So your thinking of what music to choose when it comes time for your wedding reception, but you just can't think of songs that are going to appeal to the entire audience. You want to keep them on the dance floor as much as possible so your guests stay involved and entertained right? After all, they say it's the DJ that can make or break the wedding reception, so if a DJ plays music, doesn't that at least indirectly mean that the music makes a huge impact on a wedding reception?

These are all fears that one might face when it comes time to select music for their ceremony and/or reception. Luckily through various resources on the internet and some help from some first hand wedding professionals, deciding what would best fit your guests isn't going to be that hard. First, let me start by saying that the most informative website with articles and information about your wedding reception can be found on theknot.com. But enough of that, let's get to the music!

As stated from diskjockeys.com you can find a complete list of the top 200 dance songs collected from around the world. This is a great way to get started when making your list of must-play songs. Not only does it cover a wide range of genre's but it also gives you an idea of the most popular requested songs from mobile DJ's. This is a huge benefit because you want to play music that is going to cover the largest percentage of the demographics at the party as possible. Sure, there is a lot of music that we enjoy that doesn't come on the radio, and probably never gets played in a room with a dance floor. In fact, this is my favorite type of music because it has substance and innovation, whereas a majority of the music you are going to hear that appeals to guests at a wedding reception is probably going to be classic and popular; played out.

My personal recommendation as a Wedding DJ would be to keep your music to a formula something similar to:

Cocktail Hour

• Piano Instrumentals
• Classical Music
• Jazz
• Acoustic Contemporary

Dinner Hour

• Big Band
• Standards
• Acoustic Contemporary
• Jazz
• Music you enjoy but can not dance to

Early Dancing

• Slow dances
• Funk
• Motown
• Disco
• Classic Rock (songs you can dance to)
• 80's Dance
• Group Dance Songs

Late Dancing

• Disco
• Funk
• Motown
• 80's Dance
• 80's Hip Hop
• R & B
• Top Forty
• Current Club Hits

Late Late Dancing

• Classic Rock
• 80's Rock Ballads
• Slow Dancing
• Sing-a-long songs

This format allows for a constant progression of energy throughout an evening. This is important because you want your guests to stay with you dancing as long as possible because if they don't, you had more of an expensive dinner party than successful wedding reception. Using group dance songs as tools to bring guests back out on the dance floor, as well as gradually increasing the energy and changing music genres when a certain style or beat has been exhausted, are all going to help you keep the guests involved, entertained and having a good time.

There are a lot of factors of providing music at a wedding reception that most people don't think about. And although I have recommended so much already, I must say that without a doubt, your wedding ceremony and reception will be much more succesful if you hire a professional wedding DJ. Having new innovations like online music databases where the client can log in and select requests prior to the date, as well as online planning forms to arrange the itinerary for all of the other vendors to be in tune to the events of the day, there isn't much of a reason not to hire one other than budget.

As a professional Wedding DJ in San Diego California I feel confident in saying that the entertainment of your wedding reception will make an enourmous impact of the it's success, over the location, attire, photography or even the food!