cocktail hour music

We have a DJ but he will not be playing our cocktail hour. We are having an acoustic set being played by a local performer. He is a really talented guy and we are so excited to have live music that hour.

I'm doing Beatles, early 60's love songs type stuff during cocktail hour, Sam Cooke and the like

We are nerds and had movie scores (mostly John Williams) playing during our cocktail hour (e.g. Indiana Jones).

Just let the DJ handle it.

We did jazzy background music for cocktail hour and a mix of mostly pop, hip hop, and throwbacks at the reception.

We are having our DJ play music with a Crooner feel. I love that style and feel that it is light and breezy for a cocktail hour.

We're having our cello/flute duo for both our ceremony and cocktail hour. I plan to discuss with them directly, but am thinking happy, pop songs like The Beatles/'60s/'70s music, mixed in with some modern songs and classical instrumental ones too. Don't know how that will go over, but that's why I'll talk to them about it.

Saving the crooners and certain special mid-tempo pop songs for dinner.

Please don't stress about it. People barely hear or notice the cocktail hour music. Just tell the DJ what kind of music you like and let him/her take it from there. As for reception, most DJs will ask or send a questionnaire as to the type of music you like, some songs you definitely want played, songs (or artists/styles) you absolutely do not want to hear , and songs you want for certain moments (if you are having them) like bouquet toss, cake slicing, first dance, etc. Let the DJ do his/her job - you have enough to think about.

Our DJ handled the ceremony and reception only (he came with the venue and he was fantastic). I programmed the cocktail hour and dinner - our venue had an ipod hookup. This was something I really enjoyed doing but to be honest, I never even noticed the music during cocktail and dinner, I was so busy talking, mingling, eating and enjoying the moment. For cocktail hour, I picked more upbeat songs that expressed our personality running the gamut from Beasty Boys to to Bruno Mars to Chuck Berry. For dinner I chose slower, quieter songs. I did include Dean Martin's "That's Amore" and everyone just started singing along. For reception, we had a mix of old skool hip hop, 70s disco and soul, 80s pop and rock and of course, Macklemore - LOL!

We're doing a Van Morrison cocktail hour. It's something my dad and I have always listened to together, so I thought it was a nice touch. Honestly, I don't remember if there was music at any of the cocktail hours I've been to at past weddings. It's not a major component of the evening.