I am DJing a friends wedding in a couple of weeks and am need to come up with 3+ hours of dance music to play. The crowd is going to be a typical wedding crowd, people that know the standards and want to have a good time. Here is the list that I currently have planned:

Superstition-Stevie Wonder
We are family-Sister Sledge
Shout-Isley Bros.
Jump, Jive, and Wail- Louis Prima
I Will Survive- Gloria Gaynor
Celebration-Kool and the Gang
I Get a Kick Out of You- Michael Buble
The Hustle
love Shack- B-52's
Gold Digger- Kanye West
You Spin Me Round- Dead or Alive
Wonderful Tonight- Clapton
When You Say Nothing At All- Alison Krauss
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun- Cyndi Lauper
Take On Me- A-ha
Smiley Faces- Gnarls Barkley
Since U been Gone- Kelly Clarkston
What I LIke About You- Romantics
Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
Virtual Insanity- Jamiroquai
Hey Ya- Outkast
Jumpin' Jack Flash- Rolling Stones
Africa- Toto
I Want You Back- Jackson 5
Feel Good Inc.- Gorillaz
One More Time- Daft Punk
Crazy In Love- Beyonce
Twist and Shout- Beatles
Ain't No Other Man- Christina Aguilera
Heartbeat- Annie
Heaven- DJ Sammy
Yeah- Usher
My Love- Justin Timberlake
The Luckiest- Ben Folds
Passenger Seat- Death Cab
Holiday In Spain- Counting Crows
Livin' On a Prayer- Bon Jovi
You Shook Me All Night Long- AC/DC
Sweet Caroline- Neil Diamond
Piano Man- Billy Joel
Ohh La La- Faces

This is the approximate order of the songs and clocks in right around 2.5 hours. Can anyone give me advice as to what else to play? Are there any songs that I've listed that I should definitely not play? What are the mainstream pop/dance hits of the last couple of years that I could add? Any help would be great.

Thanks for all the help, everybody. I really appreciate it.

You're kind of asking a lot here, jimbo. These songs look fine, but you should be sure to play Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side".

Edit: Just to clarify, the Lou Reed suggestion was most certainly a joke. Carry on...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sans_success,

"Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen

"1999" by Prince

"Ray of Light" by Madonna

"Float On" by Modest Mouse

Also, you need to mix it up a little more. This isn't a dance marathon, it's a wedding. Throw some slow dance tunes on there (Lionel Ritchie and some Journey/REO ballads should be required), and where the hell is Frank Sinatra? I can't remember a wedding I went to where I didn't hear Old Blue Eyes. I would also choose "Start Me Up" over "Jumping Jack Flash."

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where the hell is Frank Sinatra?

Good call. You could always throw Van Morrison's "Moondance" on there too.

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Originally posted by The Herlihy Boy:

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where the hell is Frank Sinatra?

Good call. You could always throw Van Morrison's "Moondance" on there too.

And/or "Brown-eyed Girl"

thanks for the suggestions. i think that i am heaping a lot of pressure on myself to put on the best dance party ever seen at a wedding. those slow songs (van, frank, etc.) sound great.

Can't go wrong with Rihanna, aka "pussy music", as one of my co-workers likes to call it. OMG I think she just invented a new sub-genre! I gotta go make a Wiki page devoted to it now!

I sort of disagree with Van and Frank.

I like both those artists, but especially if it's a younger crowd, people will not be into it. The best weddings I've been to in recent years, the music gets people on the dance floor. Booty music, or "pussy music" as Bafe calls it is a good call, for the most part.

I went to some friends' wedding this summer and the DJ was abysmal. There was very little music played one could actually dance to, and as a result, no one did.

My advice: Stick to the Usher/Justin Timberlake route.

Well, there might be a young crowd, but the older generation might want to hear some classy older music. I'd say split it evenly between classy older stuff and JT/Rihanna/Usher jams.

Your list sounds pretty good honestly. Maybe cut out "Passenger Seat" but overall you could do much worse.

Three hours is a hell of a long time for ***** music. Sinatra, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole get to people much more than SexyBack, no matter how old/young you are.

i'm sure i will end up playing it by ear and mixing it up once the dancing starts. the key is to keep people on the dance floor, so giving them what they want is paramount. i guess i was just worried that i wouldn't have enough old person music, but it is a younger crowd, so it should be fine.

thanks all for the input.

I think your best bet is to NOT have an approximate order of songs. You need to read the crowd. I do wedding DJ and every event is different based upon who will dance. You need to have a wide variety of music from country (I just wanna dance with you- strait, Your man - turner, as 2 examlpes), 80's (Holiday - madonna, footloose - loggins as 2 examples) Disco (Stayin' Alive - bee gees, best of my love - emotions as 2 examples) Sock hop ( Just can't help myself - four tops, ain't to proud to beg - temptations (yea, My Girl, too) as 2 more examples) Swing (In the mood - Glen Miller, Besame Mucho - tommy dorsey) Slow dance (Lets get it on - gaye, Let's stay together - green) Funk (She's a Super Freak - james, Flashlight - Parliament) etc, etc, I know that sounds like the playlist from hell, but remember it's not about what YOU want to HEAR its about what your crowd, and most importantly the BRIDE and GROOM want to DANCE to. As the evening goes on it really is about what the crowd knows not what is the the most recent "pussy music". Diversity in songs to get all people up dancing is the key. Other stand bys: Play that Funky music, Brick House, Billie Jean, Kiss, Soul MaN, RESPECT, I will survive, Shook me all night long, Start Me UP, Groove is in the heart, A little less conversation etc, newer stuff thats working now The Way I are, Cyclone, Smack That, 1,2, Step (not that new, i know), etc. Good luck, take requests, talk with the bride and groom before hand to get an idea about what they will DANCE to and have fun.