DJ, Play That Mutha-f****n' Song!!

Having just spent half the morning making edits and changes to my sister's "Dancing" playlist for her wedding this evening, I now have an enormous respect for wedding DJ's. Let's talk impossible tasks, shall we?

Colleen is getting married tonight, and in addition to being the officiant and legal signature on the marriage license, she has essentially made me "Queen of All Media" for this event, by charging me with the following tasks: playlist entitled "Dinner", playlist entitled "Dancing", and a slide show of pictures to play during cocktail hour. Oh.My.God! However, the adage about if you want something done quickly, ask the busiest person in the room to do it certainly rang true this week, as her best friend emailed me Wednesday morning with pictures for the slideshow. Thank god for photographer friends who know the ins and outs of all photo software out there, and are also self-professed Mac geeks. "Just use iPhoto, Courtney; it's an automatic feature there." Duh... the Queen of All Media (At Least For This Wedding) thanks her page immensely. The "Dinner" playlist was also similarly easy, thanks to the amazing playlist my friend Brian had at his wedding; I channeled that plus other songs that remind me of the bride and groom, and essentially made myself cry by the end. Rock on.

But the "Dancing" playlist, holy crap is that a minefield of potential buzz kill bombs to be had. Those of you who know me know instinctually that my musical tastes do not run the gamut of "generic wedding dance favorites". And you HAVE to have them--my mother is an unrepentant wedding dancer, and is known to be out there for long stretches of time, when the music's right. My sisters and our friends can turn any event into a dance party. HOWEVER, whereas "Boogie Shoes" definitely is a cross-over crowd favorite, and that my sisters and I have a version of "The Hustle" that scores of young Norwood bar mavens think is the REAL Hustle (thanks to a local DJ who indulged our whims constantly), I'm not entirely sure I want Mom or one of Darrin's aunts that I know nothing about out there grooving to, say, "Get Off" by Prince (a favorite in our crowd), or "Personal Jesus" (favorite of the bride, not particularly dance-able in mixed company, though). The pitfalls are endless.

So, I did some careful weeding of the playlist, which is still over 5 hours long. The old folks are going to have to deal with "Jump Around" and "Virtual Insanity", but I threw them "Build Me Up Buttercup" and "Copacabana" to even the score. Wish me luck, and wish Colleen and Darrin a lifetime of happiness. As it says on their invitation, and on a sign on their mantle, it's never too late to live happily ever after.

Play - J-Lo

MP3 File