Top advice for music on your wedding day
Let’s get this party started!
Don’t leave your guests feeling underwhelmed by your music choice on your wedding day - make sure the rhythm really and truly gets them! What’s better than a good dance at a wedding - everyone hitting the dance floor together, free to bust whatever moves come to them after one too many Proseccos. But don’t think the wedding day music is exclusively for the dancing. Music builds the tone of your wedding in the same way as the decor.
Make it simple
Work through every moment of the day - does it need music?
Do you have a particular song you want played?
At what moment in the day will you and your guests get the most out of listening to this song?
Sort out your SAIE tax (read more below)
Use music directories to find trusted musicians and through these you will get a better sense of style and reviews. Check out Fix the Music.
Photographer: Taylor Hughes Photography
Music is absolutely personal taste, so bear in mind that whilst this is YOUR wedding day, you do want your guests to enjoy the vibes as well. We are talking about emotion during the ceremony music, ‘welcome to true Italy’ at the aperitif, chilled out with a build of excitement at dinner and get your dancing shoes on for the party. No one likes an awkward empty dance floor! We love a musical surprise or two thrown in - consider a string quartet performing an epic electric set as dinner turns into party. Or a moving live band joining the DJ and working the dance floor, getting your guests wild.
Start by researching what is available - live band, strings, DJ, solo harpist. What is going to work for your style? And what is going to work for your guests? We have such an active community in our private couples Facebook group, how about asking them what they have chosen?
Frustratingly, good quality videos of bands playing are hard to come by and music reviews are extremely subjective - as it’s such a personal experience. You need to think of the day as a sections - the ceremony, the aperitif, dinner, party, after party. When researching music options, check whether your musicians will play two sections of your day - so, acoustic at your ceremony, followed by a Italian jazz vibe at your aperitif. Or, the band for your party does a DJ set at the after party.
Remember to sort out your SAIE tax! This is normally €100-300 (depending on the music you choose) and the licence fee is paid directly to SAIE for any music played at your wedding. The cost differs if you are having live music vs pre-recorded via a DJ and the area your wedding is in. If you aren’t familiar, the tax is collected for use of the work of artists protected by copyright.
Atmospheric, full of emotion ceremony
Lively, Italian-vibes aperitif
Background music at dinner (perhaps with a surprise or interesting twist)
DJ performance for the party
Photo: Elina Upmane Photography
We want to give you more support, more advice and more confidence in planning your epic Italian wedding - that’s why we launched The Club. It’s our exclusive membership and 100% designed purely for you. Packed full of tutorials, downloadable tools, tips and advice through each chapter of your planning journey. To get this step-by-step guidance, making your life a hell of a lot easier, come on in to the shinier side of wedding planning now.
Written by Lucy White, Founder of La Lista & Wiskow & White, with over 7 years and 200 weddings worth of experience.
