Wednesday 10 September 2014

The Importance of a Playlist

For me, music is a massively important part of my life. For many of my friends this is also the case, and so whenever I am planning an event I will always, always, plan a playlist to go with it. I am actually quite annoying with it, as I get massive rage-eyes if someone tries to skip a track or play their own music. Sure it's irritating to some (most), but I know best on this one. One of my most-fondly remembered playlists is the one I created for a friend's wedding. They had decided to not have an overly fancy day, and for the reception had hired a local restaurant. As they weren't having a DJ or band I offered to make them a couple of playlists (one for during dinner and one for after) and they both went down a storm - the dinner one in particular. The difficulty with this was that it needed to be about five hours long, and so I added favourite songs of both of them, some non-cheesy love songs, as well as a few nostalgic numbers to suit the various ages of the guests. After the couple's first dance I got the second playlist started - starting with Kiss by Prince this definitely got the party going!

I am of the opinion that the music played can make or break a party, and so here are a few of the stories behind some of my favourite playlists (with handy spotify links!)


I am not a fan of Christmas music. I think it really stems back from when I used to work in a hotel events team and so for a solid 6-weeks every year we would hear the same songs night after night after night. So, for me, a Christmas playlist is less about those instantly recognisable cheese-filled numbers and more about classics, covers and Croce (Jim - a family favourite). I also had to include my actual favourite Christmas song - The Power of Love by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (yes, it counts). I made this for Christmas last year, but it will definitely be making a reappearance this time around!


Earlier this year I planned (and pulled off!) a hen-do in Stratford-Upon-Avon for my oldest friend. The whole weekend was a great success, but one of the things that people have mentioned to me since is how much they loved the playlist over the weekend. The main reason I created this was because we were having dinner in the house on the Saturday night and so would need some background music, but I actually loved it so much that I chucked it on at a couple of other points throughout the weekend. As a hen-do is all about celebrating the bride-to-be's single life, most of the songs I put on the playlist where ones that we used to listen to in our bedrooms when we were teenagers, with a couple of more modern ones. The hen loved it, especially as lots of the songs were ones we hadn't listened to in years. This is one I have downloaded to my phone so can listen to while I'm power-walking around!


For a baby shower I organised last year I created a game of baby bingo. For this I put together a playlist of songs with the word baby in the title (foregoing a few - I'm looking at you, Baby Got Back). The bingo turned out to be a huge amount of fun, and the playlist was just the right level of classics and cheese to continue to be our soundtrack for the rest of the afternoon.


For my friend's wedding I made her a little playlist of love songs for her and hubby to listen to afterwards. I tried to pick songs that were a bit different (again leaning towards our teenage indie tendencies!) but still utterly utterly lovely, and I think I got it just about right with the ones I chose. Maybe I'll use this one at my own wedding if that day ever arises!

Anyone else with me on this one?

2 comments:

  1. Some really thoughtful ideas! Think I may borrow the hen do playlist idea

    Suze | LuxuryColumnist

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    Replies
    1. Go ahead! Is definitely a useful thing to have in your back pocket x

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