A wedding reception is a party to celebrate the union of two special people. Most celebrations include music to express the joy everyone is feeling. What are your options when you’re on a budget? Varied!
Most people like to have a disc jockey at their reception – if only because they have a large selection of music available to please the various age groups you’ll have there. Disc jockeys are probably less expensive than bands but they can be pricey too. Also, consider that with a DJ, you’ll also have an emcee to move the reception along.
We suggest you shop around extensively when looking for a DJ. Consider calling a local college to see if they can recommend a talented TV/R major who might be willing to take the job.
When picking out music, make sure you take into consideration the guests. An all-rap repertoire probably isn’t appropriate but all big band music isn’t either. Make sure that there’s a mix of both to please both young and old.
To encourage guests to dance, assign each table a love song, when the band (or DJ) plays that song that table should get up to dance. You are likely to know whether this would work or not with your crowd but it is a neat idea.
To be honest, a very small percentage of people enjoy the Chicken Dance, Macarena and Electric Slide! Know your guests, and if you know this type of music will make them uncomfortable, make sure your DJ avoids such tunes. They can be embarrassing but they can be great fun as well. It’s truly a matter of preference!
If your hearts are set on live music, look for bands that have day jobs and ‘jam’ for fun. Don’t rule out high-school aged bands. You could hire a child violin or piano virtuoso to perform for the ceremony - there won’t be a dry eye in the place!
A rock-bottom budget option is to make tapes or CDs with your favorite music on. If you know of someone who has an awesome stereo system, see if they would be willing to loan it to you for the day and have people volunteer to man it to make sure that you don’t have any silent times.
The good part about mix CDs is that if you take some time, you can put it together so that it plays straight through so nobody will have to switch discs. You can mix it up with an equal balance of fast and slow songs and add in all your favorites as well.
Another fun option for music is to have a karaoke set-up. You can maximize on the talents of some of your guests and laugh at the not-so-great talents of others. Some people really come to life with karaoke, you may as well maximize on that!
If you don’t own a karaoke machine or know someone who does, look into renting one. You can download karaoke songs (music without the lyrics) online to make your own karaoke CDs. Go to lyrics.com to get the words and arrange it all in a simple 3-ring binder for your guests to refer to.
This is an extract from our eBook ‘Planning The Perfect Wedding On a Shoestring Budget’, it’s packed with ideas to help you plan your perfect wedding without having to remortgage your house! If you would like to download our eBook, please click here.
Tags: Reception, alternatives to live wedding reception music, music for wedding reception, wedding band, wedding dj, wedding karaoke, wedding mix cds, wedding reception music
1 response so far ↓
1 Al Christinzio // Jul 25, 2008 at 7:44 am
Mother Son Wedding Songs-Is Perfect DJ Jerry Beck Says
Song Lyrics:
EVEN THOUGH I SEEMED TO CHANGE MY STYLE
EVEN THOUGH I CHANGED MYSELF
FROM FASHION TO MY SMILE
YOU HELD ME UP
AND BELIEVED I WAS WORTHWHILE
GUIDING ME WITH GENTLE HANDS
THAT HELPED SET MY DIRECTION
PAVED THE WAY
BEFORE I WALKED EACH MILE
YOU WERE THERE FOR ME, MOM
YOU’D ALWAYS BRUSH THE TEARDROPS
FROM MY EYES
TODAY I WIPE THE TEARS FROM YOUR’S
I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU CRY
AFTER ALL, THIS TIME IS MEANT FOR SMILES
ON THIS WEDDING DAY
I JUST WANT TO SAY
I LOVE YOU, MOM
CHORUS
OOOOOOH I MADE MISTAKES AS I BECAME A MAN
YOU’D ALWAYS UNDERSTAND
JUST AS A MOTHER CAN
I PROMISE YOU TO TREAT
MY WIFE THE SAME
AND I’M PROUD TO SAY
YOU HELPED ME FEEL THIS WAY
INSTRUMENTAL
REPEAT CHORUS
I MADE MISTAKES AS I BECAME A MAN
YOU’D ALWAYS UNDERSTAND
JUST AS A MOTHER CAN
I PROMISE YOU TO TREAT
MY WIFE THE SAME
AND I’M PROUD TO SAY
YOU HELPED ME FEEL THIS WAY
EVEN THOUGH I SEEMED TO CHANGE MY STYLE
EVEN THOUGH I CHANGED MYSELF
FROM FASHION TO MY SMILE
I LEAVE YOUR GUIDING HAND
TO WALK THE AISLE
ON MY WEDDING DAY
I JUST WANT TO STOP
AND THANK YOU
I WANT TO SAY I LOVE YOU, MOM
OH YES I DO
OH A OH A OH
(SPOKEN WORDS) I LOVE YOU, MOM
USE THIS LINK BELOW to obtain A ‘DIGITAL DOWNLOAD’ AND CDs of this ‘Perfect Mother Son Wedding Song’
http://wedalert.com/media/NewJersey/A...
You can also contact us for our ‘WEDDING SEASON SPECIALS’ at
EMAIL: OnThisDay@comcast.net “A Perfect Mother Son Wedding Song On This Day” An Original Mother Son Wedding Song
Music written and performed by Steve Zuccarello - Lyrics by Steve Zuccarello and Denise Christinzio -
Vocal performance by Mr. Christian Barnes (C) Copyright 2005
As Posted on Professional DJ Sites
by DJ Jerry Beck
Hello fellow DJ’s,
“I want to share a gem that I came across. I did a wedding where the groom was in search of the perfect Mother Son song. I made some suggestion but none were the “perfect fit” according to the groom. He then told me that he heard a song on the Internet that described he and his mother to the tee. He remembered the song title was “On This Day”. I told him that I would research and try and find the song if at all possible. With a little searching I found the song on YouTube. I then contacted the email address that was listed on the video and immediately someone got back to me! I want to step back to the point when I heard the song on Youtube. That is where the magic was! The song is hands down the best Mother and Son song I have EVER heard! Definitely rivals the tried and true like “Dear Mama” by Boyz II Men, What a wonderful world etc. If you want to hear the song you can go to my Website, http://www.becksentertainment.com and on the front page I have it. To make a long story short, very impressed with how quickly the creators of the song got back to me. I then relayed to the songwriters my client’s wishes to use the song and inquired how to get it. They directed me to a link— http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.ph... — What makes this story so unique is that after I played the song for the groom and his mother at the wedding I actually told a story of the process to getting their perfect song. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place! It actually was the first time I have every done anything similar to a “Love story” at a wedding. To add to the personal touch the writers of “On This Day”, Steve Zuccarello and Denise Christinzio provided me with an elegant binder that held the beautiful lyrics to the song with a special note that was hand written by them, (the writers) for the bride, groom and his mom. I am highly recommending this song because it’s a sure shot, slam-dunk mother and son hit! Once you hear it you will know what I am talking about!”
As Posted by
DJ Jerry Beck
USE THIS LINK BELOW to obtain A ‘DIGITAL DOWNLOAD’ AND CDs of this ‘Perfect Mother Son Wedding Song’
http://wedalert.com/media/NewJersey/A...
You can also contact us for our ‘WEDDING SEASON SPECIALS’ at
EMAIL: OnThisDay@comcast.net “A Perfect Mother Son Wedding Song On This Day” An Original Mother Son Wedding Song
Music written and performed by Steve Zuccarello - Lyrics by Steve Zuccarello and Denise Christinzio -
Vocal performance by Mr. Christian Barnes (C) Copyright 2005
“On This Day” An Original Mother Son Wedding Song
Music written and performed by Steve Zuccarello.
Lyrics by Steve Zuccarello and Denise Christinzio.
Vocal performance by Mr. Christian Barnes. (C) Copyright 2005
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