Planning the music for my own wedding!

As soon?as?my?fiancé?proposed I knew instantly I wanted music to be a huge part of our day and focus our budget towards that. I love the bands I work with and can't wait to dance the night away to them as opposed to enjoying from the side-lines at other people’s events.

My top tips for organising wedding music

?

“Let your live music take centre stage and pick your moments”

?

Music tends to be the last thing people experience on your big day and the last memory/feeling they take away with them but that doesn't mean it has to be the only musical moment during your wedding. From a stunning vocalist during your ceremony to a roaming jazz trio for your drinks reception there are plenty of options to make music part of your celebration. For our wedding we have honed in on a few key moments where music is really important to us - the party and the ceremony, keeping the drinks reception and dinner using a background music playlist played by our DJ. For me personally, if you're having a music-focussed event you want any live music to really take centre stage and be enjoyed by everyone. My advice would be to keep a balance and not overwhelm people with too much at every moment - there can sometimes be too much of a good thing. For example, we chose two bands for our party but have kept their set lengths slightly shorter so that the whole party element goes out with a bang and people don't get overtired. Wedding's are long days and we want all our guests to leave on a high wanting just a little bit more.?

?

Venues and Acoustics!

?

Because having a band is so important to us one of the first questions we asked venues we visited was did they have any restrictions regarding music, especially those around sound levels. Channels Estate ticked all our boxes, music and otherwise. Those venues that do tend to monitor the decibels produced by your musicians and set a db limit. Anything below 90/95 db limitations will prove tricky to manage with a drum kit so looking at a DJ option is likely more appropriate or you can ask your band if they can use an electric drum kit where volumes can be controlled more easily. There are loads of DJ Live options out there, which means you can control sound levels but still include lots of musicians such as guitar, saxophone, vocalists and percussion.?

?

Sound

?

I knew we would need audio production so went to one of our fab sound guys who completely sorted us out with everything we needed and liaised directly with our venue. It's soooo important to remember how vital sound is to any successful event. You can have Celine Dion on stage but if the sound isn't good even an incredible vocalist will come off poorly. You also want to consider where your sound is being directed so that it's focussed on the dance floor meaning that other spaces in the room can be used for chatting.?

?

Booking with a management company or direct?

?

I would always recommend booking through an agent or management company and that's not just because that's what I do but primarily because the acts and bands you're looking at have been pre-vetted so there's a level of quality control right from the beginning of your search. Ursula Sagar helped curate our set list, organised a schedule for the band/DJ that worked with the timings of all our other suppliers, made sure everyone was on site, sound checked and ready to go without me having to worry about looking after the band or checking in on the day.

?

Having someone who is completely detail orientated on your wedding logistics team, means your band can focus on the music and means you have a 'go to' when your musicians are potentially away on tour for example or involved performing at other events in the lead up. For mid to larger act line ups as a company LMI provide a member of staff to look after the band on the day, deal with any time changes and ensure everything runs smoothly from start to finish, which is a fab thing to look out for and see if the agency you're working with provides. Our clients love our 'tour managers' and so do our bands, it provides peace of mind for everyone.? Steven Rodwell was ours :)

?

Curating the playlist

?

I would 100% trust your band, this is what they do week in week out. They will know how to read the dance floor and adjust things as they go - continuing a jam or playing additional choruses if everyone is singing along for example. I love using the analogy with clients of cake baking. You pick your flavour but you don't help your baker measure out the ingredients. Speak to your band about?your guest demographic (age range, male/female split, nationality range if applicable), let them know any?key songs/artists?you love and of course don't want played, and then let them work their magic?- if you're tempted to get super hands-on, it's just worth remembering not everyone shares your taste, and above all what you want is a full dance floor.?A good party band will play a variety of genres typically from 70s through to current day, unless you've booked a more specialised act,?so there is normally more than enough to cater for everyone.?

?

What did we go for

?

Aisle Music: Harpist Lynne Creasey

Signing of the register: Robyn

Drinks Reception & Dinner: DJ Playlist

Band: The Kitts

DJ Live: The 360

?

?

Wedding debrief pending :)