Everybody wants to have great music played and their guests up dancing and enjoying themselves at their party, wedding or special event, but how do you choose the music?

There’s no right or wrong answer, and it’s completely up to you, here are a few things to consider to make sure your event is fun and the success you want it to be.

Options:

1. You could entirely compile your own list of your favourite songs for the DJ to play from, but bear in mind that if you have really eclectic, ‘out there’ tastes, your song selections may not cater for all your guests and where you may love the music, your dancefloor may be left empty and your guests may not enjoy themselves as much as you

2. On the flipside, you could leave it up to your DJ to select all of the music, and use his/her experience and skill to play a good mix of music to cater your guests’ wide range of ages and musical tastes. However, you run the risk of an inexperienced,’hobby’ DJ completely missing the mark by playing all wrong or inappropriate songs, or even just playing only the songs that he/she wants to hear without regard to what you/your guests want to hear

So what do you do? Here’s the secret…

Hiring a professional DJ from a professional, reputable DJ company ensures the DJ is experienced, skilled to ‘read crowds’ and knows what song to play and ‘when’ to get the best response from guests. Even if you still want to provide a list of songs to be played, a true professional DJ will be only too happy to accommodate this, and give you ideas on how to work your requests in to the night, particularly if your requests aren’t ‘mainstream’ or likely to be loved by your wider guests, but you still want them to feature at your event. A professional DJ has the experience to tailor a playlist to suit a wide range of ages and musical tastes, and who are happy to take requests on the night!

Team this with selecting your favourite songs to be played and you get the best of both worlds!

It can be overwhelming when it comes to selecting music for your party, there are just so many songs to choose from! This is especially true when your DJ/DJ company boasts to having upwards of 50,000 songs in their collection.

So where do you start when making a song list for your party, wedding or event?

Firstly, have a think about your own favourite songs and what you want to hear at your event. Then, think about the guests you have invited and what music they like to listen to and/or which era they grew up with, to give you an idea of the genres you might like to cover on the night to ensure everybody has a great time.

Other tips:

1. Check if your DJ has a song list as this will give you an idea of what’s in their library
2. Go through the list (or google a list) and tick your favourite songs which you ALSO think make for great party/dancing songs too. Bear in mind that whilst it might sound good to you to just select your favourite songs, but if all these songs aren’t what most of your guests will enjoy too, you might end up with a poor atmosphere at your party with none of your guests dancing or enjoying themselves. Ticking your favourite songs also gives the DJ an idea of the kind of songs you like, so he/she will be able to mix in other songs on the night similar to the style/s you have already selected
3. Share the list with your friends/family who can also select some of their favourite songs too – that way, you will have a list of music to please a wide range of your guests
4. Bear in mind that for a typical 5 hour party, anywhere from 60-100 songs may be played, so if you select more than this, be prepared that some may not get played. With this in mind, make sure the songs you do select are the ones that you and your guests can really enjoy and dance to
5. Alternatively, instead of selecting songs, give your DJ an idea of the genres/styles of music you enjoy and leave the rest up to him/her! That way, your DJ can select the best songs that people respond to from his/her experience, and you and your guests can make requests too!

Should you hire a professional DJ for your party or event? Or should you just hire the equipment to then play the music from your phone or laptop yourself?

By having a professional DJ:

• you instantly get that party ‘feel’ simply by just having the DJ and the DJ set-up, which help create a party atmosphere
• you trust that their experience will help make your party/event fun and the success you want it to be. Whilst they take care of the music, you can concentrate on having fun!
• the music will be seamless, that is, no pauses between songs which can dampen an atmosphere if everybody is dancing – then there’s silence!
• it will cost more than if your do the music yourself

If you decide to D.I.Y:

• it’s cheaper!
• you have complete control over the music and can play your favourite tracks from iTunes or Spotify from your iPhone, smart-phone, iPod, tablet, laptop, or computer
• it takes a different interaction from your guests where they can even plug their own phone in to help out with the music
• you can extend your party or event for much longer than being bound by the set hours that a DJ can play/has been paid for