Wedding songs? Which music should you have at your reception?

Planning your wedding songs is a tough decision. Do you please your mum and dad, your grand parents or your friends who love to party? In this article I help you make the right choices and give you some good examples to help you through the minefield that is choosing your wedding music. Having problems deciding on your wedding videography. Then you can seek the help of San Antonio wedding videography as they are greatly known for that purpose. If you are facing problems to get your first dance on wedding ? I also give you some tips and ideas there…

Wedding songs

So, i’ve heard a million times – “Shall we just play traditional wedding songs to please everyone”. To put it simply… NO! Choosing your wedding music wisely can make a good wedding into an amazing wedding! By putting in the work before, you can create some awesome playlists that suit you and your friends down to the ground and create the right atmosphere all night long.

Here’s my back story to this, while planning my own wedding and being a big music fan, I attended many weddings that all played the same music. The same old boring tracks, played in almost the same old boring order. So with a little idea of the music I wanted, I set out a task of creating a wedding songs playlist, something that my wedding DJ could follow and help create a cool and alternative vibe to my wedding day.

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The difficult thing was the start of said list. The conversation with my (now) wife included the questions, do we play the wedding songs for the parents, or for the grand parents. Or do we play music for our indie friends or the friends who only like mainstream cheesy pop. The easiest thing to do was say to our DJ, play the traditional stuff that works.

So to answer these questions above, the best advice I can give is play (upbeat) music you love the most, with consideration to everyone else. The most important thing you should have is music you love all the way through. After all, THIS IS YOUR WEDDING! So how do we do this while still considering other guests tastes? Lets find out…

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How did I create a list of my favourite music while incorporating others tastes?

To creat a cool and unique list of wedding songs, I first started by listening to all mainstream wedding music. I created two lists. One of songs from mainstream wedding music my wife and I liked and the ones we hated. Our ‘no’ list became quite big! But we achieved a music list that ‘generally’ would be liked by most, so we were already one step there.

Our music taste is indie rock. This includes bands like The Killers, Blur and Oasis. So from this I started to pick the big numbers, the ones that were of a higher tempo and started to place them on my wedding songs ‘yes’ list.

From here we handpicked current tracks in the charts we loved. Again of a higher tempo and this would please the mainstream fans. Then I picked out old and timeless tracks that are big hits, but still incorporate the alternative vibe we were going for. So ABBA and alike were out instantly but Madness’ track ‘One step beyond’ came in with the likes of The Clash, Rolling stones and The Beatles. Nothing too cheesy, but this would also please the older audience.

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By incorporating your own music tastes from all areas, you not only please most, you’re importantly only playing tracks you both love and create a sound and feel that will always be unique to your wedding.

Once compiled, we printed up our ‘no’ list and told our DJ these songs were not to be played at all! This was a must. I think we probably said “do not play any of these tracks under any circumstances. Even if requested.” He realised the seriousness of this request. 🙂

This system worked so well, our wedding is now known for how good the music was and how it was different to your ‘normal’ wedding sound track.

Wedding songs

Obviously this is just an example of how we did things and of course everyone has their own taste in music. So the genres are just an example and you can create your wedding music using the same system, but incorporating your own tastes. By doing the ground work, you can put together your own unique sound that will haver the dance floor full of atmosphere, filled with your own favourite music.

A great way of creating the playlists is using streaming sites such as Spotify. My advice – get yourself a Friday evening free, crack open a bottle of wine and start putting together your wedding playlists. It’s a lot of fun and you will be up into the early hours on the morning…
Wedding songsWHICH WEDDING SONGS SHOULD YOU HAVE AT YOUR RECEPTION?

Important note: Please work with your DJ on this. Don’t surprise them on the day with these lists. they will need to source the music and will give you good advice on particular tracks. They may know for instance that some of the music you choose will not work! That simple. So please listen to them, and work with them on the build up and planning stages.

Playlists

So… I have put together a selection of music that can and has been used at weddings! These playlist’s have been split into different sub-genres to help and you can follow all of these on spotify. These playlists were used at my own wedding and were the result of many hours work. This could give you a head start and help your begin your own wedding songs to incorporate into your wedding day. (Please bare in mind these playlists were created in 2013 so some of the ‘current’ tracks are not so current.

Wedding cheese

Wedding indie

Wedding Dance

Wedding 90’s Dance


The first dance

Wedding songs - First dance

Stuck for your first dance? Not sure what to play? It can be a tough decision to find something that is special enough. Do you want something that most couples have or something a little alternative? Most first dances have a meaning to the couple. But, sometimes you simply can’t choose! Well, again I have created a playlist that may just help you out. Here are a selection of sings that could be used as your fist dance, that are a little quirky and could make your wedding stand out as unique to you.

The first dance playlist 

I hope this has been useful to you and has helped you get the right music for your wedding. I hope it has inspired to create your own playlists and has given you a good head start when doing so.

Are you looking for a wedding photographer? Would you like someone who photographs it in an alternative, fun and natural way? Fancy seeing your wedding pictures on my Instagram and on other cool wedding blogs? Get in touch and let me know all about your day! I need to know the date, ceremony and reception details and most importantly all the ideas you have! 

Let’s chat about your day!

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What wedding songs do you think should be played at a reception? What music are a must have? Let me know in the comments below.

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