Mobile DJ Tips: Wedding Timelines | The best TIMELINE for your WEDDING 

This is crazy different from my experience in Southern California. 3 hour dance sets after all of the other items before. I've never had a bride ask for a pre dinner dance set.

I just had this conversation with a couple coming out to Northern California from the East Coast. Because they are using 4 locations at the same venue I suggested a casual entrance into cocktail hour. Plus their wedding party is already enjoying cocktail hour.. Then while we invite their guests into the dining area we line up then wedding party and B&G for their formal introduction. Personally I feel it’s better that way because you have all the guests seated and have their full attention. A lot of our weddings are buffet style which goes a lot faster than plated dinners so there is no break for salads and the main course. Depending on how many guests there are I’ll wait 10-15 min after the last guests goes through the buffet line before starting to pour champagne for the toasts. By the time the champagne is finished being poured the last guests should be close to being done eating. Right after the last toast I have the bride and groom say their thank you’s and any acknowledgments they’d like to make at that time wether it’s family and friends from out of town. Sometimes it’s someone’s anniversary or birthday. A typical Northern California timeline looks like this 4:00-5:20 Extended cocktail hour. Allows for time Incase pictures run long. Also allows the B&G a chance to freshen up and use the restroom before greeting their guests 5:20-5:30 seat guests for dinner 5:30-5:35 introduction 5:35-6:30 dinner 6:10-6:20 pour champagne 6:20-6:30 toasts 6:30-6:45 first dance and parent dances 6:45-10:00 dancing (first hour of dancing I play a wide variety) 7:45-7:55 cake/bouquet/garter toss After cake I start to cater more towards what the B&G personal taste. Older guests tend to leave after cake. I use cocktail hour and dinner to play a wide variety of music as well. I keep the music up beat (not dancing music) so by the time dancing starts most of the guests would have heard music they enjoy giving them faith that they will also enjoy the music I play for dancing. The reality of it all is that if you can read the crowd and play music that creates a connection with them then you will have a successful night. When couples ask me what separates me from other DJs....I say we all have the same 20,000 songs but what separates all of us is the way we play any given song and the order we play them in. Being able to read a room and getting everyone to dance from their oldest guest to their youngest guest. It doesn’t matter how many songs we have if we don’t know how and when to play them.

The timeline at 9:12 is what all my weddings always are. Like OH, PA, VA, WV, NC, SC, etc. Trying to do that open dance set before dinner gets a lot of weird looks from guests.

I’m a fan of Introductions Dinner Speeches during dinner 1st dance Parents dance Open dance Bouquet/garter toss Open dance

Here in Iowa dance sets don’t start until after all formalities. Introduction Dinner / cake cutting Speeches Special Dances Open Dance (1hr) Bouquet/Garder Toss Open Dance I always try to suggest special dances and a short open dance right after the grand entrance but the caters are always scheduled to serve right away!

Michigan Wedding DJ, and we do 6 hour weddings up here, and follow the "marathon" timeline as the standard. It's always been that way, and It works for us!

Interesting timeline, my experience in the U.K. for the past 20 years is quite different. If I am there all day, it is background music and announcements until the evening. Then the First Dance ( very rare we have Parent Dance etc.) After it's time ramp up the tunes ! Then there is a short broeak for Cutting the Cake unless that has been done during the day. After that it's party time until the early hours. Often the 'Reception' as we call it (evening do) will run from 6-7pm until 12-1am. But as we are now in the Digital age, and more people are watching videos from the U.S. a lot of the ideas are slowly making their way across the pond. Great Vlog as usual, keep up the good work ! Rob.

Hey Guys DJ Tommy T here, great video. I am from Australia, alot of the functions we do in South Australia go for 5 - 6hrs if not extended. This is how most of our layouts are - INTRODUCTION CAKE 1ST COURSE 2ND COURSE SPEECHES FIRST DANCE FATHER DAUGHTER DANCE DANCE SET DESSERT (mostly only announced) DANCE SET GARTER / BOUQET DANCE SET. keep up the great videos, love watching them all. Cheers

hey bro, here in cancun at the resorts we go like this: presentation bridal + mr and mrs frist dance parents dance diner (buffet or plate) speeches (when they all are in dessert) cake cutting dance set buquet + gater dancing set last song and this is for about 4 hours this time line is more for americans, mexicans they go diferent... dinner, dances, party hahahah cheers bro deejay angelo cancun mex resort dj

Michigan we've got 6 hour weddings Cocktails Introductions Cake Cutting Speeches Dinner (couple goes around thanking guests for coming) Formal Dances 1st Dance Set Bouquet/Anniversary/Etc 2nd Dance Set End I'd love to do the pre-dinner dancing, but no one is used to it here. I think we Midwesterners really like to get food and alcohol asap, haha. Late night snacks are big up here, too.

My team does about 25 weddings a year, and the best strategy we use is to get all of the formalities out of the way. Grand entrance, first dance, parent dances. These are all stoppages in time where people have to stop, look and observe. You wanna minimize the amount of times that happens during the reception. We always contact the venue or ask the client what time the venue has set dinner for. We cannot finalize our timeline without that, and we cannot makeup our own time for that. Some venues go right into taking orders so dinner can start right away, and other venues have dinner that may start later, so then your first dance set can start right after the formalities. Some clients opt for a buffet style dinner, but regardless, the chef and their team will communicate if they are ahead/behind schedule for whatever reason, and we are able to manipulate on the fly. We do toasts during dinner since they are sitting down eating anyway. Doing formalities right after a dance set can get tricky because if the dance floor was lively, guests will see the stoppage as an opportunity to do everything but focus on the formality (bathroom break, smoke break, hit the bar, etc), when this is the time to focus on the couple. It’s creates a bad visual, especially if the bar is not the same room as the reception.

DJ Barr, I'm in the Boston area and TONS of couples out here do the "marathon timeline" you guys discussed. I have one coming up next month and I'm going to try suggesting a different approach. Let's see what they think about a more active timeline! Also, I just found your channel yesterday and I'm already a huge fan. You've got a new subscriber. When I stepped away from DJing 5 years ago briansredd was like the only guy on RU-vid doing this stuff. It's great to see some younger talent putting themselves out there! Keep it up!

Every region of the country will have their own traditions/norms that are followed. This hits home the need to sit down with your couples to understand their vision. I'm in the west and occasionally I will provide service to an east coast couples that want this timeline. In the west we tend to do all non-dance activities first and build momentum/energy towards the dance floor throughout the evening vs. having dance sets intermingled throughout the timeline. Most DJ's in the west general approach is: "once we get them on the dance floor we want to keep them there". The up and and down energy; stop and go approach to the east coast timeline is what I struggle with. Bottom line - know your customer and be willing to adapt according to their needs/wants.

Great job guys! Did a wedding this weekend & it went great however having to dismiss tables to the buffet line is disruptive & I lost focus a couple times but it went smoothly!

WOW! That was a great presentation. I never gave it that much thought but I agree on many of timelines you showed. I normally follow the format given by the bride and groom. Thanks for the information!

Some great tips guys! in New Zealand most timelines is everything first then after dessert (around 8-9pm) First Dance's - then Main Dance, I have never done a first dance any earlier than just before the main dance. THE GOOD: once first dance is over the dance floor is ready to party THE BAD: The crowd can be tuckered out and a bit "Overs" by then so they dance for a bit then muck round. And thats where you have to use your DJ skillz and mic work, fancy mixing etc.

im in pa ... this is super accurate for here for any wedding ive been at... cant speak for everyone in pa though of course lol

Hey Barr, I can't believe how spot on you guys are and exactly how the time line goes here on long island lol!!!

Great Information as always. Thanks Barr!

I love the 1st dance after the intros. I tell my couples that it is the time they will have the most eyes on them as people can wonder anytime after that. I also see a trend of no cake, especially in older couple weddings but maybe a snack time around 90 min before shutting down. Anyone else? When you play a dance set prior dinner, do you announce it in any special way?

I'm in Atlantic Canada on the east coast and we do the all-up-front timeline with a 4-5 hour dance at the end. As you both mentioned... ALWAYS challenging to keep good numbers on the floor for that length of time. I try to break up the dance by throwing garter/bouquet, shoe game etc. in periodically to bring the energy back up a bit. Not much else we can do with it.

For cake I like knocking it out 3/4 the way into dinner. That point where half the room is done eating other half is still eating. That way its early enough that when I jump into open dancing 15 minutes later the guest already forgot about it.

Most of my Weddings in South Central Tx: 5pm - Intro, 6pm - Dinner, 7pm - cake, 7:30pm - toast, 8:00pm - Grand March, 8:15pm -First dance, parent dances, 8:30pm - open dance floor, 9:30pm - boquet/garter, 9:45 continie dance til 12am

Wow that's interesting your 99% example is definitely not the normal in my Chicagoland area. I have to always be down to the minute to try and squeeze stuff in before dinner. Most venues allow guest to arrive an hour before dinner I served. So we have Guests arrive/ reception starts at say 5pm for example then cocktail hour (which sometimes is only a half hour) 530 ask guests to start taking their seats. 545 bridal party introductions 555 speaches 6pm 1st course Then main course Then dessert 7pm b&g first dance Parents dance Boutique garter toss Invite all guests to dance floor for a group slow dance Then dance set for the rest of the night 11pm midnight snack buffet 1130 last call. No venues have ever given us the choice to push starting dinner back so late into the evening where I am at. Interesting video guys thank you for the perspective

Great video with great explanations. I’m in the south and I wish we had the Jersey timeline. The crowds tend to thin out and thus causing the timeline to be shifted around too much. This also causes a choppy night. Thx Guys.

You guys are wonderful thank you for this

Thank you for sharing this. This is a lot of help. Is it possible for you to share to us WHAT TO SAY as the MC on the specific portion along the Timeline of a wedding gig?

Wow! I’ve never seen timelines like the first two! In Chicago it’s intros, cake cut, prayer, toasts, dinner then we open dance floor with first dance, father daughter, mother son and then invite guests. Sometimes first dance for b&g dance on intros but I’d rather have them lead the dance floor later in the evening! A lot of drinking out this way and they want to eat THEN party...those other line ups sound like ALOT of crowd control! Hour of cocktail, hour and 15 min for dinner then2.5 -3 hours dance time has been the standard for my 30 years...Do they close the bar during dinner out your way?

I needed this video last Saturday

Well done love it. It's a great guidelines, most don't know what a format should be like. Apply showmen ship wow them and time flies bye.

It just depends on your area...here in NM its a lot different.... brides don't like multiple stops so here is a very common timeline that I do with the majority of my weddings being 6hrs... Cocktail Dinner Toasts Bridal party introduction B & G intro Marcha (hispanic weddings) First Dance Parent dances 1st Dance set (1hr) Cake cutting Bouquet & garter toss Money dance/anniversary dance 2nd dance set (to the end of the night) Exit dance (if applicable)

The timeline does vary depending on where you're at. I'm in CA, however, 1st course and dinner is considered the same thing. Same with cake and dessert. I typically push for the cake to be cut shortly after dinner so that it serves as dessert.

Great video.. great content.

Most West African weddings timeline, they cut cake during dinner.. good stuff guys.🙌🏾

Some Florida weddings are 6-8 hours.... ceremony and reception

The chronology of American marriages is interesting. I work with musicians and I am the official dj of the orchestra. In France, the DJ set is difficult between meals. The guests are watching us strangely. Lifting them up and making them dance is a real team effort. On the other side of the Atlantic, the chronology is rather: * = Ceremony * Cocktail * Entered the brides room * Having dinner * Cake or dessert and champagne * = Warm up * First Dance * DJ SET Without forgetting the entertainment of the guests between the dishs

Hey DJ barr, Great video ! Can you elaborate more on your timeline. How much time do you allocate to each part of the night ? I often find that there are things that should take 15 minutes taking longer. What does your actual time breakdown look like ?

I’m in NC.. intros, 1st dance , parent dances , welcome/blessing, dinner, toast ,open the dance floor 1st set, cake cutting, back to dancing, bouquet toss, finish strong with dancing...sometimes cake is right after toast

here in wisconsin bro, specially with latino couples you have them eat dinner first, then party. now with the american crowd is so usual like ive seen your videos

For our weddings, it's usually grand entrance, dinner, then bang out all the formalities to get to one long dance set as soon as possible.

I love your videos DJ barr

CA with the 7 plus hour reception 😂.

Midwest is normally intro, cake cut, welcome/prayer from Father or someone, dinner, toast, first dances, and then it leads to open dance. Most of the time it’s because of the food people and cake needing to be cut. But that’s with 3-4hr reception.

Everything up front and 6 hour receptions is standard here. 3 hours of dancing is pretty normal. Seeing dancing in gig logs before dinner in gig logs is VERY strange to me. I'm not positive people would do that here but I'd like to try it.

oh my god, in France this is so easy, we start with a drink, and then we drink, and we finish the gig with a last drink !! LOL no just joking... great stuff guys !

what about wedding games? what's your favorite? :)

For Mexican weddings is a bit more different but is basically the same thing without some things in the video but it’s still a beautiful experience as a dj

It’s definitely different everywhere.. Here in San Antonio they do intro first then dinner ...

Some crazy timelines where you are from.

If you do a timeline as shown at 8:12, then older people will tend to leave earlier in the evening because most of them will get tired and may not stay for cake and cake activities and dancing.

Yea i guess its just depending on the family. You get the gist 😏.

Broooooo. I constantly have 2-3 hour dance sets at weddings. 99% of the time it’s: seating-ceremony-cocktails-grand entrance-dinner-speeches-cake-first dances-bouquet/garter-dancing.

Damn! We have 6 hour receptions as standard. Intro Entrees 1st Speeches Mains Second speeches Cake cut First dance 3 hour dance set

Dj bar. Love ur videos but when i ask a question. No never answer, 🤔

something that never work.... having dance music and dinner at the same time.... they eat or dance... one or other... what you think?

Y en quinceañera

🎉💃🕺👌

Remember, it's the couple's big day. Everyone else's desires come after.

Bouquet! Not bouqet.

Great info.... DJ Barr where do you get your latin /spanish music from (BPM)?