Weddings will never be weddings without music. Music is present everywhere even through the Prenup videos, AVPs and wedding SDEs that would be played during reception includes music that’s either the videographer’s choice or the couple’s. Music is considered part of the program proper, from the ceremony till reception so planning out the perfect playlist for the wedding is essential to ensure that the event will be more magical!
Below are the things that you need to consider when creating your own Wedding Music Planner.
1. CHURCH RESTRICTIONS. Before even deciding that you’ll have your favorite contemporary music for your bridal march, be sure that you have inquired with your Church about this. Unfortunately, not all Churches (especially Catholic Churches) allow contemporary and/or mainstream music to be played during the wedding only unless they have been pre-approved by the Church.
In our case in San Agustin Church for example, we were only given a list of music that can be played for the duration of the ceremony, both in lyrical and instrumental form.
Thankfully, our playlist has been pre-approved which included my contemporary instrumental music for my bridal march.
2. FULL BAND/ SINGER/ STRINGS/ CHOIR PORTFOLIO. Before paying that reservation fee, make sure that your potential full band/singer/strings/choir supplier have at least previous experience playing for a wedding in your chosen ceremony before. Why? This will ensure you that they already know your Ceremony’s rules and restrictions regarding the allowed types of songs to be played, equipment to be used, ceremony timing, dress code, and extra fees.
Take note that some Churches even require their Wedding Suppliers to be accredited first (with due payment for membership and seminar attendance) before they are allowed to hold an event. If your chosen supplier doesn’t have the necessary permit to perform, then this will be a problem especially after paying your non-refundable deposit.
3. SONG CHOICE STYLE. This will vary depending on your personal preference whether you want somebody to sing at your wedding, the band will just play instrumental music, the songs will be sang by a choir or both. To help you out, YouTube and Spotify will be your new best friend!
4. SONG CHOICE RELEVANCE. This is according to personal preference again but it is also good to consider your wedding playlist’s relevance to your history as a couple, with the latest musical trend or something that will engage all of your guests. You can choose whatever kind of music that you prefer, as long as they adhere to any rules that might have been previously enforced especially during the Ceremony.
5. WEDDING MUSIC PLANNER CATEGORIES. If you booked a Wedding Coordinator/ Planner, rest assured that you will be given a checklist for your wedding playlist. Typically they include the following with 1 song choice for each unless stated otherwise:
A. For Ceremony
- Entourage March
- Bridal March
- Offertory
- Communion
- First Kiss
- Pictorial (minimum of 5 songs depending on the allotted time)
B. For Reception
- 10 songs before the program
- 10 songs during the banquet proper
- 10 songs after the program or party songs
- Couple’s dance
- Prosperity dance
- Father and daughter dance (for the bride)
- Mother and son dance (for the groom)
When creating your own Wedding Planner, make sure to indicate the following after each category:
- Title of the song
- Singer or Band
- to be played with lyrics or instrumental?
- YouTube link (to be specific with the type of version that you want)
To give you an idea of how we did it, below is our sample Wedding Music Planner.
Remember, the more specific, the better.
OUR BUDGET DREAM WEDDING 
Hey there, just wondering if SAC recommended/imposed a specific duration (in mins) for each music played per part of the ceremony? We’re thinking of having our playlist personalized kasi (of course for their approval pa). Wedding is in few months na lang.
Hi Traveler. During our meeting with SAC they did not impose anything regarding the specific duration for each music played (in mins) but only told us that the songs should be within the 45 minutes ceremonial time. They also asked us who is our full band because they usually talk to the bands who are playing during weddings for more specific instructions.
Hi! How did you apply for the pre-approval of the song list inside SAC? And what are their requirements for it? BTW, this page has been helping me allot in the preparation for our wedding. 🙂
Hi Vy,
As stated in our post we were initially given a Song sheet which includes a list of songs that can be played during the ceremony. However, since we wanted some other songs not on the list, we requeted from the SAC Secretary for approval after giving her our own list of songs. We did this by coordinating the songs with our band who have prior experience playing at SAC to be sure that such genre can be played there. After submitting our list to SAC for approval and informing our band about it, we tasked our band to coordinate with SAC for all the other work etc.
Thank you for the kind words. We are glad that out blog is helpful in your wedding preps!
Goodluck and enjoy the journey.
Garry & Aiki