08/05/2026
Every time this question comes up in a DJ group, the answers split into two camps.
Camp one has four songs ready to go. Same four, every wedding. It works, so why change it?
Camp two is almost insulted by the question. They'd never repeat an opening. It depends on the couple, the room, the night. And they'll list the last six weddings they worked to prove it.
I think both camps are answering a different question than the one that matters.
Your opening four don't get decided at 8:45 with a hundred people staring at an empty floor. They get decided at 7:15, while everyone thinks you're just playing dinner music.
Cocktail hour and dinner are the only two hours all night when you can test a room at zero risk. Nobody's watching the floor. Nobody knows they're being polled. Where do the ages cluster? What turns heads when you drop a 70s record? Who's singing along while they're still sitting down? Who's already up?
By the time dinner is done, you shouldn't be picking four songs. You should be confirming a read you already took.
New issue of The Wedding MusicLetter breaks down the four different jobs those songs do. It also makes the case that "September" belongs at position four, not position one.
So I'll ask it here too. What are your top four, in order, when you open a floor? I read every one of these.
