Selecting your wedding soundtrack

Imagine your wedding day as a movie. If you are hiring a videographer, it more or less will be! Your movie will be romantic of course with lots of laughs and smiles and a guaranteed feel good happy ending. You, the bride, are naturally the leading lady and star. In your wedding movie you are also the artistic director instructing the stage crew, also known as your wedding vendors.

The live musicians you hire create an extremely important part of any movie: the soundtrack. Imagine your favourite movie without the music. Would it be as good? Just as in a movie, your wedding music sets the stage for proceedings and enhances the emotion and action as it unfolds. 

A professional musician will have a large repertoire and the ability to learn and perform special requests for your wedding. The question then becomes what songs will you choose? Here are some ideas:

01. Let the music reflect your own unique personality, this is your wedding. You don’t need to follow the current wedding trends or old wedding traditions. You don’t need to cave in to the wishes of others, either.

02. Songs, like guests can be dressed up for your wedding. For example a rock power ballad played by a string quartet always sounds terrific.

03. Themes are fun and very memorable. I have performed at two Star Wars weddings and once at an Alice in Wonderland themed wedding. In all cases I dressed for the part and played special requests tied in with the theme.

04. Match music to your location. Getting married on the beach? Consider 60s surfer tunes. Getting married in Hawaii? You’ll probably want the ‘Hawaiian Wedding Song.’

05. If you are getting married in a place of worship and would like to hear secular music definitely make sure that this isn’t against the house rules! A religious song at an otherwise non-religious wedding can blend in well if it is played as an upbeat instrumental.

If choosing your wedding music seems overwhelming think of a few key words about how you would like your wedding to sound. Examples might include, romantic, beautiful, warm, traditional, contemporary, up-beat or relaxed. Pass these ideas on to your professional wedding musician and they are sure to be able to suggest a song list to match your intended wedding mood and theme. The really important songs that you should take time to personally choose are those during your ceremony, especially the all important processional as you walk down the aisle.