Advice for Wedding Day Music Selection
The great thing about modern day technology is that you have access to almost anything and everything that you could possibly want or need and it’s all available within seconds. This can also be a problem as, oftentimes, having an overwhelming number of choices can cause anxiety. In the case of this blog, we’re talking about your options when it comes to music for your wedding day! Yes, the day as a whole, not just one part.
Some couples out there won’t have any preference or specific song requests for their wedding day music. If this is you, then great! There’s one more thing off your wedding planning to-do list! However, most couples I know do have a theme/preference for the type of music played at their wedding, and most couples will have at least a few specific songs that they want played for specific moments throughout the wedding day!
So, where do you go from here? How do you start to plan the music for your big day? Well, if you're hiring a DJ then this (hopefully) won’t be a long and stressful process. Most DJ’s are willing to work around your specific music requests in order to create the moments you desire. If you’re hiring a DJ it’s probably because you want them to handle most of the musical decision making regardless. But what if you’re not hiring a DJ? Depending on how complex and organized you want your music to be, you might spend 1 hour or 100 hours deciding the order of songs, which ones will play for what event and so on and so forth. But with the wide world of music readily available at your fingertips, you may be feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Choose your musical theme
A great place to start is by choosing the musical theme you want for your wedding. It could be Jazz, Rock N’ Roll, Hip Hop, Lo-Fi, anything you want. Music from your selected genre will be played for most of the main events during your big day (processional, recessional, first dance etc.). Something to consider is that you can find wedding classics (like the wedding march) in almost any style/genre you want, so don’t let your desired theme get thrown out because you don’t think you’ll be able to find the songs you want in that style.
Build out your playlist(s)
Now that you’ve got a theme, start building out your playlist(s). Some couples like to keep things super organized and have a playlist for every event, others like to just make one big playlist and have it play through. I personally would recommend creating individual playlists for each major event on your wedding day. That way there’s no confusion about which song to play when, unless you don’t have a preference! You can stick totally within your chosen genre or break out and party to something completely different. More than likely, your theme will morph into a wider selection of music once you get to the open dancing portion of your reception. This is more likely to happen if you give freedom of music choice to your guests, so beware, if you want to stick to a set group of songs then you may want to keep your guests off the Spotify!
Song suggestions:
Like I said at the beginning of this blog, there are limitless amounts of options available to you for music. I thought I would take some time to create a list including two song recommendations for all the major events of the wedding day. These songs will be in a variety of genres, and you can use them if you’re out of ideas for a specific event, or just as a way to get inspired while on the search for the perfect song!
Processional
When I Fall in Love
David Hamilton
Banks
NEEDTOBREATHE
Bride Walking Down the Aisle
Bridal Chorus
Craig Curry
The Wedding March
Queen
Recessional
Thinking out Loud
Ed Sheeran
Marry you
Bruno Mars
Grand Entrance
HandClap
Fitz and The Tantrums
Sexy and I know It
LMFAO
First Dance
Fly Me to The Moon
Frank Sinatra, Count Basie
Unchained Melody
Marc Martel
Mother Son
What a Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong
My Wish
Rascal Flatts
Father Daughter
Pickup man
Joe Diffie
One Call Away
Charlie Puth
Garter and Bouquet
White Wedding
Billy Idol
P.Y.T.
Michael Jackson
Last Dance
Alone Together
Catherine Russell
Shut Up and Dance
WALK THE MOON
Remember, when it comes to music selection, it’s all about having fun and picking music that will not only promote a good time but also is something that you want! Each event of the day will only happen once, so pick something that you’ll enjoy listening to!
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