What songs have you banned at your reception?

[zoebartlett]

Just curious...are there any songs you are going to ban? "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leopard and Bon Jovi''s "Livin'' On a Prayer" seem like odd choices to have at receptions, but yet I''ve heard them time and time again. The macarena and the electric slide are things of the past...or are they?

 

[iheartscience]

Hahaha! I''m definitely going to play all the dumb wedding songs I can! I''m talking YMCA, Electric Slide, Macarena and most important of all...THE CHICKEN DANCE! I''ll probably play Livin'' On A Prayer because it''s such a good sing along song. Definitely won''t be playing Pour Some Sugar on Me, though...that''s not very danceable!

My older brother went to his good friend''s wedding a few years ago and he said he was shocked at some of the songs the DJ played! He said they played a bunch of rap songs with curse words, sexual innuendo, etc. He was like "I''m at a wedding, not a club, right?!" But he also thought the older people didn''t notice, so that was good!

 

[Skippy123]

The chicken dance!!! No Macarena and no country music!!!

 

[musey]

"Umbrella" by Rihanna.

No particular reason over than that I HATE THAT SONG!!!!!!!!!

 

[tanyak]

Here''s my theory on banning songs. I''ve been to weddings with black people, white people, Hispanic people, Asian people, and I soon as the first beat from "The Electric Slide" drops, people rush the floor. A lot of folks, especially women, enjoy that song, and really, the only time you ever electric slide is during weddings and family reunions!

I didn''t ban any songs. Sure, they are some I don''t really care for, like the Macarena, the Chicken Dance, etc., but it wasn''t going to ruin my night if one of my guests had requested it. For example, besides the Electric Sllide, my DJ played the "Cha Cha Slide." I don''t really like that, either, and I can''t Cha Cha, but it got several guests on the floor. I just watched awhile then went to the bar.

 

[basil]

Whitney Houston "I will always love you". I hate that song. Like nails on a chalkboard.

Probably won''t go the Macarena, Electric Slide route either. If for no other superficial reason than I don''t know how to do those dances.

 

[cara]

we actually contemplated allowing only completely inappropriate wedding songs played at the reception. no happy love songs only cheatin, lying, breakup songs allowed. but we''ve been too lazy to implement anything yet...

 

[zoebartlett]

Yeah, musey, I hate "Umbrella" too. What''s that song..."In Da Club?" I hate that one too.

Funny thing happened last night at the wedding we went to. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" began and I went up to my FI and sang "Love me like a bomb, baby, come and get it on..." (the first two lines) just to be funny. I''m really a pretty quiet and reserved person so this was completely out of character for me. What I didn''t know was that standing on the other side of him was his 50 year old sister (mother of the groom). He laughed at me and his sister''s mouth fell open. As soon as I saw her I got beat red and was so embarrassed. Classy, huh?

 

[sumbride]

We just went to a wedding with a VERY religious ceremony... hour long, lots of prayers and even communion... and then their intro song at the reception? Pour some sugar on me! We had to stifle our laughter!!! M said "do they even know what this song is about??? It was hilarious!!


When we met with our DJ, he'd just been through his "prom marketing" so all his song lists were geared to prom. We went through them this week and found maybe four songs we'd agree to have him play! The rest of the list? NO WAY. So we need to call him and ask for the "wedding list"! We've already decided against the typical "wedding songs"... no YMCA, no chicken dance, no electric slide, no no no. His mom is already annoyed, but that kind of adds to why we're banning them.

 

[jcrow]

anything that required cheorographed movemtents to group dancing.

 

[So_happy]

I wanted to exclude a bunch of songs, too, but my fiance used to dj weddings and he told me that those songs, while annoying, never fail to get people on the dance floor. He doesn''t like them either, but he loves a full dance floor

I''m going to leave it up to my DJs discretion I think. If she decides to play the cha cha slide, for example, and no one gets up, then we''ll just make sure she doesn''t play any more interactive ones after that. One won''t kill me

 

[larussel03]

Date: 7/1/2007 12:27:12 PM
Author: So_happy
I wanted to exclude a bunch of songs, too, but my fiance used to dj weddings and he told me that those songs, while annoying, never fail to get people on the dance floor. He doesn''t like them either, but he loves a full dance floor

I''m going to leave it up to my DJs discretion I think. If she decides to play the cha cha slide, for example, and no one gets up, then we''ll just make sure she doesn''t play any more interactive ones after that. One won''t kill me

My DJ said the same, but I''m just going to tell him no things like chicken dance or electric slide and no music with innappropriate language...which I''m sure he wont play, but otherwise I''m leaving it up to his judgement, I''ve seen him at another wedding and he was really good, so I''m not worried

 

[Mara]

haha we didn''t disallow anything at our reception...it''s so much fun when you can request anything. the last wedding we all just went to, my friend requested Baby Got Back and it was soooo fun to dance to that...so hilarious. made for lots of great pictures too. and i LOVE pour some sugar on me hahaha!! we also played ''Latin Girls'' by BEP at our reception which everyone loved...! for me the reception is just about having a big fabulous party where everyone enjoys themselves, more about the guests than the couple.

 

[iheartscience]

Man, there are so many haters of the cheesy wedding songs! I love them! A wedding is just so fun when the DJ plays songs like the Chicken Dance and the Electric Slide because everyone gets up and does it!

 

[WTNLVR]

I don''t know anyone who has successfully banned any music. The DJ''s/bands will play whatever is requested usually. We banned a couple of cheesy songs and they got played anyway. I even specifically MULTIPLE times said NO circle dance at the end, and guess what?? They had us do the circle dance UGH! I didn''t want to make a scene and it was the very last dance and I was exhausted, so I just grinned and bared it -but I was REALLY ticked off!

 

[Cehrabehra]

this isn''t really an answer.... but..... I can pinpoint the *day* I fell in love with Jazz music in september 1995 because of the music at a reception.... I was so moved by the awesomeness of the music i talked the the dj and he said the mother of the bride had made the tapes from her collection and what an awesome selection of songs it was.... there were others (like stevie wonder''s "isn''t she lovely" as the song where the bride danced with her father) sprinkled in, but NONE of the "typical" songs and the event was so light and classy and interesting and upbeat. I fell in love with the genre and embrace it close still to this day....

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 7/1/2007 8:30:40 PM
Author: Cehrabehra
this isn''t really an answer.... but..... I can pinpoint the *day* I fell in love with Jazz music in september 1995 because of the music at a reception.... I was so moved by the awesomeness of the music i talked the the dj and he said the mother of the bride had made the tapes from her collection and what an awesome selection of songs it was.... there were others (like stevie wonder''s ''isn''t she lovely'' as the song where the bride danced with her father) sprinkled in, but NONE of the ''typical'' songs and the event was so light and classy and interesting and upbeat. I fell in love with the genre and embrace it close still to this day....

Sara,

I love that! I''d love to have a jazz reception but I don''t think my FI would be up for that. I think he''d agree to the cocktail hour having jazz music, or at the very least jazz being played during dinner. What are your favorites?

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 7/1/2007 8:35:53 PM
Author: zoebartlett

Date: 7/1/2007 8:30:40 PM
Author: Cehrabehra
this isn''t really an answer.... but..... I can pinpoint the *day* I fell in love with Jazz music in september 1995 because of the music at a reception.... I was so moved by the awesomeness of the music i talked the the dj and he said the mother of the bride had made the tapes from her collection and what an awesome selection of songs it was.... there were others (like stevie wonder''s ''isn''t she lovely'' as the song where the bride danced with her father) sprinkled in, but NONE of the ''typical'' songs and the event was so light and classy and interesting and upbeat. I fell in love with the genre and embrace it close still to this day....

Sara,

I love that! I''d love to have a jazz reception but I don''t think my FI would be up for that. I think he''d agree to the cocktail hour having jazz music, or at the very least jazz being played during dinner. What are your favorites?

I''m really bad with names.... and I love almost everything. I''m NOT a fan of kenny g or that "smooth" type of jazz.... but I love just about everything else. I listen to ella and armstrong all the big names of course, but also love dixie and blues and bossa nova as well... The stuff that is done now is kinda hit or miss but almost anything done before 1980 is awesome to me.... the more freeform it is, the better.... ella can scat in genius fashion. I also love ska and swing and jive and all of that... I really should try to learn more band names LOL I do like rosemary cloony (my friends laugh at me that I like mambo italiano and of course now with the playboy girls come on to my house has become repopularized) and perry como too LOL They aren''t what I would really consider jazz per se but... kinda LOL

My other favorite types of music is trance/techno/electronica and punk/new wave/alternative LOL I like the unexpected, I cannot stand bubble gum. Well, usually LOL

 

[zoebartlett]

Yeah, I''m not a fan of smooth jazz. Now Ella and Louis and all the other big names from their time on the other hand, I could listen to all day and not be tired.

 

[ljmorgan]

I think it feels snobby to ban songs that I didn''t like. I didn''t disallow anything, and no one requested anything outrageous. You''re so busy, you won''t be paying attention to the music. Let people hear what they want and have a great time!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Hehehe

I know this sounds very type-A, but we went the ipod route so that we wouldn''t have to hear any of the "usual suspects" (plus country & rap which we don''t like). We had fun with our reception playlists, asking guests to request their favorite songs on our wedding website.

We got very few requests for electric slide, chicken dance, etc...

 

[Odilia]

Date: 6/30/2007 11:36:51 PM
Author: basil
Whitney Houston ''I will always love you''. I hate that song. Like nails on a chalkboard.

Yes, I heard them touting that one at bridal shows when I was engaged, and it didn''t make any sense to me. Because although the title has a nice wedding sense, the lyrics actually are awful for a wedding, because it''s really like, "I''ll always love you but I have to leave you..." Seemed weird to me to have a song about how ''I have to leave you'' at a wedding, whether you like or dislike it as a song itself.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 7/2/2007 8:15:54 PM
Author: old-fashioned girl

Date: 6/30/2007 11:36:51 PM
Author: basil
Whitney Houston ''I will always love you''. I hate that song. Like nails on a chalkboard.

Yes, I heard them touting that one at bridal shows when I was engaged, and it didn''t make any sense to me. Because although the title has a nice wedding sense, the lyrics actually are awful for a wedding, because it''s really like, ''I''ll always love you but I have to leave you...'' Seemed weird to me to have a song about how ''I have to leave you'' at a wedding, whether you like or dislike it as a song itself.

Yeah, some songs are like that. I''ve caught myself singing a song that sounds like a love song and then halfway through, I''m like, wait, WHAT is this song really about???