There are a million and a half things to take in to consideration when planning and putting together your wedding.
Do you want a priest or a non-denominational public official? Do you want to get married inside or outside? What wedding gifts are you going to ask for and what wedding accessories are you going to wear? One of the most important aspects you should start planning as early as possible is your wedding's music.
Music is one of those things that we don't necessarily think of first when planning our marriages.
After all, while we all know that the music is important, it just seems like there are so many other higher-priority things to take in to consideration- like the dress or the venue.
Still, the music you choose will set the tone for the whole affair, and affect people emotionally far more than you might think.
Consider how music works in movies.
It keeps things moving, it transports the characters around and connects them even when they are nowhere near each other, and most importantly it carries the emotions of what you're seeing.
It cues you in on how to feel and what to feel, and it does all this while being mostly imperceptible.
Most of the time when watching a movie we don't think about how great the soundtrack is until after it's over.
All of these things are true for music at weddings too.
The music paces the ceremony, it creates subtle and not so subtle shifts in feeling as the different phases of the ceremony move along, it keeps everything moving forward and feeling propulsive, and it cues you in and deepens what you are feeling.
While it might just go on in the background, the music you choose will have a significant effect on how you and everyone else feel about the whole day.
One of the biggest decisions you'll have to make regarding the music is whether you want to go the traditional route, or whether you want to do something new and different.
If you're going for a traditional wedding, then some sort of small group of stringed instruments will work best.
You can go for a full quartet, or you can do a smaller combination such as a cello and a guitar.
Whatever you choose, just make sure they are versed in and comfortable playing the standards such as Canon in D.
Most string players will be just fine with those songs, though sometimes it's best to simply hire a band that is accustomed to playing weddings.
If you decide to go the non-traditional route, just make sure that the whole ceremony reflects this.
There's not much sense in having everyone walking calmly down the aisle in their finest formal wear, if the music is going to be hard rock or punk.
Choosing you're the band for your reception is a little bit easier.
You really only need to make sure about one thing with them- that they can play both low key music and fast dance music.
You want some low key contemporary background music playing while everyone is eating and mingling and talking, but you want to make sure there's something to dance to as the party picks up.
Most jazz or swing bands are great for this, as they can easily tackle both sides of the musical spectrum.