Make You Feel My Love – Adelle

Space They Can Not Touch – Kate Miller-Heidke

Grow Old With You – Adam Sandler

Heaven – DJ Sammy Candlelight

These Arms Of Mine – Otis Redding

Come Away With Me – Norah Jones

Burn Your Name – Powderfinger

God Only Knows – Joss Stone

At Last – Etta James

Downtown Train – Tom Waites

If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keyes

How Sweet It Is – James Taylor

I Want To Hold Your Hand – T.V Carpio

Love You Til The End – The Pogues

Secret Garden – Bruce Springsteen

Bubbly – Colbie Caillat

Night Of My Life – Damien Leith

The One I Love – David Gray

Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton

Leather and Lace – Andrew Stockdale & Holiday Sidewinder

Throw Your Arms Around Me – Hunters and Collectors

You And I – Ingrid Michaelson

Lucky – Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

Smile – Uncle Kracker

Have I Told You Lately – Van Morrison

Falling – Keri Nobel

My Love – Sia

God Damn You’re Beautiful – Chester See

I Will Follow You Into The Dark – Deathcab For Cutie

Hard To Concentrate – Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Fly With You – Pete Murray

The Blower’s Daughter – Damien Rice

The Luckiest – Ben Folds

Share My Life – Kem

Rhythm Of Love – Plain White T’s

Fall For You – Secondhand Serenade

Choose You – Stan Walker

Sweet Disposition – Temper Trap

Angel’s Wings – Social Distortion

You’ve Got The Love – Florence and The Machine

For The First Time – The Script

The Only Exception – Paramore

Better Together – Jack Johnson

Can’t Stand It – Never Shout Never

Grow Old Together – Lior

Let’s Stay Together – Al Green

You Are The Best Thing – Ray LaMontage

If This Is It – Newton Faulkner

If you need any assistance with your wedding or would like to enquire about a DJ, please phone Mel on 02 4341 7495 or email mel@overload.net.au

There are a number of options available to you, depending on both your budget, and the mood you are looking to create.

Live music

Most couples envision a guitarist or harp playing softly in the background, this is a beautiful option, and probably my favourite, though probably the most expensive. Even though your musician is only playing for a short while, they still need to travel to and from the venue, unload, set up & pack up heavy equipment, and need to charge accordingly.

While musicians are expensive, they are still good value for money. If you find the right musician for you, they will really create that special ambience that is the soundtrack of your life.

Musicians will usually have a set list for you to choose music from, often they include learning 1 song for you, but that is an individual thing that you should ask them about.

When choosing a musician, where possible use someone you been referred to or have been able to go and see live.

Your Reception DJ

Couples often ask us if we can play the music for their ceremony. While we are happy to accommodate our clients in any way we can, I usually recommend other options (which I will discuss further).

For your wedding reception DJ to play your ceremony music, you will be charged for an additional two hours, depending on your ceremony time, which is quite expensive.

Your DJ will not be able to stay and play nice background music while your guests have canapés, as they will have to dismantle and load out your equipment to take to your reception, this means you are basically paying your DJ a lot of money to mostly pack up and set up equipment.

So as much as we are happy to do this for you if you like, it is not only expensive, but also not very good value for money.

Your Celebrant

Your first step if you choose not to have a live musician perform is to talk to your celebrant. Most celebrants that officiate outdoor ceremonies use a portable PA systems, most of these have a cd player built in or an input that you can plug your cd player or walkman into.

Talk to your celebrant and ask them if they will be using a portable PA that you can play your music on. If they agree, you will just need to arrange someone to press play and stop.

Portable Stereo or Ipod Dock

Most high end portable stereos and ipod docks are actually quite suitable for outdoor use, again you will need to arrange for someone to press play and stop. If you choose this option, always:

• Try the stereo/ipod in the location to ensure that it will give you a good quality sound.

• Discuss with the venue, whether they have somewhere you can plug the stereo into their power supply or if you need to bring batteries

• If you need batteries, ensure the device has fresh batteries, and bring enough spare that you can replace all of them if need be.

Hiring a Portable PA System

Your last option is to hire a portable PA system, which is basically a portable speaker which either has an inbuilt cd player, or an input for a cd player or ipod. Again you will need to arrange for someone to play your music, as well as pick up and return the equipment to the hirer.

A portable PA can be hired from most places that hire audio equipment and is usually around $110.

Some Tips For You

• Always have someone do a sound check, leaving time to spare to ensure that the equipment is set up correctly and in working order and your levels are correct. Leave enough time that you will be able to rectify any concerns.

• Have one person in charge of your music, it will be there responsibility to:

1. Pick up and bring equipment required
2. Set up equipment in advance and check sound
3. Bring disc/ipod
4. Know your ceremony timetable and where each song fits into it

• If you are compiling a CD of a few songs you own, always make two copies, giving one to the person responsible for your music and a spare to another reliable person, ensuring that if one is forgotten, you will have another around on the day. Always check the disc on the actual device you intend to play it on. Some CD players will not play some brands of discs.

This is a guide only and is based on a 5 hour reception.

Guests Arrive

You generally want your guests to arrive around 2 hours after your ceremony commences. This will give you enough time with your photographer. Always communicate with your photographer about both your and their expectations on how much time should be allowed for photos.

From the moment your guests arrive through to your first dance we will play some nice background music, pausing for speeches.

Bridal Party Arrives

We like to have the bridal party arrive around 15 minutes after their guests. This gives your guests enough time to settle in and get themselves a drink before your arrival.

Entree & Main

Your entree will usually begin to be served around about 30 minutes after your guests arrive. This gives you & your bridal party around 15 minutes for your entrance, getting a drink, and settling in.

Speeches & Dessert

It is up to you whether you have speeches before or after dessert. If you are having the Wedding Cake as dessert, you will need to do the speeches and cutting of the cake first. Some venues like to serve dessert before speeches, and clear the plates after speeches. I personally prefer this way, but you have a bit of flexibility. Just bear in mind if you are clearing away dessert plates before speeches things can drag on a bit.

If you have any questions about who should speak, in what order and what they need to include, please let us know as we can provide you with a Speech Writing Guide.

Cutting Of The Cake

Immediately after your speeches we will move into the cutting of the cake. Move over to behind the cake. Your photographer should guide you from there.

Bridal Waltz

We then move straight into the Bridal Waltz. Unless instructed otherwise, we try not to keep couples dancing too long on their own, as most couples aren’t particularly comfortable having everyone watching them dance for too long a period of time.

During bridal waltz, we will invite the Bridal Party to come up & join you. Most couples don’t do a father/daughter dance these days, so if that is something you do want to do, please let us know.

Second Dance

We like to follow your Bridal Waltz with another slow dance, giving all your guests the opportunity to join you in your first time dancing as husband and wife.

Following the second dance, we will then play a good variety of music for your guests to dance up until the bouquet toss.

Bouquet Toss

Around about 20 minutes prior to the conclusion of your Wedding Reception we will get you to do the bouquet toss. Some Brides like to get a smaller bouquet just for this (so they can keep their bouquet.)

Garter Toss

We then make sure we have a chair for the bride to sit on for the garter toss.

Farewell Circle

Some people are unsure as to whether or not they would like to do a farewell circle. We encourage couples to consider it. It is a great way to ensure that you get to speak to all of your guests before you go, as even with the best intentions, you may not get a chance to speak to everyone throughout the night.

It is also puts a full stop to your evening, ensuring it ends with a bang rather than fizzles out. Most couples find if they don’t do a farewell circle, they tend to spend more time saying their goodbyes than if they just did the circle.

We try to get the Bride & Grooms family or closest friends to be at the end of the circle nearest the exit you will be leaving from. This means you start at your family (ie: your parents or closest relative/friends). The bride & groom travel in opposite directions around the circle, saying goodbye to your guests, ending with your family, so they can see you off.

Sample Time Line

(Based on a 5 hour reception)

6:00 pm   Guests Arrive

6:15 pm   Bridal Party Arrives

6:30 pm   Entrees

7:00 pm   Main

8:00 pm   Speeches

Cutting of the Wedding Cake

Bridal Waltz

10:40 pm Bouquet Toss

Garter Toss

Farewell Circle

11:00 pm Conclusion of Function

This is just a guide to get you started, it is important to communicate with your venue, caterer & other service providers when finalising your program.