Wedding Dance Songs
10 Fail Safe Songs to Get People Dancing
Being a wedding DJ isn’t always easy, you need to play the write wedding dance songs to ensure everyone has a good time. Sure sometimes you have an up for it crowd and you can play literally anything and they are going to party. Other times the crowd is going to need a little more coaxing to pull them away from their comfortable chairs with left over wedding cake and coffee. Some DJs rely on games or talking to the crowd to coax them up. While this can be an effective technique to break the ice some couples prefer to have no games due to the cheesiness factor. I have always found the best way to get people up and dancing is to play those infectious wedding receptions dance songs that everyone loves. Looking back over the years I have compiled a list of songs (in no particular order) that can be pulled out when the energy on the dance floor starts to die off and you need to get people moving! Here is my top wedding party songs.
1. Jackson 5 – I Want You Back (Z-Trip Remix)
OK everyone loves a bit of old-school MJ. This track everyone can get down to, from your 80-year-old grandmother to your 8-year-old nephew. The original is great…but it’s been played to death. This remix by Z-Trip is close enough to the original to be wedding friendly but the drums are fatter. Works every time.
2. Max-a-Million – Sexual Healing
This reggae rework of the Marvin Gaye’s classic really get’s the wedding crowd going. Once again this track is a modern twist on an older track with slightly heavier drums and bit of dancehall flavour. This is also a use full transition track between hip-hop and reggae.
3. Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music White Boy
Every DJ has had the “Can you play something funky” request. This is my go-to track.
4. Katrina and the Waves – Walking on Sunshine
It’s time to pull out some 80s. Every DJ knows the key to getting the dance floor going is getting the girls up and dancing. Sometimes to make that happen you need to pull out some 80s power cheese. Your there to make sure the bride has the time of her life after all.
5. DJ Topcat – Dec 4th Oh What A Night
Often being a wedding DJ is about pleasing vastly different age groups with the same track. This mash up by DJ Topcat of Jay-Z and Frankie Valli is the perfect blend. This is also the perfect transition track for going from disco to hip-hop or vice versa.
6. Mark Ronson featuring Amy Winehouse – Valerie
Mark Ronson makes the list a second time with this up tempo jam featuring Amy Winehouse. This track is a dance floor builder for sure. Although it won’t get everyone running to the dance floor immediately it is one of those songs that everyone who is dancing grabs a partner to dance with. Thus you end up with more people dancing than before.
7- Outkast – Hey Ya!
That hand clapping breakdown, sing-a-long chorus and funky bass line makes Hey Ya! a dance floor filler every time. Just don’t pay attention to the meaning of the lyrics that preach the fallacy of everlasting love. But the crowd don’t care about that. They just want to shake it like a Polaroid picture!
8. Michael Jackson – Black or White
I just picked 1 out of 20 or so Michael Jackson that could be placed here. Billie Jean, Thriller, Don’t Stop til You Get Enough……the list goes on.
9. Sonia Dada- (Lover) You Don’t Treat Me No Good
Sometimes when the crowd get’s a bit exhausted from all the dancing you need a sing along track. However you can’t go too slow otherwise everyone will desert the dance floor. What you need is a slow burner. Sonia Dada’s hit from 1992 fit’s the bill perfectly.
10. Daft Punk – One More Time
Really you have to build up to this one. But it’s such a feel good jam I couldn’t leave it out of my list. If you have a bride and groom who want to incorporate some proper club dance music into their wedding playlist this is the perfect transition track from standard wedding music.