How Many Songs Do You Actually Need to Choose for Your Wedding?
One question couples sometimes have when they begin planning their wedding music is:
How many songs are we supposed to choose?
When you think about several hours of ceremony, cocktail, dinner and reception music, it can sound like you need to build an enormous playlist.
You don't.
There are certain songs where we'll need your input, but you don't have to personally select every song that plays throughout your wedding.
Start With Your Important Wedding Songs
There are certain moments where the song choice is personal to you.
Depending on what you're including in your wedding, these might be your:
Ceremony processional and recessional
Grand entrance
First dance
Parent dances
Cake cutting
Bouquet or garter toss
Last dance
These are the songs we especially want couples to think about because they're connected to specific moments.
And even then, if you're having trouble choosing one, we're happy to help with ideas.
Cocktail Hour Doesn't Require a Huge Playlist
For cocktail hour, you can certainly give us specific songs if you want.
But you can also simply give us some direction.
Maybe you want acoustic music, classic rock, country, jazz, Motown, 2000s favorites, or a mixture of several styles.
Tell us the atmosphere you're trying to create and some artists or songs you enjoy, and we can help build the music around that.
You don't need to spend hours selecting every song that will play while your guests are enjoying cocktails.
The Same Is True for Dinner
Dinner music helps create the atmosphere for that part of your reception, but again, you don't necessarily need to build the entire playlist yourself.
Some couples give us a complete dinner playlist.
Others give us a few favorite artists or genres.
And some simply ask us to choose appropriate dinner music for them.
Any of those approaches can work.
What About Dancing?
This is where couples sometimes feel like they need to choose several hours of music in advance.
You really don't.
We'd much rather understand what you and your guests enjoy than receive a list that dictates every song and exactly when it needs to be played.
Give us your favorites.
Tell us the songs or artists you really want to hear.
Tell us anything you absolutely don't want played.
Then give your DJ some flexibility to read the dance floor.
Why Flexibility Helps
A wedding dance floor is happening in real time.
Your DJ can see which songs are bringing people onto the floor, which generations are participating, what styles are connecting with your guests, and when it's time to change direction.
That's something you can't completely predict while creating a playlist weeks or months before your wedding.
Your requests give us the roadmap.
The reaction from you and your guests helps us navigate once the dancing begins.
What If You Really Want to Pick Most of the Music?
That's okay too.
Some people really enjoy music and have been building their wedding playlists for months.
We want to know those songs.
Our planning portal allows you to search for music, explore songs by genre and decade, browse wedding song suggestions, and even import songs from Spotify.
If something isn't in our database, you can also enter a custom request.
The tools are there for couples who want to dig deeply into their music choices, while still making things easy for couples who don't.
There Isn't One Right Amount
This is really what we want couples to understand.
There isn't a magic number of songs you need to give your wedding DJ.
One couple may enjoy selecting dozens of songs.
Another may choose their important wedding songs, give us 15 or 20 favorites for dancing, and leave the rest to us.
Another couple may simply tell us:
"We like 2000s pop, country, classic rock and some current music. Keep everyone dancing and have fun with it."
That's useful information too.
Let Your DJ Help
Part of hiring an experienced Reno wedding DJ is having someone who can help with the music rather than handing you another assignment.
If you want suggestions, we'll give you suggestions.
If you've already created playlists, we'll work with them.
If you want to choose a lot of the music, you can.
And if you'd rather choose the songs that matter most and let us help with everything else, we're happy to do that too.
Final Thoughts
You don't need to choose hundreds of songs to have great music at your wedding.
Focus first on the songs connected to your most important moments.
Then give us a sense of the music you enjoy, some favorites you'd like to hear, and anything you'd prefer we avoid.
From there, we can work together to create music that feels like you while still allowing your DJ the flexibility to respond to your guests.
