Here's what no one tells you about planning a wedding: you're going to have to make tons of song choices — the ceremony music, parent dance, first dance, and of course, the video soundtrack. It takes time to research all of this, and if music is important to you (it was for us!), check that your videographer offers song selections you like. There are some legal restraints you need to be aware of.
"Nowadays studios must purchase a music license from the artist they want to use," Thompson said. "By purchasing music licenses legally, this protects studios and their clients from any unnecessary copyright issues and is a method of supporting working musicians and artists that were once not properly compensated for their music." So if you don't want nondescript melody (re: elevator music), find a studio that has purchased the rights to use songs you actually know and love.
Finally, when picking an actual song, pay attention to these cues: "The music chosen should be able to help emphasize the visual story and support any natural audio like the vows, without turning the edit into a music video," she explained. To keep it from being cheesy, make sure it's not edited to match every beat of the song.
