No More Cheesy Love Songs

There are several different ways to provide music and entertainment for your wedding guests, each with their own pros and cons. If you decide to forgo the band or professional DJ route, crafting your own wedding playlist is a creative alternative and a great way to put your own individual touch on the music. However, I know the prospect of accumulating several hours’ worth of just the right music sounds like a nightmare, so in order to minimize this mammoth task I’ve compiled a base list of song suggestions to get you going. These songs are just a starting point, but the following tips will help you fill in the rest of your wedding soundtrack with ease.

Personalize it. Add songs that fit in with your taste or the theme of the wedding. If you’re a country kind of gal getting married in your cowboy boots, add in all kinds of sweet country love songs. For a rock and roll themed wedding you’ll want to add songs like "Layla" by Derek & The Dominos or "Anytime" by Journey. And that silly, upbeat song you and your bridesmaids always danced to in college makes the perfect addition to the dance floor playlist (in fact, "Call Me Maybe" just might resurface at my wedding sometime down the road).

Keep it familiar. You and your future husband may love Mongolian throat singing, but your guests may not share your same eclectic tastes in music. While it is your big day, you want to use the wedding playlist to set a comfortable and happy mood for friends and family. This isn’t to say that every song needs to be cookie-cutter mainstream, but it can’t hurt to mix some well-known songs in with your favorite indie bands.

Cater to all your guests. It’s important to include current and classic hits to meet the liking of the range of friends and family in attendance. I will admit that the playlist I’ve accumulated is skewed more towards a younger generation, but I’m 21, so I’ve tried my best. Your older guests will probably ditch the dance floor long before you and your buds, so the tail end of your playlist can be comprised of nothing but your favorite club mixes if you get tired of the golden oldies. Also make sure to check the lyrics. Your flower girl probably won’t catch the hidden meaning behind "Whistle Song" by Flo Rida, but her mom may not appreciate her baby girl being exposed to such scandalous implications.

Ask for help. We all have that one friend who’s attending a different wedding practically every single weekend, and they’re bound to know at least a few good songs to play during the reception or ceremony. Or any of your recently married friends can be a goldmine of song suggestions, especially if they put together a wedding playlist for themselves. Your friends will be more than willing to provide such a small favor for your big day.

Get the technology. Obviously you’ll need to get speakers set up to project the music to all corners of your venue, but that should be a given. What I really want to point out is the MyWeddingDJ app. A great professional DJ does a lot more than just plug in his equipment and press play, and this app helps pick up some of the slack without one. The MyWeddingDJ app lets you divide the playlist into all the different parts of the ceremony and reception, and will even eliminate any silent pauses between songs. It’s not free, but $5 is bound to fit in any budget.

No Boys Aloud
Here’s a collection of fun and upbeat songs that are sure to fight off the pre-wedding jitters and keep the atmosphere light and excited while getting ready for the ceremony.

Ever Ever After - Carrie Underwood
I Do - Colbie Callait
Marry You - Bruno Mars
Wouldn’t It Be Nice - Beach Boys
Glamorous - Fergie
Love Story - Taylor Swift
Our Song - Taylor Swift
Crazy In Love - Beyoncé
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Fallin’ For You - Colbie Callait
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
Hey, Soul Sister - Train
Home - Phillip Phillips
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond (or try the version by the Glee Cast)
You’re the One that I Want - from Grease

Slow and Sweet
These loves songs are perfect for walking down the aisle towards your teary-eyed fiancé or for holding each other close during the first dance.

Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg
Turn To You - Michael Johns
Home - Gabrielle Aplin
This - Ed Sheeran
Can’t Help Falling In Love - Elvis Presley (or Ingrid Michaelson or Jess Kellner)
A Thousand Years - Christina Perri (or Boyce Avenue, Gardiner Sisters, or Elise Lieberth)
Real Love - Regina Spektor
Dream - Priscilla Ahn
Marry Me - Train
Reasons to Love You - Meiko
Let It Be Me - Ray LaMontagne
Turning Page - Sleeping At Last
Sparks - Coldplay
First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes
Like A Star - Corinne Bailey Rae
We Found Each Other in the Dark - City and Colour
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
Heart on Fire - Jonathan Clay
I Won’t Give Up - Jason Mraz
Love Uncompromised - Jason Castro
You Make It Real - James Morrison

Avoid Awkward Silences
Those in-between moments like before the ceremony or during dinner need background music too in order to fill in the downtime and keep the mood going.

Sweet Thing - Van Morrison
Blue Sky - The Allman Brothers Band
You Make My Dreams Come True - Hall & Oats
You and I - Ingrid Michaelson
Corner of Your Heart - Ingrid Michaelson
Precious Love - James Morrison
Kiss Me Slowly - Parachute
Stuck on You - Meiko
Lovesong - Adele
Here is a Heart - Jenny Owens Young
What I Wouldn’t Do - A Fine Frenzy
We Belong Together - Randy Newman
Hysteric (acoustic) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Flowers In Your Hair - The Lumineers
Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips

Celebrate All Night
Most of the songs traditionally considered as wedding dance music are bad and cheesy, so I’ve concluded that the best way to keep your friends and family partying all night is to play current hits with a good beat. Your guests will feel more comfortable dancing like a fool to songs they are familiar with anyway. This part of the playlist will certainly have to be updated the farther away your wedding date.

The Other Side - Jason Derulo
The Way - Ariana Grande
I Need Your Love - Calvin Harris
A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) - from The Great Gatsby
#thatPOWER - will.i.am
Finally Found You - Enrique Iglesias
Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti
Feel This Moment - Pitbull
Single Ladies - Beyoncé

Party dances are also a fun way to get your shyer guests or those less naturally blessed with rhythm out on the floor. Here’s a list of several songs, both current hits and the classics. (Just make sure to have the clean versions!)

Wop - J. Dash
Gangham Style - Psy
Teach Me How to Dougie - Cali Swag District
Cupid Shuffle - Cupid
Cha Cha Slide - Mr. C
The Twist - Chubby Checker
Shout - The Isley Brothers
Wobble - V.I.C.

Hopefully these suggestions will get you started in the right direction and help take the job of planning your wedding down from a category 5 to a mere tropical storm. You can find all these songs and more here in a Spotify playlist I’ve assembled for your listening pleasure, and if you've got any great song ideas, let me hear them! Tweet them to me @MJGest and I'll add your tunes to the playlist!


Originally posted here for Blue Goose Celebrations