How to include unique music at your wedding or special event
Our team has experienced a wide variety of weddings and special events. From non-mainstream music to music from many different ethnicities, we have seen it all! If you are planning an event with unique music, there are some challenges and logistics that you might want to keep in mind to ensure that you have a successful event where all of your guests have a great time.
Photo by: Lauren McCormick Photography
Non-Mainstream Music
We regularly have clients who are hosting a wedding or another special event, and they prefer non-mainstream or non-traditional music. It is definitely possible to have an enjoyable event with non-mainstream music!
Here are some tips to keep in mind:
1. Who are your guests?
Are your guests mainly people around your own age who have a similar taste in music? If many of your guests are into the same non-mainstream music, then it could work well. However, if you have a variety of ages and music tastes present, or the non-mainstream music will be unfamiliar to most of the guests, you may have to adjust your music requests. It’s important to have a range of music that will appeal to all of the guests.
2. Is it danceable?
If you really have your heart set on some music that most of the guests won’t know, make sure that it has a beat that people can dance to. Even if some of the songs are unfamiliar, music with a good rhythm for dancing can still be a hit! It also helps if you have a group of people ready to get out on the dance floor and get the party started!
3. Could you include it during a different part of the day?
Non-mainstream music isn’t always great for dancing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t incorporate it into your wedding day or special event. Cocktail hour or dinner can be a great time to play music that is less well known to your guests, or doesn’t have enough of a beat.
Photo by: Dylan and Sandra Photography
cultural music
Our team has had the pleasure to work with a huge variety of ethnicities for weddings and special events. If many of your guests are from a specific ethnicity, including music they are familiar with can be an important part of the day or can help get the party started. We are also happy to incorporate different traditions into your special event, such as a money dance or a special ceremony.
If you are incorporating ethnic music into your wedding or special event, these tips will help:
1. Are all of your guests from that ethnicity?
If only some of your guests will be familiar with that music, make sure that there is balance in your music requests. Consider playing a set of songs from that ethnicity and then mixing things up with another type of music. If your event is combining two different cultures, you may want to make sure you have music representing both.
2. Is the music danceable?
Just like with non-mainstream music, if you are playing ethnic music during the dancing portion of the evening, you’ll want to make sure that it has a good beat for dancing. Have your guests from that ethnicity lead the dancing and encourage your other guests to join in! If you would like to include songs that are not danceable, consider playing them during dinner, cocktail hour, or another point in the day.
3. Can you include a specific tradition?
If you are representing a specific culture at your event, including a specific tradition can help make it more meaningful for your guests. If there is a specific dance or activity that you can do, this can be a great way to get all of your guests to participate. You can even include a demonstration or explanation for guests who aren’t of that ethnicity.
Photo by: Becky Lynne Photography
Non-Danceable Throwbacks
We all love a good throwback, but not all of them are great for dancing! These songs are great for cocktail hour, background music during dinner, ambience as guests are arriving, etc. If these are songs that you and your guests love, we definitely want to include them in your special event! There are lots of places throughout the day where we can highlight these songs and still make sure you have a fun dance floor.
Theme Music
We’ve played at many weddings and special events that had a theme or where the couple or host wanted music from a specific fandom. We love events with unique music!
Here are some examples of unique music we have seen: movie and TV soundtracks, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel, a specific decade or period in history, a specific theme like casino night, holiday music, etc.
If you are planning music from a unique theme or genre for your special event, here are some tips to keep in mind:
1. You can still play other music.
Not everything has to be from that theme. You can use that music for specific points in the day, like during a wedding ceremony or when calling up speakers at a special event. Some people don’t want a full-on “theme” wedding or event, but they do want to include a few songs from a fandom they love, and that’s great! Even a holiday party doesn’t need to include a huge amount of holiday-specific music.
2. Is it danceable?
We keep coming back to this question because it’s crucial to the success of your event! Theme music can be great during dinner or cocktail hour, but it may not be music that is going to get the dance floor going. Unless your theme includes era-specific dancing - like 1940s swing music - and you have guests who are going to enthusiastically dance to it, you may want more current or mainstream music for dancing.
Photo by: Katelyn Debus Photography
What kind of unique music would you like to include in your wedding or special event? We love chatting with our clients about their vision for their events and bringing out-of-the-box requests to life! If you would like to talk about bringing a special twist to your event or wedding day, feel free to reach out to us!
