Finding the Perfect Wedding Musicians

Wedding music is one of the most important elements of your special day and finding the perfect wedding musicians to provide the soundtrack for your big day requires a little bit of research and consideration. From 10-piece wedding bands to the string quartets and acoustic duos, selecting the right music can really help make your wedding day truly memorable. 

In this article, we'll provide you with some tips and tricks for finding the perfect wedding musicians, from researching your options to making sure the musicians understand what you’re looking for, we'll help you make the right decisions for your big day. 

Researching Potential Wedding Musicians and Bands

When it comes to finding the perfect wedding musicians, research is key. Taking a little bit of time to research potential candidates can be the difference between adding beautiful and memorable moments to your day or experiencing the stress and awkwardness of a band who can’t deliver what you hired them for. 

Like anything else, it’s just about knowing what questions to ask and what information to look for.

Only Use Experienced, Professional Wedding Bands

The first important point is to limit your search to established, professional wedding bands rather than amateur musicians or local bands. Playing music for a wedding (one of the most important occasions of your life) is very different to smashing out a few covers at The Dog & Parrot.

The musicians have to be familiar with the music and atmosphere expected at a wedding ceremony or reception and a band playing at the evening reception needs to be able to provide a performance that will be fun for all your guests. 

Reviews or references from previous clients are a great way for couples to be reassured about the quality of the musicians and whether they are capable of providing the services they offer.

Consider the styles of music you want for different parts of the day

Live music at a wedding usually consists of music at the wedding ceremony, drinks reception and evening reception. Professional wedding musicians will be able to provide suitable music for the part of the day you have booked them for. 

Musicians that perform in a niche style such as a hip-hop, brass quartet may be more suitable for the drinks reception and become a talking point as guests are mingling whereas the evening reception probably requires a more mainstream and widely appealing range of styles. 

All wedding musicians have a repertoire and general style that they are comfortable covering so make sure you’re not asking an Indie-Rock band to play sophisticated jazz songs in the wedding ceremony.

Make sure the musicians are familiar with the venue and wedding program

Discussing the venue and wedding program with the musicians early on can help to avoid curve balls down the line. Some venues for instance have sound limiters which some bands are not comfortable performing with (some venues also have limiters which are so quiet they make performing live music almost impossible).

Giving the musicians a good idea of the timings for different parts of your day is also helpful as they can then plan their arrival time based on how much set up time they need and when the space is available. Musicians performing at the ceremony or drinks reception typically can set up in less than an hour whereas larger bands performing for the evening may need more like two hours to set up and sound check.

Discuss the musicians availability and fees

Once you have found some potential candidates to perform at your wedding it’s important to ask them to send you their availability and fees. Ask for a detailed estimate of the services they provide (including any extras that could make your life easier such as microphone hire for the speeches). 

It’s advisable to avoid simply looking for the cheapest option as these musicians often aren’t the most experienced or talented. You should be able to find some good quality live music for a wide range of budgets even if it’s just for one part of the day. Much better to have a beautiful wedding ceremony and a playlist for the rest of the day than someone incompetent providing music for the whole day!

Wrapping Up: Finding the Perfect Wedding Musicians

Hopefully that has provided you with a few quick tips on how to find the perfect wedding musicians for your big day. It’s not too difficult or risky as long as you do a bit of research and ask the right questions.

In the meantime if you are looking for wedding musicians then take a look here at what The Duplettes can offer for your event or contact us here.