The wedding day is often considered one of the most important days of someone's life. A couple get to showcase their love in front of their nearest and dearest and something that helps make that day even more memorable is the music performed on the day. The soundtrack to a couple's wedding day can make or break the entire event. In this week's blog we discuss the various parts of a wedding day and suggest the sort of music you may want to feature during each part.

The Pre Ceremony

The pre ceremony is usually around 30 - 45 minutes long and is a period of time where guests are arriving for the wedding ceremony. Guests are mingling, chatting to each other for the first time and generally catching up. The vibe tends to be light with an air of expectancy as guests wait for the ceremony to begin. It is a good idea to keep the energy chilled and not too upbeat. Songs about love are always a great choice at this point.

Pre ceremony song choices:

• What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
• At Last by Etta James
• Is This Love? by Bob Marley
• If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys
• Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars

The Wedding Ceremony

The wedding ceremony usually features a procession of various people from the groom and parents to the bridal party, bride, signing of the register and couple's walkout. Each ceremony aisle walk is likely to have a unique song to highlight that particular person or group of people. This is usually very personal to the couple but here are some great choices for the aisle walks:

• Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis
• All Of Me by John Legend
• Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder
• A Thousand Years by Christina Perri
• I Get To Love You by Ruelle

The Drinks Reception

After the wedding ceremony there is likely to be a drinks reception for around an hour and a half while the couple go off to take some photos and let the fact that they're married sink in. At this point it's a great time for a wedding singer as you can really take the guests on a musical journey. Consulting with the couple first to get a feel of the vibe and their song preferences is key. But that said, the mood can be more mid tempo and sometimes even upbeat to raise the energy before guests go into the wedding breakfast. You can feature songs from different genres, eras and energy states. Here are a few suggestions that can work well during a drinks reception:

• Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra
• Sunny by Bobby Hebb
• Perfect Stranger by JP Cooper
• Better Together by Jack Johnson
• I Could Get Used To This by Becky Hill
• Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry
• Stand By Me by Ben E King
• Empire State Of Mind by Alicia Keys

The Wedding Breakfast

As guests leave the drinks reception they'll move into the wedding breakfast to enjoy usually a three course meal, speeches and general good vibes. There are many directions you can take this from mid tempo feel good songs, to sing alongs to full blown party vibes. Again this will be down to what the couple likes but here are a few songs you can sing during the wedding breakfast.

• Kiss Me by Six Pence None The Richer
• You've Got The Love by Florence + The Machine
• Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra
• Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
• Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding

The First Dance

This is often seen as one of the most important moments of a wedding day and choosing what to sing during this memorable moment can make a big impact on the rest of the night. Creating a loving, intimate vibe is often a popular choice for the first dance as couples want to have one special moment together. Other times couples prefer to go in with a bang and do something more upbeat to get the party going. There are lots of great songs to choose from. Here are a few:

• Sky Full Of Stars by Coldplay
• 500 Miles by Sleeping At Last
• Amazed by Lonestar
• Perfect by Ed Sheeran
• I Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Aerosmith
• Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Franki Valli
• All My Life by KC & JoJo
• Marry Me by Train
• The One by Kodaline

The Party

The final part of the wedding is the party. If you're a singer performing with a band or with tracks then this is the moment to get everyone up on the dance floor and bring the energy right up. Keeping the mood fun and high is a great option as guests let off steam and have a boogie. Here are some great party songs to sing to during a wedding party:

• Proud Mary by Tina Turner
• I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston
• Respect by Aretha Franklin
• Never Too Much by Luther Vandross
• Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie Wonder
• Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader
• Valerie by Amy Winehouse
• 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton
• Sex On Fire by Kings Of Leon
• Mr Brightside by The Killers
• Summer Of 69 by Bryan Adams
• Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars
• New Rules by Dua Lipa
• Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter
• Flowers by Miley Cyrus

These are just a few great tunes to get the party going but it really comes down to the couple's musical likes and dislikes as to what to sing during a wedding party.

At Acoustic Backs And Tracks we provide a huge catalogue of acoustic backing tracks which are perfect for pre ceremonies, ceremonies, drinks receptions wedding breakfasts and first dances. Our completely acoustic tracks feature beautiful instrumental arrangements from instruments like guitar, keys, percussion and occasionally strings for singers to perform with. If you're looking for some inspiration to perform at your next wedding, then check out our large catalogue of acoustic tracks and build your set list today.