Years after your wedding, when your guests look back, they will remember two things about your wedding—-the food, and the music. Think back to weddings you have attended in the past. What do you remember about them?
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Years after your wedding, when your guests look back, they will remember two things about your wedding—-the food, and the music. Think back to weddings you have attended in the past. What do you remember about them? Sometimes, we remember the theme, or some other incidental thing if it really stands out, but statistics tell us people remember the food and the music. So, your choice of music is very important.
Your overall wedding theme will influence the kind of music you will choose. Are you having your reception in a local gallery or maybe you have a mardi gras theme? Choose a jazz band. Is your reception a formal black tie affair in an elegant setting? Go for a quartet playing classical music. Having your reception in a dance hall? Go for a great dance band. Are you having an eco-friendly wedding with a low carbon footprint? Go acoustic in a reception space that has great sound acoustics so your guests can hear the music.
If you want your guests to dance the night away, make sure they have music from their era to dance to. I was at a wedding where the couple insisted on popular music they liked, and with the majority of their guests being older, no one danced except the bridal party. Having a good mix of music is very important.
The rule of thumb is to have a variety of music from the era of the majority of your guests at the beginning of the evening. Your older guests will most likely start leaving the reception after 11 pm, so you can have your musicians switch to more contemporary music for your younger guests at that time.
And what does etiquette say about music at your wedding? It says live music is the only way to go. It says that you should have two orchestra’s, so if one takes a break the other can keep the music going. Not that realistic today, but in the old days when people had connecting ballrooms, it made some sort of extravagant sense. The real question is: What do you want for your wedding?