The Scoop: From the couple’s first dance to the final song of the night, music plays an integral role at weddings. Robert Corrall, an experienced wedding DJ, co-founded the live music boutique service Second Song in an effort to provide unforgettable music and dance experiences for weddings. He told us all about the importance of matching the couple’s vibes, reading the room, and staying up-to-date on trends.
The most important part of a wedding is when the bride and groom say “I do.” Beautiful vows are exchanged, tears are shed, rice is tossed; it’s the defining moment of the whole day, right?
Sure, except that by the time the couple walks back up the aisle, everyone’s mind is already on two things: cocktails and dancing. And where there’s cocktails and dancing, music isn’t far behind.
“I wasn’t planning on DJing weddings myself, but it looked fun,” Robert Corrall, a seasoned wedding DJ who co-founded a live music boutique service called Second Song, told us. Robert knows that he pretty much holds every wedding’s vibes in his hands.
“We create that warm, fun environment for (guests) to come out and dance,” Robert said. But he’d be the first to tell you that DJing is more complicated than playing the Cha Cha Slide. Robert gave us a peek inside the world of wedding DJs, from the art of the playlist to exciting emerging trends.
Matching Your Guests’ Energy and Vibe
You’d be hard-pressed to find a fun party that operates in complete silence.
“If you’re ever at a location where there’s no music, you notice it right away,” Robert pointed out. You don’t notice how integral music is to adding comfort and energy to a room until it isn’t there.
Unlike a live band, a DJ probably won’t whip out a saxophone and set the room on fire with their rendition of Baker Street. But they can play the song, plus countless genre-bending combinations of your other favorite songs. The sky’s the limit when you hire a professional wedding DJ.
Robert told us that the key to nailing a couple’s wedding playlist is to, duh, get the couple’s input. “It’s definitely a collaboration with each couple because you want to put their personal music tastes and touches into it at the same time,” he told us.
Wedding music should be fun and dancey, but adding personal touches makes the night even more special.
“I think the best results with weddings come when there’s trust that you as the professional know what you’re doing,” Robert said. It’s all about balance. “The music (should) reflect their taste and the tone and vibe they’re looking for at the wedding, but allow you to put your own touches in there as well.”
The best wedding DJs are experienced enough to know different tips and tricks that enhance the music’s effectiveness, such as adding fun transitions and doing crowd work. “It’s about the flow and the different phases of the wedding,” Robert explained. “How you want people to feel as they arrive, after the ceremony, (and) during cocktail hour.”
When do you play high-energy songs, and when do you transition into romantic tunes? These are questions an adept wedding DJ must answer moment to moment, depending on what’s happening in the room.
If it’s time for dinner, the music changes. If everyone’s full of salmon and dinner rolls, do you play a few slow jams? Then, when it’s time to cut the cake, the music changes again. Really, wedding DJs ply their trade in vibes. “It’s about creating the right atmosphere of music so people can bring their own energy,” Robert described.
Since weddings usually include all age groups, wedding DJs have to strike a tone between modern and classic songs. The same goes for crowd work.
“We’re fun, warm, and engaging on the mic,” Robert said of his fellow Second Song DJs. “We’re certainly not screaming for everyone to come to the dance floor, or making anyone uncomfortable.”
The music should do most of the coaxing for you.
A DJ Does More Than Play Music
A wedding DJ must plan for every moment of the wedding, even the moments you never see coming.
Maybe Aunt Edna took a spill in the middle of the dance floor, or a little too much champagne leads to a scuffle between the Best Man and one of the groomsmen. No one wants to plan for these unfortunate moments, but if they happen, a good DJ can keep the party going while maintaining safety and order.
“Once you’ve done this hundreds and hundreds of times, you see anything coming before it happens,” Robert reassured us.
Another thing that has become very popular is adding live music with the DJ. If a crowd just isn’t engaged with the music, for example, it’s possible that the playlist the bride and groom created is too niche for the guests to enjoy.
Maybe there was a long delay before the ceremony, and now all of the guests are tired, hungry, and slightly irritable.
Or, most likely, maybe the wedding guests are introverted in nature and need some help letting loose. In this case, Robert says the key is to add more soft touches to the playlist.
“Create that right environment where they’re going to feel relaxed, rather than reacting to a shy crowd by overloading them with energy,” Robert suggested. In fact, an over-the-top atmosphere could have the opposite effect on a shy crowd. “I think it’s going to create the reverse reaction where they’re going to go into their shelves a little bit more.”
It’s essential for the bride and groom to feel comfortable with their wedding DJ. You don’t want to hire a DJ on sight only to realize that you aren’t compatible.
“The key thing we’re looking for in a DJ (aside from talent) is that they don’t have a huge ego or anything,” Robert told us. “It’s certainly not about us on the wedding day. It’s about doing everything you can to make sure things run smoothly for the couple.”
This means keeping an eye on the music, the crowd, the energy in the room, and how the room is responding to the music.
Look For DJs With Dynamic Personalities
Robert’s DJing career began with a genuine passion for the medium. “I started going out and learning the skill, and then just fell in love with it,” he told us. And don’t get it twisted: It really does take practice and skill to become a top-notch wedding DJ.
You not only have to possess a deep knowledge of music, but you have to have a knack for picking up on an audience’s energy, as well as general crowd interaction. You’re not technically playing an instrument as a DJ, but perhaps you’re doing something even harder: combining multiple vibes at once, from excitement to romance to relaxation.
Some people think being a DJ is as simple as pressing “play” on a playlist. It actually takes years of practice and skill to become technically and musically proficient. And to be a great wedding DJ, you have to possess insider knowledge of the industry and the ongoing trends.
One of the secret weapons to being a great wedding DJ? Knowing what’s trending.
“Everybody wants to hear Chappell Roan,” Robert told us (to our delight). “Another thing that has become very popular is adding live music with the DJ.”
Live music can give a low-energy wedding reception a much-needed jolt of energy. “(I’ve seen) a sax player play with the DJ during dancing, and that’s super fun,” Robert said.
Maybe you can hear a live version of Baker Street after all!
Robert told us a few simple ways to make choosing your wedding DJ a breeze. First, you should meet with your potential DJ in person to see if your vibes match. “It’s definitely more about the personality to start,” Robert said. “Stuff can be learned. As much as it’s about being talented on the DJ side, it’s (about) customer service as well.”
Robert told us how important it is for a DJ to understand what tone the couple is going for, and to “make sure you understand their vision and what they’re looking for in terms of the music and style.”
As it turns out, finding a great wedding DJ isn’t unlike finding a romantic partner.
Sometimes, they have an intangible quality that makes them an ideal fit. But even with this innate connection, the three of you should still sit down and get to know each other before launching into a wedding playlist.
Having a DJ you genuinely vibe with ensures that no one, not even the most introverted among us, will want to leave the dance floor.
