Shake That Bootie
April 2nd, 2007 @ 12:21 pm by Mrs. Lily
Mr. Lily and I are putting together lists of songs for the DJ to play. Granted he’ll slide in some of his own tunes, but we’re sort of type A so we wanted to have some measure of control. That and one DJ we met with said he loves to play, “Lady in Red” which was a red flag to both of us who hate that song (sorry if I’ve offended anyone who likes it…).
Are any of you all doing the same thing? If so, what are some really fun, upbeat dance songs on your list (like Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” or Outkast’s “Shake it like a polaroid picture”… or however the title goes — those are on mine because they make me shake my bootie).
We’re also doing a “Do not play” list — the chicken dance is on there. Again, sorry if someone out there likes it, but it isn’t for us! Et tu?
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19 Responses to “Shake That Bootie”
on our groomsmen put together the play list for our DJ. they’re all “booty shakin” songs. Mr. Peach and I got LOTs of compliments about our music selection that night. i have an excel spreadsheet of songs if you want. let me know and i can email it to ya~
I’m the same way. I can name you a list of stuff I don’t want to hear (chicken dance, ymca, shout, macarena, pretty much anything with cheesy choreographed moves) but I’m afraid that if my list is too long, there won’t be fun songs to dance to. I don’t want my wedding to be all country line and slow dancing. My FH’s sister got married last summer and they had a DNP list that had all the same ones, but then they were left with a bunch of songs from the “oldies” genre and then a bunch of rap, which no one really danced to.
Then again, our reception is going to be fairly short when it comes to how much time there is for dancing, so I bet I could easily make a fun list that would take up the amount of time we have to work with (it’s only about two hours when you factor in special dances, cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc)
Britney spears - toxic is a good dance song.. the outkast song you’re thinking about is “hey ya”
Madonna “Hung Up” is a good song. Miss Lily just reminded me to put down Beyonce on my don’t play list…I just can’t stand her voice.
The music list is one of the last remaining big things we need to do. We have a lot of the same “don’t play” songs as you guys have mentioned: no macarena, no chicken dance, no line dances. Ick. OTOH, we got a DJ for his expertise in weddings and parties, not just to play the songs so we didn’t have to worry about an iPod, so we’re going to let him make suggestions and play songs that we personally may not much like but which he says are guaranteed to get people dancing. Because it’s not just about our musical tastes, it’s about our guests having a good time. Our cocktail hour music will be old standards: Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, etc. Dinner will be quieter love songs that we like such as “You’re the Best Thing” by the Style Council, and then it’s all dancing. Since we’re only doing our first dance, no other special dances, no bouquet toss or garter toss, there will be more time for dancing than at some weddings. And one of the main reasons we wanted to have a traditional wedding was to dance! Although my darling fiance can’t dance to save his life. But that will change before our wedding day… 
yeah, we made both “do not play” and “must play” lists. this helped because my dj kinda sucked. and if we didnt have this list, i’m sure he would have gone off on his own.
and yes, our “do not play” list included ANY and ALL songs that required group dancing - macarena, chicken dance, ymca, electric slide, etc.
Miss Peach, would you email me your list of songs? I’m just working on my playlist right now. My email address is jensarafin (at) yahoo (dot) com. Thanks!
Miss Peach- Could you email me your songs as well? I would really appreciate it! My address is sheanamarie@gmail.com
Thanks!
We have a do not play and a must play list. The do not play list is not too long actually - a couple of artists I can’t stand, and songs that remind me of old boyfriends. I was very disappointed to learn that the Chicken Dance has to go on our MUST PLAY list! Apparently my fiance’s grandmother loves dancing to that song and he wants to play it for her. I will cringe, but it’s only a few minutes, right?
I think it’s helpful to have a must play list because it will help your DJ get a sense of what type of music you like, so he can try to create the rest of the playlist around your preferences.
If your band/DJ is good, you can keep the “do not play” and “must play” lists brief (only songs you extremely hate/love) and trust the band/DJ to use their expertise and observations of your particular crowd to keep the party humming.
miss peach - i’d love to see your list too. can you post it here? thanks! 
We should do a collective DNP list! Everyone can make suggestions and then add or change things to make their own lists. Already we’ve had someone reminded by someone else.
(Hmm… this could be an interesting new weekly series - everyone contribute to some type of list that most brides make anyway and would love help making!)
One of the things that made us trust our DJ was during our first meeting, when we started tossing out tunes we hated, and he’d say “Oh man I hate that tune.”
I’m in the military, and a phrase that comes up a lot in leadership conferences is “Delegate, Train, Trust.” You’re delegating chunks of your wedding to a variety of professionals–caterers, musicians, etc.–you’re lucky to be able to skip that Train step, so now all you need to do is Trust.
Once you’ve found a DJ you trust, you don’t need a lot of lists. We gave ours vague guidelines by decade, and a short list of exceptions (anything from 1900-1960 is fine, except no Johnny Mathis; no female vocalists, except Doris Day and Helen Forrest; nothing after 1960, except this Peter Gabriel tune). We’re relying on his greater skill and experience to handle the pacing.
I think I’m scaring my florist by taking this tack, but my reasoning is, she does 100+ weddings a year, so right there she’s more experienced than I am, and I’m bowing to her expertise. I want dark red, I want sage green, I want white and not ivory, I want silver and not gold. And beyond that, I trust her more experienced eye to do all the nitty-gritty.
* Pussycat Dolls, “Wait a Minute”
* Timbaland ft. Justin Timberlake/Nelly, “Give it to Me”
* Britney Spears, “I’m a Slave 4 U”
* Cassie, “Me & U”
* Missy Elliot, “Get Your Freak On”
* 112, “Dance with Me”
* N’SYNC, “Pop”
Rihanna, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Hilary Duff, Sean Paul
Miss peach can i see your song list also, mayerfan83@msn.com
Miss Peach- i’d love to see your song list also!
Hello Miss Peach - could you also please email me the list? stephanie.reid@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Me too, Miss Peach. octavian08 at yahoo
Thank you!
Mrs. Lily, I’m scrambling to put “Lady in Red” on my don’t-play list right now. Actually, I will probably IPod it because my don’t-play is longer than my play list.
As to the Chicken Dance, I’ve only heard it once at a party. I don’t mind it, but it’s definitely weird. It’s on par with the Hokey-Pokey. Where does it come from?
Miss Lily, New York/Tucson
Age and Occupation in 06: 30, Public Health Researcher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Art/Web Stuff
Engagement Date: February 11, 2006
Wedding Date: April, 2007
Venue: Tuscon, Arizona
About Me: Here are some things I love?�‚�? painting, drawing, knitting and all other crafty things (including glueing popsicle sticks together); burritos (must be from Arizona); indie/70s rock; whiskey; dogs (if only my tiny apt could support one!); bad TV; and reading. I'm also crazy indecisive so fingers crossed wedding planning doesn't kill me.
I have found it easier to make the “don’t play” list than the do play list! So many bad songs that I know people would live to hear but I would just cringe if I hear them.