ENTERTAINMENT

Creating the Soundtrack of Your Wedding Day (and keeping your dance floor packed)

Music plays a huge role on your wedding day. From your getting-ready playlist and ceremony songs to your family dances, the right soundtrack sets the mood and creates those unforgettable memories.

With hours of music to choose from, how do you create your wedding soundtrack? How do you pick out processional songs without taking away from the moment? What kills a reception dance floor?

To help answer those questions, we chatted with Gabe McGann, owner of Level Up Entertainment, to get all his expert advice on picking the best music for your wedding day.

Photo // Allison Dash Photography

“Think of the whole day as one volume knob turning slowly clockwise. Getting ready is the only part with no audience — play whatever you want. The ceremony carries emotional weight. Cocktail hour is where recognition meets conversation — string and jazz covers of songs people know, plus your deep cuts and indie favorites, which live beautifully there and die on a dance floor. Dinner belongs to the parents and grandparents — soul, standards, yacht rock. Every phase should feel slightly bigger than the last, so the party feels inevitable.”

For processional music…

Gabe said instrumentals work best! The main reason? The lyrics compete with the moment of walking down the aisle. When the doors open, guests should be fully present to you walking down the aisle, not half-listening or singing to the lyrics. An instrumental choice carries the emotion of a lyrical song without the narration.

But for recessional music, go big, go loud! You’re married!! This is the first note of the rest of the night. Choose something loud and joyful like “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”. That moment when the officiant says to kiss, the spell breaks, and the recessional plays into the rest of the night.

After the ceremony…

Guests head to cocktail hour. This music is totally unique to you! Gabe said this is the perfect opportunity for live music.

The crowd is buzzing after cocktail hour. The way to keep this energy going is to have your DJ do live dinner mixing! This is where you charge and constantly pump up the atmosphere.

“You don’t want to play slow, boring music the entire reception and expect people to be amped once the party kicks off!”

What is the balance between generational appeal for music?

Level Up Entertainment has a special formula for this! 70% for the room, 20% for your generation, and 10% purely for you! That 10% is non-negotiable; add in your flair, your favorite songs, and music that has been the playlist of your relationship. The real craft is in the placement of those songs. Have a song that you love, but it’s a deep cut? Perfect, this can be played during cocktail hour, or in the last 45min of the night. Your DJ knows how to keep the party going and how to blend songs together to keep that momentum going.

Photo // Susan Ly Photography

Your reception has a demographic arc, and the music should reflect that.

Early in the night, it should appeal to everyone in the room. Mid-reception is the perfect time for 1980s-2000s music, the sweet spot where your parents and peers overlap. After the older guests and kids leave, that’s where everything else unlocks – we’re talking about the explicit versions, the club hits, those emo singalong blocks.

Gabe’s best advice: “Don’t hand your DJ a playlist — hand them a map, then permit them to deviate. The best instruction a couple ever gave me: ‘Here’s what we love. Play what works.'”

Dance Floor Killers:

1.Bar in a different room from the dance floor

2.Bright lights

3.The couple leaving the dance floor

4.Fake Sparkler Exit

The dance floor revolves around the couple – all the guests are there to celebrate you! If you’re planning to do table visits while the dance floor is going, think about doing those at a different time.

Photo // Nikki Netzer

The perfect wedding soundtrack is the one that feels personal to you and your person, while leaving room for all the people who helped shape your lives! Trust your DJ to read and interpret the room. Your night will be filled with so much dancing, laughing, and celebrating that you’ll remember far after your wedding day.