Music has the power to stir up memories, make you feel passionate or elated and ultimately share these emotions with the one you love. This is why it’s so important to feature the right music at your wedding from the music played while guests wait for the bride to arrive at the ceremony to the dance floor to encourage people to get up and dance.
The music you play on your big day is just as important as your engagement rings and the bridesmaid dresses, what flowers you decide to use in your bouquet and what you decide to serve up for dinner. Your wedding music not only symbolises you and your partner, it can also be used to bring guests into the mix by playing songs they recognise and remember, relating to them and you.
You don’t need to get fancy when it comes to music on your wedding day though.
Sure, a string quartet would be nice while you ate dinner but there’s no need to go overboard especially when you are putting your big day together on a budget.
You can hire a decent PA system and lights for a reasonable price and put together a Spotify playlist that should run for a good 5-6 hours that can be simply put on and left for the remainder of the evening. Your playlist can start at dinner and be curated to kick out the party tunes at a certain time when you want everyone to get on the dance floor.
If you’re struggling to put together such a playlist, there are plenty of articles online such as this one that can help you discover new and well known songs about love but you should also try and include lots of songs from your personal collection – after all your wedding is about you so ensure your playlist includes a lot of personal preferences.
You will obsess over your first dance song, many of us have jokey songs we consider to be special (Anaconda is probably not a good idea to dance to though, unless your family and friends are in the joke too) so choose something tasteful, relatively slow and if you’re really feeling up to the challenge make up a dance to it.
There are definitely songs that should be avoided when it comes to weddings though, even if they do get people moving. The Cha Cha Slide for example should not be added to your playlist, neither should YMCA by the Village People, the Macarena or Love Shack.
Avoid a wedding reception that feels like a disco in a school gymnasium that still has that lingering smell of feet and sweat. The Knot have put together their own list of songs that should be banned from your big day, and we have to say we agree with most of them.
Music tells a story, it reflects personality, it fills the space where guests might be waiting for the next thing to happen and it has a way of lifting the mood, be sure to choose the right songs for your big day but most of all have fun!
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