How to Play your Wedding Songs

You may have already drawn up a shortlist of wedding songs for your wedding, but have you actually considered how you intend to play them? Whilst you have many different options, much will depend on the style of music you have chosen, the style of your wedding and when your wedding songs will be played.

For a religious ceremony you may have the use of an organist or even a choir. In this case you will need to run you selection of wedding songs for your ceremony by you wedding officiant to make sure that a) the organist or choir are capable of playing/singing them and b) they are able to obtain the wedding music for your choices.

If neither of these options are available to you then you may have to use a sound system and record your chosen songs onto a CD or you may be able to hire a soloist or other live musician to play during the ceremony. Again you will need to discuss these with your wedding officiant to get their approval first.

For a civil ceremony you may well have access to a sound system and can organize your music onto a CD or even use an MP3 player. Hiring live musicians is also an option, although with civil ceremonies tending to be very much shorter than religious services it may be a costly addition.

At your reception you will need to provide wedding songs for several elements of the day. These include background music during the cocktail hour and wedding breakfast, a song for when you cut the cake, your first dance song and songs for the evening party.

Most reception will have a perfectly adequate sound system which you can use again with CD’s or an MP3 player. Here it maybe nice to hire in a live musician to play the background music for you and you maybe able to negotiate a price for them to play the ceremony as well if you wish.

Your first dance song is often a romantic love song that holds some significance to you both and so you will probably have chosen this particular wedding song first. Hiring a DJ and disco for your evening party is a popular choice and they can provide a playlist of disco classics for you. Make sure you provide them with your first dance CD well in advance of you taking to the dance floor and let them know when you are ready.

Other forms of entertainment for your evening party include hiring a live band, a singer or mixing a disco, band and singer in any combination. If you do hire a live band or singer make sure you see and hear them before you book. You should also make sure that they have your chosen wedding songs within their repertoire. Avoid hiring someone who only specializes in playing a certain genre of music, you need someone who can play a wide range of songs from across all genres and generations – in other words, can play something for everyone!