Hi y’all! Here is a sample song list for a common wedding reception playlist. We’ve split the song list into: Dinner/cocktail music, Casual dancing, Slow dances and Late night dance music. This is meant to just give you an idea of what kind of music we would play if I didn’t have input at all from the bride and groom. We never go into a wedding reception with a playlist built before it starts because things change so quickly. That’s really the essence of being a good DJ! It has to be kept fresh and reacting to the crowd. By tweaking a few songs here and there and playing songs in the order that works the crowd, I always get the dance floor packed! We can’t stress enough that every wedding is unique and special. You won’t have much luck just plugging these songs in and hope for the best. GOOD LUCK!
Tag Archives: You’re gonna need a bigger dance floor!
Kara & Bryant’s Romantic Wedding at The Cloth Mill at Eno River
Kara & Bryant got married in style at The Cloth Mill at Eno River! Their original wedding date lined up with Hurricane Florence so the amazing team of Kristin and Stephanie with Viva L’Event pulled the wedding vendor team listed below together and got a new date set up within a few days of the original date. We couldn’t be more proud to work with the team below to overcome a lot of craziness to throw Kara & Bryant a spectacular wedding. A special shout out to Chelsea Collins Photography and Jon Warlick Media for the great photos and videos, respectively, below.
Join us in congratulating this amazing couple and wishing them the very best!
Kara & Bryant’s Professional Wedding Team
Photographer: Chelsea Collins Photography
Planning + Design: Viva L’Event
Venue: The Cloth Mill at Eno River
Hair: Rock Paper Scissors Salon
Videographer: Jon Warlick Media
Makeup: The Makeup Addict
Florist: Bloom Works
Rentals: CE Rental
Lighting: Get Lit Special Event Lighting
Ceremony Music: Elegant Ensembles
Cake + Desserts: Mama Bird’s Cookies + Cream
Catering: Catering Works
Draping: Showtime Events
Officiant: Justin Morgan of Church on Morgan
Bryant Lancaster & Kara Kelly’s
Wedding Timeline
5:00 – DJ setup for solo song ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ performed by Julia Arnette
5:00 – Ceremony Begins (Music provided by Elegant Ensembles)
- Seating of Mothers and Grandmother – Ave Maria
- Groom entrance – Canon in D
- Bridal party entrance – Canon in D
- Bride’s entrance – Perfect
- Unity candle – Can’t Help Falling In Love
- Recessional – Queen of Sheba
5:30 – Cocktail Hour
6:15 – Grand Entrance song is ‘Signed Sealed Delivered’ by Stevie Wonder
- Parents entrance
- Bridal Party entrance
- Kara & Bryant!!
Following the Introductions – First Dance song is ‘The Rest of Our Lives’ by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
6:20 – Blessing
6:20 – Dinner Begins with salads being served
6:45 – Entrees are served
7:15 – Welcome and Toast by Father of the Bride
7:30 – Father/Daughter Dance is ‘It Won’t be Like This For Long’ by Darius Rucker
7:35 – Mother/Son Dance is ‘Boy’ by Lee Brice
7:45 – Cake Cutting song is ‘Love on Top’ by Beyonce
8:00 – Dance Floor Opens
10:20 – Last Song is ‘Friends in Low Places’ by Garth Brooks
10:25 – Kara and Bryant’s Departure with Balloons and Bubbles
What a Wonderful Preston Woodall House Wedding for Abby & Matt!
We met Abby’s mom the February before the wedding and we shared a military and Wisconsin connection with them which always helps to break the ice! The couple decided to keep it simple with no lighting and we think that was the right choice for them and their venue and how they wanted to event to go.
We got to provide music for Abby & Matt for the whole evening including their ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. They chose Vitamin String Quartet style music for their wedding with A Thousand Years by Paul Hankinson as her entrance song. For the cocktail hour we played acoustic music while the guests had light drinks and appetizers which were provided by the excellent catering at Preston Woodall House. After Abby & Matt had their photos taken, we got everyone seated then we introduced the bridal party to ‘Get Down On It’ by Kool and the Gang and Abby & Matt to ‘September’ by Earth, Wind and Fire. It was a super fun entrance! The newlyweds went straight into their first dance which was to ‘You and I’ by John Legend followed by the Father/Daughter and the Mother/Son Dances which were to ‘Anything You Want’ by Roy Orbison and ‘You’re Gonna Live Forever In Me’ by John Mayer respectively. After a very nice welcome and blessing, dinner was served to a mix of “standards” like Sinatra, Buble, Martin, etc. We got the dance floor kicking after some really funny toasts and the cake cutting and it was wide open and fun all night.
Congratulations to Abby & Matt!
Abby & Matt’s Wedding Vendor Team!
Venue: Preston Woodall House
Coordinator: Jaycee McCarthy with Shawn Schindler Events
Photographer: Erin Costa Photography
Caterer: Preston Woodall House
Florals: Jeffrey’s Florist
Hair & Makeup: Julie Robbins Makeup
Wedding Cake: Simply Cakes
Evi & Chris’s Perfect Prestonwood Country Club Wedding in Cary, NC
Chris & Evi were married and had their wedding reception at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, NC and it was A LOT OF FUN! Check out the great shots from Bowtie Collaborative below as well as Evi & Chris’s review of our service, their other wonderful vendors and their timeline. We had such a fun time working with and getting to know these two. We provided them with our uplighting, dance floor lighting, photo booth and ceremony service. You can see how good the lighting looked in the beautiful ballroom at Prestonwood. We kept it a classy candlelight color through dinner and then once dancing started we made it change to the beat of the music and added set up the dance floor lighting too. This was truly one of the most fun and smoothest weddings ever thanks to the hard work of Kathy with Sally Oakley Events. Having a pro like Kathy running the wedding always means it will be more fun because everything runs better! It was really an amazing wedding filled with beauty, fun and celebrating not too much some fun Greek music to celebrate Evi’s culture.
Thanks for letting us celebrate with you and best wishes!
Chris & Evi’s Perfect Vendor Team
Venue: Prestonwood Country Club
Photography: Bowtie Collaborative
Wedding Event Lighting and Uplighting: All Around Raleigh DJ Company
Event Coordination and Planning: Sally Oakley Events
Wedding Florist: Knots ‘n Such
Hair and Makeup: Silver Ceiling
Videographer: Blu Couture
All Around Raleigh DJ performed at our wedding and my husband and I could not have been more pleased with them! We worked specifically with Brian who did an amazing job choosing just the right songs for each moment on our big day. Good music really sets the mood, and it was nice to see all of our guests enjoy themselves the whole time. Highly recommend them!” – Evi & Chris
Evi & Chris’s Wedding Planner
Prestonwood Country Club
6 pm – DJ set up and playing music. Ceremony musicians will start playing.
6:30 – Ceremony Begins
- DJ will provide microphones for ceremony musicians and Officiant
6:55 to 7:50 – Cocktail Hour
8:00 – Grande Entrance to ‘Young Blood’ by The Naked and Famous
- Melissa and Carter
- Adam and Michael
- Sarah and Nick
- Jessica and Kyle
- Maggie and Aaron
- Mr & Mrs Chris & Evi!!
8:10 – Dinner Begins
- Blessing by Evi’s Father John
8:50 – Toasts
- Evi and Chris will give a quick toast before Aaron and Maggie
- Best Man and Matron of Honor
9:00 – First Dance to ‘I Would Do Anything For You’ by Foster the People
9:05 – Father/Daughter Dance to ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ by Stevie Wonder (end at ~2 min)
9:10 – Mother/Son Dance to ‘Momma’ by Boyz II Men (end at ~2 min)
9:30 – Cake Cutting to ‘Sweet Disposition’ by Temper Trap
9:35 – Party Time!!
12:00 – Expected end of Evi & Chris’s Wedding Spectacular
Meg & Jason’s Touch of Greek Wedding at The Cotton Room in Durham, NC
Meg & Jason were married and had their wedding reception at The Cotton Room in the fall of 2014. Jason and his family are Greek so of course we had to have some traditional Greek music and dancing! This one started off a little formal but quickly turned into one of the craziest dancing crowds that we have seen. We helped the bride and groom plan everything from Texas via Skype and e-mail where they live today. There was some sort of crazy history of Jason dancing to ‘Billie Jean’ and they told DO NOT play it unless requested by the bride and groom and sure enough at about 11 pm we got the ‘ok’ (photos below!). Thanks for being our clients Meg & Jason and best wishes. We will never forget your wedding!
Here is some of the Greek music that we played:
- Aravod – Kalamatiano
- Trio Hellenque – Kalamatiano
- Michael Hartophilis & His Orcehstara – Kalamatiano
- Haralabos Garganourakis – Pentozalis
Meg & Jason’s Vendor Team
Venue: The Cotton Room
One of Durham’s most popular wedding venues and one of our absolute favorites. Just look at this place in the photos below … beautiful and so original.
Officiant: Reverend Robin Renteria
Robin always treats her clients and their incredibly important day with the respect it deserves and did a fantastic job for them!
Photography: InContrast Images
They exceeded our expectations as always! Elisa & Trey are an absolute pleasure to work with and, as you can see below, very talented.
Megan & Jason’s Wedding Planner
The Cotton Room, Durham, NC
6 pm – DJ set up and playing music. Ceremony musicians will start playing.
6:30 – Ceremony Begins
- DJ will provide microphones for ceremony musicians and Officiant
6:55 to 7:50 – Cocktail Hour
8:00 – Grande Entrance
- Song is ‘Young Blood’ by The Naked and Famous
- Melissa and Carter
- Adam and Michael
- Sarah and Nick
- Jessica and Kyle
- Maggie and Aaron
- Mr & Mrs Jason and Meg!!
8:10 – Dinner Begins
- Blessing by Meg’s Father John
8:50 – Toasts
- Meg and Jason will give a quick toast before Aaron and Maggie
- Best Man and Matron of Honor
9:00 – First Dance
- Song is ‘I Would Do Anything For You’ by Foster the People
9:05 – Father/Daughter Dance
- Song is ‘’Isn’t She Lovely’ by Stevie Wonder (end at ~2 min)
- John and Meg
9:10 – Mother/Son Dance
- Song is ‘Momma’ by Boyz II Men (end at ~2 min)
- Jason and Tamara
9:30 – Cake Cutting
- Song is ‘Sweet Disposition’ by Temper Trap
9:35 – Party Time!!
12:00 – Expected end of Meg & Jason’s Wedding Spectacular
A Beautiful Wedding at The Cookery for Shannon & Patrick in Durham, NC
We first met Shannon & Patrick at a bridal show about 16 months before their wedding and got to know them really well leading up to their wedding day. They absolutely loved the history and textures at their amazing wedding venue, The Cookery. We got to provide audio for their ceremony in the courtyard then we fired up the main system for the reception while providing a wireless speaker in the courtyard and cocktail room. Check out Robin Lin Photography‘s great work in the photos below!
They instructed us to “do what we do” and make sure everyone has an amazing time but keep it clean and no hard rap. We introduced them to ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ by Justin Timberlake for the bridal party then ‘Happy’ by Pharrell for bride and groom. Shannon & Patrick then had their first dance to ‘Better Place’ by Rachel Platten. The Father/Daughter dance song was to ‘Daughters’ by John Mayer and the Mother/Son dance song was ‘Humble and Kind’ by Tim McGraw. Dinner was amazing as always at The Cookery. After the toasts by the best man and the maid of honor we opened up the dance floor. Since, they were such close-knit family focused people, most of the guests were family that had traveled a long ways so we had a super fun celebration on the dance floor from start to finish!
Congratulations and thank you so much Patrick & Shannon!
Shannon & Patrick’s Wedding Vendor Team!
Venue: The Cookery
Coordinator: Whitney with C&D Events
Florals: University Florist
Photographer: Robin Lin Photography
Makeup Artist: Makeup For Your Day
Wedding Cake: Sugarland
Officiant: Barbara Lodge
The Barn of Chapel Hill Wedding of Blair & Alex
Blair & Alex’s Amazing Vendor Team:
Planner: Vision Events
Venue: The Barn of Chapel Hill
Videographer: Morgan Scott Films
Photographer: Amy Allen Photography
Cupcakes/Cake: Sweet Traditions – Wake Forest, NC
Officiant: Ed Sansbury with Triangle Custom Ceremonies
Hair and Make Up: The Makeup Team of Raleigh, NC
Dress Boutique: Alexia’s Bridal Boutique
Ceremony Musicians: Trey Daniels
Florist: The Barn of Chapel Hill
Caterer: City BBQ
31 Garter Toss Songs for Your Wedding Reception
Welcome to All Around Raleigh DJ Company! Are you looking for a fun song for your wedding Garter Toss? You’ve found the list of our 31 favorite Garter Toss songs below. We are a wedding DJ company based in Raleigh, NC. We do a lot of weddings and we think these are great garter toss songs for your wedding. Some I’ve seen and played and some are just my picks that I’m hoping to see one day. Enjoy and have fun!
1. Hot in Here – Nelly
2. Beat It – Michael Jackson
3. Legs – ZZ Top
4. Rico Suave – The Escape Club
5. Bad to the Bone – George Thorogood
6. Stray Cat Strut – Stray Cats
7. Let’s Get it On – Marvin Gaye
8. I Like It Like that – Dave Clark Five
9. I’m Just a Gigalo – David Lee Roth
10. Shaft
11. Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
12. If You Think I’m Sexy – Rod Stewart
13. Baby Daddy – B-rock & the Biz
14. Secret Agent Man – Johnny Rivers
15. Keeps Your Hands to Yourself – Georgia Satellites
16. Freddie’s Dead – Curtis Mayfield
17. Mission Impossible Theme
18. Oh Yeah – Yellow
19. Pretty Woman – Roy Orbison/Van Halen
20. The Stripper – David Rose
21. Jaws Theme
22. Super freak – Rick James
23. Wild Thing – Tone Loc
24. Strokin’ – Clarence Carter
25. Da Butt – E.U.
26. Bad Boys – Inner Circle
27. Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendrix
28. Just a Gigilo – David Lee Roth
29. Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top
30. I’m Too Sexy – Right Said Fre
31. Treat her Like a Lady – Cornelius Brothers
Eric & Lindsay’s Beauty and the Beast Wedding at Barclay Villa in Angier, NC
Lindsay & Eric were married at ‘The Castle’ known as Barclay Villa in Angier, NC just before Christmas. This was a very romantic, authentic and FUN wedding! The bride and groom are two of the nicest people that we have had the honor of working with and it was a lot of fun to provide some Beauty & the Beast inspired music as well as some other classics to set the mood for the evening. The crazy thing was that no one involved with the wedding has any local ties. They wanted a castle for their wedding and low and behold they stumbled upon Barclay Villa while searching the internet. We were lucky enough to be a part of a great vendor team that really worked hard to make these out of towners feel welcome and make their wedding perfect. This was a very special wedding to be a part of.
Check out the vendor team for Lindsay & Eric’s wedding!
Lindsay & Eric’s
Wedding Timeline
Barclay Villa
4:30 pm – Guests Begin Arriving and DJ Set Up and Playing Music
- DJ set up with wireless mic for the Officiant and mic for the readers
5:00 pm – Ceremony Starts
- Prelude music is shared music
- Family members seating song is same as Prelude
- Bridal party song is ‘Falling Slowly’ by Vitamin String Quartet
- Bride’s entrance song is ‘Beauty and the Beast’ by London Symphony Orchestra
- Recessional song is ‘Home’ by Edward Sharpe
5:30 to 6:30 pm – Cocktail Hour
6:35 – Grand Entrance
- God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys
- Charlotte and Jimmy
- Eunice and Nicholas
- Maid of Honor Caitlin and Emily
- Matron of Honor Melanie and Best Man Adam
- Mr and Mrs Eric and Lindsay!!!
6:40 – First Dance
- Song is ‘1+1’ by Beyonce
6:50 – Dinner
- Welcome by Eric & Lindsay
- Start with ‘Be Our Guest’ and then DJ’s choice
7:30 – Toasts by Best Man Adam, Emily, Matron of Honor Melanie and Maid of Honor Caitlin
7:45 – Father/Daughter Dance
- Song is ‘Have I Told You Lately’ by Van Morrison
7:50 – Mother/Son Dance
- Song is ‘Landslide’ by Fleetwood Mac
7:55 – Party Time!!
8:30 – Cake Cutting
- Song is ‘Lucky’ by Colbie Cailat and Jason Mraz
9:00 – Bouquet and Garter Toss
- Bouquet Toss song is ‘Sexyback’ by Justin Timberlake
- Garter Toss song is ‘Danger Zone’ by Kenny Loggins
10:00 – Expected end of Lindsay and Eric’s Wedding Spectacular
- Last song is ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ by Whitney Houston
- Sparkler exit
- Grand Exit song is ‘L.O.V.E.’ by Nat King Cole
The Barn of Chapel Hill Bridal Bash Open House
We were invited to come out for the first time and be a part of an amazing night at The Barn of Chapel Hill and it was so much fun! We were invited out by the pros at Magnolia Grove Weddings and Events who threw a wonderful open house Bridal Bash and really nailed it with all of the small details. We joined a stellar wedding vendor team and treated the brides and grooms to be to a fun night of music, food, champagne, great lighting and even a little dancing! The Barn of Chapel Hill is one gorgeous and unique wedding venue. If you have not had the chance to visit yet then you need to make it out for a tour.
The good folks running the show let us have a little fun and show off our uplighting which we were very happy to do. Take a look below to see how we painted the outside and inside of the barn in multiple different colors to wow the guests pulling up.
Check out the vendor team that helped make it special!
Venue: The Barn of Chapel Hill
Coordinator: Magnolia Grove Weddings and Events
Photographer: Six Foot Photography
Caterer: Scarborough Fare Catering
Sorbet Dessert: Sweet Water Ices
Specialty Gifts: Shelby Dillon
Photo Booth: Snap It Photo Booth
Lighting Design: All Around Raleigh DJ