One of the biggest parts of what makes a wedding video great is music.  Music has a way of connecting with people on many different levels, so it’s so important that the music you pick for your wedding video does that for you as a couple.  Here are some good general rules when trying to choose the perfect wedding soundtrack:

1. Lyrics–Pay attention to the lyrics of the song.  On many occasions, We’ve had couples choose songs that are not appropriate for weddings.   Many songs can have a great sound and beat, but with closer inspection of the lyrics you can find that rather than a song about love, it is a song about breaking up, cheating, or even someone dying. Sometimes the best lyrics are no lyrics at all. A powerful instrumental track can be just as meaningful as a  song with lyrics, and it will allow more of the natural sounds and voices of your wedding day to shine through.

2. Pacing–This is really important in the editing of the video.  I would advise against choosing a song that is really slow all the way through.  Just makes for a really dull video, even if it’s great footage.  Listen for good beats and speed changes.

3. Avoid trendy songs.  These are the songs that you love when  they first come out, but a few months or a year later, you feel like ripping out your ears if you hear it on the radio.  There are songs out there that tend to stand the test of time, so go searching and find one that you connect with.  It may be a classic, or something more current.

4.  Variety. Not every song has to be by Michael Buble.  Change it up with songs from different genres and tempos for different sections of the video.  It makes the video much more enjoyable if there’s a change of pace and mood.

When we ask for music from our clients, we prefer to get at least 10 songs of varying tempos from the couple, and then we’ll choose what works best for each section of the video.  Obviously if you have a particular song that is especially meaningful to you both as couple, and important to the theme of the wedding, be sure to make that known.  We also have a suggestion list that we’ve put together to help out couples that are having a hard time thinking of songs beyond those that they’ve just watched on other wedding videos or heard on the radio.  Feel free to email us if you’d like to take a look at it.

Next week’s topic: Wedding Day tips to make you look good in your wedding video.

Last week’s tip: Top 3 rules for choosing your videographer