What if your wedding could only be 10 songs long? That’s the challenge I put before 6 of the top DJs in Chicago at one of our company’s DJ team meetings earlier this year.

There was a catch, too: They couldn’t simply list their 10 favorite songs. They actually had to build a complete wedding reception – cocktail hour, dinner and dancing – that would flow like a real wedding should.

What would you play?

10 Song Wedding - graphic.jpg

A typical Chicago wedding lasts 6 hours, but we boiled down the whole DJ performance as you see above: 1 song for cocktail hour, 3 songs for dinner music, and then 6 songs for dancing. The goal was to make the event build and flow just like you’d want your real wedding to do, providing songs that ALL your guests will want to dance to. Except… quicker.

Here’s how one of our veteran DJs built his 10-song wedding. To see the ALL the playlists our DJs put together, just follow the link below this post.

The 10-song wedding: DJ Vince Gargaro

1. The Nearness of You – Norah Jones (cocktail hour)

2. It Had to Be You – Harry Connick, Jr. (dinner)

3. Moondance – Van Morrison (dinner)

4. You Are the Best Thing – Ray LaMontagne (dinner)

5. Twist & Shout – The Beatles (dancing)

6. I Want You Back – Jackson 5 (dancing)

7. Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars (dancing)

8. Yeah – Usher (dancing)

9. Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) – Backstreet Boys (dancing)

10. Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks (dancing)

DJ VinceVince says:

“I picked these songs to show the wedding flow I personally enjoy most. I like to go with classic vocal jazz and light contemporary music to start the evening, with cocktails and into dinner. Then I raise the energy toward the end of dinner into dancing.

To start the dance floor off, I like to go with the oldies-but-goodies, maybe a little Motown, and then move to more contemporary music. As the night wears on, I love to play around with music that was popular when you and your friends were growing up.

Then, of course, I finish off with the classic sing-along songs and “circle up around the couple” songs. Journey and Billy Joel work great for this – but this time I decided to end with Garth Brooks.”

 

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