Our top Do's and Don'ts when planning live music for your wedding

Planning your wedding is a big task, and if you are including live music in your vision, then here are some quick tips of what to do, and what not to do when bringing your vision to life!

1️⃣ Do - break your day up into sections when thinking about your wedding music, as trying to plan the entire day from the first song to the last can be quite overwhelming! Start small with your key moments where you need your choices, and build yourself up from there. Our top tip for this is to always have a notes section in your phone to jot down the names or artists of songs you love when you hear them out and about, that way you can come back to them when you're in planning mode!

Don't - assume every song will sound the same as the original artist - quite a lot of songs are very heavily produced, which sound fabulous on the radio, but when you create a live version can sound very different. We absolutely love finding a track and creating our own acoustic version of it, and this works so well as the song will be uniquely your version, however just be prepared that not every song will work in this way (although we haven't been defeated yet!)

2️⃣ Do - communicate your style and vibe early on, as this will really help us when we come to plan your setlist for the day. If you're really into indie vibes, or jazz classics, or just really love 90s pop, then let us know so we can include this style into the day. What can also be really helpful is to have a 'no play' list, of songs you want us to steer clear of, so if there are certain artists we know you don't like, then we'll can them in plenty of time!

Don't - choose every song on the setlist for the whole day. For example, there would be zero point planning the music for your guest entrance prior to your ceremony, as you won't hear a peep of it! The same could be said for your drinks reception, as you will likely miss a good chunk of this when you have your pictures taken. We will look after your guests, don't worry, but give us the space to create the right vibe by allowing some free rein on the songs for certain parts of the day.

3️⃣ Do - consider your guest experience, as we've mentioned before, you won't be around for all of it, so consider having a good range of styles and artists that will suit the ages of your guests. We always like to add some motown, 60s, 70s, and 80s songs into our sets, as even the younger generation will likely know most of these, as they will be covered by other artists! So your nan will likely be singing along to the original, while your 14 year old cousin will be singing along to artist that covered it - either way its a win win!

Don't - forget to check your venue's restrictions on live music and any licenses they have. This has to be the most important part, as if this isn't checked there may be some surprises on the day - that surprise being we can't play through our PA, or we can't play at all! Check this as a matter of urgency before you book any live music for your wedding.

4️⃣ Do - think about the flow of the day, and ask your musicians to play according to this. Generally speaking, the vibe will be romantic and soft as your guests arrive for your ceremony, uplifting and fun for your reception - which can be acoustic or to full tracks, a cool entrance for your wedding breakfast followed by some more laid back vibes as you start to eat, and an energy shift towards the end of the wedding breakfast into your room turnaround to get the mood ready for the evening party. Now don't get me wrong, wedding breakfasts can be like a pre-rave to the evening party, and room turnarounds can be the recovery before the energy ramps up again, it's all changeable, but we'll help you to create the mood and atmosphere that we feel is in the air, and bring this to life for you.

Don't - have any awkward silences. This is a mood killer for sure! Your musicians will need breaks through the day, and during these breaks we will always play some background music through our PA, but if you're not having live music for a certain part of the day, ask your venue to have some music ready to go to ensure there are no pins dropping in between.

5️⃣ Do - have absolute clarity on the logistics for your musicians - which includes space, power supplies, indoors/outdoors, different locations in your venue, and timings in between sections as well. If you have booked a musician for the whole day, there will be some changeover times if we have to move around the venue, reset any equipment and sound check in different places. We are expert at doing these things smoothly and seamlessly, and will often bring two PA systems to make transitions super slick, but just have this in mind if there's lots of changeovers included in the day.

Don't - stress! Ugh, nope, that's no fun, and thats what we do for you, take the stress away. Everything you have read here, and many more areas are covered in our calls, our own plans and preparations and logistic conversations with you and your venue, so we will have you covered, don't worry!

Planning your live music shouldn't be, and won't be a stressful situation when you work with us, as we want to help you create lifelong memories through live music, in a stress free and easy way.

Do you have any questions? Feel free to drop us a message and we will be happy to help!

Head to our website to take a look at the services we offer here!