If You're Not Playing "Shout" In The Beginning Of Your Wedding Reception Then You Have Ruined The Party

Here we go again. There's been a long list of picks that I've had in snake drafts that were hated on in real time and then I was vindicated by history. Move over, burrata. Step aside, unwritten. We have a new draft pick that the nicompoops on the snake draft panel were wrong about yet again and it's when to play "Shout". The correct answer is, of course, in the first 25-33% of the wedding reception. 

Weddings are a marathon of a day, even as a guest. Getting dressed, getting to the ceremony, trying to manage your alcohol and food intake during the cocktail hour without spilling on yourself. You finally sit at your table and you sit through the entrances (barf), the speeches, the father-daughter dance, the mother-son dance, and the first dance for the couple. Those songs are all usually slow (except for Carl's mother-son dance which was a banger). 

They usually invite people to the dance floor after that and people are slow to get involved. People are lingering at their table. Maybe sneaking a few extra dinner rolls, getting back in the line for the bar, and just generally being shy about getting out on the dance floor. There is one song and one song above all others that gets EVERYONE involved and gets everyone excited and that is "Shout".

do you think the Isley Brothers know what they did for white people and weddings for the last 60 years?

A wedding reception is typically between 3-4 hours according to google and my experience. Google also says that to get through a 3 hour reception there should be about 45 songs to play. That sounds about right to me. The haters and idiots are saying that the first 3rd of a wedding is too early. I say they are insane. It should be played anywhere between 30-45 mins into the dancing portion of the night. There is NOTHING worse than a wedding where the dance floor is sparse and the energy is low with people standing on the side. You want a dressed up mosh pit of sorts. Some drinks spilling, some sweat flying, and ties being loosened. You want to give people a reason to get on the dance floor and party and the longer you wait to get people involved the more likely the vibes for the wedding are going to be ruined. 

You play that song 45 mins in or so (1st third of the reception) for two reasons 1) Now people have made their way back from the bar one or two times so they're feeling good. 2) The big time dance people have broken a sweat and the boring people are still on the sidelines and haven't started to plan their exit yet. Energy is up. People are dancing but nobody is complaining about their shoes yet. If you play Shout towards the beginning of the night when people are feeling good they will stay feeling good. They'll be likely to stay on the dance floor and come back after trips to the bar because the tone has been set. You show up for shout, you stay on the dance floor because of it when Whitney Houston, Run Around Sue, Beyonce, and Jackson 5 come on. You need to keep people engaged. You need to keep people smiling, keep people dancing, and keep people shaking that ass. Shout is the game 1 starting ace of wedding dance songs. You wait too long and then you'll run into situations where people have oblos or bathroom runs or they step outside for air. 

You ensure max participation and max effort by playing it early. 

You play it too late in the night and, well, it's too late. When people think back on the wedding they'll be thinking about a barren dance floor for the majority of the night. You can set the tone and the course of your wedding. You want to play Shout at a time when they have enough in the tank to touch the ceiling when they start to get a little bit louder now. It's a drug. You go hard early with shout and people will be addicted to the dance floor for the rest of the night. 

This may not be a popular opinion, but no matter…I'm righteous. I am correct with this take. It's best for dance floor engagement. It's best for the amount of energy needed. It's best for the buzz you've got from a few GTLFs. You wait to long and you've wasted bullets in the gun. It's the most expensive party your friends and family will ever throw. Not being on the dance floor is an insult to them and if you don't hit Shout at the right time you're wasting your best effort by letting the party die.