1. Ask for a repertoire list and demo recordings before booking to ensure that the act is right for you and your guests. This information is usually supplied online, although some bands and ensembles still use CDs.
2. Be absolutely clear as to what you want the musicians to do. You may have read about the unfortunate bride who wanted “Everything I Do” from Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves at her wedding. Her local organist didn’t know the song and decided instead to play what he thought was a suitable alternative. The bride therefore found herself walking down the aisle to the strains of Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen!
3. Write everything down, and ask for written confirmation from the performers.
4. Include in your letter of confirmation what will be provided, and what you expect the performers to provide.
5. Specify timings, although bear in mind that all wedding receptions run late.
6. Don’t pay a penny until you have agreed the details of the musicians’ performance with them.
7. Once you’ve booked your musicians, don’t be too prescriptive about repertoire. Of course the bride and groom should choose the first dance, and the pieces to be played during the ceremony. Beyond that, you’ll get the best out of your musicians if you leave it to their experience and expertise to read the mood and adjust their set accordingly on the day.
8. Call the musicians at the start of the week of the wedding to reconfirm everything.
9. Supply a contact phone number (eg the Best Man’s) in case of a problem on the way to the wedding.
10. Remember, musicians are people! If you look after your musicians – for example, providing a bite to eat and a comfortable room for their breaks – they’ll go the extra mile for you in their performance.

To further inspire you all in planning for your wedding music playlist, check out our compilation of some of the world’s most timeless and classic wedding songs.

I would like to say a big thank you to The Wedding Music Company for this wonderful list of helpful tips. I am sure that all our brides-to-be will find this useful and that they can put this on board.

Wedding Music – The Wedding Music Company

The Wedding Music Company (open link in a new window)
Tel. +44 (0) 20 8239 3392 (London)
Tel. +44 (0) 131 624 4005 (Scotland)

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Musical taste can be quite personal and certainly many of you will have your own sentimental favourites that you have in mind for your first dance or wedding slideshows/videos, and those songs that have a special meaning for the two of you should definitely be your first choice!

But to assist you, we’ve compiled a list of some timeless classics which simply get better with age!

Rather than hunting around for the perfect wedding compilation CD or having to buy several CDs of music, we would highly recommend using Amazon’s MP3 store to purchase songs at just 69p or 79p each (iTunes is another option but I generally find Amazon to be a little cheaper). That way, you only purchase the songs you want and can then burn them onto a CD or ipod to be used on your wedding day. Very cost effective and will also save you a lot of time (I wish I’d discovered the wonderful world of MP3 downloads a little earlier – compiling my wedding music took me almost a week)! You can click on any of the tracks below to be brought to Amazon’s MP3 store where you can also listen to an excerpt.

Without further ado, here they are – DS’s picks of some of the best wedding songs that have survived the test of time…

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1. Planning a Wedding on a Budget
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