Free or cheap wedding reception music idea:  

After Alannis Morrisette said she was going to use her ipod for music at her wedding reception, many brides are opting to use their Ipods as well.  Much cheaper than a DJ, you have complete control over the songs played. Get all the details on how to use your ipod to do your own wedding music for your wedding reception music here. 

Instructions & links to what You will need:

1. An ipod. How to get a free ipod, or buying a discounted ipod

2. itunes or other ipod compatible MP3 Music. How to get free or cheap music

3. The special wire cables to hook up to the reception halls' speakers (listed below)

HOW TO GET A FREE IPOD OR A DISCOUNT IPOD

1. Win a free ipod doing searches at Blingo

2. FREE IPODS Get a free Ipod shuffle when you sign up for AmericanPlatinum - Everyone is Approved, no credit check.

3. Get a free Ipod shuffle when you sign up for a OptimumPlatinum card. Everyone is Approved & get a free ipod Shuffle as a promo gift. 

4. Apple iPod nano free Offer - holds 3 days worth of music

5. Free Video Ipod offer. Sign up for offers like a free Blockbuster trial. Get the Blockbuster trial for free w/ code FRIENDS.

6. free ipod offer Sign up for one offer, then 5 friends (bridesmaids, etc) sign up for one offer and you get a free ipod.

• DOUBLE FREEBIE: The Entertainment Connections trial offer for $1 gives a free $25 Walmart gift certificate. If 5 friends do this offer, it costs $6 total for a free ipod and the 6 of you get a total of $150 of free Walmart gift certificates (use for wedding do it yourself ideas like paper & ink for wedding invitations, wedding flowers, beverages, etc. Roses and Lilies are available in bulk at Sam's Club, who takes Walmart GC's. Get a bakery sheet cake to supplement your wedding cake)

• Buying a discount ipod, find the best price at:

  • Find Cheap i-Pods at Overstock Auctions - ipods start at 99 cents. They are also great for bridesmaids gifts, wedding jewelry, Hermes bags and more.

  • discount ipods at ebay (Free $1500 ebay gift card offer here)

  • Apple Store ipods (you get free engraving & free shipping.) Prices from $99 up

    •  Limited supply of refurbished iPods at the Apple Store for an extra discount

• Amazon ipod store has the best selection, (Free $500 Amazon, Buy, or Overstock Gift Card offer here)

• NOTE - if you want to have a mixer or change tempo - you might want a second ipod & playlist

  HOW TO GET FREE OR CHEAP MUSIC FOR YOUR IPOD FOR THE WEDDING RECEPTION

1.  Get 5 Song Downloads with your FREE 14 day Rhapsody Trial

2. FREE MUSIC Free unlimited music downloads for 30 days from AOL. Just download all you songs & cancel before 30 days is up. Since its free, you can keep your other internet service at the same time

3. free 2 week trial at eMusic. Get 50 FREE MP3s that are ipod compatible. Over 700,000 songs.  Mix and burn your own CDs. 

4. This website has Unlimited Downloads of Music, Movies, Games, Software & More

5. Yahoo! Music Unlimited - Free Trial. Ipods do not accept Yahoo tracks, so convert them or use a different kind of MP3 player. They have over a million songs.

6. Get a free $250 itunes gift card with the offer listed in #3. Create your own playlist for 99¢ a song, this is 252 songs, more than enough for your wedding reception.  (That's 8 to 12 hours of music, if each song is 2-3 minutes each)

7. Get 500 free itunes Music Downloads by participating in a special promotion 

8. CHEAP MUSIC You can rip your CD's to make your playlist. If don't know how to do this, there is software to make it easy.

   • Free gift certificate offers to stores with CD's - free $500 Costco, Sam's Club, Target, or Wal-Mart gift card 

   • BMG Music Save $197 when you get 12 CDs for the price of 1 (you get 12 Cd's free, & pay for 1 w/in a year & cancel) 

   • BMG Music - same offer but no credit cared is needed

   • Download Dance music on iTunes. You can also find a specific song in their search.  Download Jazz on iTunes.

   • Come back and get the Free Download: Single of the Week at iTunes. Usually independent music

9. itunes certificates go cheap at ebay

The special wire cables to hook up to the reception halls stereo equipment

• Hook up the ipod to a stereo receiver or to powered speakers via a mini stereo to RCA cable (about $12 at BestBuy) - 7' Pro Series Gold "Y" Audio Cable - F8V235-GLD

• For good measure, also get a "male-to-female" RCA extension cable that gives you additional options for setting up the ipod (Source: Modern Bride Dec/Jan 2006 issue)

• Other than the MP3 player itself and the music- it should cost less than $30 and your venue should be able to provide speakers, but do inquire in advance to make sure. 

WEDDING do it yourself NOTES

• The sound of an ipod hooked up to speakers is actually quite good.  

• Many do it yourself wedding ideas can be time consuming or require you to do work on your wedding day, or require some creative talent (arranging flowers yourself, making your own invitations or wedding cake, etc) but arranging a playlist does not take a lot of time so anyone can do it. 

• Make sure to get input from friends and family so you can surprise them with their favorite songs at the reception. 

• You will need to get someone to announce your entrance into the reception site as you do not have a DJ, but it is easy to find a gregarious friend of the family for that. 

• A family friend on teen can help plug in the music before guests arrive at the reception site. 

• The commentary of a DJ may or may not be something you welcome. He might talk and be annoying, or he might be good at getting people dancing. Depending on if the person who announces your entrance into the reception could also do the announcing of cutting the cake, father-daughter dance, etc. you may want to appoint someone in charge of the ipod. 

• Make sure to make a CD backup of your playlist.

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