The most fun part of any wedding? The dance floor. When the lights dim and the music turns up, everyone starts to boogie down. Whether you’ve carefully planned out every song, from the ceremony processional to the first dance, or have yet to select your musical ensemble, don’t forget to leave room for the fun stuff. Specifically, guilty pleasure songs!
All Aboard the Guilt Train
“Guilty pleasure song” is really a facetious term. Of course, you should never feel guilty about what you like. In fact, if there were ever a time to let lose and really live, it’s at your own wedding! And as much as people like to rag on the likes of artists from Nickelback to Selena Gomez, everyone enjoys a good guilty pleasure song every now and again. People love listening to their favorite guilty tunes while in the shower, while working out or commuting, walking their dog…and increasingly, at weddings! Guilty pleasure songs have become society’s latest fun faux pau and are played at gatherings far and wide. Nowadays, guilty pleasures songs are a kind of wedding rite of passage—you know when you’ve reached the “guilty pleasure song stage” of the party, it’s been a good night.
In short, wedding guests love guilty pleasure songs as much as you do—they just don’t want to be the one requesting them. So why not preempt the hesitation and the guilt? Equip the DJ with your own curated playlist of all the foot-tapping songs people are ashamed to like and you’re guaranteed to pack the dance floor!
Rules for Picking Good Songs
By all means have fun selecting your musical indulgences, but for the ideal playlist, some pruning is required. First, make sure you that you have a healthy mix of songs, both new and old. Even if your style trends towards newer hits, toss a throwback in every now and again for old time’s sake. Milk that nostalgia! Additionally, don’t be afraid to mix genres. With a healthy mix of musical styles, you’re sure to please all guests. If you don’t have a professional DJ and are mixing musical genres yourself, however, be sure to mind the flow of your playlist. A jarring music transition can really kill the mood, so group songs by style, beat, melody, or some kind of other unifying factor, and try to avoid sudden changeovers. Lastly, it doesn’t have to be a communal playlist, but it never hurts to get some second opinions on your guilty pleasure choices if you’re not sure. Consult friends and family and ask them for their recommendations. After all, the songs are meant to bring people together—it will be much easier to liven up the party if everyone, and not just a select few, can enjoy them.
Our Top 10 Guilty Pleasure Song Picks
In no particular order:
- Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)
- Aqua – Barbie Girl
- Right Said Fred – I’m Too Sexy
- The O’Jays – Love Train
- Gwen Stefani – Holdback Girl
- Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart
- Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up
- Aerosmith – I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing
- ABBA – Dancing Queen
- MC Hammer – U Can’t Touch This
Get Help from a Professional DJ
Weddings are a lot of work—take the stress off your audio programming and leave the music to the professionals. A professional DJ has intimate knowledge of both beloved classics and the musical trends of today and can help you create a playlist that will be the highlight of your wedding party. At Cutting Edge Entertainment, our Texas wedding DJs always have a trick or two up their sleeve for pumping up the crowd. Let one of our talented DJs bring out the grins with guilty pleasure songs—we’ll make your evening a night to remember!
