Is It a Good Idea to Ask Your Wedding Guests for Song Requests?
Why asking your wedding guests to make requests could be a bad idea
By DJ Justin Warwick from DJ Enterprises Mobile Disc Jockey & Photo Booth
While getting song requests ahead of time from wedding guests might seem like a fun and interactive way to involve them in your special day. There are a few reasons why it could potentially be a bad idea:
Musical Cohesion:
A wedding often has a certain theme or vibe that the couple wants to create. Allowing guests to request songs can lead to a disjointed playlist that doesn’t align with the overall mood and ambiance you’re trying to achieve. Imagine inviting your friends and family over to help in decorating your new house and asking them to each bring one or two items. You would have a house full of stuff, but what are the chances you would like the end result?
Inappropriate or Unwanted Songs:
“To the Windows to the Walls”. Without any filtering, you might receive song requests that are not suitable for a wedding setting, contain explicit content, or are simply not in line with the type of celebration you’re hosting. One of the song requests that always makes me cringe is “House of the Rising Sun” by the Animals. Really… you want me to play that at a wedding? And I have seen it on so many guest request lists. Just an example.
Diverse Music Tastes:
A wedding typically includes guests from different generations and cultural backgrounds. Song requests might not cater to the broad spectrum of tastes, potentially leaving some guests feeling left out.
Too Many Slow Songs:
Yep, everyone wants to hear the first dance song from their wedding. Do you have 75 married couples coming to your wedding? Do you want the DJ to play 75 slow dances? Some couples instruct me to just fill in their cocktail and dinner playlists with these slow song requests. And every time, a couple will come up to me and say “You played our song request during dinner, can you play it now so we can dance to it”?
Flow and Timing:
A wedding playlist is often carefully curated to create a flow of energy throughout the event, from the ceremony to the reception. Incorporating random guest requests could disrupt this flow and make it challenging for the DJ to manage transitions smoothly. Can you say “Train Wreck”?
Overwhelming Requests:
Depending on the size of your guest list, you could end up with an overwhelming number of song requests. This might be logistically difficult to manage and incorporate into the playlist. Planning every aspect of your wedding reception is time consuming enough. Do you really want to spend countless hours deciding whose song request gets played, and when?
Music Expertise:
DJs are professionals who understand how to read the crowd and adapt the music to keep the dance floor lively. Allowing guests to dictate the playlist might not take into account the expertise of these professionals. Most of the time when a wedding guest really wants to request a song, they will come up to the DJ and ask for it. When it’s presented as a request from the marring couple ahead of time they feel like they have to come up with something. In that case you end up with a lot of off the top of your head, not thought out requests.
Last-Minute Changes:
Gathering song requests from guests before the wedding could lead to last-minute changes and stress for you and your wedding planning team. It’s better to finalize your playlist well in advance to avoid any unnecessary chaos.
Focus on the Couple:
A wedding is primarily about celebrating the couple’s love and commitment. Letting guests decide the music playlist could shift the focus away from the central figures of the event.
If you still want to involve your guests in the musical choices, you might consider setting up a dedicated section in your wedding website or invitations where they can suggest songs within certain guidelines, allowing you to curate the final playlist while still acknowledging their input. Make sure to let them know that there is a possibility not all requests will make it to your final playlist. I hope that helps!
Justin Warwick DJ Extraordinaire
Known for: The Best wedding reception, Ever!