Song requests on the wedding RSVP: 18 wording ideas and what to do next

Why add a song request line to your RSVP?

The main reason is not the list of songs. It is the message: you want your guests to dance, and you care what they like. A guest who writes a song on the card has already pictured themselves on the dance floor, weeks before the wedding.

It also gives you a few useful clues. A handful of answers is often enough to spot the song your college friends will not let go of, or a hometown favorite your DJ might not have guessed. And it is a friendly conversation starter for guests who do not know each other yet.

How do you word a song request on an RSVP card?

Keep it to one short line followed by a blank, and ask for one song rather than “songs.” Match the tone to the rest of your stationery. Copy any of these as they are or tweak them to sound like you.

Classic

• “We would love to know your song request: ______”
• “One song that will get you on the dance floor: ______”
• “Help us build the playlist. Your song request: ______”
• “The song you would love to hear at our reception: ______”
• “Kindly request a song for the celebration: ______”
• “Our DJ is taking requests. Yours: ______”

Casual

• “Name a song that gets you dancing: ______”
• “I can’t wait to dance to: ______”
• “Your go-to dance floor song: ______”
• “What should the DJ play for you? ______”
• “The song that always makes you turn the volume up: ______”
• “Tell us your jam and we will pass it to the DJ: ______”

Funny

• “I promise to dance if you play: ______”
• “I will be singing way too loud to: ______”
• “My signature dance move needs this song: ______”
• “The song that will make me embarrass myself on the dance floor: ______”
• “Guaranteed to get my whole table up: ______”
• “Fair warning, I will dance to: ______”

A tip on the funny ones: they get more answers, because they read like an invitation to play rather than a form to fill in. Just keep the line short enough to fit the card without shrinking the font.

Where should the song request go?

On the RSVP card. The classic spot, right under the meal choice. Leave room for one song and an artist name, since plenty of song titles are shared by several artists.

On your wedding website’s RSVP form. Many wedding website builders let you add a custom question to the form. Set it up as a short text field, ask for one song and include the artist in the placeholder. Online answers are also easier to hand over, because you can export them instead of typing up cards.

On the invitation itself. Usually not the best place. The invitation carries the essentials, and a song line there tends to feel crowded. A small note like “Song requests welcome on your RSVP” is enough if you want to mention it.

On the tables, on the day. Paper song request cards at each place setting are a popular idea, but someone has to collect them, read the handwriting and sort them. A table card with a QR code does the same job without the pile of paper. Here is where to place a song request QR code at a wedding.

What can an RSVP song request not do?

It is worth being honest about the limits, so the line does what it is good at and you do not expect it to build your whole playlist.

• Few answers. Many guests skip the line, and couples who reply for a whole family usually write one song for four people. The same thing happens as with a shared playlist sent out weeks before the wedding: the usual few take part.
• No votes. Every answer counts the same, so you cannot tell which songs the whole room wants and which ones only one guest loves.
• One guest can flood it. An open text box on a website invites someone to paste in fifteen songs.
• Songs you would veto. Somebody will write the one song you swore would never play at your wedding.
• Taste from months ago. Answers arrive weeks or months before the wedding, not on the night, when guests actually know what they want to dance to.

What should you do with the answers?

Do not try to turn them into a playlist yourselves. Collect them in one list, song and artist, and hand it to your DJ as a guide to your crowd. Then do three quick checks:

• Cross out anything on your wedding do-not-play list before it reaches the DJ.
• Merge the few that really matter to you into your must-play list, and mark the rest as “play it if it fits.”
• Leave the timing to your DJ. When a song plays matters as much as which song it is.

If you have not split those decisions with your DJ yet, this guide to wedding music planning with your DJ covers who decides what.

How can every guest request and vote on the night?

The complement to the RSVP line is collecting requests during dinner, when every guest is seated with their phone on the table. That is how TuParty works: guests scan a QR code at their table and request and vote for songs from their phone, with no app to download and no sign-up. It is designed for guests of every age, grandparents included.

Your DJ sees the list ranked by votes, approves or rejects each song and decides when it plays. TuParty never plays or queues music on its own. The songs on your do-not-play list are blocked, so guests do not even see them. The vote solves what the RSVP cannot: if one guest requests fifteen songs and nobody backs them, they stay at the bottom.

TuParty is used by DJs, so the easiest way to get it is to ask yours. See how the wedding song request app works, or tell us who your DJ is and we will reach out to them.

How do the RSVP line and the QR code work together?

They are not either-or. The RSVP line sparks interest weeks ahead; the QR code at the tables builds the real list on the night. Together they look like this:

• On the RSVP: a fun song line, plus a note such as “More requests at dinner. Look for the QR code on your table.”
• Before the wedding: pass the RSVP answers to your DJ as an early guide.
• At dinner: guests request and vote from the QR code, including the songs they wrote on the card.
• On the dance floor: your DJ plays from a list the whole room helped shape.

Guests who are stuck on what to write can borrow from our editorial list of good wedding songs to request, from sing-alongs to line dances.