iPod versus live music for ceremony and cocktail hour?

A lot of people will say to not use an ipod under any circumstances. However, I think it really depends on the type of wedding you're planning. If you have someone you know you can count on to be in charge of the ipod the day of, and they won't feel at all put-on by being asked to do so, I see no harm in having the ipod for the ceremony and cocktail hour.

Of course, live music is AMAZING, so if you can afford it, I'd still ask around for pricing and so on.

I think it depends on your setup and having a responsible person so the transitions at the ceremony are smooth and the music is appropriate. I've done several that have been done very well, and some that were horrible. But I can say the same about DJ's and live music too.

The ceremony is a place where the music really becomes a focus (and the dances, of course). Cocktail hour, usually not so much; no one is really paying attention to it and if you have a lot of people in a not so huge room, they probably won't even notice it.

Will a string quartet be able to play the music you want? It's a rare quartet that can pull off Vitamin String Quartet except VSQ. If you're doing a DJ for the rest of the day, it probably makes sense to have them do this part too. The additional cost will probably be in the middle of the other two choices.

We found instrumental versions of songs we like for our dj to play

I would be worried about timing songs on an ipod

We are also using instrumental versions of songs that mean something for us and are using a DJ. My brother used an iPod (or actually CD back then!) and just had someone responsible for changing the songs. For a ceremony, if you trust the person in charge I think you'd be fine. It worked fine for them with just a regular old CD and now they have tons of apps specifically for acting as a wedding DJ. Cocktail hour definitely isn't an issue because it's just background music.

You should also check out the cost of renting equipment because it's not going to work to just have your iPod play music. You're going to have to amplify it somehow. I considered doing the same thing but our venue required us to rent the equipment through them requiring a $400 rental fee. The DJ was an additional $200 for the ceremony/cocktail hour so it was kind of a no brainer!

DJ's and musicians do more than provide entertaining sounds, they help time the event and keep the mood. Guest energy is always up in their presence, guests stay longer, and I in turn get better photos of guests enjoying themselves. If there are a ton of games and other things going on, like a farm wedding I photographed, that's the only wedding in my recent memory where it wouldn't have mattered. All others, it would have. There really is a science to it.

We have a DJ included in our venue rental for our reception. For the ceremony & cocktail hours, we will be using an iPod playlist. Our ceremony site has Bose rock speakers installed all around for music and mics during the ceremony. Someone will obviously be hand controlling the iPod for when the groom, bridal party and I walk out tho. Lol. The playlist will run as people are coming in and getting seated before it starts.

Live music for either is not important enough for us to squeeze into our budget.

Thanks everyone! Very helpful feedback.

First off, do not use an ipod. It's entirely too easy to mess up transitions. Use a laptop or tablet to allow for cross-fading between tracks as well as looping.

Now for the live vs recorded discussion, I'm a musician and love live musicians. That said, while the tone and look is better with live the transitions are not as good. It takes time between songs to flip music and to count-off. It also is sometimes difficult to extend selections on the fly. For clean production and seamless transitions, you simply cannot beat pre-recorded. Just make sure your designated person is comfortable operating the player. Arrange this a few weeks ahead of time and let them get used to how to do it. Do not just grab someone at the last minute.

@Ann - I have 20+ years of experience as a musician with network TV, radio, large-scale concerts and numerous artist credits to my name. On the wedding side, I've worked with every live musician, wedding combination you can think of and several of these are world-class players in the Nashville community (Music City USA).

Perhaps your standards of what constitutes a good transition are different than mine. We'll have to agree to disagree and I'll thank you to not accuse me of being dishonest.

It's not a "claim", it's an opinion, as is yours. To sync up multiple musicians is not instantaneous. From that standpoint, transitions and a smooth production are better using tracks. On the downside, tracks don't provide the same feel and energy that live music does. We weren't discussing quality of music, we were discussing transitions and production. At least we were until you started calling names.

In the end, it's up to the bride as to what she prefers. I have clients who hire musicians, some through my company. Others don't see the cost as justified. From my perspective, I'll supply either one a client asks for.

Can you please stop arguing on this discussion thread? I need advice, and it isn't productive.

We hired a band for our reception. If we use an iPod for the ceremony and cocktail hour, it wouldn't be with the help of a DJ. The options are a live musician (violinist) or an iPod (playlist, not managed by a DJ).

We are doing our own playlists, all our Ipod songs are being put onto our laptop and we'll take it from there.

I have a harp player for my ceremony and cocktail our. I'm going for elegance so I guess its all about ur theme. I also will have a dj already set up if need be for the cocktail hour also. If ur doing the ipod, u have to consider who will control it. U wouldn't want to inconvenience any of your guest or friends. Now if you have a wedding planner that would be something they can do if your not busy. But myself I wouldn't do an iPod unless that's something you really want. You could save money by doing that and you can also personalize the song by giving the list of songs that you need played to your DJ.

We are just having instrumental versions of our songs and having some one keep the music going in the right order.