DJ vs playlist

View quoted message We ended up with a DJ! Thanks all!

We are having a small wedding so doing a playlist. One of the things I did along with my invitations was asking my guests to give us a song request. this gives you a personal touch with your guests...you can even have a list of the requests printed out so people know who requested what to add a little fun, have people match the request to the guest (may not work with the bigger amount of people, but you could just have the match the wedding party person to the song request.)

I'm going the playlist route. My fiance and I have fairly particular
tastes in music, and my party playlists generally get a lot of
compliments. Like others suggested, having all of the playlists separate
for different parts of the wedding will help it all move a little
smoother. Here's a tentative version of my reception dance playlist.
I've got it in a specific order, but I'll still have to sneak in dumb
dance traditions like the chicken dance (we're German & Polish). I
have it so we have slow dance songs every few tracks, and the playlist
begins with more universal tracks, and as the hours progress our
personal tastes start coming through. The first 9 songs are all upbeat
dance songs, and the last 3 are also critical. 'Home' will be our last
full dance, 'Happy' we're going to leave the reception, and 'Mony Mony'
ends the reception and they can continue to party at their campsites.

I
really can't stress how important it is to rent a PA/sound system. Long
& McQuade has DIY set ups for rent that are super affordable. I've
worked weddings where the iPods were plugged into home docks and the
result was just..... horrendous.

Anyways, here's my playlist for ideas: Our Spotify reception playlist

View quoted message Please share these! I've been building a playlist for a while, mostly adding songs when I hear them and think "ooh that works" so I'd love list of songs other people get excited about.

View quoted message I agree with you!

We HAD a DJ but had to trim down the budget so this was the first thing to go.


Venue has sound equipment we can use for ceremony and dinner and someone who can press play. That’s a big thing to tackle and get out of the way before you go the personal playlist route. Our MC will monitor music during dinner and fade in and out for speeches.
I worked on creating playlists on Spotify I’ve probably spent like 16 hours on this so here’s what I’ve learnt. ( wedding is in 4 months btw).

Use crossfade to create a seamless playlist. I found 11 seconds works really well. This is found in Spotify’s “playback” options. It’s kinda hidden but it makes a huge difference. Apple Music probably has something similar.
I have a pre ceremony playlists - it’s 40 ish minutes of acoustic versions of top 40 songs to set the mood as guests arrive to ceremony. Then obviously a ceremony playlists. I have a cocktail hour and dinner playlists. 4 hours of music with oldies / pop punk / and modern songs. Anything that didn’t make the cut for the dance party playlists ended up here as background music. And finally I have a dance party playlist of 4.5 hours of music. I went crazy and picked the order each songs plays in to and it was easy. I broke it down into hours and made sure each hour had some “dance floor fillers” but then also a tiny bit of downtime ( amazing dance songs with good beats to keep vibe but not my heavy hitters) for people to go to the bar take a break etc. I also paid attention to beats per minutes and grouped songs that way. I might end up sharing these playlists because I gotta say I think they turned out so well. We had friends over the “test” them lol.

We went with a DJ - but I can see how it would be a good option to save money. The only thing you run into with a playlist is that some songs end and then the next song begins vs. a DJ where they would try and mix songs that work well so that there isn't ever a time where the music is stopped.

I would first look around at prices - but I'm on the side that thinks DJ's are a good idea and that playlists are for house party's of less than 40 people and not weddings.

Your day your decision to make upon the best way to save. Playlist is the way to go since you two can create it and going that route. A DJ is great though the price I know is expensive to put the budget towards your planning process. They make excellent MC too as well as family members or close friends you have chosen for reception.

Honestly a lot of people are moving towards doing this to keep costs down. im also seeing it at baby showers and wedding showers as well. its a great idea. you just have to pick all the songs yourselves!

This has been a super popular discussion lately!


If your FH is set on having a DJ you should at least look into it. If it makes him happy and removes the stress of making a list from the two of you it might be worth the cost! Plus DJs are great at reading a crowd and keeping the energy up in a way most apps can't do.

I recently asked a friend what DJ she used and it turns out she had a playlist and I didn't even remember that there was no DJ.
Another bride named Carly put together this list, if you go the playlist route it might help! https://www.weddingwire.ca/forums/music-playlist-ideas--t37862

I'm always of the view a DJ is really important. For me personally, a playlist doesn't have the same vibe as a DJ does. A DJ is interactive with the crowd, can ready the crowd and gets people up and moving .

We have a DJ ourselves which we feel is really worth it.

I also think doing a playlist would be super time consuming - I wouldn't have the time or patience for it - just doing my guest list checklist and labels has me exhausted LOL

If you're really creative that way to make a playlist and can devote some time to it, I think then its something to consider. It's really up to you on what you prefer.

FH and I are having a 60 guest wedding and we're going the playlist route. There was just no way we were going to have any kind of a budget for a good dj with everything else considered. I know you get the added bonus of a dj reading a room, but it still wasn't worth it for us. I've just made sure that the playlist is divided up into labelled playlists for each part of the day, one labelled pre-ceremony, aisle walk, cocktail hour, etc. so whoever is manning the music knows when to play which playlist. I've also taken great consideration into how and when to transition between fast and slow songs, as well as age appropriateness. It was a big added "thing to do", but worth it.