5 things to consider when hiring musicians for your wedding ceremony

Hiring musicians to play live music at your wedding ceremony is a beautiful way to create unforgettable moments on your big day that will stay with you and your guests for a long time. In this article, we’ll discuss five things to take into account when selecting musicians for your wedding ceremony.

We'll touch on style and pricing to the size of the ensemble while walking you through the process of finding the perfect musical accompaniment for your special day. So, keep reading to learn the five essential things to consider when hiring musicians for your wedding ceremony.

To find out more about hiring The Duplettes for your wedding click here.

1. What atmosphere are you looking to create?

Music at a wedding ceremony is central to creating the mood and atmosphere of the occasion, while also playing a useful role in keeping your guests entertained while waiting for the bride to arrive. Many couples choose to create a pretty, tender mood with possibly an acoustic guitar, vocalist, piano or even a string quartet.

That isn't the only option though, for instance a bold rock song during the bride's arrival or a dramatic anthem as the married couple leave the ceremony can work really well too. It can be useful to reflect on your own personality and musical interests to help you imagine what combination would suit your wedding.

2. Which parts of your wedding ceremony will benefit from live music?

Wedding ceremonies usually involve five stages which are...

1. Guests arriving and waiting for the ceremony to start
2. The arrival of the bridal party
3. The Ceremony
4. Signing of the registers
5. Guests and couple leaving the ceremony

Four out of these five stages are perfect for music with the obvious exception being the ceremony itself! As an acoustic duo we have a collection of well-known ballads, soul songs and pop songs to entertain the guests as they arrive and during the signing of the registers while our wedding couples usually choose a song for the arrival of the bridesmaids and a song for the arrival of the bride.

For a more in-depth look at choosing music for your wedding check out our booking guide here.

3. How much space does the wedding ceremony venue have for the musicians?

If you are planning on live music during your wedding ceremony it's important to know that there will be enough space for the musicians and to plan where you'd like to put them. If the musicians are simply acoustic and unamplified such as a violinist then you only need enough space for them to stand.

If they require a speaker to be heard like most vocalists do then they will need a bit more space for their speaker and usually access to electricity.

Musicians can usually be placed at the side or back of the wedding ceremony venue where they can be inconspicuous but still not have to be too loud for people to hear.

4. What is the perfect song to walking down the aisle?

While we can't give you a precise answer for this question, we can give you some useful ideas on what to consider when choosing a song to walking down to the aisle. We take a look at some classic choices in our article about wedding ceremony song choices here.

There are a wide range of songs that can work in this situation from classical music to arrangements of modern pop songs, the main point is that the song reflects and means something to you.

Other considerations include the lyrics of the song (lyrics about death or a break up are probable not the best idea!). Jokes aside it has been known for couples to have chosen songs with unfortunate lyrics that perhaps aren't apparent on a casual listen, so do a bit of research and check that the song is about what you think it is.

5. Are the musicians experienced at delivering wedding ceremony music?

Although it may not seem like it, providing live music for a wedding ceremony is a high pressure service! It can be much more nerve racking delivering a delicate acoustic version of someones favourite song in an intimate setting to a small number of people than it is blasting out a more technical song later in the day to 100 people at the evening party. Not all bands or musicians have the experience to deliver the quality that a wedding ceremony demands.

For this reason it's a good idea to make sure you have seen video of the musicians performing something similar to what you are asking for on your wedding day. Reading reviews on Google, Facebook or some other review provider is also a great way to gauge if they can deliver for you.

You can find our reviews on google here and our facebook reviews here.

Conclusion

Hopefully that gives you a good idea of things to consider when hiring musicians for your wedding ceremony. With these considerations in mind you should be able to narrow down your choice of which songs, instruments and musicians would be most suitable fo your own wedding ceremony.

If you need any further advice then feel free to contact us using the form here and we'll be happy to advise you via email or even arrange a call.