Wedding Playlist
Crafting the perfect wedding playlist is a skill in itself. Your task is to take your guests on a musical journey that tells them a story or guides them in a certain flow of emotions.
The ceremony music is a bit more self-explanatory so we won’t discuss that in this hack. Instead, we’ll discuss playlist structure for the other 2 key (musical) points of the day.
- Backing music for the meal
- The dancing
Music is such a personal thing. There will be songs that remind you of certain moments in your life and instantly transport you back to that time. There will also be songs that are a shared memory for both you and your fiancé. These songs are often a great starting point for building your playlist if you are willing to share them with your guests. You can then work around them with songs of a similar style.
You may wish to place the songs in chronological order of their meaning to your relationship….. i.e. from when you met until the present day. This can be a nice touch and will be very special for you(even if it means nothing to your guests). Whether you tell your guests the significance of the songs is up to you.
The other option is to use songs that you feel match the tone of your wedding and you believe your guests will enjoy. For the meal, don’t use anything too lively. Some unfamiliar relaxing backing music is a good choice as your guests probably won’t know the words(you want your guests to talk to one another…..not sing throughout the meal). Listen to the words, not just the sound of the song! I heard about one couple who chose “Still haven’t found what I’m looking for” by U2 for their first dance! Cringe!
The evening playlist is a bit different because you don’t want all the songs to have the same tone. The best way to structure the evening playlist is like this:
- Lively(get your guests up and dancing and working up a sweat)
- Quiet(let your guests relax, grab a drink and have a slow dance)
- Lively again(Once your guests have got some energy back, finish your night in style)
This is a good balance of lively and quiet. Your guests won’t be too exhausted but have had the opportunity to dance as much as they wanted to.