Southern Weddings with Travis Bizzell – E124

Welcome everybody to the Wedding Songs Podcast. I am Matt Campbell. Today we’re going to be talking about Southern weddings and music at Southern weddings. To help me along with this, I have Travis Bizzle from FMG Events Company. Hello. Hello. Thanks for having me.

I’m a big fan, a big fan of the show. I love what you’re doing. Awesome. Thanks. You know what? I tried to change up the topic each time and I haven’t really talked about Southern weddings. And honestly, I’m here as one of the people who’s going to be educated too. So I’m looking forward to it. Oh, good, good. That’s good. Glad I can do that. Cool.

Memorable Wedding Moments

I’m going to start off the way I start off every podcast. Can you share the most memorable wedding moment that you’ve had? Yeah. Actually, I had one very recently this past weekend. We did a wedding down in Charleston, South Carolina, and this is a trend that I’m noticing now where a lot more, couples are doing choreographed.

dances. Their first dance, but this couple actually hired a dance teacher or a couple to teach them, their dance routine. And it was beautiful. They did their dance to Florida Georgia Line as the artist. The song was Grow Old and they did a choreographed dance to the song, and their dance teachers were actually invited to the wedding.

It was just such a beautiful moment. They had a whole routine planned out and their dance teachers were like, straight out and dancing with the stars. They were both Ukrainian. And then they came on and did a little number afterward and it was just beautiful. Just, just that first dance was amazing. I loved it.

Format of Southern Weddings

So was it the intro of them right into the first dance? No, actually it was, they did their first dance later in the evening. So that’s a thing that, I’m noticing a lot is migrated, to the Southern weddings. As you know, we all have DJ friends up in the North and other parts of the country.

And, sometimes I get jealous looking at some of their friends, like, Oh, they’re already dancing before dinner, you know, that kind of thing. That’s something that started to reach its way to the South. So I’ve had a few weddings back to back this year where they’re saving the first dance until after dinner.

And then just to kind of set the party off. Yeah, that’s interesting. If I’m the groom, I want to get that thing over and done with. I don’t want to be thinking about it. Yeah, that had been the rationale is let’s just get all the particulars out of the way, the father, daughter, the mother, get all that stuff out of the way.

Now we can settle down and eat. But lately, they’ve been waiting for just an introduction to dinner, dinner, toast, and then let’s do the first dance.

About Travis and FMG

So can you tell me a little bit about you and your company? Yeah, absolutely. I own FMG Event Company. We’re a small outfit based in South Carolina now. mostly of the Charlotte area of North Carolina, also into Asheville, North Carolina. and bulk of our work lately has been in the Charleston area as well.

 I’ve been, DJing forever, 85 years I’ve been DJing, of course, and moved to Charlotte from New York City about 20 years ago, doing bars and nightclub DJ work, of course, always, just as a hobby gig kind of thing. And then about 10 years ago, Really started to fall in love with doing weddings and private events and it just the part time gig became more important than the full time gig and more time consuming than the full time gig.

And then it just became the full time gig. That’s awesome. That’s a great story because so many DJs don’t make it to that point where they’re full time. Sure. Yeah. Yeah, it is. I’ve been full time for 3 years now. Yeah. And it’s, when I first met my wife, I always tell the story when I met my wife, I was DJing a bar nightclub in Rock Hill, South Carolina, we’d known of each other, but we had never met.

She tells the story now that when other people would tell her about me, she would say, Oh, no, he’s just a DJ. Don’t he have a real job? And I did have a real job. Of course, I was managing retail jewelry stores, but she just thought I was some goofy DJ fast forward to, decade later, she’s the one that actually propelled me into quitting my job and being a DJ full time.

That’s a great wife who’s supporting her husband to live his dreams. So yeah, absolutely. I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for her. I’d still be, selling diamonds and stuff. Cool.

Southern Music & Wedding Trends

When DJing weddings are weddings in the South up on new trends and music and traditions. They’re getting there. They’re getting there, Matt. So I’m seeing lately, the things that other regions had been doing maybe a year or two ago, three years ago. A lot of the traditions are starting to make its way down. I’ve done some weddings recently. I did a wedding in Wilmington, North Carolina down on the beach last year where they literally came in and started dancing before dinner, we’re doing a lot more, not formal dinners, even where they’ll just kind of have mingle, high top tables in the reception where they don’t want people sitting down, they just come right at like cocktail style, but for dinner, because they just want that fun experience the whole time instead of the formal.

Sit down being served. So that’s starting to make its way, make its way to the South. You know, people starting to see each other’s Instagrams and get some ideas. Yeah. The power of Pinterest and Instagram. It’s, it’s incredible. I want that. Exactly. I don’t want any dinner either. I just want people to have cake and party.

That’s, definitely, the trend of no bouquet tosses, very little. Right. Cake cutting. Eventually, everything comes in full circle and it’ll come back again. But, yeah, for right now we’re, it’s time to party. Yeah, that’s true. The bouquet toss is definitely making its way out.

the garter thing has been out, they hardly ever do the garter toss anymore. Every once in a while. This is usually because the bride and groom’s parents are really heavily involved with the planning, but if not, Then they don’t want any parts of this garter and bouquet thing. They just want to party.

And that’s what I love too. So like the fact that some of those traditions that are just for show are starting to make their way out and people just focus on what’s important for them, which is just a good time. That’s awesome.

Music Styles

So how do you incorporate the musical styles of the South into your wedding playlists? I try to do, a little bit of what I know is going to work, with my audience. So I know, Earth, Wind, and Fire is gonna work. I know that’s gonna work. I know, Motown is gonna work. I know Taylor Swift is gonna work, right? But I want to give it to them in ways that They may not have heard it.

They haven’t heard, September with this kick under it, like different versions and different, funky, jazzed-up more bass to them, remixes of songs that, they’ve heard. In 2024, everyone’s been to 65 weddings in the past two years, since, you know, COVID opened things back up.

Everybody got married in a hurry. So we want to try to make sure this wedding is a little bit different than your friends and your cousins and everything else, but still familiar. If you love the Cupid Shuffle, I’m going to give you the Cupid Shuffle, but I’m gonna give it to you a little bit differently than what you were used to, and the audiences here are starting to appreciate that as well, the 25 to 35 year olds here are now, from that era where they were hitting the bars and nightclubs and their college years, and they just want to feel that again. So that’s the experience that we’re trying to give them.

Mixing Music

Are you mixing live? Are you creating your own mixes? Or are you having the pre-recorded mixes? How are you playing that music? I do, I do a lot live. I do a lot of live mixing. As far as creating remixes, I don’t do that live. I have some go-to’s that I love.

and some editors and remixers that I love that I always turn to when I’m looking for something. But I do, on the fly, like saying, Oh, this is going to kill right now, and just go for it, and what I’ve noticed another change in the last few years is attention span.

So now you play three and a half minutes of a song, it’s time to move on. So it’s not quick. I don’t do a lot of quick mixing, like 30 seconds in and out, but give them the good parts. Give them about a minute and a half of a song and then quickly mix it into the next thing to kind of keep them going, and keep the juices flowing because they start walking around after they hear their part. I sung the chorus. I’m done. Exactly. Exactly. What’s next?

From that TikTok generation, I know the south is known to be a little bit behind the times. How are you mixing in new music? Yeah, I just bring the times with me. I bring it with, I bring them up with me. I give them what they want, but new music, I know that they’re, still loving early 2000s. I can put on Lil John right now and the room is going to light up, but when I put it on and I kind of marry him between now and then, and I can give him something else that is derivative.

Of that era that they loved and Taylor Swift is going to kill him and I can do a little Dua Lipa mixed in with Lady Gaga from 10 years ago, and they say, Oh, my goodness, you can kind of see how music evolves, but it doesn’t really change that much because Dua Lipa and Lady Gaga are like distant cousins musically, so I can remind them of what they love and the fact that, you know, It’s still going down.

I love the part where you’re mixing in the classic hits where you don’t have to be afraid of those, but then you’re mixing them in and then making them relatable to couples and their parents and their grandparents that are there. That’s, that’s so important. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

And it’s, just like with Bruno Mars, his music is all derivative of a certain era. And when he did the kind of new Jack swing era, I kind of give them the Bruno Mars, but I give them where Bruno Mars was getting that from as well. So they can kind of get a little 15-minute New Jack swing mix and then throw some Jackson 5 in that.

And they’re like, Oh my goodness. And it just all kind of flows together. Just reminding them of that special time in their life. No, no matter how old they are. it’s funny you mentioned that. I have been seeing DJs play Motownphilly, and I’m thinking, wow, I haven’t heard that song in a long time. If I was dancing, I’d be like, oh, this is awesome.

I know. I whip out my running man. I did Motown Philly at a talent show when I was in the eighth grade. You’re making me feel old now. Yeah, me too, man. Me too. We’re both older than we look, for sure. Yes.

Wedding Traditions

Are there any wedding traditions that you think are unique to the South that you incorporate into your weddings? I don’t know that they’re unique to the South. Lately, I do see a lot of people, like the bride and groom, joining the cocktail hour now. So they really want to get their pictures and stuff done, so I see a lot now, and maybe this is a product for the South because the weather’s so nice, for a much longer period of the year, but they’ll go ahead and get their pictures and stuff out of the way early, even before the ceremony, don’t get the family pictures and the portrait shots and all that stuff done because they want to be around during cocktail hour.

So there’s a lot of that now where. The 1st, 20 to 25 minutes for bride and groom still has some business to do with pictures and signing and all that. And then they want to be introduced to cocktail hour and mingle in with everybody during cocktail hour. And it’s usually outdoors somewhere, because we’re in South Carolina, North Carolina, and the weather is beautiful.

So they just want to be out there. Hanging around and chilling too. They don’t want to be, bustled up somewhere, still being directed, they’ve been doing that all day long. And that’s definitely my number one pet peeve of the couple taking an hour of pictures right after the ceremony.

And then everybody’s just wondering what’s going on. And then you, as a DJ, have your must-playlist. Now you can’t really play that during cocktail hour because they’re not even there. Cause they’re not there to hear it. Exactly. I want you guys to enjoy my music, so I am seeing a lot more of that. The bride and groom are in cocktail hour, which I love. That’s a fantastic new trend for sure.

Line Dances

Are there any line dance anthems that are practically mandatory at a southern wedding? Not, not anymore. I am getting a lot more couples getting away from the line of dance.

Cause again, they’re coming from that nightclub bar experience from their college days. Even the ones that don’t want absolutely any line dances, if there is an exception, it’s going to be the wobble. That’s the one that they will say, okay, you can say yes to that one, even though I don’t want any line dances, but I know this one’s going to go.

So that would be the exception to the rule all the time is the wobble. Like the cupid shuffle is kind of making its way out. Everybody loves a good cha cha slide here and there for various weddings and some just don’t want them at all. But I have found that the wobble, if we’re going to do one.

That’s the one that gets requested the most is the wobble and that’s probably the most risque too, out of all those. Yeah. They don’t listen to the words. But that is the most requested of them when we’re going to do them.

Of course, every DJ in the world. So I would love to have no line dances at weddings. Of course, we would. but I always would like to just tell, couples, do what you love, and know your family and your guests. Don’t let The Knot and whomever.

bully you out of doing the music that you like to do. I did a wedding last year and she was on the absolutely no line dance kind of deal, which was fine with me. It was a smaller wedding and they were just kind of mixing and mangling. Everybody was outside, playing cornhole and stuff. And everybody kept coming to me asking me for Specific line dances, and I had to keep telling him.

No, I’m sorry. I can’t play it She didn’t want any line dances. The bride was outside almost the whole wedding anyway. Finally, towards the end of the night, she came back and it wasn’t even just no it was like no line dances No, Bruno Mars, and she didn’t want anything that’s been played at any other wedding, but You got to know your audience as well.

So she finally came back to me with 30 minutes to go and said, forget my do not playlist. Just do what you want to do. But we’ve already lost them. We’ve already lost them at this point. And they came in and did a little bit, but it was kind of like, now I learned from that to ask.

I can not do this, but what happens if I find that they absolutely need it just to get people going, just to get them started? Some crowds, especially in the South, you gotta give them a few of that just to get them going and then they’ll do whatever you want them to do. But a little bit of help.

I think that’s across the country where, if you’re not playing to the crowd, they’re, they’re going to leave. exactly. Exactly. And the bride, I think her thought process was, I’ve been to a bunch of weddings and I don’t want anything everybody else has been doing, but all of her friends and family, all of her bridesmaids.

That’s what they wanted to do, and it was only a, 50 people wedding, so, if 15, 20 of those people that would help me get people going, they’re not going, because, I’m not giving them what they want and it makes for a harder night, right? Well, one of the things too, I’d like to say is if even if they say no Bruno Mars, it doesn’t mean you have to play Uptown Funk or 24k Magic.

He has such a wide collection of music like Grenade. And there are so many other great songs. It doesn’t mean you have to play the most popular. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And we, and we all have. funky ways of mixing in and out of it, or different remixes that you haven’t heard a bunch of times.

So that was a learning experience for sure. And I still learned to, give them what they want, but still, do what needs to be done.

Modern Hits

The next question is how do you meld modern hits with the lively dance floor for all ages? What are some of your favorites for melding those two?

I mentioned Earth, Wind, and Fire earlier, right? So September, that’s easy because I can go from the version of September that I use the most. It’s called the rad stereo remix of September it’s at like a 128-ish, BPM. I can go from that even in key to, Almost anything black eyed peas related like boom, boom pow, or, anything will I am related, and kind of go right from September, right into black eyed peas, then get them going, you know, Calvin Harris, kind of start building it that way into that high intensity, 128 to 130 BPM.

Flo Rida, brings all those things in, but still weaving in and out. So starting with the, seventies. Bringing them in, then going back a little bit, like Salt N Pepa push it, still in that same era.

I’m sure every DJ in the world has this, but I have a Salt N Pepa, blended with Fergalicious. Okay. Yeah. I can tell you, Matt, oh, where’d you get this from? It came from like an old MTV party-to-go CD or something, I’ve just had it forever and I know it was on one of those, one of those mashup MTV-created CDs and, it goes every time and it fits right into that.

That sweet spot and then we can just take that and just build a night, from there into the more electronic dance music, and then just keep the party going from there. I think 1 thing that you mentioned that’s really important is just because it’s a newer song doesn’t mean the young at heart are not going to dance to it.

Yeah, yeah, you’re mixing in those older hits with the newer hits. You’re really making. All ages are happy, and I think that that’s really important. It doesn’t have to be a 15-minute set of all 2000s music, right. That’s a good point. You got to find a way to bring everybody involved. There’s 1 little area of music where it’s in that kind of lower BPM.

It’s that, Soulja Boi. Lil Jon, Snap Your Fingers, Young Joc, Going Down, all that era was kind of in that lower BPM, Waka Flocka, No Hands, but still doing that, two, three, four songs of that and then finding something else. Along those that same feeling, but a little bit newer or even a little bit older just notice who’s sitting down, notice who sat down when this started, and then mix in something to get that person back up.

Then you go into a sing-along to reset, like, Biz Markie, just a friend. Yes, exactly. Even if you’re not actively dancing, I see you and now you’re screaming at the top of your lungs, you know? Right, yep. Because I turn the music down right at the sweet spot and hear everybody say, Oh, baby, you! Right. Right. the fun. Oh, man. Yeah, that just gives me goosebumps thinking about that.

Regional Favorites

Have you noticed any specific regional variations in terms of musical preferences? The South is known for football. I’m sure there are football fight songs that you have to play, but are there other, regional things that you’re seeing that are popular in your area?

Like you said the Gamecocks and the Clemson Tigers, no matter which wedding I’m doing, I’m definitely playing that song, playing that song once almost every weekend, because they’re either graduates of one or the other. And so that’s that always goes hard and then everybody gets in the big circle and starts screaming and yelling and doing all their college chants and stuff.

So that’s always fun. And the other thing, I’ve noticed in other areas, they want to go hard early. Beginning of the night, you gotta kill them, you gotta go. In the South, is still very family-oriented. Still a lot of weddings with kids there. So they want to be super family friendly early.

And give us the Motown, give us the favorites, the Brunos, the Taylor Swifts, give us that stuff early. And then, Grandma’s going home. We got babysitting, the kids, all the older folks going home. Then we’re going to turn these lights down and we’re going to get busy. So that’s what I’m seeing a lot.

Versus, the opposite where they just want to go the whole night long. That I think here, they’re a little bit more conscious of. Their family and not wanting to upset uncles and aunties and other people like that, who are still at the wedding. And then say all gloves are off after nine o’clock.

So you’re not really seeing weddings with no kids then. Not much, not much. I would love to, but I don’t see them very much. It’s kind of half and half at this point, and that number is starting to dwindle down, but it’s about half and half. Okay.

Incorporating Personality Into Music

Do you have any advice for couples planning a Southern wedding who want to incorporate their music preferences? Yeah, just, let your DJ know what you love. And let them know what you hate. And like I said earlier, don’t be internet bullied into trying to do something totally different than everybody else.

Or if you love it, this is your jam, then let it be your jam. Nobody can tell you that you can’t jam out to Taylor Swift all night long, or you can’t listen to Young Joc, or you can’t dance to, uptown funk because of someone else. has already overused it. September’s been around since the 70s.

It’s just, that some things last forever. And that’s going to be okay. So if you’re into line dancing, that’s okay. Every wedding in the world almost has some line dancing. They’re just not showing you that on their Instagram. they’re just not showing you the line dances. So if you love line dances, don’t be bullied away from it. if you want, something custom done where you want your first dance to be a mixture of two or three different songs, get with your DJ, he can make it happen for you. For sure. We’ve seen that a lot. There’s a lot of talk going around the DJ boards right now about what songs couples shouldn’t play and about being told what not to play.

And one of my dad’s favorite songs is the YMCA and it’s just knowing your crowd and, just because it’s been played so much like you’re saying that doesn’t mean it, it’s not going to make everybody feel good at your wedding. That’s what it’s all about. Making everybody feel good. Throw on the YMCA, come back up with ABBA, and watch what happens.

You know what I’m saying? Watch what happens. Everybody’s gonna be having a great time, as opposed to, if you didn’t and people just kind of sit around mingling. It’s just some songs are timeless. It’s just a great time. YMCA is a great time, man. If that’s what you love.

This is your day. You spent a whole lot of money on it. You should do what you love. And like you said earlier, it doesn’t mean you have to play three and a half minutes of it. You could play a minute and a half and everybody’s going to get their fill and be happy. Exactly. We’re not going to run through the third chorus of YMCA.

We’re not going to. We’re about to do Gimme Gimme Gimme and we’re going to move on, a little Mamma Mia or something and then we’re going to keep it moving. But they’ll still get that moment of, Oh, I love that. Oh, I remember that. Oh, that was so great. And that’s what it’s all about. 100 percent agree.

Popular Music

So can you recommend any lesser-known Southern artists that maybe somebody from the West Coast doesn’t know about? Yeah, I think, less, I don’t know about lesser known, but, obviously our Florida Georgia line is really big down here. Kasey Musgraves, and Cole Swindell is really good at weddings. Sam Hunt. He has a couple of slower songs that’ll be nice during dinner and pickup time. And then he has a couple bangers that they can dance to as well. I like his vibe a lot, Sam Hunt. And,

Tyler Childress is really popular right now in weddings down here. So he’s, he’s a really good artist to look out for. If you haven’t been playing any of his stuff now, just test it out during cocktail and during dinner and see how it moves. Tyler Childress, Cole Swindell, are some of my favorites. I have to ask then you’ve mentioned all country artists.

Country Music

What percentage of your weddings are country music? Probably about 75, about 75%. Yeah. Yeah, I do a lot of, country, well, their roots are in country music, but they want the rest of the night to be hip hop, pop, and dance music, but if there’s always some country music, tones in the weddings and most of the weddings that I do, outdoors beach vibes, farm style weddings, it’s all these, you know, their roots are in country music and then they’re fun is the pop and the hip hop.

And when it comes to the pop stuff, that’s just still going hard down here. I throw some Kesha records and they love it. Fergie. Anything that gets the young girls excited and dancing is, it’s always a big hit. Natasha Bedingfield, all of that era is definitely.

Yeah. Yeah. Those anthems, those answers and the guys, of course, the guys, they love Drake and 21 Savage. They love those. even a little bit of that. I want to rock. They liked that one a little bit. But that one didn’t last very long, but they still just go back to that classic era of early Drake, Lil Wayne, that Rick Ross era.

Everybody still loves that now. That’s cool. How many times are you playing fishing in the dark oh, not very much, actually, really not very much. It’s more like just newer pop country. I would say. Okay. Yeah, a little bit pop country. because then they want to be able to easily transition out of that into, what they want to do pop-wise and a lot of Dua Lipa, stuff like that. As far as the more traditional, and this is semi-traditional, I guess, Shania Twain would probably be the most countryist country thing that we play would be Shania Twain.

They love it. That’s interesting that you’re not going to the true classic, like a Johnny Cash. That I think it’s better for mixing too, because you’re starting with those nineties artists.

And then like, you’re saying the Florida Georgia lines, the Lady As that pop country. I think that’s going to be easier to mix, especially when you’re in party time and you’re playing exactly what you’re saying Sam Hunt house party. Then, you know, that, you can fill that dance floor.

So that’s good. Yeah, absolutely. Even a little Sugarland. Sugarland will get them going, kind of get the party started with that. So a lot of that comes back out into me. I love their song, stuck like glue. That’s the one, that’s in the heavy rotation, usually like a cocktail or dinner. I throw that indoor cocktail and dinner time. If I know it’s a country audience, I’ll throw that in during dinner for sure.

Emerging Trends

So, what are some of the emerging trends that you’re seeing that maybe it just started? I know you covered some already, but, you know, are you seeing anything that’s really sticking out? I’m sure no more mason jars.

Yeah, no more mason jars. Because I do see a lot of people. Like I said, with the cocktail hour kind of joining in, a lot of people not doing formal dinner anymore during their wedding, just kind of having it, pickups, finger foods and kind of dinner stations where I have a taco bar that I have a pasta bar that I have a meat carving station, a lot of that going on where people just kind of float around and do their thing, just a different kind of experience.

And then musically, no one wants the kind of just hang-back instrumentals during dinner. DJs used to be able to throw on some instrumentals and go eat. Now, at least for myself and the DJs that I work with, we’re live mixing during dinner. Because even if they’re not dancing yet, it is a more upbeat vibe than the formal, ballroom-style dinner.

They’re still having a good time, during dinner. So we’re live mixing and interacting with folks earlier in the night than we used to be and. I see that’s probably going to start trending towards, what I talked about initially was dancing before dinner. It’s slowly starting to get that way because the vibe is going up earlier in the night now.

They’re setting the tone right from the introduction and then kind of keeping it on a medium until dance time where it used to start with, you can just throw on, Michael Buble or something during dinner and there’ll be pianos and violins, but now they don’t want that.

They will at least be toe-tapping, during dinner time. There are great Frank Sinatra songs, but he’s got to be 1 that’s upbeat that it’s 1 of the 1st songs. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Everything is going more upbeat. very rarely. Do we even know, 3rd, 45 minutes of dance time.

There are no more slow songs. There are no more slow songs. Everything is just upbeat. The slow songs aren’t normally just for the older people that are there, but the younger adults, 25 to 35, don’t even want slow dances. And if they do, it’s still something, kind of Tennessee whiskey always goes, Thomas Rhett, die a happy man.

That’s always, always a good one to play during, slow dance. And then it’s like genuine pony, that’s as slow as it’s going to get. So everything is trending upwards as far as BPMs and music genres. The slower, softer stuff is getting out of here for weddings. I would say that’s pretty much across the country. So I think that’s a great trend. It’s because if you’re boring guests during the cocktail hour, they’re just going to leave early. I love that.

Connect with Travis

Well, thanks Travis. Is there anything that we didn’t talk about that you think that we should have about Southern weddings? No, I think, I think we covered it all. Southern weddings are beginning to be not much different than my friends in Jersey and my friends on the West coast, so, we’re getting there, we’re here now.

So where can listeners connect with you and follow along? Hey, I am at Instagram and Facebook @fmgeventco. FMG Event Co. Fmg event company.com. Nice and easy. Hey, thanks again, Travis, for helping us along with Southern Weddings.

Yeah. Thanks for listening everybody and stay tuned for next week for another episode with a Wedding Pro.