How to handle song requests at a wedding

Start with the couple

Your planning meeting sets the rules for the whole night. Go through four things with the couple:

• Their must-plays: 10 to 15 songs is plenty. Any more and you lose the freedom to read the room.
• Their do-not-play list: songs tied to an ex, a bad memory, or lyrics they'd rather grandma didn't hear. Don't ask why. Just don't play them.
• The key moments: the entrance, the first dance, the parent dances, the cake, the last song.
• How open they want requests to be: anything goes, only songs they approve, or nothing during dinner.

In Special Request

With Premium, add the couple's must-plays to your set before the big day, import their playlist as suggestions for guests to vote on, or limit requests to a playlist you prepared together. Add a song to your set

Open requests before the wedding

Guests love being asked. Put the request link on the wedding website or with the invitation, and they'll send songs weeks ahead.

You get two things out of it: a clear idea of the crowd's taste (all 2000s pop? lots of country?), and time to prepare. No more finding out at 11 p.m. that the most requested song isn't in your library.

In Special Request

Turn on Open requests when you create the event: the link works right away. Add a 4-digit access code so only the guests can use it. With Premium, your booking page does part of the work: when a couple books you through it, the event is created and they receive its link by email, ready for the invitations. Create an event

On the day: requests at the right moments

A few details make a big difference:

• Put the QR code on the tables during dinner, when guests are sitting and chatting. It works much better than a sign at the booth.
• Mention it once, right after the first dance: “Requests are open, scan the code on your table.” Once is enough.
• Pause requests during the speeches and the first dance, so nothing interrupts the moments that matter.

In Special Request

Print the event's poster with its QR code and put one on each table. Pause requests with one tap during the speeches, and reopen them when the party starts. Guests request from their browser, with no app to install.

Saying no, nicely

Some requests won't make it: a song from the do-not-play list, something explicit with kids on the floor, or a track that would clear the room at the wrong moment. That's part of the job.

The trick is to never leave a guest wondering. A short reason, or a “later tonight”, goes a long way. More on that in how to politely say no to a song request.

In Special Request

Decline a request in one tap. With Premium, pick a reason (already planned, wrong style…) and the guest sees it. Explicit songs can be kept out with a single switch.

The requests you don't refuse

Some requests are about the people, not the song. When the bride's grandmother asks for the song she danced to at her own wedding, you play it, and you watch the couple's faces while it plays. Those are the moments guests still talk about the next day.

After the wedding

Send the couple a little something: the list of songs their guests asked for makes a lovely keepsake, and it shows you were listening. It's also the best way to prepare your next wedding with a similar crowd.

In Special Request

Past events keep all their requests, so you can look back anytime. With Premium, guests can leave a rating and comments after the night, a nice bonus when you meet your next couples.