Expert Tips On Hiring Live Musicians For Your Wedding by Alive Network

There's something so spine tingling special about live music at a wedding, don't you think?

It adds an extra layer of awesomeness, whether it's during the ceremony, drinks reception, to get everyone on the dance floor or all of the above.

via Style Me Pretty | via Alive Network

There are lots of things I wish I had known about before my own wedding back in 2010 and Alive Network is definitely up there with them.

Zee and I spent ages trying to think of entertainment options for our drinks reception, then sourcing the right band/entertainers by navigating dozens of websites and sending emails back and forth between a variety of independent bands to see if they had availability on our wedding date.

But if we had just visited alivenetwork.com we'd have been able to do all of that in a few clicks!

Alive Network is the UK's largest live music and live entertainment booking service – they make discovering and booking live music for your wedding a piece of cake.

Lucky for us Alive Network kindly agreed to share their top tips on hiring live musicians for your big day:

Live music is the perfect accompaniment to every part of your wedding day, from the moment your guests arrive at the wedding ceremony to the last dance of the night!

Many brides and grooms find the prospect of booking wedding entertainers a bit daunting, but it's just a case of deciding what sort of atmosphere you'd like, and matching the music and musicians to it.

Wedding Ceremony Music

Let's start with the wedding ceremony. Guests will be arriving and taking their seats up to 30 minutes before the ceremony begins, so why not delight them with gentle background music such as a string quartet, a harpist or a pianist?

via Style Me Pretty

This kind of pre-wedding entertainment creates a lovely atmosphere where your guests can mingle and greet each other, without having to shout over loud music or sit in embarrassing silence!

Those same musicians can also perform as part of the wedding ceremony itself, especially when you're signing the register. For added excitement in a church service, you can add a gospel choir or opera singers to lead the hymns or sing a solo number.

photo by Howell Photography

Drinks Reception Music

Next comes the drinks reception for your guests, while your and your new spouse have your photos taken. Book a jazz band or Rat Pack singer to start the party mood before you and your beloved arrive, and the wedding meal starts.

During the meal, why not surprise your guests with comedy singing waiters, who suddenly burst into song when they’re supposed to be serving the soup!

via Style Me Pretty

Evening Party – Music To Get Your Guests On The Dancefloor

For the evening party at your wedding, choose live entertainment that involves all your guests if possible. The most popular type of wedding band is usually four talented players who cover a wide range of pop classic and modern hits, to really get the party jumping.

For a fun way to mix all your guests together, why not book a ceilidh band or energetic Irish band, guaranteed to get everyone on their feet regardless of age or dancing ability!

via Alive Network

Whatever you choose, booking your live musicians through a professional online entertainment agency has so many advantages. Established agencies will have wedding band profiles and demo tracks to listen to, and the best offer an instant quote so you know exactly how much each act costs.

Hiring all acts through one agency ensures there's only one payment to worry about, and the comfort of knowing if something does go awry, there is an emergency contact number to call.

At Alive Network, we offer all this and more – why not take a listen to our top UK function bands today?