10 Wedding Bangers to End the Night

(image: Matt Trott Photography)

Every song in your DJ's set matters - on their own they are big tunes that will mean more to some than others. Together they cumulatively form one massive, mega experience that, hopefully, no-one present will ever forget. The final track of the night, however, is arguably the most important selection you and/or your DJ will make. It's the big pay-off, the moment everyone comes together in one final blowout of emotion and happy vibes.

Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder - Together in Electric Dreams

Often the choice you have to make is between total banger or the classic arm-in-arm singalong. 'Together in Electric Dreams' is a glorious blend of the two. The Human League's Phil Oakey teamed up with producer extraordinaire Giorgio Moroder to make a classic record that still resonates today - indeed, MTV 80s opted for this to close its final broadcast before the channel shut down recently. A great choice.

Elbow - One Day Like This

Elbow have a lovely knack of producing sincere and emotive music without going big on the cheese. Their best stuff elicits a sense of positivity, comfort, intimacy and nostalgia, and 'One Day Like This' ticks each of those boxes. Lyrically apt - one day like this a year will surely see you right, huh? - its unapologetic warmth is guaranteed to bring your guests together for those wonderful final few minutes. Happy days.

The Prodigy - Out of Space

On a completely different tip, 'Out of Space' is somehow coming up for 35 years old and is still a flat-out face-melting banger. A closing track for a certain vintage, perhaps, but no less effective as a unifying force of nature. A difficult track to follow, so why not save it 'til last? It will take your brain to another dimension. Pay close attention!

Bill Withers - Lovely Day (Studio Rio version)

The late, great Bill Withers left us with heaps of sublime soul music, and 'Lovely Day' might just be peak Bill. This Studio Rio version imbues the original with breezy samba vibes and divine horn sections, adding even more sunshine to a beautiful song. It is worth noting the original is a perfectly good and valid selection, but this wonderful re-work adds that little freshness. A delicious conclusion to the loveliest of days.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Even people who claim to hate this song will join you on the dancefloor for this. Because, let's face it, no-one really hates it. It is in fact a total banger. Combining both elements of the ideal final song - with big communal singlong sections alongside the classic Wayne's World headbanging segment - Bo-Rap is a stone-cold guarantee to get everyone up. Some will fall to their knees playing air guitar along with Brian May, while others will stand aloft, arms outspread, singing every word of those six crazy minutes. Let's have it!

LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends

Where does the time go? Written by James Murphy as he approached his late 30s, 'All My Friends' captures the melancholy of realising that the spontaneous, wild nights of your 20s have been replaced by the responsibilities and increasing distance of adulthood. There's a real poignancy in dancing to it with all your friends, all your loved ones, gathered together. Once, we had our whole lives ahead of us. Now, we have priceless moments like this.

Dan Hartman - Relight My Fire

Okay, maybe most of your guests will know this via Take That's smash hit cover version, but the original by Dan Hartman is where it's at. A euphoric explosion of pure disco, tinged with bittersweet lyrics, as it urges us to 'all stand up in the name of love, and state the case of what we're dreaming of'. That feels like a pretty ace message to live by, and one hell of a note to go out on at the end of the night.

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Teenage dreams, so hard to beat. What better way of unifying a bunch of merry-making adults than to get them together singing about the joys and recklessness of our youths, a youth that for most present will have faded. It may have faded in terms of number, but it is still there in our hearts and this is a wonderful expression of how it never really leaves us. Two minutes of pop-punk perfection.

David Bowie - Heroes

In today's turbulent world, Bowie's anthem of hope and defiance feels like a particularly apt way to go out. It tells the story of two lovers finding a brief but intense connection despite being separated by the Berlin Wall, representing resistance in the face of overarching political division. The song is enjoying a new surge of popularity having been used at the end of the Stranger Things finale, making Bowie's timeless gem feel even more contemporary.

The Beatles - Hey Jude

You could be forgiven for overlooking this. It's been overplayed, it's ubiquitous and maybe you think you never need to hear it again. If you've ever experienced this at the end of a night, however, you'd be seriously inclined to get involved. It is the ultimate arm-in-arm singalong, as a mass of sweaty humans, possibly 'refreshed', link up to get all misty-eyed and sing their hearts out. A thing of genuine beauty.