evening***
Showaddywaddy – Under The Moon Of Love
Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
Queen – Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Ike & Tina Turner – River Deep, Mountain High
Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy
Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman
The Beatles – Twist and Shout
Dolly Parton – 9 To 5
Abba – Dancing Queen
Cher – Shoop Shoop Song
Billy Joel – Uptown Girl
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Come On Eileen
Kylie Minogue – The Loco-Motion
Damien – The Timewarp
Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe
Steps- 5,6,7,8
Black Lace – Superman
Tony Christie – (is this the way to) Amarillo
***Guest requests for “chart” music***
Pinkfong – Baby Shark
Clean Bandit – Solo
Luis Fonsi – Despacito (Remix)
Drake – Don’t Matter To Me (Clean)
Calvin Harris & Sam Smith – Promises
M-22 – First Time (Radio Edit)
George Ezra – Shotgun
Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You
Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa – One Kiss
***Back to Christine & Marcus’s playlist selections***
Bruno Mars – Marry You
Chubby Checker – Let’s Twist Again
Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)
Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
The Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men
The B-52’s – Love Shack
Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
Bee Gees – Night Fever (Remastered)
Sister Sledge – We Are Family
Beyonce – Crazy In Love
Beyonce – Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline
Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers – Islands In The Stream
Elvis Presley – The Wonder of You
Gerry & The Pacemakers – You’ll Never Walk Alone
