The Music Timeline For An Indian Wedding Abroad.

For an Indian wedding abroad, book the DJ and MC twelve months or more ahead, share every function and venue soon after, and agree the equipment with your planner and the local AV supplier before anyone books a flight. The sangeet mixes, the baraat plan and your must-play lists follow in the last few months, and the final run sheet is signed off about two weeks before you travel.

We have flown to Indian weddings since 2014, when our first destination wedding ran for three days on Lake Como: the sangeet, the ceremony and the reception. Since then Prit Nasha has played weddings in Tuscany and Santorini, at the Ritz-Carlton Tenerife, Abama, and in Toronto, and in October 2026 a three-day Indian wedding near Barcelona, then a two-day wedding in Seville a week later. This is the order we plan the music in, with that Barcelona wedding as the worked example.

12 months or more: book the DJ and MC

Book the music as soon as the venue and dates are fixed. Abroad, ask for the same team at every function, so the DJ who plays your reception has already met your families at the welcome party. With us, Prit Nasha is on the decks and our MC is on the mic at every function. 50% secures the date, and the balance is due 30 days before the event.

Ask for one quote that covers the whole trip. Our guide to what a destination wedding DJ quote should include lists the lines to look for.

9 to 12 months: share the functions and venues

Send your DJ the full list: every function, its date, its venue, the rough guest numbers and whether it is indoors, outdoors or on a terrace. Include the smaller events too, such as a haldi by the pool or a welcome dinner, because each needs its own sound and its own music.

For the wedding near Barcelona, that list ran over three days and three venues: a welcome party on a hotel terrace by the sea, a sangeet at a masía outside the city, and a wedding day with a baraat, the ceremony, the reception and an after-party that ran until 2am. Each venue has its own space, power and rules, so the plan for each one starts from this list.

6 to 9 months: the planner call and the local AV

Get your planner, your DJ and, if one is involved, the local AV supplier on one call. Agree the speakers, booth, microphones and lighting for each space, where power comes from, and who confirms it all with the venue. We agree the equipment with your planner and venue before anyone books a flight, and sound and lighting can be supplied locally to our specification.

Ask each venue for its curfew and sound limit now, not in the final month. Italian villas in particular often stop outdoor music early, and the answer shapes every running order that follows. Travel and accommodation for the team are agreed up front in the same window.

3 to 6 months: sangeet mixes and the baraat

The sangeet

If a choreographer is preparing family performances, agree a date for the final mixes and send them to the DJ as audio files named in running order. Late edits are hard to check from another country, so set the deadline well before you travel and keep a copy yourselves. Decide where the performances sit in the evening and what the DJ plays the moment the last one ends. Our sangeet DJ page and sangeet playlist and running order guide go through it in detail.

The baraat

The venue decides what a baraat can be. Ask your planner whether a dhol is allowed, whether amplified music can play outside, whether a horse, a car or another vehicle can be used, where the route runs and what time it must finish. Near Barcelona, the baraat ran on a pickup truck with a dhol player. The baraat music guide covers how the dhol and the DJ share the procession.

1 to 3 months: must-plays and timings

Send a must-play and a do-not-play list for each function, not one list for the trip. The songs for a seaside welcome party are not the songs for the reception floor, and the older relatives at the mehndi may want different music from the friends at the after-party.

Set the timings around the light and the curfew. On a terrace, plan the evening around sunset: drinks and photographs as the light drops, then dinner, then the dancing once it is dark. A Santorini terrace or a lakeside villa on Lake Como looks its best in that hour, and nobody wants speeches at the moment the sun goes down. Then work back from the curfew, so the night peaks before the music has to stop or move indoors. Overtime abroad is £200 per hour where the venue allows extra time, and we agree it with you before we continue.

Two weeks before: the final run sheet

Sign off one run sheet for the whole trip: every function's start and finish, entrances, speeches, performances, the first dance, the cake and the last song, with a name and phone number for each venue and the AV supplier. Add the pronunciation of every name the MC will announce. We sign off the music plan in writing about two weeks before and work to that run sheet at every function.

The trip and the week after

On arrival, check the equipment with the local supplier before the first function, not on the night. After the last function, settle anything agreed on the night, such as overtime, and send your planner and suppliers any feedback while it is fresh. If you would like the playlists from each function, ask your DJ.

Related reading: What a destination wedding DJ quote should include · Sangeet playlist and running order · Baraat songs and music · Destination Wedding DJ · Sangeet DJ · Wedding DJ prices