Ultimate Wedding Playlist

The folks at FiveThirtyEight asked their readers to send in their wedding reception song lists and then they comiled the data. As goes FiveThirtyEight, they analyzed the data over and over to compile the Ultimate Wedding Playlist. Link below:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-ultimate-wedding-playlist/

I have to agree with a majority of the list. There are some songs in there that are a massive "meh" for me, but I get it. However the jist of the article is that everyone wants to relive their 20's and that I cannot argue with. I see it time and time agian where couples want "Old School" played at their wedding and as you'd expect "Old School" = High School and University tunes. It doesn't fail. Ask 10 people when the "best" music came out and a majority will default to their "Old School". A lot of the time its due to the fact that people don't keep up with new music, but a lot of it comes back to reliving the good old days. There's no right or wrong answer here; if that's what you like, that's what you like. And really who am I as a DJ to disagree? If that's what the bride wants - hit it! Simple. Period. OVA!!!

Ain't no School like the Old School.

Weddings are back!!!

Summer is in full swing, weddings are back and the best songs of the year are here now! I always love this time of year because the songs are fresh and when you drop the next greatest track, crowds react immediately - it's like opening presents on Christmas morning (unless you're like my Dad; he's super grumpy at Christmas and about the best reaction you'll get from a present that you give him is a mix of "meh" to "so what"). Anyway, here's my picks for the top 3 Summer Songs thus far:

1) Drake - One Dance

2) Justin Timberlake - Can't Stop the Feeling

3) Calvin Harris - This Is What You Came For

Loving these tracks and so far they've been tearing it up. Bring on Wedding Season 2016!!!

All about the wash lighting

Wash lighting (in my opinion) is by far the best and cheapest ways you can make your wedding/event look awesome. Whether it's adding an ambient feel to the room or accentuating the architecture of the venue, they go a long way to adding the "wow" factor to your event. Honestly, wash lighting transforms ordinary into extraordinary. See the pics below for the before and after using wash lights. For reference, these pictures were taken at a Wedding we did at the Banff Springs Hotel - Ivor Petrak Room.

Before

After

Before

After

Can you spot the difference?!?!? Ha ha ha! And that's just plane jane white lights. Our wash lights are LED so they can be customized to any colour you want - typically Bride's will have them matched to their wedding colours - so the possibilities are endless to get that extra flair and really add that extra something. Wash lighting is a great add on for any event, and bang for your buck, you can't find a cheaper option to "wow" your guests.

Most requested songs via DJ Intellegence

The rankings are in and here are the Most Requested songs of 2015 (weddings and parties in 2015)!

http://www.djintelligence.com/charts/DJIntelligenceMostRequested2015.pdf

No real surprise with Uptown Funk being the number 1 song - this song came out in late 2014, it was hot then and stayed hot, hot for the entrire year AND it STILL has legs! You really have to go down the years to find a song that had equal staying power - I'd say the best comparable is The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling - that song was hot forever. People still request it... Funny thing is it's number 7 on the Top 200 - ha ha ha!

If you scroll down the list to the top 200 Most Requested Pop Songs - I'd say half the list is legit and the other - c'mon that can't be the top 10 most requested songs. There's some decent tracks in there, but if you're dropping those tracks the most - you're gonna have some empty dancefloors! My top requested songs based on plays are:

Pure Genius!!!

Hey Nenshi - when can Calgary load some of these up?!?!?

Weddings don't have to break the bank

Here's an interesting read from the Calgary Herald on things you can do to cut down on your wedding costs:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Here+save+your/11205036/story.html

I think the article nails a lot of the big points and is certainly helpful for the thrifty bride. In my opinion you really only need a few things to make your wedding reception great: 1) Alcohol 2) Great Music - pretty simple list, but really that's ALL it comes down to! With a strong honorable mention to a Candy Bar - ha ha ha! Sure you can spend a bunch on the coolest chair covers and bling bling centre pieces, but really it comes down to you and what kind of party you're trying to throw. If you're looking for fun - great music, beer, and good friends will do the trick!

Weddings and Wakeboarding

Summer 15 is in tha house and I can’t be happier – weddings and wakeboarding – ahhhhhh, it just doesn’t get any better! If you read this wedding blog you’ll come to one conclusion – you need a plan for your special day. Once you have your plan carved up, stick to meat of your plan and your wedding reception should play out as expected - assuming your DJ and MC are up to the task. Your job as a bride is to create a specific plan for your night (we’ll help you with this when we meet up and go over your night) and your DJ and MC will execute your plan to perfection. When there is no plan or your DJ or MC forget the simple checks well things tend to get a little interesting…

Play the new Santana Song - DJ Stories

So I was DJ’ing a wedding and this lady who was massively drunk comes up to me and says “Play the new Santana song!!!”. I nod my head, start typing said song into the database to see what I can find. Crickets – there’s like nothing aside from a song I’ve never heard of back in 2005 and since it’s 2015 that CAN’T be the song she’s talking about. I keep looking – nadda. Hit up Google/Youtube – nadda. I begin to tell my new friend that “uhhhmmmm yeah, can’t find anything new on Santana”. Her retort “ You don’t know anything about music – you’re a terrible DJ!!!”. I give her the look of – respectfully disagree and then say “but honestly Santana hasn’t cranked out anything in forever”. Then she goes on this tirade about how popular this song is right now, it’s the bee’s knees, all the kids are listening to it, BEST song ever written etc – you get the gist. She starts going into the details of the song and finally I interrupt her and ask – “Wait a second, are you talking about Smooth - the song that he collaborated with Rob Thomas on?!?!”. Ding! Ding! Ding! Lightbulb. She replies “YES that’s the ONE!!!”. I reply “Oh right the NEW Santana song!!!” (Hillario because this song was released in 1999). Oh you know, nothing big, just 16 yrs ago…I wonder if she’s heard the new song from the Beattles?!?!?

Simple rules to a great wedding

It's May and Wedding season is here Calgary!!! I started wedding season in style DJ'ing twice last weekend - it's on like Donkey Kong!

As a refresher, I thought I'd pass on a few tips to ensure your wedding is a success:

1. Plan, plan, plan - every wedding needs a well thought out format on the night. Not every detail needs to be planned out, but at a minimum have a framework setup.
2. Let the night flow - enjoy it!
3. Pick a qualified MC for your wedding - let me say it again for emphasis - pick a QUALIFIED MC for your wedding! Ha ha - seriously a bad MC can throw a reception into the unknown with your guests running riot. Your MC doesn't need to be a dictator, but he does need to take charge and lay out an effective plan on the night. Simple.
4. What comes before Part B?!?!? Par-tay!!!

We got a winner!!!

You ever hear a song and say "Yup this song is going number 1..." well that's how I felt when I heard this song. Great track, beat and love the James Brown/Funk feel to it - great song!

Guaranteed it's going number 1 - anyone want to take the other side?

C'mon Brides - let's make this the standard at all weddings!

So 2 out of the past 3 weddings I've had this summer have had a Poutine Bar for their midnight snack. if this is any indication of what the future holds, I'm destined to gain a minimum of 8 lbs after wedding season is done. I'm pretty good about eating healthy until you introduce two things into the mix:

• Chocolate
• Poutine

Love the Poutine!!! But not your McDonalds crappy poutine - the real deal with cheese curds. So I gotta say I've been super impressed with this recent trend of poutine bars at weddings. To all the future brides out there - go with the Poutine bar for your midnight snack - let's make this the STANDARD of all weddings!

Speaking of awesome, I'm digging on this track

Love the Ice Cream cone twerking - ha ha ha! Hillario! The video definitely gets props for creativity. Congrats Katy - great song and vid!

The Wedding summer song?!?!?

Cats ALL around the world love Lil John - ask anyone, it's a well known fact.

Is this THE summer song?!?! It's certainly shaping up that way...

H&M's summer campaign - plus wedding season is here!!!

Gisele Bundchen does it all – super model – check, mom – check, singer - ?!?! CHECK! Gisele and Bob Sinclair collaborated on the remake of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” in a new H&M ad with all benefits going to UNICEF. Good song, great cause – how can you go wrong?!?! I dropped it this weekend in the kickoff to the Summer Wedding season and it totally bombed – ha ha! I’m thinking if I had the video up, at least the dude’s would have liked it! Ha ha. Pretty funny reading the comments on the interwebs on this one – spans from massive hate, to nothing but love. Put me in the latter column – I like it. Bob Sinclair’s a legend and to take on an iconic song like “Heart of Glass” and not butcher it – hat tip to your magnificence!

Using the DJ as the MC of your wedding

Every now and then I'll have a couple that is interested in having us be the MC at their wedding instead of using a family member or friend. The idea being that they want it less formal and don't want to put anyone out. Ok I get it. But, before you do something like having someone you don't really know MC what could possibly be the most expensive and important night of your life - I'd tend to go with someone you trust! Ha ha! Not that we're going to kill your program, but get someone you know to run things. It just has so much more of a better feel to a reception when someone who knows you or the family is conducting things and at a minimum will not butcher every name in your bridal party. Jokes go over better, MC's tend to rise to the occasion and add some much needed flair to the program by highlighting stories of the couple or people in attendance.

If you want us to MC your wedding - we'll do it and it'll be ok, but who wants ok?!??! Use someone you know and make it awesome!

Use your DJ and there's a possablity he'll skewer every last name and offend everyone in attendance or prvide amazing comedic relief - kinda like the clip below!

Everything you want to know about men and women...

There are just some quotes that absolutely capture everything there is to know about life; what's important, why am I here etc. Well here's a clip that captures EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about the differences between Men and Women. Pretty hillario.

Slow clap to Jason Headley...

Only put duracell batteries in the mic - check!

Ok this video is pure awesomeness and just in time for the Super Bowl. Oh what's that, you don't like footyball?!?!? Guaranteed you'll like this commercial...

Best Line "...they told me it was over; but I've been deaf since I was three, so I didn't listen..."

Simply awesome. I'm ONLY buying Duracell batteries for my wireless mic's from here on out!

If you liked the video above, this one's pretty cool too

Ooooohhhhh Good job!!!

Jimmy Kimmel's Halloween prank seems to get better every year. This year's results are pretty spectacular...

Love the kid @ 2:55 in green - ha ha ha - We just ate all your candy - "ooooohhhh good job" - Bah ha ha ha! That kid deserves massive props!

One of the youtube comments was "The kids should get back at their parents on Valentine's Day by saying they're pregnant and filming their parent's reaction" HA HA HA - that would be MINT!!!

DJ Guide - how to get out of Country and back to pop

Hey if you're looking for an album to download - I'd recommend Avicii's True - solid album. Pretty sure you've heard "Wake Me Up" which is an awesome track and definitely in my top 5 songs of the year. Love the vibe of the song and more importantly, I can transition from country back to club/top 40 with "Wake Me Up".  The real loser here is "Cotton Eyed Joe". Used to be the stalwart in getting out of Country and back to Pop, but Avicii's taken over that spot now! To add insult to injury, Cotton Eyed Joe will be even further depressed by yet another country inspired song (which I almost like even more than Wake Me Up) is "Hey Brother".

If you don't like that one, fair enough - it has super strong country roots, but you gotta like this one - non?

If you're somewhat luke warm on this song, toss it up on some big speakers (anything but earbuds or lappy speakers) with some subs, it'll change your mind - sounds great! It's kinda like "Teach Me How to Dougie" - sounds ok to good on regular speakers, but once you introduce legitimate subs to the equation, it's like adding kung pao to your chicken - BAM!

Bye wedding season, Hello Corporate Christmas parties!!!

I don't know what happened between the start of wedding season and now, but it's finally winding down - just in time for Corporate Christmas parties to take up the slack - SWEEET!!! Pocketbook likey, Wifey - not so much...

Here's some random thoughts on some songs out there. If you haven't heard this one, I'm pretty sure you'll hear it in some form or another. Pretty much every kid requests this song at every wedding I've been at for the past 3 weeks. This song is full on going Gangnam Style...

Ding, ding, ding, ding da ding da ding... Yeah that pretty much sums it up... It's a'ight, but I swear I get the same reaction from everyone aged 45 and up after the chorus goes into full blast - it's kinda like the same look you'd get if you ninja kicked a baby to the face - disdain mixed with utter shock and awe. I'm gonna take a picture next time, just to prove my point.

Jimmy Fallon - solid show. I don't watch late night, but when I do it's Kimmel or Fallon (in the voice of the Dos Equis guy)

I'm not sure what up with I Can't Beleive It by Flo Rida. First time I heard it, sounded like a sure fire hit, but I swear this song blows up the dance floor EVERYTIME!!! I keep fighting it thinking that this song will stick at some point and we'll be the shiz, but nah, it just sucks. 3 weeks in a row I've had to to cut it out and go to whatever's working on the night. The dance floor don't lie, maybe I'll just stick with "What Does the Fox Say?!?!?!

I can't believe it, Flo Rida blows up the dance floor - ya gotta see it

I can't believe it, Flo Rida empties the dance floor, it ain't no secret

Father of the....errr..uhhh... Hijacker of the Bride

I was at a wedding two weekends ago and the Father of the Bride hijacked the program and went on this epic discussion about marriage for 45 mins! Pretty hillario because the bride had done everything possible to create the shortest program imaginable so they could get into dancing STAT. But her Dad had another idea. Hillario for me and everyone else because he was purposely dragging it out, but it was great entertainment. Anyway, pretty sure the bride felt like this guy on the scooter - epic clip!

Cue Daniel Powter - Bad Day - ha ha!