Music for pre event or during sit down meal/buffet/intervals

[Pazz]

Hot on the heels of my last music post. What do you tend to play music wise for the guests arriving part, sit down meal, buffet or interval type parts ie anything outside of the actual disco?

Do you have a Special few different playlists created for different events for these more relaxed periods eg. A certain playlist that you automate for the wedding meal, a certain style of music put on shuffle for a buffet or do you still DJ with the music down low!?

[East Anglian Discos]

It really depends on the event.

Usually at a wedding early on I'll play some swing/rat pack music such as Michael Buble or Robbie William swing albums are good for the first hour or so, and are good enough too for the wedding breakfast. It goes down well.Mastermix do a couple of good swing albums too.

I've got several playlists for various scenarios.

At a party early on I'll be more upbeat with foot tapping music but again depends again on the type of event. Lighthouse family, Corrs, Texas, Westlife is always good. A couple of the Mastermix Good Groovin' are also worth having in your collection.

[ppentertainments]

Sunset Soul is my go to album if unsure.

[rth_discos]

Virtual DJ Automix.

I literally drag the songs I want to use into the list - it means I can update the playlist easily as I go.

Even at 'similar' events like Christmas Parties, the dynamic of the audience is different every night, so the playlist for the background music changes every night.

My goal with the background music at a Christmas Party is that it gets ready so that once the meal is finished, they are suitably warmed up and ready to dance - and how to achieve that will differ for every audience.

[Excalibur]

Virtual DJ Automix.

I literally drag the songs I want to use into the list - it means I can update the playlist easily as I go.

Even at 'similar' events like Christmas Parties, the dynamic of the audience is different every night, so the playlist for the background music changes every night.

My goal with the background music at a Christmas Party is that it gets ready so that once the meal is finished, they are suitably warmed up and ready to dance - and how to achieve that will differ for every audience.

Singing from the same hymnsheet here. I use a very similar method.

[DJColsie]

For the first hour or two while people are still arriving I have 13 self made mixes each one about 1 hour 15 mins long.

There is one for every decade 60’s to 10’s. Then there are some that are specific genres eg soul, RnB, disco etc that cover more than 1 decade. Sometimes swap between them in the warm up to see what is going to be well received later. You know you are in for a good night when people start dancing to them!

They all tend to contain popular music from the decade Or genre but nothing that would be used later.

For weddings I have a file with about 50-60 songs in that I put on automix for the wedding breakfast and maybe between the wedding breakfast and evening reception.

[saduffy1]

Well this is past tense now but I used to play something different most weeks. I’d aim to play a really eclectic mix, to the point I regularly had people coming up and asking me “who sang that again?” It was useful when you had a mixed bag of age ranges as you could see what sort of stuff was working by catching people singing along etc.

I remember having a TMI conversation with someone who told me what he and his wife used to get up to with Scritti Politti’s Cupid and Psyche 85 album on in the background when I played The Word Girl once.

However, I will admit to leaving CD 2 of The Best Summer Album In The World...Ever (https://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Best-Summer-Album-In-The-WorldEver/master/741224) on if I went outside for fresh air for 15 minutes or so in some of the really oppressively warm venues I played in. Pretty decent tracklisting after that awful R Kelly bilge!

[DeckstarDeluxe]

VDJ automix here as well apart from Christmas parties where I have a premix.

I usually get a vibe when I get to most weddings of what sort of music would work and decide then.

[AvneetMorse]

Really depends. You can make some own mixes and playlists for different scenarios, you can never know what people really enjoy during a wedding/party.