There’s been a trend of couples asking their guest to send in a song request along with their RSVPs. Is this helpful? Should you do it?

With a little planning, the song request (suggestion) thing can be a great idea. It would be wise to put a disclaimer on the invitation card that their song might not make the list, but that they are helping to create one. Say you have 120 guests with 120 different selections, and they expect to hear their songs for 3 minutes. That would be a program of 360 minutes or 6 whole hours. There simply won’t be time for the you to get married or to have your First Dance!

The best strategy is to create one set of top priority selections, including your parent’s first dance, and the request from the bridesmaid who remembered THAT special moment during college. Label these MUST PLAY. Second, spreadsheet the rest of the suggestions and identify the songs which you agree with, and requested frequently, all the while exercising veto power.

Remember that there is only 60 minutes to each hour so for cocktails and dinner, you’re limited to about 17 ~ 20 songs each. You get about about 30 songs per hour you can program at maximum during dancing, depending on how fast the DJ mixes the songs.

Last but not least, don’t forget to leave room for music that YOU and YOUR FIANCE are actually dying to hear during dinner & dancing!