DJGold

dokai

As the wedding season heats up, I'm getting a lot of requests from my brides for ideas for what they should use for their Wedding Party intro, Grand Entrance, First Dance, Father/Daughter, Mother/Son, etc., etc. Don't get me wrong, a lot of times the bride (or someone) has already chosen most or all of the songs. But it seems that lately I've been getting a lot of "What do YOU recommend?"

Being an old.., er, more experienced DJ, I have a tendancy to lean toward the classics. :lol: Here's what I recently sent to a MOB:

Quote: My personal favorite is "Here And Now", by Luther Vandross. The lyrics are spot-on appropriate for a First Dance, and it's almost sickeningly romantic, which is "just about right" for a wedding. His voice also works off of the instruments and the backup singers so well it should be played as an example in singing classes, in my humble opinion. And the tempo is such that even people that can't dance can fake it well enough to get by.

A close second choice is "I Believe In You And Me", by the Four Tops. However, "Here and Now" is my still my favorite because the lyrics are more specific to a wedding, while the Four Tops' song is more of a general purpose love song. It's still a great First Dance song, though.

Another R&B classic First Dance is Heatwave's "Always and Forever". Very appropriate lyrics, and, like the other three I've mentioned, it's been around for a while.

It really comes down to what Suzanna and Jeff like. You could pick almost ANY type of music and find a dozen good "first dance" songs. (Please note that I said "almost".)

A song that is popular with the younger brides right now is "You and Me" by Lifehouse. Good song, but I don't know if it'll be around as long as some of the "classics".

Another one that I really like is "At Last" by Etta James. As a friend of mine describes it, "It's sexy, and loving, and short!" Very old-school sound to it, as you'd expect from Etta James.

Or, if Suzanna and Jeff want something with more of an "edge" to it, Kenny Wayne Shephard's "I Found Love" is getting some good reviews. Kind of a "Stevie Ray Vaughn" sound to it.

Or, for a C&W sound, a classic is "I Cross My Heart", by George Strait.

Like I said, it all depends on what kind of songs they like. Lots of good ideas from soundtracks of romantic movies, too. Disney is especially good for that!

TIP: I then included links to samples of the songs from Amazon.com. I don't know if any of you have ever purchased music from Amazon, but the "sample" feature is great for this type of work. Just put a link in the e-mail and the recipient can click on it to hear a clip of the song in question.

Lifehouse - "You and Me"
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/clipserve/B0007PALCU001002/0/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_002/103-4692612-0160637

Anyway, I'd like to hear what the rest of you have been using lately. Any new breakout First Dance songs? Or other reception dance songs? After reviewing the e-mail, I realized that a LOT of the stuff that -I- like is pretty old. I don't want to get stuck in a rut! :hahaha:

jbrown157

A couple things that immediatly come to mind..
1. First Dance - Celine Dion's version of "At Last". I'm not a big Celine fan, but this is a wonderful rendition of a classic.

2. Last (Farewell) Dance - "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones is my hands down favorite.

I'm sure I'll think of more later

DJ Teddy Bear · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 1:06 pm Post subject:

First dance, parent dances and other dedications? Nope. I don't recommend anything. I tell them that those are way too personal a choice for me to sway them one way or the other. If they bug me I'll tell them to go to my site where I have my 700 most popular songs listed, broken down by genre. Maybe they'll like something, or at least it may jog their memory for a good choice.

ON THE OTHER HAND...

For the cake cutting bouquet and garter, I DO have standard songs to suggest:
Cake: When I'm Sixty-Four
Bouquet: Girls Just Want To Have Fun
Garter Removal: Stripper
Garter Toss: Sharp Dressed Man
Garter Raising: Oh Yeah

jwg · Joined: September 15th, 2004 Posts: 1089 Location: Erie, PA

I post suggestions on my website. Again, they are suggestions. Sometimes a couple comes up with a better choice than what I've researched.

djmc · Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:45 pm Post subject:

"Bless The Broken Road" (Rascal Flatts) seems to be coming up a LOT (at least 3x in the last year chosen by couples for their 1st dance)

djwak59 · Joined: September 21st, 2004 Posts: 200 Location: Dyer, IN

Hi all,

I'm with Teddybear on this one.....I use the same line," I think this has to be something important to YOU two, not what I played for somebody ELSE."

That usually gets them thinkin' on their own.

I'm also partial to Dokai's thoughts, I'm 47 and my fave picks are old school too.

See ya. 8)

TheBartman47 · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 3:12 pm Post subject:

Here's a new song that just came out on Prime Cuts, excellent Father-Daughter dance song...
Heartland - I Loved Her First