Wedding Reception Perfection

One of our valued customers recently asked us about the best music to play for her cocktail and dinner hours. As a DJ I want to make sure everyone in the ballroom has happy contented ears. I consulted the checklist in my mind and came up with a few questions.
1) What mood do you want to create?
She replied one of excitement and romance.
2) What is the age group of those attending your reception? 35 to 65 years of age, she said. With that in mind I told consulted her to choose some instrumental jazz and big band instrumental for cocktails. She said they were more into current pop music. As these choices are more about creating a mood and not always what you personally listen to at the gym while walking the treadmill, think carefully about a few excellent ideas.
Think about the swankiest restaurant where light soft combo style jazz is being played while you dine. Or violin players roam the tables and play wonderfully romantic music. Women swoon, men tip.
A wedding reception should begin on the classiest note possible. These are elegant affairs where you should dress to impress and offer good behavior. With that said, below you will find links to some of my favorite music for cocktails.
The first link is an example of Traditional Jazz Combo by the world renowned Oscar Peterson Trio:
Traditional Jazz Combo
After listening don’t you think the trio musically represents a high class affair? It’s soft and beautiful but has a slight swing beat.
The next example: Big Band of the 1940’s
Big Band Swing
The Glenn Miller Orchestra is still one of the most popular orchestra’s in the world and imagine walking into a beautifully decorated ballroom with light swing music in the back round. It just spells c-l-a-s-s.
The next example: Classical music
Keeping with “classy styles” a moment longer, the classical genre cannot be ignored. Whether it’s Beethoven, Mozart or Gershwin you probably can’t go wrong with any of them.
The next example:
Smooth Jazz The smooth jazz format has been popular as a radio format for the past couple of decades as it provides listeners with some light groove and it’s not identified as “elevator music” but probably played in elevators and office buildings alike. The nice thing about smooth jazz is it’s ability to offer “a little more beat” but still retains a classy and relaxing feeling.
The next time I will take you through a few dinner music ideas.
The Wedding Jockey