Choosing Your Beach
Wedding Music
Selecting your
beach wedding music for your reception is
something you don't want to put off until the last minute. A
successful wedding reception is the result of a team effort
between the DJ and the bride and groom. Here are some tips to
help you make your reception something your guests will talk
about for years to come.
  
1. Think in terms of a train that gains speed. It starts out
slowly but quickly gains momentum. Your reception should build
in terms of volume and pace of the music.
2. Select all your "must do" songs as early as possible. This
would include entrance music, first dance, father daughter and
groom mother dance. The wedding party dance is optional and
many brides are choosing to include all the wedding party in
their dance festivities.
3. First Hour (Cocktail Hour). Select music that sets the tone
for the reception. We recommend that the first hour include,
Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, and
perhaps some big band like Glenn Miller. Keep the music upbeat
so that people don't fall asleep during the cocktail hour while
waiting for dinner.
4. Second Hour (Dinner). Continue in the Frank Sinatra jazz
mode, but then change to perhaps Jimmy Buffet, Bob Marley and
John Mayer. Your younger guests will love this and your older
guests will be pleased that you played classy jazz tunes before
picking up the tempo. If you are doing your first dances after
dinner, you will definitely want to kick into high gear or
dance music immediately following these dances.
5. Third Hour (Dance Music). 80's music, disco and classic rock
'n roll works well during this hour but since to keep in step
with the whole beach them try some reggae or tradional Hawaiin
music. You'll want to play something that everyone can dance
to.
6. Fourth Hour (Dance Music). Continue same music and reserve
the last hour for group songs like YMCA, conga lines (if you
want one). Also this is the time to use top 40 or hip hop
songs. We don't recommend playing hip-hop too early, because it
can discourage some of the older crowd from dancing.
7. Let the music do the talking. Advise you DJ that you want
"less talk and more music." It works on the radio and it
definitely works at wedding receptions. People want to hear
good music and not a gabby DJ.
8. Submit your beach wedding music list no later that
30 days before the reception. Ask the DJ to let you know what
"must do " songs (like for the first dance) he has in his
library and those he does not have on hand. Those selections
that are not available can be brought by the bride and groom if
it is in their library. (If it is your favorite, most likely
you'll have it.) While most DJ's have several thousand songs,
they don't always have everything requested.
9. Be neat. When submitting your music, keep your list be as
neat as possible. Sometimes brides will make changes and use
arrows to determine a change in songs. If the list is confusing
or the DJ has to work at reading your writing, you could end up
with the wrong song, at the wrong time. No need for this to
happen, if you are neat and tidy with your music submissions.
Also be sure that your beach wedding music
titles are accurate. If you give the DJ a wrong title, it
ultimately will not be the song you wanted to hear.
10. Enjoy your wedding reception. A good DJ will have
everything written out in an hour by hour format. He or she
will prompt you for certain things to happen. It's their job to
keep track of these things, so you don't have to worry about
what happens and when at your wedding reception.
Written by SoundWavz Entertainment
Article courtesy of Outer Banks Wedding Guild
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