How to Crowdsource Your Wedding Playlist

With its ability to deepen moments of reflection, enhance already heightened emotions, or lend a playful vibe when necessary, whether you’re a music lover or not, there’s no denying that music is a little bit magic. The music you choose as a soundtrack to your wedding day will form the backbone of your celebration, but musical taste is notoriously personal. How can you ensure that your guests are enjoying it as much as you are?

In the age of the streaming service, allowing your guests to participate in the process of curating your wedding playlist has never been easier. Crowdsourcing your wedding playlist is a creative and collaborative way to add music to your special day, offering your loved ones a way to get involved in your event. If you're excited to collaborate with your guests on the music for your celebration but don’t really know where to start, then we’re here to help with this guide on how to crowdsource your wedding playlist!

Why ask your guests to help with your reception playlist?

Any good love story has a supporting cast, and in your case, that’s your friends and family. Asking them to contribute to your wedding playlist is a lovely way of honouring their involvement in your journey to saying “I do” and making sure they know how important they are to you.

Asking your guests to choose a song or two for your wedding playlist will not only make them feel included, but also asking them for their favourite floor filler will hopefully mean that you avoid the dreaded empty dance floor after the first dance!

How to crowdsource your wedding music

The key to crowdsourcing your wedding playlist is to offer your guests an opportunity to suggest their favourite songs, whilst retaining overall creative control yourselves. This isn’t about handing over the entire wedding soundtrack to your guests and letting them go wild - you need to strike a balance between your guests’ suggestions and your vision for your wedding day.

Add a custom question to your RSVPs

By far the easiest way of gathering song suggestions from wedding guests is to do it through your RSVP wedding website. With a Say I do wedding website, you have the option to add custom questions to your digital RSVPs - all your guests need to do is write their suggestions in the box.

Link to a collaborative playlist

Another easy way to gather song choices is to create a collaborative playlist on a streaming platform like Spotify and then share the link on your wedding website, allowing guests to add their song choices directly. Whilst this option might seem like less work on paper, you will need to go in and edit the playlist before the big day, removing any duplicates, making sure that everything fits with the vibe of your wedding. You will also need to ensure it flows nicely, and that there aren’t any explicit surprises - you don’t want to follow Granny’s classical favourite with Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion!

Limit things to the dance floor

If you’re a bit worried about giving over the entire day to your guests’ musical tastes, then asking them to contribute to the dance floor playlist is a good way to exercise some damage control. Asking everyone for one song that’s guaranteed to get them on their feet and dancing, and one that they think will get everyone else dancing, is a great way to get everyone on their feet and shaking their tail feathers!

Getting the balance right on your wedding day

In principle, we love the idea of having your guests contribute to your wedding music, but in practice, the truth is that it can take some effort to ensure the music they choose aligns with the overall vibe of your celebration. If your guests' choices are a bit all over the place, here are a few easy ways to bring things back into alignment:

Get clear on the musical vibe

Musical genres are wildly varied, and whilst we’re all for an eclectic mix, there’s eclectic and then there’s eclectic. Asking for song suggestions and hoping for the best just isn't going to cut it - you need to give some thought to the style of music that fits your dream wedding vision. Whether you're going for a low-key backyard wedding (hello, acoustic folk), a high-energy festival wedding (looking at you, disco), or a formal stately home celebration (hi, jazz). Once you’ve decided on the vibe, you can either relay this to your guest list or review their suggestions to ensure they fit the tone of your big day.

Categorise according to key moments

Another easy way of tidying up your collaborative wedding playlist is to divide it into categories including the perfect songs for the various parts of your wedding celebration - perhaps you want romantic songs for the ceremony, jazz or classical for the cocktail hour or drinks reception, soft singer-songwriters during dinner, and up-tempo tunes for the evening.

Set some boundaries

When opening yourself up to input on something like music, it’s inevitable that somebody is going to make a suggestion that you just don’t want to hear on your wedding day - whether that’s a song you and your ex loved, or something that brings up bad memories. Alongside your wedding playlist, it can be a good idea to create a “do not play” list, especially if you’re working with musicians or a DJ who takes requests. Your loved ones are going to be so busy chatting and enjoying the day that it’s highly unlikely that anyone is going to notice if their song choice isn’t played!

Crowdsourcing your wedding playlist really isn't rocket science - it's as simple as asking your guests for a track or two that they love, and balancing their requests with songs that hold special meaning for the two of you to create the right mood for your special day. This should be one of the more fun things on your to-do list - enjoy the process!