Music is one of the most important services in a wedding reception and must be selected very carefully. As with all other wedding requirements, the sooner you make the arrangements, the better your chances of actually booking your preferred musicians and/or singer.
Budget
Whilst staying within budget is important, you should not skimp on your wedding musical services. Music will determine the mood of your wedding reception and it will also determine whether your guests will enjoy your wedding or not.
Reception music fees are greatly influenced by the number of performers, the time of year as well as the time of day. For obvious reasons, a piano player, DJ or any other one-piece band will most probably cost much less than a four piece band.
Keep in mind the size of the band vis-à-vis the size of the reception venue. If your reception venue is a very small hall do not opt for a six-piece band. If the venue is a large outdoor area make sure that the equipment will be set in such a way that music will be heard from all the different areas.
Sound Volume
Make sure that the music is not be too overpowering in a way that makes it difficult for guests to have a conversation.
Check the time at which the music volume has to be lowered or even completely switched off. Generally, in Malta this would be at around 11:00pm for evening weddings and from 1:00pm to 3:00pm for afternoon weddings. The reception venue might however, have a different policy. Thus, it is important that this point is confirmed with the venue management. It might be for example that a particular venue might not permit a DJ to perform at all.
Music Genres
The music should compliment your special event, the venue and the invitees. For example, a DJ in a Victorian style venue filled with VIPs does not quite fit! Make sure that you match your music with your wedding.
If you want all guests of all age groups to entertain themselves at your wedding focus on variety. Ask your musician to play songs from different decades, ranging from the 60’s up to the current year. Most probably you have invited guests who are in their early twenties up to guests who are sixty years old and over.
Check with your DJ or band leader about how much you want him to talk over music. You may want him to only guide your guests at important moments such as the Cake Cutting, or you may want a lively wedding and opt to have the DJ talking continuously in an effort to encourage people to keep on dancing.
Expect live performers to take short breaks during the reception. Discuss with them the length of recorded background music to be played. You should also check if the musician will be playing for a fixed number of hours, or till the very end of the reception. Will there be any additional overtime fees involved?
Discuss your expectations and ensure that they are smartly dressed.
Music Selection
Enlist a few song titles that you would like your musicians to play. You do not need to give them a full repertoire; you will only need to point out the ones which have a particular meaning to you. Most importantly you should indicate the ones to be played during your entrance and your first dance. Leave the rest up to them as long as you agree on the style to be played.
Finally, if you feel that the musician is not responsive to your requirements during consultation, keep searching!