We love helping couples tick items off their never-ending wedding to-do list and this is one job that's often only remembered at the last minute - the drinks reception playlist. While there are lots of great musicians and wedding bands who provide laid-back drinks reception music, making a Spotify playlist on your phone, hooked up to your venue's sound-system works as a budget-friendly alternative, or this could inspire the kinds of songs you would like them to play as your guests are mingling.

And to take the work out of compiling your own cocktail hour playlist - and to get another job ticked off the list - here's one we made earlier just for you.

Image by Anna G via One Fab Day

Our Handy Wedding Drinks Reception Playlist

Much like our wedding dinner playlist, the perfect drinks reception playlist is all about keeping things relaxed, upbeat, and a little bit romantic. You want background music that will create an atmosphere, without taking over - people still need to be able to hear themselves speak.

To help you create the perfect mix, we've put together our own tried and tested drinks reception playlist on Spotify, take from it what suits the vibe of your wedding, or download the whole thing and use it for your own big day!

Image by Hello Sugar via One Fab Day

Tips for Making a Drinks Reception Playlist

• Think of the setting for your drinks reception, and let that dictate the music. An elegant hotel lobby? Go for light jazz. A country house garden? Something upbeat and summery. A pub? Maybe some trad music or a singer songwriter vibe.
• You do want your playlist to have a hint of romance, but avoid anything too slow or moody, you want to create a party atmosphere.
• Keep your playlist a little timeless, you don't want too many 'trendy' songs people are sick of hearing on the radio - alternative tunes and classics are a safe bet.
• Avoid any songs with explicit language or that suddenly gets loud or heavy mid-way through the song.
• Make your playlist longer than you think you need - a cocktail hour is rarely just an hour, you never know how long you might it for and it might get reused again for your dinner, or between speeches.
• If you're using Spotify or another streaming service, make sure the songs are available to play offline in case coverage or wifi is poor on the day - send it to one or two friends to download too, in case there are phone issues.
• Assign the venue coordinator, someone in your wedding party or a trusted guest to make sure the playlist is connected to the audio system at your venue, ideally before guests arrive.

Get more wedding music ideas here and book the best wedding DJs here!