Choosing the Right Entertainment For You
Getting married? Congratulations! This is a huge moment in your life and you should be treating each decision, you make, as such. When it comes to the entertainment at your wedding you have a few different options. As a DJ i’d prefer that I provide you with all of your wedding needs; however, this isn’t practical so let’s get into the tips I have for making your wedding unique.
Live Music – Wedding Bands, Strings, or Brass
You have 3 key parts to your wedding: First your ceremony, your cocktail hour, and finally the reception. Live music touches the soul. The artists performing are literally bringing the music to life. The energy & ambiance they procure can be hard to imitate. Live artists at your ceremony and cocktail hour provide a classy, smooth, and unique feel to your wedding. While live music at your reception can provide a great disadvantage – depending on what you are looking for – because they have a limited amount of songs they know and can play on the fly. This limits your requests and ability to have a wide array of music played at your reception.
Wedding DJs – Club, House, or Hobbyist
Wedding DJs specialize in weddings – This means they have the equipment needed for all the moving parts: Ceremony, cocktails, and reception. A wedding DJ also has the ability to stay organized, keep a natural flow, and is continually working on their MC skills. Your other three options may be able to play music – but, can also lack in the other areas. Where wedding DJ doesn’t bring the music to life – they do have a massive music library, take requests, and are able to create an ambiance based on the reactions from people. This is where being a DJ, of any kind, is important. We can read your crowd and make music selections based off what your guests are reacting to. It would be very difficult for a band to create the same atmosphere.
A Mixture of Both Live & DJ
You can certainly have live music for your ceremony and cocktail hour and just have a DJ for your reception. You can also have live music for all three parts and have a DJ who supplements the band. You can do whatever you want when it comes to your wedding day! You’re not limited in options; however, weighing the pros and cons of each scenario is important:
- Live music brings an ambiance and live energy that can be hard to imitate.
- A DJ has a massive music library that can respond to your guests reactions.
- A mixture of live music and a DJ to get the best of both worlds.
My Last Tidbit of Advice
I have done weddings where I was sharing floor space with a band. I have also had a violinist accompany me – this meant that I would have a violin playing over my song choices for the particular crowd. I have done countless weddings where the ceremony and cocktail are covered by live musicians and I am there just for the reception and MC work. Option B works the best: Live music for your ceremony and cocktails and have a wedding DJ for your reception. It is truly a difficult scenario to share space with a band – especially if the DJ of your choice hasn’t worked with the band you have selected.
Whatever you want to do make sure you are creating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich – not a peanut butter and ketchup. 🙂
Photographer Credits for Featured Image:
Brittany Jones – 207 Weddings – www.207weddings.com