We didn't use the full quartet, but you could clearly recognize each song, and they were played beautifully. The timing was perfect during key moments of the ceremony. We had Emily perform during our cocktail hour, and we loved the alternative rock beats—it was so fun watching our guests figure out the songs! Her talent truly added a unique and memorable touch to our day.

Highly recommended!

I'm embarrassed to be writing this review is SO late, but we had a strings trio play at our wedding in October 2022 and they were absolutely perfect!! I had several particular/borderline weird special requests and Emily was so wonderful to work with every step along the way. She went out of her way to figure out how to find the music for a fairly random/obscure song I love from Titanic, and even sent me a sample of her playing the specific stanza (also from Titanic) I wanted played while I walked down the aisle. I love strings music so much and I could cry tears of joy just remembering what a beautiful addition they were to our special day. You will not regret hiring them for any special occasion!!

So grateful for Santa Barbara String Quartet for playing during our ceremony. Such a beautiful and elegant addition to our ceremony and they really enhanced our ceremony. We received so many compliments from our guests! Emily was so great to work with during the ceremony planning process, making sure we knew all of the song options and ensuring our wedding ceremony ran smoothly with our song selections. Highly recommend booking Santa Barbara String Quartet!!!

Emily was a dream to work with! We hired a duet, violin and cello, to play during our ceremony at the Santa Barbara Courthouse. They played several songs for guests arrivals and our ceremony of course and the music was phenomenal. Such gorgeous players and made the space swell with sound like it was filled with a 40 person string section. I can't recommend Emily enough - she was flexible and helped guide our choices while agreeing to play a few favorites of mine not on a typical string ensemble repertoire :)

A Bride cannot walk down the aisle without music. (Well, a Bride can do whatever she wants, but Google “Walk down the aisle without music,” and the word that comes up most often is “awkward” – not the adjective a Bride wants to hear in a description about her on her Wedding Day!)

If you are planning a wedding in the Central Coast of California and you envision an elegant walk down the aisle for you and your attendants, contact Emily Sommermann of the Santa Barbara String Quartet. The Quartet played for our daughter’s outdoor wedding ceremony at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum in May 2018, and their sublime music set the tone for the rest of the beautiful day. The Bride and Groom chose classical pieces that had special meaning for them and their families, and the Quartet performed each of them flawlessly. As well as an extensive list of classical selections, their repertoire includes popular songs, show tunes, jazz pieces, ethnic songs, and even Disney movie theme songs.

We did not need much guidance in our selection of music since the grandmother of the Bride is a classically-trained organist, and we knew the music we wanted, but Emily is willing and available to offer advice to Brides and Grooms. She was lovely to work with and attentive to details. We were planning a West Coast Wedding from the East Coast, and despite the fact that we did not meet until the day of, there were no “jitters” or concerns that the music would not be perfect.

So, while you may be focused on The Venue, The Dress, and The Reception, don’t treat The Ceremony Music for your Grand Entrance as an afterthought. Book the Santa Barbara String Quartet now!

We just had the Santa Barbara String Quartet play for our June wedding and they were AMAZING! The played for 30 minutes while our guests were arriving which set a really nice tone for our event. And then they played our ceremony music. they are a really talented group and sounded amazing. I absolutely loved it! They even played the Beatles song "All You Need is Love" when we walked back down the aisle. Super fun! They arrived on time, looked professional and sounded great! I would hire them again in a heart beat! :)

The Santa Barbara Quartet was the perfect ensemble for our special day. They played before, during and after the ceremony during the cocktail hour. They are very professional, talented and tailor the exact music of what you want played at your ceremony. I highly recommend them and would hire them again!

Claudia of the Santa Barbara Quartet was very responsive to our wants and desires. We met with her and told her the kind of music we wanted for the ceremony and also the cocktail hour. She put together a gorgeous repertoire and I cant tell you how lovely it was to have live strings playing instead of recorded music. It added such a touch of class to our wedding. Believe it or not, they were very affordable, you may think a live trio is expensive but it was very reasonable and well worth it!
A tip if you want to save some money is to have a trio instead of a quartet, they still sounded amazing! Claudia was very professional and creative and the whole trio were very talented and sounded amazing

The Santa Barbara String Quartet was the perfect background to our ceremony. Claudia, the main contact for the quartet selected the entire repetoire for when guests arrived, the processional and the recessional and it was perfect. I gave her the general atmosphere I was going for and they accomplished just that. They were completely prepared, on time and most of all, incredibly talented musicians.