Wedding Entertainment
With a wide range of experience, we have put a lot of thought into what makes successful wedding entertainment. We would like to give the following advice, offering some ideas and suggestions to help you:
Choices
Your wedding day is a special celebration, so your entertainment should reflect this. Things to consider:
- Musical tastes of you and your partner.
- Style of music. Do you have a favourite genre or band?
- Repertoire. Do you have any special requests or favourite songs?
- Type of atmosphere you would like to create.
- Role of the entertainment. Background/Foreground or a combination of the two?
- Number of Artists hired. Some Artists are able to perform different styles, helping to keep costs down.
Choosing the most suitable entertainment for the appropriate part of the day can be difficult, however we are pleased to offer some suggestions (see below).
Venue
There are many different types of wedding and civil ceremony venues, ranging from churches to registry offices and country houses to hotel function suites. We recommend that you choose entertainment that will complement the venue and its surroundings and to help, our Artists can be viewed and selected by style (see the left hand side of the page).
Tip: For more detailed infomation, please see our Venues and Live Music article.
Location
Where will your wedding be taking place? Our Artists travel nationwide and even abroad, so if you are planning to have your wedding on a remote island somewhere, be prepared for additional travel costs! Once you have decided on a venue, consider where would you like the Artists to perform. Some examples are:
- Outside the church as the happy couple exit?
- In the marquee entertaining the guests throughout the meal?
- On the stage inside the venue?
It is very important that the Artists hired have somewhere to carry out their performance, whether inside or outside, and that’s weather permitting too! If you seek a strolling act such as a magician or mobile band that has the skill to meander and entertain the guests, make sure there is enough room for them to perform. Perhaps you want them to wander between the tables or perform in two or three different locations. Remember, If there are too many guests or limited space, the Artists’ will end up being stationary and restricted to one location. Take into consideration the Artist’s requirements for performance. Some Artists will need access to power, also a room to change and rest in throughout any break periods.
The Ceremony
For many couples, live music is the perfect way of expressing the importance of the day, especially throughout the ceremony. Would you like the music to be formal as you enter the ceremony? A string quartet, pianist or classical ensemble can create this mood for you. If your ceremony is taking place in the church then a brass ensemble is a great choice as it can act as an excellent alternative to the church organist. Would you like any music throughout the ceremony, an accompaniment to any songs or hymns, or breaks in the order of service? How about the romantic sound of a harpist or sensational soprano as you sign the register? For something a little more contemporary and informal, the smooth sound of the saxophone and piano creates that dreamy, sonorous atmosphere.
The Reception
As the reception gets underway, there is not a better way to celebrate with your friends and family than by hiring live musicians to animate the atmosphere, bringing it all to life and adding a real sense of excitement. Many summer wedding receptions take place out in the sunshine. If your wedding reception is outside on the lawn with a beautiful view, your entertainment should enhance the setting. Traditional string quartets, classical ensembles and strolling dixie jazz bands are always excellent choices as they fit in perfectly with any beautiful, serene country theme or garden setting. By hiring an all acoustic act they will be able to quickly move from one area to the next, making any transition seamless.
If you decide to have your wedding reception inside then this will enable many other alternatives. First of all, you can relax in knowing it will not be affected by the weather! Secondly, you can hire an Artist with power requirements, such as a chic jazz quartet or swing band and thirdly, for the most part, the acoustics are usually better inside, so the music will often sound slightly better.
Tip: Remember to have a contingency plan for your reception should it be affected by the weather. Arrange for cover and an alternative spot for your guests and any performing Artists.
The Wedding Breakfast
It is a good idea to think about the transition from the reception to the wedding breakfast. It is very popular for our Artists to lead the guests in with a processional. As your guests sit down why not serenade them with our wandering acoustic guitarist or solo saxophonist or set the tone with one of Silk Street’s smooth dinner jazz groups? The music throughout the wedding breakfast is typically background in nature and will help to settle your guests by providing a sensitive backdrop of soulful ballads and reflective songs. We have plenty of choices from the cocktail pianist to the jazz three, jazz two and solo Artists. A string quartet or saxophone quartet can add a sophisticated sound and a dixie trio can add that novelty factor.
Tip: We recommend hiring a smaller ensemble for this part of the day, as it helps to maintain a suitable volume, level allowing the wedding guests to talk with ease.
The Wedding Party
It is time to party and what better way to do it than hiring one of our fresh, exciting new Artists for your evening wedding entertainment. The evening entertainment is usually up-tempo and lively in style so as to keep your guests dancing all night long. Silk Street Music is proud to offer a selection of Featured and Recommended Artists all of whom provide excellent entertainment. Party and Function bands are often a popular choice as is a DJ. These type of Artists use PA systems and plenty of sound equipment, so be prepared for something with a little volume! Remember to arrange a dance floor/area and ask for a lighting rig if the venue does not have the facility. Quite often the couple’s first dance signals the start of the evening, so if you have a special request, don’t forget to ask. Having a ‘favourites’ playlist pre-arranged on an mp3 player is often a good idea as it can be played through the PA system in the breaks. Maybe jump and jive to the Silk Street Jivers or create a sophisticated danc with our swing band, we can make your evening celebration a night to remember.
Timings & Schedule
Consider how long you would like to hire the Artists for. Generally, the longer the Artists are on site, the higher the cost. If you would like the evening entertainment to be set up earlier on in the day, before the meal or speeches, then quite often this will increase costs. Depending on location, events that finish late in the evening might require you to cover accomodation costs for the Artists. Here are some further ideas; Why not keep everyone entertained whilst the wedding photographs are taking place? Perhaps you are looking for some background music when you cut the cake? This can be easily arranged. If the wedding schedule does run late, simply ask the Artists and they may agree to perform past the agreed finish time for you (at an extra cost).
Tip: If in doubt, book the Artists for longer just in case.
Guests
Pleasing all of your guests can be one of the most difficult tasks at any wedding. By taking your pick from our varied portfolio of entertainment, you can be sure to appeal to everybody’s tastes. Whether it is the latest chart hit, rock and roll from the 60s, songs from the golden era or entertainment for the children, you can be sure we have something for everyone.
Costs
If you are looking to keep costings down, think about the number of Artists your are hiring. The more musicians hired the greater the cost. However, all of our Artists are highly skilled and there is a possiblity of hiring one set of musicians who are able to perform two or more styles of music. An example of this would be as follows: hire a traditional jazz trio to welcome guests, a solo Artist to perform during the wedding breakfast and a five piece swing band with singer for the evening. Isn’t that three different ensembles or nine musicians? No, it is actually three ensembles provided by hiring only five musicians, therefore keeping your costs down to a minimum. All of your musical entertainment covered in one go, an advantage of booking through Silk Street Music.
Tip: See our Recommended Artists for ideas.
Something A Little Different…
Perhaps you are looking for something a little more unconventional? Well if so, then we can help. Over the years we have been entertained by some very unusual wedding requests. If you are looking to be that little bit different, then we have some excellent sugestions. The Silk Street Hot Seven jazz band have been known to feature throughout the whole wedding ceremony accompanying hymns, songs and parading the happy couple out through a sea of confetti! The most popular evening wedding entertainment is a party or function band. However, if you are still looking to dance but to something a little more unique, then have you considered our Bluegrass Band? Why not boogie to the Silk Street Jivers or do the charleston to the Silk Street Dance Orchestra. We are confident that we have the unique alternative entertainment choice for you, that can’t be found elsewhere.
Why Book Through Us?
You are probably asking what the benefits are of booking all your live entertainment through one source; well, it is quite simple, one point of contact means less chance of any hiccups along the way. Imagine booking 3 different bands and having to contact them all individually to go through the details. By booking through us, you only need to make one call, we will arrange the entertainment, leaving you to look forward to it. It’s that simple. Read our Why Us? section for more reasons why.
Oops, I already have a Wedding Planner…
No problem! Silk Street Music works closely with many prestigious wedding planners and organisers. If you have already instructed someone to take care of things, then why not pass on our contact details and we will be happy to liaise with them and plan everything right down to the finest detail.
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