Monday, May 26, 2003
The couple should take their guests' tastes into consideration as well as their own.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Laura Hickson did not want the "Chicken Dance" played at her wedding reception last month.
Why would guests want to flap their arms, wiggle their bottoms and dance like a chicken?
"I just think it's lame," the 27-year-old physical therapist says of the old party favorite. "If you watch people, they look silly."
So she gave her disc jockey strict instructions: No "Chicken Dance" -- unless someone specifically requests it. Thankfully, no one did.
For many brides -- and their guests -- the music played at wedding receptions is no trivial matter.
"You've been planning for this day for over a year, and you want this day to be perfect," Hickson says. "You want everyone to have a good time."
Making sure that happens is no easy task. Picking appropriate music for a wedding reception usually requires a little guidance, a lot of homework and a good dose of compromise.
New songs come out all the time. A few become wedding-reception classics, but most are history once their novelty wears off.
Time-tested
Songs that have stood the test of time include the Commodores' "Brick House," Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and Frank Sinatra's "The Way You Look Tonight."
"The good old staples that have been around forever still work," says Tyrone White, who began Party DJ Party in 1991. "Great love songs never die."
The "Hokey Pokey," "Macarena," "Electric Boogie (Slide)," "YMCA" and the "Chicken Dance" get mixed reactions, but their interactive nature has helped establish them as reception mainstays.
The day after a wedding, people talk about the reception, says Tony Cabral, who owns Good Vibrations Mobile DJ in California. And the music often is the hot topic.
"It's the music you play they remember -- and the fun they had dancing with family and friends," Cabral says.
While some receptions feature live performers or bands, most rely on DJs. For most couples, their first step is to find a professional DJ, says Mike Buonaccorso, publisher of Mobile Beat, a trade publication for DJs.
Once the DJ is chosen, the song list comes next.
Couples must establish, up front, their do's and don'ts, says Buonaccorso. "There are some DJs who could care less (about the language) and play the rudest and crudest. And then there are those who play G-rated music.
"It's something the bride and groom have to think about. How do they want the music presented? Can it get a little R-rated? It would be best to know what they would consider that is over the line for them and their guests."
For some couples, song themes are important. Hickson, who met her husband, Kurt Karle, in a class at Fresno State, didn't want tunes about cheating spouses, couples breaking up or love gone wrong.
Federoff, White, Henry and other DJs give couples a song list, which often comes from Mobile Beat's list of the top 200 most-requested songs nationwide. Couples indicate the songs they like and write in special requests, keeping in mind that about 15 songs can be played in an hour.
Couples should select songs all guests can enjoy, Federoff says. That might include tunes the bride and groom don't normally listen to. Compromise is key.
Jill and Jeff Herndon -- she likes hip-hop, and he prefers rock -- requested 50 percent hip-hop, and the rest split between rock and Top 40 hits at their reception.
First dance
There's one song couples always pick out: their first dance.
Popular choices include "Amazed," by Lonestar; "From This Moment On," by Shania Twain and Bryan White; "What a Wonderful World," by Louis Armstrong; "It's Your Love," by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw; and "Unforgettable," the dubbed version sung by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole; says DJ Henry.