Ceremony Day Pre-Flight Checklist
Twelve checks to run before any ceremony, the way a pilot runs a pre-flight. Work down it in order. By the time you reach the last box, the one thing that genuinely cannot be redone will simply work.
Short version: before the ceremony, download every track so it plays fully offline, set a fade on each song, confirm the speaker connection with your venue, charge the device and pack a backup, then lock the playlist in Live Mode and do one full rehearsal run.
Download the PDFFree, no sign-up. Print it, or keep it on your phone.
In the week before
Sort once, never worry again
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Every track is downloaded to the device.
Nothing in the running order is streaming. Confirm each song is stored offline, not just saved to a cloud library.
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A fade is set on every song.
The processional, the signing tracks, and the recessional can each be brought down smoothly on cue, not stopped dead or left to run on.
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The full ceremony has had a real run-through.
Played start to finish through a speaker, at the volume you will use, listening for tracks that sit too loud or too quiet against each other.
The night before
Power and backup
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The playback device is charged to full.
And it stays on charge overnight, not unplugged at 80 percent.
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A charged power bank and cable are packed.
An hour of screen and audio drains a battery faster than you expect. A top-up between the processional and the recessional should be possible.
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The same music is loaded on a backup device.
A second phone or tablet with the identical running order, ready for a two-minute switch if the main device fails.
On the morning
Lock the device down
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The device is in airplane mode.
Bluetooth turned back on by itself only if it feeds the speaker. Nothing else is reaching the internet.
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Every notification is silenced.
Calls, messages, alarms, calendar alerts, and app sounds are all off. The device is a music player today, not a phone.
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Volume is set on the actual speaker, in the actual room.
Not guessed from last night. Set it where the front row and the back row both hear it cleanly.
Just before you walk in
The final sixty seconds
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A final readiness pass is clear.
Every track downloaded, every cue set, volume confirmed, screen ready to lock: one last sweep while there is still time to fix anything. (Wedding Player runs this whole pass as a single Ready to Go Live check.)
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The screen is locked for playback.
Once the music starts, an accidental tap, a swipe, or a curious child cannot skip, pause, or close it.
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One person knows exactly what happens, or it runs itself.
Either the operator is briefed on every cue, or Go Live is set to advance through the ceremony on its own so nobody has to manage it live.
The shortcut
Wedding Player turns this checklist into the app itself: offline playback so signal does not matter, a Ready to Go Live check that flags anything not ready, fades cued to each moment, Go Live running the order on its own, and a locked screen nothing can interrupt. See how it works on the professionals page.
Made by a dad on music duty.