The persistent song requester. They are as synonymous with wedding receptions as “The Cupid Shuffle.”

Without exception, I can always spot them early on in the night. They lurk around the stage, circling your laptop like a shark eyeing a baby seal, waiting for their moment. My best defense against a persistent song requester is to simply avoid eye contact. However, as sure as the sun rises, the moment I announce the first break, they will undoubtedly make their move. And almost without exception, their request is simply, to quote one of our current presidential candidates, “WRONG!”

Now please understand, if you are one of these persistent song requesters, we are not upset or angry, although we might lean toward slightly annoyed the fifth or sixth time you come up to us to request, “Kickstart My Heart.” We understand that you are a guest of our client and we want you to enjoy the evening. That said, my hope is that today’s blog post will help you to understand exactly why it is we will most likely not play your request.

For starters, from the moment Fun DMC unlocks the trailer at a wedding reception venue, we have a plan. We have a plan that was laid out and discussed with the bride and groom months before your invitation went out in the mail. We have taken great care to get to know our clients and understand their desires for the event. We have worked alongside them to help create the wedding reception that they have likely had in mind for years leading up to this day. That said, if your request lands within the realm of said plan, we are more than happy to accommodate. Similarly, please understand that if our clients have requested an evening of ’90s hip-hop, you will likely have to listen to your request of “Devil With A Blue Dress” in your car on the ride home.

Furthermore, please understand that Fun DMC is a professional entertainment company not a professional jukebox. For our clients, our prime objective is to ensure that we provide an evening of nonstop entertainment as envisioned by them. The experienced professionals of Fun DMC are constantly monitoring the room and gauging the overall mood of the party. Over the years we have learned what works and what doesn’t and there are very few exceptions to this. We have an experienced crew that has filled many dance floors and even cleared a few in our early days. That said, we’re probably not wanting to kill the mood of “The Wobble” because it suddenly occurred to you that Nickelback’s “Photograph” is just what we need to save the dance.

Finally, as professional and experienced entertainers, we excel in creating moments and making memories. We recognize that there is a time and place for high energy club music, group dance songs, and slow dance songs. What separates the professionals from the rest is a keen understanding of timing. The ones who have been hired to provide the evening’s entertainment will have the best sense of timing as it relates to programming much in the same fashion as the caterer or the photographer. We are able to remain outside of the event while being engaged within the event and that gives us perspective. This perspective allows us to create moments of entertainment and it would be irresponsible of us to interrupt that with a random request that doesn’t fit the mood.

Speaking of timing, the few times that we have acquiesced to a request, said requester has more often than not been found out front smoking while “Proud Mary” played to an empty dance floor.

We got this, folks. We got this.