There are so many details to plan in any single wedding, and they can all seem equally important. If you don’t spend enough time on certain elements, however, it can have a huge impact on the success of your wedding. Your flowers, for example, won’t influence whether your guests have a good time or not, but the music played at your reception will. Here are some tips and tricks to help you pick the right music for your wedding.

Set the Tone

Think about the style of wedding you’re planning, and try to pick music that sets the tone you want. If you want a reception that’s more like a giant party, choose songs that are upbeat, uptempo, and high-energy that will encourage people to dance. If you are planning a more formal, classier wedding, you might want to choose songs that are more traditional and romantic, without as many uptempo dance songs.

Do Some Research

When planning your wedding music, take advantage of the experiences of the brides and grooms that came before you. There is plenty written online about wedding music, and you can find lots of suggested songs and playlists. You can also read about wedding music mistakes. You can search online and find suggestions that can help you create your own perfect wedding playlist. It can be very hard to start from scratch, but browsing online can give you a starting point as well as new ideas to try out.

Hire a Professional

It’s best to hire a professional DJ who is experienced with weddings, even if it costs more money. Your choice of DJ, however, can be the difference between a great reception and a not-so-great reception. Hire a DJ who has a long track record of successful weddings, who has been in the business for a long time, and someone who has plenty of positive online reviews and can provide references. Hiring an inexperienced or inexpensive DJ can be a big mistake.

Consider His and Hers

The bride and groom should work on the wedding music together, and agreeing on a first dance song might be the easiest part. You should help each other to come up with song ideas that show both of your tastes and styles in a way that compliments the other. You also need to think about family and friends. Don’t pick songs that are sexually suggestive if it will make you uncomfortable around your grandparents, for example.

Be Definitive

When you do come up with ideas for your wedding music, don’t leave things to chance. Work on coming up with a set playlist for the DJ beforehand, and make sure he can accommodate all of your requests. If you have certain songs or music you do not want to be played, write them down on a specific no-play list, or a DJ could end up innocently choosing a song you hate when he needs a substitution or runs out of songs you wanted.

Prepared by MP Brown in partnership with pianoplace.com a top resource for piano music that will set the tone for a magical wedding

Although I am not planning a wedding, nor do I plan to plan a wedding in the near future, I have to say that the idea of giving the groom complete control of the big day would definitely appeal to me. This is something that is explored in the hit BBC3 program ‘Don’t Tell The Bride’ and I have discussed this notion with my girlfriend on a few occasions; only to be told not to hold my breath.

However, upon watching the show, it’s clear that most of the time the grooms do a pretty good job of wedding planning and even when you are sitting there screaming at the television that what they’ve done is hideous and the bride is going to hate it; she ends up jumping for joy at the sight of her tacky wedding day.

So just how much can you trust the groom to wedding planning? If not the whole wedding then what little parts can you safely leave up to us men? If you want your man to get involved then here’s a rough idea of what he can and can’t handle.

Yes

The Stag Do – This may seems like an obvious point but there are still so many brides out there that want to have a say in where the groom goes for his bachelor party. If there’s one thing a man can organize it’s a knees up in a brewery and if you trust your man then give him this one night and then he’ll be yours forever.

The Suit Hire – Even if you think your man has a scruffy dress sense, trust me; he is going to want to look good on his wedding day. When it comes to suit hire you can rely on him to do you proud and look his best.

Transport – Obviously you won’t be arriving at the ceremony venue together but hopefully you will leave for the reception as one. Therefore why not leave him alone with a few car hire magazines and watch this task get ticked off the ‘to do’ list quicker than the vehicle he hires.

Menu – Most men I’ve come across definitely know good food when they see it, so why not keep a smile on his face and his stomach full by letting him design the menu.

Wise Words – One of the most romantic things about a wedding are the vows and so why not give your man the chance to tell you exactly how he feels. Even if the words aren’t what you would have chosen at least you know they came from his heart.

No

Flowers – It’s a well-known fact that almost all men will wilt like an under watered Chrysanthemum at even the sight of a flower shop, so save him the trouble and deal with the blooms yourself.

Invitations – Although there are many creative men out there that could do a great job with the invitations, there is more chance of being allowed to go and watch ‘El Classico’ live for your honeymoon then wrestling the responsibility of the invitations from the bride.

Any Other Clothes Apart From The Suit Hire – As mentioned above, a groom will be able to sort his suit hire out with aplomb but anything else fashion orientated will leave him foaming at the mouth. Choosing a suit is one thing but helping decide on bridesmaid dresses and wedding shoes is completely another.

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As a man, Chris Mayhew likes the idea of wedding planning on his own but understands that some things should definitely be left to the bride. He is working for Anne Harding; a bridal shop who also offer suit hire in Bristol.