So you’ve fixed the date, booked the venue and organised a celebrant. What’s next? Well, there’s The Dress. Of course. And the shoes. And the jewelry. And the makeup. And the hair. And the flowers. And the photographer. Oh, and the groom. And the bridesmaids. And, and, and…

So where does your ceremony music fit in here? Low on the list perhaps! And so you might naturally think “Well, the iPod will do, and that song isn’t too bad.”

But while everyone may “ooh” and “aah” over the dress, the flowers and sometimes the groom, you could argue that what everyone will take away from your wedding, including yourselves, will be the mood and the memories. And nothing creates mood and memories like music.

Now there are a few things I need to state here: for a start I’m a professional musician. That’s how I earn my keep. So I’m really going to push the live music option.

But the other obvious thing is that you’re planning a wedding. There’s a budget to stick to and it already feels like money is going out hand over fist. So it’s understandable that an iPod can look like pretty good value.

I’m not going to beat the live music drum here (much). That’s a whole other article in the making. But let’s go back a few paragraphs. We’re talking about your wedding. It’s about the mood on the day, and the memories afterwards. And let me say it again- nothing creates mood and memories like music.

So you’ve looked at your budget. You’ve made your choices for live music or pre-recorded. And in the next post, it will be time to narrow down the music selection itself.