Every custom song starts the same way: a short questionnaire about your people and your moment. After 800+ songs, I can tell within seconds which briefs will sing — and it always comes down to specifics. Here are the five ingredients that matter most.
1. The names, exactly as you say them
Nicknames, pet names, the way grandma shortens your name — write them the way you say them out loud. A chorus built on “Pumpkin” hits differently than one built on a formal name nobody uses.
2. Five to ten concrete memories
Not “we had great times” but “burnt pancakes every Sunday in the blue kitchen.” Concrete images become verses; vague feelings can’t. Aim for moments with a place, a sense, and a punchline.
3. The line everyone quotes
Every family has one — dad’s catchphrase, the toast from the wedding, the text thread motto. That line is often your chorus. Put it in the brief word for word.
4. The feeling, in one sentence
Joyful? Tender? Funny with a lump-in-the-throat ending? One sentence about the feeling tells me the tempo, the key, and whether the guitar gets strummed or fingerpicked.
5. The moment it’ll be played
First dance, surprise party entrance, slideshow finale — knowing the room helps me pace the song so the big line lands exactly when the room goes quiet.
That’s it. Fifteen minutes with a coffee, and you’ll have everything I need to write a song that sounds like your people. Pick a package and the questionnaire lands in your inbox right after ordering.