You’re getting married, and you want your big day to be the magical experience you’ve always dreamed of. There’s so much that goes into planning a wedding – finding the perfect venue, choosing the ideal dress, deciding upon food and wine – that it’s easy to overlook one of the most crucial factors in a successful wedding: the entertainment.
If you get your wedding entertainment wrong, your first few hours of married life could turn out to be a damp squib, with your guests counting down the minutes before they’re allowed to leave without looking rude. If you get it right, you’ll be partying with friends and loved ones into the early hours of the next day, making memories that’ll last a lifetime (providing you go easy on the champers!).
To kickstart your wedding reception party, there’s nothing that compares to hiring a live wedding band. What makes live bands so good? Read on to discover the top ten reasons to hire a live wedding band.
1 For the Love of Live Music
There’s no doubt about it, listening to live music performed by expert musicians is an unrivalled experience. Why else would millions of music lovers flock to gigs, concerts, and festivals every year? Feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and share unforgettable musical moments with your family and friends while you marvel at the musical excellence unfolding before your eyes.
2 A Visual Spectacular
Wedding bands don’t just sound good, they look incredible. Just seeing those shining instruments sitting there builds a buzz amongst your guests. When the lights go down, and the band takes to the stage and strikes that first chord, you and your guests will be mesmerised. Most bands will bring along professional lighting to truly capture that live concert atmosphere.
3 Complement Your Themed Wedding
Themed weddings are massively popular at the moment as many couples look to make their wedding day resonate with what makes them unique as a pair. From vintage to rustic to modern, there’s a band out there to help bring your theme together. The glamour of a postmodern swing band will add a decadent touch to your vintage-themed wedding, while a Mumford-and-Sons-influenced acoustic folk band is guaranteed to get feet stomping at a barn wedding.
4 A Bespoke Big Day
Your wedding day is all about you. Your choice of wedding band helps you to show off what makes you such a perfect pairing. And there’s a band out there for everyone: pop, rock, indie, folk, funk, soul, disco, Motown, jazz, swing, and the list is endless. The customization doesn’t end with your choice of the band; most wedding bands will learn and perform your first dance song and consult with you about their setlist, ensuring your wedding entertainment is personalized to you.
5 Interactive Exhilaration
The best wedding bands don’t just stand there and play; they interact with the audience to build up an adrenaline-pumping atmosphere where even those who’d usually avoid a dance floor like the plague lose their inhibitions and pull off some surprisingly intricate dance moves! True professionals, wedding band musicians can read the mood of a room and switch things up if they need to, gradually building the evening to a triumphant sing-along climax.
6 Replicate Your Favourite Festival
Whether you’re a boho Glastonbury-goer or a hard-rocking Download devotee, why not hire a wedding band to bring back those endless summer nights of dancing to your favourite bands until dawn? What could be better than partying under the stars with an energizing live wedding band pumping out mainstage headline hits by the likes of Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, and Kings of Leon? While great music is guaranteed, the weather isn’t, so you’d better bring your wellies, just in case.
7 Band Line-Ups to Suit Every Budget
Wedding budgets range wildly, as do the fees demanded by wedding bands. Ranging from a few hundred pounds all the way up to multiple thousands of pounds, there’s a band out there to cater to every budget. If funds are a little tight, you may need to relax your expectations; a ten-piece big band is probably out of reach, but you can still secure a top quality act with fewer members. A top tip to save a bit of cash is to ask whether a band is willing to perform with a reduced line-up to make them more affordable, or to opt for a solo or duo act whose sound is rounded out using backing tracks to give you that full band sound at a fraction of the price.
8 Unique Wedding Music
Most wedding bands won’t sound exactly like the original recording, and that’s a good thing! Live wedding bands instill their personality and musical style into the songs they perform, making classic tracks sound fresh and modern. Some bands take things a stage further and completely rework songs in a new genre: a vintage-style band giving a hip-hop track a jazzy twist, for example, or an acoustic band slowing down an upbeat rock anthem to draw out its emotional core.
9 DJ Service Included
When you book a wedding band, you’re getting an all-in-one live music package. Your entire evening’s entertainment is sorted with a single booking. As well as high-quality lighting and PA equipment, most top wedding bands include a DJ service within their standard fee, so even when the band isn’t rocking out, your party will keep pumping.
10 Wedding Music Throughout the Day
It’s not just the evening party that needs a soundtrack. There are moments throughout a wedding that are enhanced by the accompaniment of live music. When you hire your wedding band, make sure to check whether they offer an optional wedding ceremony and/or afternoon drinks reception sets. These acoustic or jazz sets are an ideal way to set a mellow mood in preparation for the evening antics to come.
There you have it. The top 10 reasons to hire a live band to perform at your wedding. We hope you find the perfect band to make your big day go with a bang!