How to Make a Homemade Wedding Music CD

I attended a family wedding last fall, and I must say, I was impressed with how well it turned out. You see, the bride and the groom were paying for the shindig themselves and their budget was real tight. They wanted to make their special day memorable, but they had to look for ways they could cut costs throughout their wedding. When it came to hiring a disc jockey to supply the music for the day, they just couldn't fit it into their budget. So, they did the next best thing- they created their own wedding music CD. You can too, if you're looking for an inexpensive way to provide music for your wedding.

Let me start by telling you about the basic parts of a wedding and the music they needed. A wedding day is filled with music from beginning to end. The first music is the "Prelude." This selection of songs is played approximately thirty minutes before the actual ceremony begins. If your wedding is in a church, the music should be reverent and light. The wedding I attended was held at a small public hall. Therefore, the music could have been anything the bride and the groom wanted. They chose some light, romantic pop rock tunes that set the mood.

Then, the "Processional" was played and the bridal party started to enter into the room. The songs for this part of the ceremony were "music only". The young bride and groom chose another selection of slower, romantic ballads to accompany this part of their day. The songs were played as the groom, matron of honor, best man, flower girl, et cetera, walked down the aisle.

Finally, there was a dramatic change in the music. It almost gave you goose bumps because it created a feeling of climax in the room. You knew the bride was getting ready to enter. I noticed that the abrupt switch to The Wedding March- which is also called, "Here Comes the Bride"- drew everyone's attention to the archway in the back of the hall. Exactly what the planners had in mind, I'm sure. Once the bride arrived at the front of the room with her groom and the others, the music died down to a hush. The "Processional" music then ended.

During the ceremony, the only sounds you could hear were the voices of the mayor performing the service and the bride and groom. They didn't have a Unity candle, and they didn't give each other personal vows. Those are two mini events they could have had a song or two played for. And finally, once the couple was pronounced "man and wife", they walked back down the aisle, followed by the bridal party. The "Recessional" music began to play over the speakers again.

From that time on out, the wedding reception was held right there at the hall. The music was a mixture of light, romantic pop rock tunes, romantic ballads, and they even threw in some rowdy country songs for fun.

Now that you have an idea of the agenda of their wedding, I can tell you how they made their own homemade wedding music CD. They planned out the parts, such as the prelude, processional, et cetera. Then, the couple picked out the songs they wanted played at the different parts. They went through their own collections of music, listened to the radio, and checked the Internet for inspiration. Once they had their music list made up, they simply recorded the songs they had chosen onto a CD. Actually, it turned out to be several CD's. The CD's were played on a portable boombox. A friend of the groom took the responsibility of being the "DJ." He held the remote control for the boombox. Then, whenever a song needed to be played, the friend hit the "play" button and the CD played the music. Once the song ended, he either stopped the CD or let it play the next song. What an ingenious idea! He could also control the volume. That's how made "The Wedding March" go from a loud song to a quiet hush.

Finally, during the reception, the DJ let the CD's play on their own. He only had to change them from time to time. The friend did hold onto the remote control, though, for times when someone wanted to make a toast or whatever, and they wanted the room to be quiet.

So, just by using some technology, some prerecorded music, a remote control, and proper timing, this low budget wedding was a hit!