Playlist Showdown: DJ ESG's Tale of Navigating Wedding Song Requests with Finesse

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Balancing song requests at a wedding is like walking a tightrope with everyone watching. Imagine creating the perfect playlist only to have it thrown into disarray by spontaneous requests from an enthusiastic groom. Join me, DJ ESG, as I recount a recent wedding tale where I had to navigate the delicate art of compromise on the dance floor. With 46 years of life experience to back me up, I found myself caught between a bride's planned playlist and the groom's parade of requests, ultimately leading to a memorable night and a 96% review from the couple.

Being a wedding DJ means living in the moment, making split-second decisions that can make or break the big day. Hear my personal anecdotes and lessons learned from this unforgettable experience, where flexibility and communication were key to keeping everyone satisfied. Whether you're planning a wedding or just love a good story, this episode offers an honest look at the complexities of balancing expectations and the power of music to bring people together. Tune in to discover how sometimes, the best-laid plans require a little improvisation and a whole lot of understanding.

Peace, Love & God Above! :-)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, guys?
Dj ESG on his wedding adviceseason number 10.
And today I'm talking aboutwhat happens if the bride or the
groom or the couple, or onemember of that couple, overrides
the other at an event.
What do I do?
Well, two weekends ago I got a96 out of 100% review.
Wow, 4% off.
You know what the only problemwith that is?

(00:22):
We can't post it, because wecan't post anything other than
100% reviews.
It doesn't go to the top, itgoes to the bottom, and that's
just how the system works.
So why did the bride and thegroom give me 96% versus 100%?
Well, I think it was the bridemore so than the groom.
She was honest and here's whathappened.
She had a list of songs andthere was a lot of must plays on
it.

(00:42):
In order to do the must plays.
Most of the time they're notsomething you would play at the
beginning, because the elderlypeople are not going to
understand a lot of the mustplays.
It's just the nature of what'sasked of me.
So as you get to the end of theparty, like the last hour or so
, you can now bang in all thosemust plays.
So I think she had about 12 or14 of them, okay, or 14 of them,

(01:06):
okay.
So the groom was parading peopleup one by one, by one in front
of me because they knew I wasn'tgoing to take their requests
and asking me for songs, and thegroom's like over the shoulder,
like, play it.
This was this big smile on hisface.
He was having a blast.
So I was like, okay, play it.
Okay, play it.
Now.
Am I going to stop him afterthe fifth person and say, listen
, I got to play your wife'srequest.
She's over there.
She's going to kill me if Idon't do this.
No, you guys are a 50-50 split.

(01:28):
I don't care who runs therelationship the rest of the
week or who wears the pants, notsaying that either one of them
do, but I'm just putting thatout there.
If you guys understand this.
It's a 50-50 split at thatwedding.
So if the groom walks up to meand says, listen, I want all
these people that have theirsongs, or just parades them up
to me one by one and just yesesme from over their shoulder, I'm
going to do it.
I don't have a choice.
It is what it is.

(01:48):
Do I think the next day thatthey're going to sit down for
brunch, the bride and the groomor the couple, because I'm LGBTQ
friendly and have a discussionabout okay, I didn't play all
the songs she wanted, and thegroom says timeout, that was my
fault.
No, that conversation didn'thappen.
He probably said some of thelines of well, tell him, okay,
maybe you should tell her thatyou're the one that stopped me
from playing all her songs.
But I don't want you to do that.

(02:09):
It's not about that.
Okay, I'm 46 years old thisDecember.
I'm going to take the hit forthat.
It's a spur of the momentdecision that I made and it
doesn't need to be discussedduring the party.
You know what I mean.
If she's not 100% happy withthe music that I played and you
are if I would have gone theother way and not played the

(02:29):
songs you wanted and played thesongs she wanted, you would have
been unhappy.
So it's just the nature of whathappened.
You know I take the hit forthat because I'm the DJ, but at
the moment of time, I'm weighing.
You know who wants it more.
She's having a good time on thedance floor.
She's not bothering me.
You're parading people up to meas the groom, one by one by one
, asking me for songs.
What am I going to do?
It is what it is.

(02:51):
People were happy At the end ofthe day.
People had a great time.
She didn't get some of hersongs that she asked for.
I always tell people listen, youknow, give me the songs that
you hope to have, give me, likethe wishful thought songs and
I'll try to get them on as bestas I can.
When you have your heart set on, these songs are going to
definitely get played.
Yeah, there's, you know therehas to have.
The only way that that'spossible is to have a

(03:12):
conversation prior with eitheryou know, with me and the other
person involved in this weddingthat says listen, I don't care
what other people say,no-transcript.

(03:36):
Yeah, I'll talk about it on thepodcast after the fact two
weeks later.
If they listen to this, great,then she knows.
But I'm not going to send it toher via email, I'm letting you
guys know.
So if you guys put together asong list for a DJ or a band or
somebody else and you decide,okay, listen, we're going to
play, these are all must playsand the DJ has to do it and you
have to be on the same pageMeaning, if I don't get to these

(03:58):
must play songs, then you haveto be like okay, listen, friends
, people asking Um, the DJ willtry to do what he's trying to do
.
He'll try to get it on for you,but he has to go through the
list first that my wife and I ormy husband and I or my
significant other and I haveapproved first in order to get
these songs on, because theseare songs that we have to hear.
So once he's done that, then wecan go through and try to get

(04:18):
your requests on.
You know, you start paradingthem up to me one by one and ask
me to play songs next.
You're not giving me much of achoice, so just let you know
that it's great advice.
The advice is basically it's oneof two things.
It's either a you tell me norequest at all and you stick to
that, or you say no request andthen you unstick to that at the

(04:40):
party.
But either way, pick one youknow what I mean and be on the
same page with it.
And I understand alcoholsometimes will omit that will
stop that from happening.
But try, that's all I gotta say.
Try, I'm never gonna get madabout it and I'm not even mad
now, but it's one of thosethings where you know,
understand that you put me in abad situation after the fact or

(05:02):
during the fact, because now Ihave to make a decision Am I
going with A or am I going withB?
And at the moment of time Imade the snap decision, the
dance floor stayed packed andthe next day you weren't super
happy.
You were happy enough to writea huge review and tell everybody
how great I was and how greatthe party was.
But you were honest about themusic choice.
Only so much I can do Take itor leave it it.