The best weddings I have played were not the ones with the biggest budgets. They were the ones where the couple briefed me properly. Two weeks before the day, we sat down — sometimes over coffee, sometimes over a video call from the other side of Europe — and by the end I knew their room almost as well as they did. Here is exactly what I ask every couple to share, and why each piece matters.
Your must-plays and never-plays
These two lists are the backbone of the night. The must-plays tell me your emotional anchors: the song from your first road trip, the track your university friends will scream to, the Greek or Italian or Congolese classic that will pull an entire family branch onto the floor. I do not need fifty songs — ten to twenty is perfect, and I will find the right moment for each.
The never-play list is just as important, and I follow it without exception. Sometimes there is a story behind a song, and I do not need to know it. If it is on the list, it does not get played — not even as a guest request, not even "just the chorus".
The real timeline — and where it will bend
Give me the schedule your planner or venue has, then tell me which parts are sacred and which are flexible. In my experience, dinner in Belgium runs 30 to 60 minutes longer than planned, almost every time. That is fine — as long as I know whether your priority is protecting the party time at the end or keeping the speeches at their planned slot. A good DJ manages the evening's energy around the delays; a briefed DJ does it without ever asking you a question on the night.
Speeches and microphones
This is the detail couples forget most often. Tell me:
- How many speeches, in which order, and roughly how long.
- Who is nervous. I will quietly coach them on mic technique before they stand up — hold it close, speak across it, breathe.
- Any surprises — a video, a song performed live, a flash mob. I have accompanied all of these, and they only work when the DJ knows.
- Languages. At Brussels weddings I regularly hand the mic across French, Dutch, English and Greek in one evening. If announcements need to be multilingual, say so.
I always bring wireless microphones and manage them myself, so nobody's uncle is fighting a cable during his toast. If you have booked a full package with photo and video, this briefing also lets the videographer be in position before the tears start, not after.
Your room, mapped
A short guest-list geography helps enormously: which tables are the dancers, which side of the family loves which era, whether there are children who need an early moment on the floor, whether grandparents are staying late. When I know the room, the first hour of dancing is not an experiment — it is a plan.
The two-week checklist
- Must-play list (10–20 songs) and never-play list.
- First dance — final version, exact edit if you have one.
- Entrance music for the couple, and for the wedding party if applicable.
- Timeline with sacred vs flexible moments marked.
- Speech order, speaker names and any surprises.
- Cake, bouquet, and any traditions I should cue music for.
- Venue contact and sound restrictions, if any.
- The last song. Choose it together — it is the memory everyone leaves with.
Then let go
Here is the paradox: the more you tell me beforehand, the less you will think about music on the day. That is the goal. You should be dancing, not directing.
If you are planning a wedding in Belgium or beyond and want to talk through your own briefing, my door is open — start on my wedding page or send me a message via the contact form.