Welcome back to part 2 of our TikTok live “Ask a Wedding DJ” Q&A! Tune in to listen to more great questions asked by our followers. Check out our TikTok Live’s Wednesday at noon CST to get your questions answered!

During part 2 of this live, we talked more about: 

• What to do if your planner suggests a DJ you don’t like
• How many songs are you going to need for a wedding
• Whether you even need all of these dances anyway
• Even more song recommendations that might be right for you
• And much more!

Every Wednesday and Thursday, we go live on TikTok and Instagram to talk about all things weddings. You can tune in on Instagram and TikTok to hear the full episode.

Do all DJs allow you to choose the music that gets played?

Dominic: I think so! Most DJs will make an effort to play music that matches your vibe. 

As a DJ, I want to know what is going to get your crowd pumped up and then stick to playing music with that vibe. I take the time to get to know you and your partner and ask questions that help me learn your style, which helps me play the music you love all night without the stress of you having to choose it all! 

There aren’t too many couples that give me a list of every single song to play at the wedding; after all, that’s what they are hiring me to do! Most will give me a few songs that they really want to hear and then trust me to understand their vibe and just stick within that for the rest of the music I play through the night. 

So, you do need to trust your DJ with some of it, but most DJs will work with you to develop playlists that you love. 

I looked up the Vitamin String Quartet that you recommended and am totally using them. Thank you!

Dominic: You’re welcome! For anyone that isn’t familiar with the Vitamin String Quartet, they are an instrumental group that covers everything. Blink 182, Coldplay, Ozzy, the Cure, My Chemical Romance, and of course, all the hits and all the love songs as well. 

There are other artists that do amazing instrumental covers too. Look up:

• The Brooklyn Duo
• The Piano Guys 
• Daniel Jang
• Paul Hankerson

If you want to include some songs in your day, but there are artists that you just can’t figure out, how do I fit that in? Look for a beautiful cover of it!

How do you feel about cocktail-style receptions? We only really care about doing the first dance.

Dominic: You can absolutely do that! It’s your day, and whatever style or timeline you choose for your reception will be beautiful. 

Everybody’s preference is different. You and your partner might just want everyone to drink and visit if you’re not really dancers; you just want to catch up and have music playing in the background, and that’s ok!

There are people that don’t even do the first dance, believe it or not. Some people want to do the first dance and no parent dances because maybe their parents are split up, or one parent doesn’t want to do it, or maybe a parent isn’t in their life. 

Another thing to consider is to have some casual slow dancing instead of a full party. People come to weddings, usually with a plus one, whether it’s their spouse or their partner. There will be people at your wedding that haven’t slowly danced together since they got married. If you are open to having a dance space available, you can throw in a few slow songs, and people who don’t normally get up and dance might because they are all gussied up, and the moment is right. If not, just stick to your first dance and carry on with your evening; it will be great!

We are having a boho beach wedding. Would satin bridesmaid’s dresses look good with khakis and linen dress shirts on the men?

Dominic: I think it would look great! You could even let them go barefoot, maybe roll up the khakis once or twice, or have the linen shirts unbuttoned a little bit. It’s a versatile look that will compliment the satin bridesmaids’ dresses nicely!

Do you have song recommendations for an uncle and niece dance? My dad passed away, and I’m dancing with my uncle.

Dominic: First of all, I’m sorry for your loss. That’s really sweet of your uncle to step up and dance with you on your wedding day. You can always choose a song that your dad loved, or here are a few other songs that might be perfect for that moment

• Have I told you lately that I loved you, Rod Stewart or Van Morrison
• You Are My Sunshine, Kena Grani or Christina Perry both do beautiful covers of it
• Time of Your Life, Greenday
• No Matter Where You Are, Us The Duo
• I’ll Stand By You, The Pretenders

Where can I download the music planner?

Dominic: You can grab the wedding music planner here and read our guide on how to use it here!

Song Suggestions

Dominic: A person’s taste in music is as personal as their taste in food. I’ll make some of my tried and true suggestions, but I always suggest looking into it a bit more to figure out what you really like. Some people know right away, and others have a hard time with it! YouTube is great for figuring out what you want because if you put in a song you like, it will start suggesting others that you might enjoy, and you can just really go down the rabbit hole of music. 

Brother-sister dance:

• My Best Friend, Queen
• Count On Me, Bruno Mars
• One Call Away, Charlie Pouth
• You’ve Got a Friend in Me, Michael Buble 
• Your Smiling Face, James Taylor

Father-daughter dance:

• Half the Man, Jennifer Smead (Love)
• I’ll Be Your Man, Zac Brown Band
• The Man Who Loves You the Most, Zac Brown Band
• You’ll Always Be My Baby, Alan Jackson
• First Man, Camilla Cabello
• Daddy, Abby Anderson
• Daddy’s Little Girl, The Shire

Groom and Daughter dance:

If one of you has a child, it can be a really beautiful part of the night to do a dance showing the families coming together. You can organize it in so many ways: the three of you can have a dance together, or the parent and child can start dancing together and then, halfway through the song, have your spouse come out. Whichever you choose, though, here are a few of my favorite suggestions for songs:

• Cinderella, Stephen Curtis Chapman
• For My Daughter, Kane Brown
• Just Fishing, Trey Atkins
• Daddy’s Hands, Holly Dunn
• I’ll Keep You Safe, Sleeping at Last

Bride and Her Adult son dance:

• Boy, Lee Bryce
• When You’re My Age, Lori McKenna
• Mothers and Sons, Paul Bogart
• That’s What Mamas Do, Jason Matthews
• 93 Million Miles, Jason Mraz’

Bride and Grandma dance:

• Because You Love Me, Celine Dion
• Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler
• Lean On Me, Bill Withers
• Unforgettable, Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole

How many songs are needed throughout the whole day?

Dominic: In our wedding music planner, the first 2 pages are a list of songs you may be looking for, broken down by the part of the day. For example, half an hour of music before the ceremony, 2-4 songs for the ceremony, etc. 

Broken down by time, here’s a general outline of what you can plan for:

• Prelude music: thirty minutes
• Cocktail hour: an hour to an hour and twenty minutes
• Dinner – an hour
• Dancing – two to six hours, depending on the party!

We have a blog post that breaks this down in more detail as well. You can find it here.

Should the bride and groom be introduced before or after the bridal party at the reception?

Dominic: Usually, I bring in the wedding party, and then I introduce the bride and groom, but in the past, we have had some exceptions, and they have all worked really well too. 

It’s your day, and you can really do it any way that works best for you. I’ve even had one wedding where the bride and groom came in first, then took the mic from me and introduced the wedding party as they entered!

Our wedding day is coming up fast, and I’m starting to panic that I won’t have everything planned in time!

Dominic: Keep in mind that your guests are there because they love you! They aren’t there to criticize your candles or food, or decorations. They are there to celebrate the two of you!

Do you have a song recommendation for bridesmaids and groomsmen to enter the reception together?

Dominic: Absolutely! There’s a whole category on here, and I’m excited cuz nobody ever asked me for that. This is a chance to really have some fun. The Wedding Music Planner has a whole section of ideas, but here are a few of my favorites. Basically, any song you’ve ever heard at a sporting event will work really well:

• Thunderstruck, AC/DC
• Welcome to the Jungle, Guns n’ Roses
• Turn Down For What, DJ Snake, Lil Jon
• No Diggity, Blackstreet
• Butter, BTS
• I like Cardi B.
• Forever, Chris Brown (especially if you’re fans of The Office!)

Can you talk about the order of the ceremony? I’m having trouble organizing it.

Dominic: Ceremonies can take many forms and timelines, but I can give you a general idea of how it can flow.

Before the ceremony starts, the DJ or officiant will announce that the wedding is about to start and for guests to turn off their cell phones. The rest of the ceremony generally moves in this order or something similar:

• Parents walk down the aisle and take their seats
• The wedding party walks down the aisle
• The flower girl and/or ring bearer walk down
• The bride makes her grand entrance
• The officiant asks, “who presents this woman to be married today”? 
• Poem reading (optional)
• The couple exchanged vows
• The couple exchanges rings
• You may kiss your bride!
• Candle lighting, sand ceremony, or any other ceremony you choose
• Poem reading (optional, but if you choose to do it, we love The Hand Poem)
• Signing of the registry
• Recessional

You can find our full wedding day timeline guide here. Of course, anything we put in these can be edited to be in an order that works best for you and your partner. And if you need more help, we offer virtual wedding planning services where we can meet with you on Zoom to help with anything you need!

How do you feel about the garter toss? Can we do without it?

Dominic: Absolutely, you don’t need to incorporate the garter toss or the bouquet toss if you don’t want to! Recently we have seen more and more couples opting out of it. 

If you’re thinking about “tossing” the garter toss, you might find this post about wedding traditions helpful.

We hope this was helpful in answering some of your wedding planning questions! Of course, if you have any more questions, we have lots of resources available to help you. 

You can join our live videos on Tik Tok or Instagram every week: we go live on TikTok Wednesdays at noon CST and go live on Instagram at 7 pm on Thursdays. 

You can also check out our website! We offer virtual planning services for one on one help, or you can browse our blog, where we have written full posts on the most common wedding questions!

If you recently got engaged, congratulations! Happy wedding planning.