Playlists From My Wedding
I love music, putting together playlists, and rocking a crown, so I decided to DJ my own wedding. Though as the groom, I didn’t have time to do much beyond pressing play, so I put together playlists for the ceremony and reception. Picking the music took an enormous amount of time, so if you’re planning to handle the music at your own wedding, I hope these playlists give you some ideas.
Ceremony Music
| Arrival music |
| Mozart: Piano Concerto #27, 3rd movement | 9:02 | András Schiff, Sándor Végh |
| Bach: Partita No 1 in B-flat major | 2:50 | Gabriela Imreh |
| Processional |
| Debussy: Images 1 ère série : Mouvement | 3:23 | Pierre-Laurent Aimard |
| Recessional |
| Move | 2:35 | Miles Davis |
Cocktail Music
| California Girls | 2:46 | The Beach Boys |
| Eight Days A Week | 2:44 | The Beatles |
| I Turn My Camera On | 3:32 | Spoon |
| Sunrise | 3:21 | Norah Jones |
| New Slang | 3:51 | The Shins |
| Mother And Child Reunion | 3:10 | Paul Simon |
| Bad Moon Rising | 2:20 | Creedence Clearwater Revival |
| White Winter Hymnal | 2:27 | Fleet Foxes |
| Sound And Vision | 3:04 | David Bowie |
| Paint It, Black | 3:46 | Rolling Stones |
| Listen To The Music | 3:50 | The Doobie Brothers |
| Mushaboom | 3:45 | Feist |
| Small Axe | 3:55 | Bob Marley & The Wailers |
| The Way We Get By | 2:40 | Spoon |
| Sloop John B | 2:58 | The Beach Boys |
| For Once In My Life | 2:47 | Stevie Wonder |
| Summertime Clothes | 4:30 | Animal Collective |
| Weird Fishes/Arpeggi | 5:18 | Radiohead |
| Two Weeks | 4:03 | Grizzly Bear |
| 4th Time Around | 4:30 | Bob Dylan |
| Stars And Sons | 5:09 | Broken Social Scene |
| People Got a Lotta Nerve | 2:34 | Neko Case |
| Ain’t No Sunshine | 2:07 | Bill Withers |
| Tangerine.mp3 | 2:58 | Led Zeppelin |
| Summersong | 3:14 | Pavement |
| You Only Live Once | 3:07 | The Strokes |
| Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer | 2:25 | Nat King Cole |
Dinner Music
| Girl Asks Boy (Part 2) | 2:20 | Bill Frisell |
| Les Jours Tristes (instrumenta | 2:16 | Yann Tiersen |
| Waltz for Debby (Take 2) | 6:57 | Bill Evans Trio |
| Goodbye Pork Pie Hat | 4:47 | Charles Mingus |
| Skeeter-Ism | 6:00 | Dave Douglas |
| Verona | 3:11 | Bill Frisell |
| Ner Tamid | 2:39 | John Zorn Bar Kokhba Sextet |
| Giant Steps | 4:47 | John Coltrane |
| Doralice | 2:46 | Stan Getz & João Gilberto |
| Blue Rondo A La Turk | 6:46 | The Dave Brubeck Quartet |
| La Flor | 3:15 | Marta Gómez |
| So Danço Samba | 3:46 | Stan Getz & João Gilberto |
Post-dinner, cake-cutting, taking us into dancing music
| I Will Dare | 3:17 | The Replacements |
| I Want You Back | 3:01 | The Jackson 5 |
| Money (That’s What I Want) | 2:38 | Barrett Strong |
| Soul Shakedown Party | 3:01 | Bob Marley |
| To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) | 3:05 | Ryan Adams |
| This Tornado Loves You | 3:21 | Neko Case |
| Start Me Up | 3:33 | Rolling Stones |
| I Got You (I Feel Good) | 2:45 | James Brown |
| Golden Age | 4:12 | TV on the Radio |
| I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm | 3:12 | Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong |
| Something Stupid | 2:39 | Frank Sinatra |
| Don’t Be Cruel | 2:04 | Elvis Presley |
| I Was Made To Love Her | 2:36 | Stevie Wonder |
Dance! Playlist
| First Dance |
| Strange Overtones (Wedding edit) | 3:05 | David Byrne and Brian Eno |
| Bride and Father Dance |
| What A Wonderful World | 2:22 | Louis Armstrong |
| The Way You Look Tonight | 3:21 | Frank Sinatra |
| Unforgettable (feat. Natalie Cole) | 3:29 | Nat King Cole |
| I Saw Her Standing There | 2:54 | The Beatles |
| Stuck In The Middle With You | 3:25 | Stealers Wheel |
| Build Me Up Buttercup | 2:58 | The Foundations |
| Sweet Caroline | 3:22 | Neil Diamond |
| Respect | 2:29 | Aretha Franklin |
| Jump, Jive, An’ Wail | 3:29 | Louis Prima |
| Take Good Care Of My Baby | 2:39 | Bobby Vee |
| Do You Love Me (Dirty Dancing) | 2:52 | The Contours |
| Wipeout | 2:37 | (Used as background music while getting the mixer going) |
| Fly me to the moon | 2:29 | Frank Sinatra (I did a mixer to this) |
| Unchained Melody | 3:39 | The Righteous Brothers |
| The Twist | 2:36 | Chubby Checker |
| YMCA | 4:48 | Village People |
| Brown Eyed Girl | 3:03 | Van Morrison |
| Love Shack | 5:22 | B52’s |
| Can’t Help Falling In Love | 3:03 | Elvis Presley |
| That’s The Way I Like It | 2:59 | K.C. & The Sunshine Band |
| Shout | 4:28 | The Isley Brothers |
| Come On Eileen | 4:13 | Dexy’s Midnight Runners |
| Signed Sealed Delivered Im You | 2:38 | Stevie Wonder |
| Only The Lonely | 2:28 | Roy Orbison |
| Come Away With Me | 3:18 | Norah Jones |
| Billie Jean | 4:57 | Michael Jackson |
| My Girl | 2:44 | The Temptations |
| At Last | 2:58 | Etta James |
| Grease Mega Mix | 4:51 | Grease |
| Dancing Queen | 3:51 | Abba |
| Wake Me Up Before You Go Go | 3:52 | Wham |
| California Love (Original Version) feat. Dr. Dre & Roger Troutman | 4:45 | 2PAC |
| Let’s Dance | 4:10 | David Bowie |
| The Way You Move | 3:55 | Outkast |
| Friends In Low Places | 4:20 | Garth Brooks |
| Paper Thin Walls | 3:01 | Modest Mouse |
| Oh What a Night | 3:36 | Doobie Brothers |
| Baby Got Back | 4:22 | Sir Mix-A-Lot |
| Crazy | 2:44 | Patsy Cline |
| Sweet Home Alabama | 4:45 | Lynyrd Skynyrd |
| Ghetto Superstars | 4:21 | Pras Feat. ODB and Mya |
| Rock Your Body | 4:29 | Justin Timberlake |
| Electric Slide (Dance party songs) | 4:24 | Unknown |
| The Dance | 3:40 | Garth Brooks |
| No Diggity | 3:41 | Blackstreet |
| Hypnotize | 3:50 | Notorious BIG |
| Use Me | 3:50 | Bill Withers |
| Train in Vain (Stand By Me) | 3:12 | The Clash |
| Since U Been Gone | 3:09 | Kelly Clarkson |
| Burning Down The House | 4:05 | Talking Heads |
A note on equipment
I DJed for several years in high school, so I had enough equipment already to DJ. If you’re planning on doing your own wedding, you really don’t need much. If you have access to a high powered receiver or amp and a good set of speakers, you’re all set. Ok, you need a laptop or an iPod, but I’m assuming you already have that since you’re even thinking about this. Be aware though that you’ll likely need a microphone (toasts, etc), and you’ll need a mixer to hook that up. I really only recommend DJing your own wedding if you’re a little crazy (it’s one more thing to worry about) and are trying to save money.
Nice idea Andy. You did a good job DJ'ing my sisters wedding. Sorry I didn't make the ceremony, but I bet it was great. Hope things are going well.
The greatest way to remember a wedding.