Wedding Dinner Playlist: Gorgeous Background Music For Your Reception

3 months ago 176

Claire McGowran

A wedding dinner playlist is all about setting the right ambiance for your reception. You want wedding music that is not so loud or hectic that your guests can't chat, mingle and enjoy their meal, but not so low key that the energy in the room starts to lull and your mate from work falls into a food coma.

It's a real balancing act and usually it's up to you to provide the music as you won't have musicians on hand like you do at your ceremony, drinks reception or after party. Which is where our ready-made wedding dinner playlist on Spotify comes in.

Your wedding dinner music is an opportunity to include some of your favourite songs that didn't make the cut for your ceremony, or some of your guests' requested tunes that weren't quite dancefloor-worthy.

Below, we've rounded up other tips for what makes for really great dinner music.

Tips for Choosing & Playing Your Wedding Dinner Background Music

Background music doesn't have to be bland or soulless, it just needs to be inoffensive enough to have a conversation over
Jazz, blues, and swing music all make great background tunes, they're cool and sophisticated without taking over
Likewise, chill out electronic music, singer songwriter-type tunes, and fun rock songs, are perfect if you're looking for something a little more contemporary that ties in with your tastes
A theme is a good idea for creating an atmosphere, examples include, all Irish music, golden oldies, Spanish guitar, or Ratpack tunes
Avoid anything with explicit language or that suddenly gets loud or heavy mid-way through the song

Slow songs are fine but don't put too many in a row or the energy in the room may start to wane
Listen to the music at your favourite restaurant next time you go, chances are there's something about it that makes you enjoy the vibe and the food even more!
Make your playlist longer than you expect you'll need, reception dinners are usually at least two hours long
If you use Spotify or another streaming service, make sure the songs are available to play offline in case coverage or wifi is poor on the day
Assign someone in your wedding party or a trusted guest to make sure the playlist is connected to the audio system at your venue (and turn it off for the speeches!)

The Ultimate Wedding Dinner Playlist

Steal your favourite songs from our list, or use the whole thing as is; we've make a handy wedding dinner playlist on Spotify with 75 absolute classics to make compiling your own background tunes for your big day a breeze!

Looking for more wedding music ideas? Check out all our essential wedding music guides and playlists!