The Five Biggest Wedding Music Mistakes

People spend months choosing flowers. Weeks arguing over napkin colours. Someone inevitably loses an entire Saturday to comparing chair covers on Pinterest.

And then, about two weeks before the wedding, someone remembers...

"Oh yeah. Music."

Which is a shame, because once dinner's over, the music is basically the entire evening.

Nobody has ever staggered home at 1am saying: "Lovely charger plates." They remember whether they danced.

The good news is that avoiding a flat dancefloor doesn't require a bigger budget. It just means avoiding a few surprisingly common mistakes.

1. Treating Spotify Like a Wedding DJ

Spotify is brilliant. I use Spotify. You use Spotify. Your neighbour Dave has somehow got 143 playlists called Sunday Vibes.

It's fantastic.

But Spotify has one tiny flaw. It has absolutely no idea what's happening in the room. It doesn't know that your aunt has just dragged everyone onto the dancefloor. It doesn't know that the bar's suddenly emptied because someone started a limbo. It definitely doesn't know that your best man has requested five consecutive Oasis songs despite nobody else wanting them.

A good DJ isn't just pressing play. They're reading the room. Sometimes that means playing exactly the song people expect. Sometimes it means ignoring the playlist because everyone is very clearly about to lose their minds if Murder on the Dancefloor comes on.

Spotify can't see any of that.

It just quietly suggests another song "you might like."

Thanks, Spotify.

2. Trying to Please Absolutely Everybody

This never works.

Someone likes Motown.

Someone likes house.

Someone likes country.

Your cousin has recently discovered jazz and won't stop mentioning it.

Your uncle wants Dire Straits.

Your best mate wants Turnstile.

Your mum still thinks Kings of Leon are a new band.

The goal isn't to make every guest hear their favourite song. It's to make the room feel like one big party. Sometimes that means your favourite song doesn't get played and that's okay.

You're getting married.

You've already won.

3. Saving All the Good Songs Until the End

There's a strange belief that you have to "build up" to the good songs.

You don't.

I've seen couples hold back every banger until 11pm. Unfortunately, by then half the guests have gone home because they have children, trains or knees.

Don't treat your playlist like you're waiting for the perfect moment. Nine times out of ten, the perfect moment is right now.

Get people dancing early. Once a dancefloor's full, people tend to stay.

An empty dancefloor is much harder to rescue than a busy one is to keep going.

4. Overthinking the First Dance

Here's a secret. Nobody remembers whether your first dance was perfectly choreographed.

They remember whether you looked happy.

I've seen couples spend months rehearsing. I've seen couples sway for twenty seconds before inviting everyone onto the dancefloor. I've seen one couple accidentally start before the photographer was ready and have to do the whole thing again.

All equally lovely.

Your first dance isn't Britain's Got Talent.

Nobody's holding up scorecards.

Choose a song that means something to the two of you.

If that's Ed Sheeran, brilliant.

If it's Arctic Monkeys, Taylor Swift or My Chemical Romance...

Also brilliant.

5. Forgetting It's a Party

This sounds obvious (it isn't).

Some couples become so worried about creating the perfect wedding that they accidentally forget they're throwing a party. The best weddings usually have at least one slightly chaotic moment.

Someone starts an impromptu conga.

Your dad attempts dance moves that should've retired in 1987.

A tie ends up around somebody's head (nobody knows whose tie it is).

Somehow the photographer captures your aunt crowd surfing.

The point is this: People don't remember perfect weddings.

They remember fun weddings.

One Last Thing

The best advice I can give any couple is surprisingly simple - trust the people you've hired.

You wouldn't stand behind the photographer suggesting camera angles.

You probably wouldn't lean over the chef's shoulder and tell them it needs a bit more garlic.

So if you've booked a DJ because you liked their taste in music, their personality and the way they work…

Let them cook.

You'll have a much better night because of it.