Hiring in a karaoke machine for your evening party will bring about some great entertainment and some memorable moments, not least photographs. Think about having themed karaoke such as Beatles songs or Madonna numbers. Alternatively just go for a random mix of whatever your guests want to sing and combine the karaoke with some other entertainment such as a disco.

Karaoke wedding videos are another growing trend for couples want something that bit different for their special day. The concept revolves around choosing a musical such as Grease or Enchanted and using it to provide a soundtrack to your day. However, here there is audience participation required and the two of you will be required to sing or mime your way through too.

There are even wedding karaoke specialists out there who will write scripts and choreography for you. You will also need to hire a good videographer to film and edit the final version, and your wedding karaoke specialist will probably be on hand to direct it for you too. It can all be great fun, but do try to prep your guests beforehand so they have some idea of what is expected of them!

Hiring a karaoke machine was good enough for Alicia Silverstone so why not add a celebrity to your wedding day as well. You may want to delegate someone to monitor the choice of songs however, to avoid anything unsuitable, risqué and to avoid inevitable drunken ballads at the end of the night!

Try to hire your videographer for longer so they can get some footage of the karaoke in full swing or ask one of your guests to film it for you! If you are worried that no one will want to take part, then you two will have to show the way and perhaps a rendition of ‘I’ve Got You Babe’ will be enough to sway them into taking the mic!

If one of your guests is good at singing then why not ask them to sing your wedding first dance song for you? It will make the occasion more memorable and extra special for you both. Combining karaoke with another form of wedding entertainment such as a disco or a live band can help to break up the evening and encourage those who haven’t sung tune yet to have a go later on.

Many karaoke firms will also offer a disco as well making it a cost effective form of wedding entertainment.  Hiring a karaoke machine is not expensive and you can even purchase your own machine on the high street! So what more can you ask for? Karaoke your wedding songs is another great option.

Whilst there are many important elements to your wedding day, your choice of wedding songs are one of the more integral elements. Wedding songs provide a distinction between the different parts of the day – ceremony, reception, first dance etc; and they also set the mood, tone and ambience that you wish to create.

As with so many details of your wedding, your choice of songs needs to coordinate to your wedding style and in some cases your wedding theme, if you are having one. On top of this they need to be appropriate to the occasion, approved by your wedding officiant for your ceremony music and for the most part familiar to your guests.

Finding your wedding songs and finding enough of them to cater for your entire wedding, does take some time to complete, but with such importance being attached to them it is worth taking your time to make them absolutely perfect. You may have several songs that are personal favorites and that you wish to include, but you should make sure that are appropriate and that you can find somewhere within your wedding day that is suitable to play them.

A choice of personal songs can fit with elements such as walking back up the aisle after the ceremony, cutting the wedding cake and your first dance. You may also want to consider having a special song playing when you enter the reception and are announced by the best man or Master of Ceremonies.

Knowing where to look for good wedding songs can be the biggest hurdle you will face, but there are several ways to find your songs:

• Ask around friends and family for some suggestions, you don’t need to feel obliged to use them either!
• Go online and visit music websites, especially those that carry a library of music and specialist wedding music sites where songs are rated according to popularity.
• Ask your wedding officiant and reception venues if they have a list of songs that other couples have used. This gives you a good list of tried and tested songs to work with.

When it comes to arranging songs for your evening party, much can depend on the choice of entertainment or the method by which you want to play them. For many couples the evening party’s entertainment will be resided over by a DJ and disco, so work with them to create a playlist which includes many disco and dance floor classics, as well as a few personal choices as well.

A good DJ will be able to direct you to songs which are popular for wedding discos and which always get the guests up on the dance floor for the entire night. If you have a live band or singer you should also work with them to create a playlist that has the same impact. You may be limited here though, by the capabilities of the entertainer you have hired.

With the recent sad death of Patrick Swayze there has been a revival of some of his best films most notably Dirty Dancing and the soundtrack has been re-released on CD quite recently. The song ‘(I’ve had) The Time of My Life’ has to be a contender for the last song of the night, whilst ‘She’s Like the Wind’ is a good choice for your first dance.

Titanic saw ‘My Heart Will Go On’ become a popular song for the wedding ceremony, which is curious seeing as it is about a disaster which saw the lives of over 1,000 people lost! The Bodyguard gave Whitney Housten a massive hit with ‘I Will Always Love You’ and Bryan Adams ‘Everything I Do (I do it for you’ is one of the most popular wedding songs of all time.

You may have your particular favorites and chances are they will be well known songs to your guests as well making them good choices for your wedding music playlist. If you are having a religious wedding ceremony then you may not be able to incorporate any movie tracks into your ceremony, although some venues are becoming more open to contemporary choices. Civil wedding ceremonies however, are more relaxed and you should have no problems using a movie song here.

The use of movie soundtracks throughout your day could also help to set the tone of the day and if they are popular movies chances are it will be great at facilitating your guests to chat and mingle with each other as they try to figure which movie it is from and who starred in it!

Pulp Fiction also had a great soundtrack, and although the movie itself doesn’t perhaps lend itself to a wedding, the songs are classics and great for the party spirit. Here are a few other soundtracks to consider:

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Aladdin (Disney Movies)
Saturday Night Fever
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Flashdance
Slumdog Millionaire
Finding Neverland
Enchanted
Casino Royale

Two of the most important elements of your wedding day are your choice of wedding songs and your wedding favors, so why not combine the two? You will have spend many hours selecting your wedding songs so using them in turn for your favors will save you time and probably money as well.

Your wedding songs are vital to the tone and atmosphere of your wedding day and for many couples their choice of songs represents the soundtrack to their wedding. Upon hearing any of those songs again after the wedding day can bring back memories of the day itself and that can only be a good thing!

Once you have selected all your wedding songs you will probably notice that you have a mix of traditional and contemporary wedding music which has been chosen for the various elements of the day. Throughout the day you will have chosen certain songs to be played at certain moments, for instance when you enter the ceremony venue, when you cut the wedding cake and your first dance, it is these songs that will no doubt provide the lasting memory of your day.

When it comes to your wedding favors giving music CD’s which contain a compilation of the couple’s favorite songs, has become a popular choice of favor and can be easily done at home with your computer. Whilst some couples will use a random mix of songs that appeal to them, others will use all the music that they had played at the wedding to create their own wedding soundtrack. Added to this is the ability to create personalized CD covers and labels which can be coordinated with the wedding stationery or wedding theme.

There is however, some concern over copyright laws when copying music in this fashion to give as wedding favors. So you should satisfy yourself that you are happy to produce CD’s in this way and that you are not infringing copyright as a result. If in doubt seek expert advice as being arrested on your wedding day is perhaps not the memory you are hoping for!

Giving CD’s of your wedding songs as favors is great way of keeping the memory of your day alive through music and hopefully your guests will be reminded of the great time they had every time they hear your wedding song choices.

Choosing your wedding songs can be one of the hardest parts of your wedding planning and one of the more time consuming tasks. So it can be helpful to get some inspiration from songs which have been tried and tested at many a wedding over the years.

Here is a list of classic wedding songs, broken down into ceremony and reception songs:

Ceremony Prelude:

• Adagio for Strings, Samuel Barber
• Air on a G String, J S Bach
• Serenade, Franz Schubert
• Sheep May Safely Graze, J S Bach
• Toccata in E Minor, Johann Pachelbel
• All I Ask of You, Andrew Lloyd Webber from Phantom of the Opera
• Unchained Melody, The Righteous Brothers

Ceremony Processional:

• Bridal Chorus, Richard Wagner from Lohengrin
• Romeo and Juliet Love Theme, Tchaikovsky
• Spring from the Four Seasons, Antonio Vivaldi
• Wedding March, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Trumpet Voluntary, Jeremiah Clarke
• Wedding Processional, Rodgers and Hammerstein from The Sound of Music
• Take My Breath Away, Berlin

Ceremony Recessional:

• Brandenburg Concerto No 1, Allegro, J S Bach
• Hallelujah Chorus, George F Handel from The Messiah
• Ode to Joy, Ludwig van Beethoven
• Triumphal March, Edward Grieg
• Wedding March, Felix Mendelssohn from A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, George F Handel
• Lovely Day, Bill Withers
• From This Moment On, Cole Porter
• Love is All Around, Wet Wet Wet

Ceremony Interlude:

• Adagio, Felix Mendelssohn
• Ave Maria, Franz Schubert
• Claire De Lune, Claude Debussy
• Morning Has Broken
• Romanza, Ludwig van Beethoven
• Salut D’Amour, Sir Edward Elgar
• A Simple Song, Leonard Bernstein
• The Prayer, Andreas Bocelli and Celine Dion
• Benedictus, Simon and Garfunkel

First Dance Classic Songs:

• A Groovy Kind of Love, Phil Collins
• Come Fly With Me, Frank Sinatra
• Could it Be Magic, Barry Manilow
• Endless Love, Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie
• It Had To Be You, Harry Connick Jr
• Love Me Tender, Elvis Presley
• Ain’t No Stopping Us Now, McFadden and Whitehead
• Let’s Stay Together, Al Green
• My Cherie Amour, Stevie Wonder
• Sweet Love, Anita Baker
• Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton

Your wedding song will provide the soundtrack to your wedding and will help towards creating the atmosphere and tone you want for every element of your wedding. But choosing your songs is a task that will take time and considerable effort on your part to make sure you put together a playlist that help make your day as memorable as it is special.

Everything you choose for your wedding, be it flowers, favors or cake, will have to coordinate with your chosen wedding style. Your wedding songs shouldn’t be any different and to a certain extent they should match to your wedding theme if you are having one.

A formal, traditional wedding will require a range of songs more suited to a formal occasion such as classical music and traditional wedding songs. An informal wedding on the other hand can get away with choosing more contemporary songs, albeit in an instrumental format for most of the day.

You will need to choose wedding songs for your ceremony, your wedding reception including the cocktail hour and wedding breakfast, when you cut your wedding cake and finally your evening party. The evening party really takes care of itself as it is the time of day when everyone can relax, the formalities are over with and everyone can party. So for the evening party think about disco classics, modern chart hits and songs from across the generations. In essence, something for everyone.

It is during the formalities of the day that you will need to give special consideration to when it comes to your wedding songs. You will need to make sure your choices are firstly appropriate for a wedding not only in style but check out any lyrics as well even if you are choosing an instrumental version; and that they say something about your own personality and even taste in music, although I would avoid going including too many personal choices in your wedding song list.

Although weddings are personal and should be about the personalities of the bride and groom, your choice of wedding songs will set the tone for the entire day and will also have an effect on your guests. Music which is too slow and sedate could possibly send them all too sleep and music which is too loud and too fast could have some of them peaking too soon and others heading for the door at the earliest opportunity!

What you need to do is find wedding songs which fall into the happy medium of not to fast or too slow, not too quiet or too loud. Make them familiar, classic and if possible tried and tested at someone else’s wedding!

There are many popular wedding songs out there and no doubt you will already have your particular favourites. But some songs tend to stick around longer than others which probably makes them excellent choices, considering other couples have already tried and tested them!

Your choice of wedding songs will provide the soundtrack to your day and will set the tone for the entire wedding from the moment you enter the ceremony and proceed down the aisle. If you are having a civil wedding ceremony then you will have much wider choice in terms of music although many religious venues are now starting to relax their views on choosing contemporary songs.

When considering wedding songs you need to feel comfortable with them, they need to fit with the style of your wedding and maybe even the theme, although this is perhaps less important. What is important is that they are in some way a reflection of your own personalities, style and taste. If you are known to like rock n roll but choose cheesy boyband ballads instead, your guests may come away feeling a little confused!

Your most personal song should be saved for the wedding first dance and most couples will have a song which has some meaning and significance to their relationship. You may also want to choose a second, similar song for when you walk back down the aisle as man and wife. Your playlist of songs though should be put together with mantra ‘something for everyone’ prevalent in your minds. Music is a wonderful tool for creating atmosphere and ambience and is good for helping people to relax and feel at ease.

There is definitely something for everyone in the ten songs listed below and even if there isn’t something there for you, they should help you to find something in a similar vein.

Aerosmith – Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing
Bryan Adams – Everything I Do (I Do It For You)
Lonestar – Amazed
Shania Twain – You’re Still The One
Shania Twain – From This Moment
Van Morrison – Have I Told You Lately
James Blunt – You’re Beautiful
Savage Garden – Truly Madly Deeply
Robbie Williams – Angels
Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You

You also need to choose wedding songs which are appropriate to a wedding, which match your wedding style – traditional, informal etc and which have some personal meaning to you both.  You will need to choose many songs to feature throughout your day including:

• Your ceremony
• The cocktail hour
• The wedding breakfast
• Cutting the wedding cake
• The first dance
• Evening party

You may already have some favorites that you want to use and most couples will already have a song in mind for their first dance later on in the day.  It is a good idea to start with songs which you have already identified for your wedding and then work in other choices around them.  If you are having a religious wedding ceremony then you may be restricted in your choices for the ceremony.  A civil wedding ceremony on the other hand is more relaxed about what music is played, the only stipulation is that is must not contain any religious references.

For your cocktail hour and wedding breakfast a compilation of quiet, relaxing classical or instrumental music is perfect.  It will aid in the atmosphere of the occasion whilst allowing your guests to chat with each other without having to compete with the music.  You can choose a romantic song or a song with special meaning for when you cut the wedding cake also.

The evening party is the time when you can kick back and enjoy yourself as the formalities of the day are over with.  For most couples a disco is the preferred option for entertaining their guests and a good wedding DJ will be able to put together a playlist of tracks which keep your guests dancing all night long.  As a guide, choose disco classics from the 70’s and 80’s along with a few modern dance floor classics which people will know.  Avoid any unusual remixes or cover versions, if your guests don’t know them they are highly likely to sit them out and your dance floor could empty very quickly.

If you want some inspiration for your wedding songs ask for some recommendations from family and friends.  Also go online as there are many song library websites where you can listen to songs, read lyrics, watch videos and see ratings given by others.  Checking the lyrics of your chosen songs is also very important just to make sure that they are wholly suitable for a wedding!

Wedding songs

You will need to choose wedding songs for the following elements of your day:

- The ceremony – processional, recessional, interlude

- Hymns if you are having a religious service

- Background music for your cocktail hour

- Background music for your wedding breakfast

- A song for when you cut the wedding cake

- Your first dance song

- Your evening party playlist

There is a lot of songs and wedding music to choose and you will need to personally vet every choice to make sure it is suitable. If you are having a religious wedding ceremony you will probably be restricted to choosing very traditional songs with a religious overture, although some venues are becoming more open to couples choosing modern songs as well. A civil wedding service requires songs which do not have any religious references but you will have more freedom of choice when it comes to your music. Many couples like to choose a mixture between traditional and modern songs for their wedding ceremony.

The cocktail hour and wedding breakfast require music which can play quietly in the background, which will add to the sense of occasion but which will allow your guests to talk amongst themselves without having to compete with the music. Most venues will have a CD player which you can use, just make sure your CD’s are long enough to cover the particular element of the day you are playing them in.

The first dance song is usually a romantic song that has some particular meaning to the couple. Often is has personal significance to their relationship, perhaps it was playing when they first met or when he proposed. There is also a growing trend to choose something on a polar opposite to the romantic wedding song and to surprise and wow their wedding guests with a well choreographed dance that will forever live in the memory. Don’t attempt it though if you are not a confident dancer!

The evening party requires music which will have your guests up and dancing all night long. It is the time of the day when everyone can relax and really enjoy themselves as the formalities of the day are over with. Most couples will choose a DJ and disco to supply the entertainment, and another popular alternative is to combine this with a live band or wedding singer. When choosing your play list for the evening party it is important that you choose something for everyone and choose classics that everyone will know, that way the dance floor will be packed till the very end.