Planning your event
Once your date is booked, there are really just two things that help me get your event right: what you'd like to hear and what's happening when. Here's what that looks like — and how little of it you actually have to do.
Your contract asks for these about two weeks before your event, which gives us time to sort out anything unusual. Send them however you like — just reply to any email from me.
Music requests
Title and artist is all I need. That's the minimum for any song — enough for me to find the right track and have it ready.
If you want a specific version, say so. A particular mix, a live version, the acoustic one, the radio edit rather than the album cut — if it matters to you, note it. If you don't say, I'll choose the version that fits the moment.
If songs belong to certain parts of the day, group them. Cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing usually want very different energy. A few headings — even just "dinner:" followed by a list — tells me exactly what goes where. Without that, I'll place them where they seem to fit best.
Send as much or as little as you like. Some clients send several pages — more than could ever fit in one event — and I play from the list, reading which ones the room wants. Others send a handful. Both work.
One wedding I'll never forget requested exactly one song — their first dance. Ceremony, cocktail hour, and the whole reception were left entirely to me. I read the crowd, and everyone had a great night. So if you're staring at a blank page thinking you should have opinions about all of this: you really don't have to. "You choose" is a perfectly good answer.
Do-not-play list
Entirely optional, and most events never have one — playing family-friendly by default tends to cover it. If there's an artist or a song you'd rather not hear, just say, and it won't be played.
A simple timeline
A time and what's happening — that's it. High-level is the goal; I don't need it to the minute. Something like "6:00 guests arrive · 6:30 dinner · 7:45 first dance · 8:00 dancing" already tells me everything I need to run the night.
This matters most when the order is fixed — a ceremony followed by a cocktail hour and reception, for instance. Weddings tend to be the most specific, but plenty of other events have moments that have to land in the right order, and it's worth writing those down too.
If a moment needs a particular song, note it. Introductions, special dances, cake cutting, bouquet toss, the last song of the night, a processional or recessional — any moment where a specific track matters. Put it next to that moment on the timeline, in your song list, or both. Both is genuinely fine; I'd rather see it twice than not at all.
And if anything's unclear, I'll ask. You don't have to get this right first time, or think of everything. Send me what you've got — if something looks like it's missing, or I'm not sure what you mean, I'll come back to you well before the day.
Introductions
If people are being introduced, I need who and in what order — written the way you'd like them announced.
I'll always confirm with you just before. Right before introductions I check the order is still correct and go through how each name is pronounced. Plans shift on the day, and nobody should have their name read wrong at their own event.
However you want to send it
There's no form to fill in and no format to match. Use whatever you're already comfortable with — these are just the ones people reach for most:
- Typed straight into an email
- A document — Word, PDF, Google Doc
- A spreadsheet — Excel, Google Sheets
- A Spotify playlist link
- A mix of these, whatever suits each part
- Something else you already use — just send it
If a format works for you, it works for me — I'd rather you spend the time on your event than on formatting a list.
Not booked yet? Here's what to expect from first message to last dance, or check your date.