DIY Wedding Music

In these days of cost cutting and budget weddings, putting together the music for your wedding yourself is becoming a popular option. Of course pre-recorded music doesn’t have quite the same entertainment factor as a live band or DJ, but it will certainly cost you less.

In recent years, advances in technology have made compiling your own wedding music much easier.You no longer have to burn twenty CDs and remember to change them at the appropriate moment. You can simply create individual play lists on an MP3 player and link that to your venue’s sound system.

Create a play list for each part of your wedding; perhaps one for the prelude and postlude of the ceremony, one for the drinks reception, one for the dinner, and a couple of different ones for the dancing afterwards.

Make sure each play list contains enough music to adequately fill the time. If you think your drinks reception will go on for about an hour, make sure you have at least an hour and a half of music, if not two hours. You will also need to have the songs you have chosen for your first dance, cake cutting and so on in a separate list.

Dealing with technology

Here are three tips for making sure you are prepared for whatever technology throws at you:

• Make sure you have a back up or two on the day in case technology lets you down.Having another MP3 player on hand with the same play lists is essential and perhaps back up your play lists on CD as well, just to be safe.
• Check with your venue to be sure that they are happy for you to link your MP3 player to their sound system. Have a trial run and make sure the sound quality and volume are alright; don’t forget the music will need to be a lot louder when your venue is full of guests.
• As the blushing bride you won’t have time to be fiddling with the MP3 player yourself. Designate someone who is familiar with the make and model you are using to change between lists and play the music for significant moments such as your cake cutting. Your Dad will no doubt offer to do it, but make sure he really can work the machine before you pass on the responsibility.

Creating varied play lists to keep the party going

One of the key elements of wedding reception music is variety. If you play the same style of music all night, even the die hard fans will get sick of it. Don’t forget you are likely to have a wide range of guests, and your workmates might like heavy metal, but your mother probably won’t.

Mixing up the following musical genres will make for an entertaining evening:

• Ultimate disco tracks such as ‘I will survive’ by Gloria Gaynor, ‘Blame it on the boogie’ by The Jacksons, and ‘Oh what a night’ by The Four Seasons might seem cheesy but they are proven floor fillers.
• Golden oldies including ‘All you need is love’ by The Beatles, ‘Music to watch girls by’ by Dean Martin, and ‘American pie’ by Don McLean will appeal to the older and younger generations alike.
• Classic rock tunes such as ‘Born to run’ by Bruce Springsteen, ‘Sweet child o’mine’ by Guns n Roses, ‘Brown eyed girl’ by Van Morrison, and ‘White wedding’ by Billy Idol, are sure to bring out the air guitars.
• Contemporary R and B including ‘American boy’ by Estelle, ‘Crazy in love’ by Beyonce, and ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna, might confuse your older relatives but it will get your hip college mates up and moving.
• Modern pop will add a fun edge to your evening.Try including ‘Mercy’ by Duffy, ‘I don’t feel like dancing’ by The Scissor Sisters or ‘Can’t get you out of my head’ by Kylie Minogue.