Every wedding is different, and there are no universal rules when it comes to wedding music.
I’ve played songs at one wedding that packed the dance floor and watched the same songs get a completely different reaction from another crowd. That’s why I don’t believe in a standard list of songs that should never be played at a wedding.
There are, however, songs that deserve a little more thought. Sometimes it’s the lyrics. Sometimes it’s the length of the song. Sometimes it’s simply whether the song fits the people in the room.
Songs With Lyrics Worth Thinking About
There are plenty of popular songs with lyrics that don’t exactly sound like a wedding celebration.
- AC/DC – Highway to Hell
- Bon Jovi – You Give Love a Bad Name
- J. Geils Band – Love Stinks
- The Police – Every Breath You Take
- Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
That doesn’t automatically make them bad wedding songs.
If You Give Love a Bad Name is one of your favorite songs and you know your friends will scream every word, it may be perfect later in the reception. I probably wouldn’t recommend it for your grand entrance or first dance.
The moment matters just as much as the song.
Great Songs That Can Be Too Long
Some songs aren’t a problem because of the song itself. The problem is letting them play too long when the dance floor is ready for something else.
- Don McLean – American Pie
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird
- Meat Loaf – Paradise by the Dashboard Light
These can be fantastic sing-along moments with the right crowd. They can also take up a large chunk of dance-floor time.
I don’t have to play every song from beginning to end. If everyone is loving it, I’ll let it go. If the energy starts dropping, I can move into the next song while the crowd is still having fun.
Songs That Depend Heavily on Your Crowd
Some songs work extremely well with one group of guests and fall completely flat with another.
That can include songs that are more suggestive, songs tied closely to a particular generation or genre, or songs that simply don’t connect with the people in the room.
A few examples might include:
- Sir Mix-a-Lot – Baby Got Back
- Divinyls – I Touch Myself
- Shaggy – It Wasn’t Me
- Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup
None of those automatically belong on a do-not-play list. If one of them is meaningful to you or you know your crowd will love it, that’s completely different from playing it simply because it appears on somebody’s wedding playlist.
Group Dances
Group and line dances are another area where the crowd matters.
Songs like Cupid Shuffle and Cha Cha Slide can still fill a dance floor quickly. Newer dances and songs with recognizable dances can work just as well with the right group.
The mistake is assuming every wedding needs a string of line dances.
If your guests love them, we’ll use them. If that’s not your crowd, there’s no reason to force them into the reception. And if one gets the entire room onto the dance floor, I can use that energy to transition into something else rather than playing line dance after line dance.
Your Do-Not-Play List Matters More
One of the most useful things you can give me isn’t a list from the internet. It’s your do-not-play list.
If there’s a song, artist, genre, or line dance you absolutely don’t want at your wedding, tell me.
The same applies in the other direction. If there’s something you love that wouldn’t normally appear on a typical wedding playlist, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t play it. Knowing what matters to you gives me a much better starting point than following somebody else’s list of wedding rules.
The Right Song at the Right Time
There isn’t a universal list of songs that will work at every wedding, and there isn’t a universal list of songs that will ruin one.
The right song depends on your guests, where you are in the reception, and what’s happening on the dance floor at that moment.
That’s where reading the room becomes important. A song that doesn’t make sense at 7:30 might be exactly what the dance floor needs at 9:30.
The goal isn’t to follow a list of songs you’re supposed to play or avoid. It’s to use the right music at the right time and keep the night moving naturally.