Creating the Soundtrack for Your Celebration

Written by: Lisa CARSE

Excerpts reprinted with permission from the original article

featured in the summer 2000 issue of

The Tunes

What kind of music will define your wedding soundtrack? The style of music you choose for your reception has to work with everything else about your wedding; it must enhance the mood and style of your event. Imagine the Pulp Fiction soundtrack composed of elevator music, or Titanic featuring songs from The Last Days of Disco. It just doesn't work to ignore the atmosphere when choosing music for the big screen, and it won't work for your wedding, either.

So-called traditional wedding music is a mixture of danceable pop-music and slow dances, an attempt to please the crowd. And guess what? It works. If the band is good or the disc jockey has a fine-tuned sense of timing this kind of soundtrack will get most guests on the dance floor. The music will sound like a wedding, too, and the familiarity lends an atmosphere in itself.

Once you have decided upon the soundtrack you'd like, it's time to find the musicians or disc jockeys who can make it all come together.

The Quandry

Band or disc jockey? That is the question. It used to be that all elegant weddings had bands, and those who could not afford bands hired disc jockeys. This is no longer the case, and the dilemma has become one of taste and style as well as budget.

Most bands are a bit more (or maybe a lot more, depending) expensive than most disc jockeys. But excellent, well-known disc jockeys have become justifiably in demand, and have thus raised their rates. In addition, the disc jockey profession has risen well above the old image of the greasy guy in the bad suit chattering through all the music at cousin Patty's wedding. These days, disc jockeys specialize in reading a crowd and playing just the right music at just the right time to keep the party moving, to keep the people on the dance floor, and to keep the bride and groom happy. Indeed, some couples with budgets that could include a band opt for a disc jockey instead, because the disc jockey has the advantage of an unlimited repertoire - he can get any music you want if you give him a week.

The Gig

You've probably never thought of your wedding as a "gig," have you? But that's exactly what your wedding is to the hundreds of bands and disc jockeys who are willing to perform at your celebration. The trouble is, you've got to be sure that only the right entertainers get your gig.

It's important that you feel very comfortable with the band leader or the disc jockey, which means that you should meet with him or her before signing a contract. Anyone who sneers at your musical taste, who doesn't ask about what kind of wedding you're planning, and who otherwise is not congenial and fascinated by your event is not acceptable. The responsibilities of the entertainer are not merely in making or playing great music, but in giving your party personality (which is dictated by the bide and groom) and controlling, to a large degree, the timing of your event.

What to look for, beyond the great sound and a vast knowledge of music? Energy, in both disc jockeys and bands, is infectious and should always emanate in a positive way. This doesn't mean that you need a frenetic bassist or a screeching disc jockey; even jazz quartets and string trios can have lots of energy. it means enthusiasm is vital. The entertainer should ask lots of questions about you and your wedding: Where will it be? How did you two meet? Where do you work? How many people are coming? What kind of music do you like to listen to? That kind of thing. He should follow up the questions with ideas and suggestions of his own.

Once you have someone you love, always ask for references. And be sure to call them. Most likely, the references will only make you feel better about your choice.

The Script

The music at your wedding controls the flow of events. Therefore, it is essential that your band leader or disc jockey have a copy of a cohesive timetable, and that he or she is willing and able to work with it. This sounds easy, but it is not always so.

It is almost sacrilegious for the band or disc jockey to stop playing when the dance floor is full of dancing wedding guests having a great time. But off to the side is the catering manager, gesturing frantically that 200 salads are rapidly wilting, and the dance floor must be cleared. This is why experience with weddings is crucial, because weddings are not like any other events. They have an unusual tempo, the dancing part of the event is often broken up by courses of the meal, or toasts from a number of well-wishers, and rituals such as cutting the cake.

So the bandleader or disc jockey must know how to gracefully get guests on and off the dance floor several times in the space of a few hours. It helps immensely to have a good outline of your wedding plan to hand out to the key people at the wedding, including the entertainers. If you have a wedding wedding consultant, then running the show by coordinating the timing of events flawlessly is one case where he or she will really earn that paycheck. Many consultants work out a system to unobtrusively cue the band when it's time to break for a while. If you don't have a consultant, you may be able to work with the catering manager, or ask the entertainers how they would prefer to keep things moving.

Most of all, be sure that the bandleader or disc jockey knows the specifics of your event well in advance. If you're not doing a father/daughter dance, he must know that. And if eight people want to make toasts, well, he has to know that, too.

The Songs

Here's where the really fun part comes in: choosing the songs for your soundtrack. There are so many moments that can be enhanced by the right music: the grand entrance, your first dance, the dances with the parents, the bouquet toss, the cake cutting, the last dance.... It can be hard to find just the right song for all of these moments.

Hopefully, the bandleader or disc jockey can help you by providing a list of recommendations.

(To read this article in it's entirety, pick up the summer 2000 issue of Southern California Bride.)

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