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We're going to try to do this as well. The furthest I've gotten in planning it is starting to make a playlist. : ) Advice is appreciated! Is it tough to rent and set up a sound system? Where did people go to find what songs to play? Are most venues open to this option?
we started telling people we were going to do this- friends wont care but all "adults" & our planner thought it would be cheesy. i think it could be nicely done but it depends on how formal your reception is & if you have someone dedicated to watching over it every few songs/ pause/adjust volume/making sure random guests arent switching songs/etc...
As for reception places being ok with it... out of our final 3 (indoor) choices, 2 would accomodate it because they had really nice sound systems in place (one actually suggested it) & 1 couldnt do it because they had no system & were really set up for a dj/band.
My friend had an iPod wedding reception. The reception was backyard-style, casual and intimate so it blended in very well. She and her husband had appointed a good friend to keep an eye on the iPod, change the music according the the mood of the party, etc. I think it worked very well and no one had any problems with it.
We had the iPod as a back up plan in case the DJ didn't show (he was coming back from Alaska). I think it works best if the venue has a (good) built-in sounds system. Alternatively, we figured we could always use my parents' Bose speakers. I have to say, though, unless you know a lot about what kind of music you want played and when, it's kind of a PITA. If you just start a playlist and let it play, there's no responsiveness to which music is getting people dancing and it's harder to time things like the garter toss, etc. Plus, you really have to have a 'DJ' friend to MC and annouce entrances and events. We ended up being very glad our DJ showed-- we just didn't want to ask any of our friends. That being said, if you have a playlist in mind and someone in mind to run things, it probably wouldn't be that bad.
Separate your Ipod into playlists so that they're easy for whoever's "DJing" to find and control.
For example, physically split up and label Bridal Party Entrance, First Dance, Dinner Music, Dance Music, Cake Cutting, Garter/Bouquet Toss, etc. Then you won't have to worry about mistakes.
Another option is to bring along your laptop and hook it up if you can because it may be a little easier to control when you can see everything in front of you at once.
We are having an ipod reception, too. We are making playlists for different parts of the evening, and will be hooking the ipod up to the speakers from our sound system. Because our reception is going to be on the more casual and intimate side (outdoors at beachside cabins), and there will be no dance floor, I think it will work well for us. I think if someone wanted dancing, etc, it is better to have a DJ because he is able to guage the mood of the party and adjust accordingly. With the ipod, defintely put someone in charge of it whose music taste you trust.
We used an ipod for our ceremony and it went really well. We just had playlists set up for each aspect.
We also used it for the reception. We didn't have dancing, just dinner music. So, it was pretty easy for us. We just had one reception playlist and pressed play.
We're using our ipod and bringing my laptop for backup. We'll do a dry run during the rehearsal but I'm sure it will go smoothly.
My bro-in-law is psyched to informally emcee and manage the music for our initimate, 40ppl wedding. Our venue said couples use ipods more than DJ's these days; it helps that their sound system is literally plug-and-play.
Has anyone heard any negatives?
We did an Ipod for the reception and it went great. My sister's husband offered to be MC and man the Ipod as needed. We rented a sound system for $125 for the weekend and it worked great!
One thing I'd caution is that for us, using the laptop was a bad idea because of the quality of the sound card. The music sounded horrible through the computer on the big speakers. In case of emergency, we borrowed a friend's Ipod for a backup but didn't need it.
Hey Beth!
We are definitely doing this since I am a huge music person and want to make sure that some random DJ person doesn't bogart the wedding with weird/lame music taste.
A few pieces of advice:
1) Go through your CD collection and see what you've got. If you're anything like me and have a crazy number of CDs, you might forget about some of the tunes you like and need a bit of a refresher.
2) Appoint someone to be an informal DJ. Depending on the pacing of the night, you might want to leave things a little open in terms of what gets played when (after all, you never know what songs people are really going to love) so talking to a friend and giving them a little tour of the music you've programmed can be good so that, if people are really digging some Elvis Costello, you can have them throw on some more or play it up with a 70s/80s dance mix.
3) Hang a piece of paper on your fridge at home so you and your fiance can write down songs as you think of them. There is nothing more stressful then being put on the spot to come up with an awesome dance mix, so if you have time, just write down stuff as the mood moves you.
4) Play stuff you like! This is your day and you shouldn't feel like you "have to" play anything. If you really like Nsync, don't let your music snob friends dissuade you - put some on your play list! Chances are, if you look like you're really enjoying it, your hapiness will be infectuous and draw more people out on the dance floor.
Good luck! Let us know how it turns out! :)
Are you doing the iPod thing because you want to cut the cost of the DJ or b/c you want to control all the music?
Mr. pkH is a music fanatic, so he was not about to let, as Jilibean said, "some random DJ person bogart" the music selection. But, we discovered it would be too hard to hook everything up ourselves. We're not particularly clever with the wiring-type stuff, and our venue was outdoors and we had to rent everything piece by piece. We had a wonderful caterer & rentals guy, and I'm sure they could've done it, but in the end, we hired a DJ to come with the sound system and play the music Mr. pkH had selected. They were not permitted to play any music that wasn't provided by us(we had CDs labeled with the genres of music, plus the special ceremony, reception entrance, etc. stuff AND a backup set just in case), but they could mix it up however they liked.
It was worth it, to us, to have someone there to gauge the crowd and play faster or slower songs according to the guests' reactions. If you have someone who will think it's fun to (wo)man the iPod and react to the crowd, or if you're not planning on having dancing, then awesome!
Jilibean's tips are all awesome. I'd also recommed maybe borrowing or buying a cheap older copy of a Billboard hits list book. It'll jog your memory on the songs that were super hot and so beloved (somewhat questionably at times!) when you were in high school, college, etc. or what was hot when your parents were kids. Don't forget to include music that will get guests of all ages into the party!
Hey there, thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate all the comments.
We want to skip the DJ for both of the factors mention - we want the control, and we want to save some cash. In the end, though, we found that one of our vendors would also do the music for a really great price - he brings the equipment, and sets everything up, makes sure it goes smoothly, and we just make the CD's and provide them to him. We're not having dancing (just a first dance) and we only need the music for the background over dinner, so it just didn't seem cost-effective to hire a DJ for something so simple.
I think (and hope) it will turn out fine.
Thanks for all of the tips!!
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Hey! I've heard of people doing this, but I'm curious how to successfully pull it off. Anyone have specific instructions, advice, or can anyone point me to a webpage that can help?
Thanks!