Is a band worth it?

If you are on a budget, a dj all the way. If you are worried about them being too charismatic etc, be ver very clear when you interview them that you want them to play music only with little or no talking.


A dj provides songs by original artists and can preprogram songs to cover their breaks. A band does not and not everyone likes a band's version of songs, nor are they able to play everything.
I've attended events with djs and with bands and people tend to enjoy themselves more with a dj.

We went back-and-forth on this. Let me start off by saying no I am not a DJ lol. We ultimately decided on a DJ. We have one of the top DJs in our state and although still pricey, we still saved thousands versus getting a band. As long as the DJ knows how to mix well and host they will be just as entertaining. This is also feeding one extra person versus feeding possibly six extra people from the band. It’s also tipping one extra person versus tipping six extra people.

It depends on the ages and interests of most of the guests. We had one for mostly ballroom or big band stuff. And a jazz combo played a lot of swing during the band's break, then came back after the big band had fone another hour. The bandleader was absolutely barely an interruption, though taking requests and such. The leader of the combo had short conversations about what people wanted next, then would do the next 4-4 times in that tempo. More than half were people of close to out parents generation, and probably not 10 guests out of 170 had been in a club within 10 years, if at all. Perfect for our formal wedding.
I would have hated the intrusion of the usual DJ. We recorded some play lists for after hours, and people just kept going.

I’ve been to a wedding that had both and it definitely added a different lively element but I will say that makes the music selection kind of limited and they didn’t perform that much since they do need breaks

I don't think so. They need breaks and song selection is limited like Melle mentioned

The receptions I've been to with DJs have been kind of awkward with not much dancing. The ones I've been to with bands have been the most fun and more people actually dance. We will be having a band because music is one of our top 3 most important things for the wedding so we were willing to splurge on it.

I think it depends on your overall budget. We had a 9-piece live band and totally felt that it was worth it, and our guests still tell us how amazing our reception was due to our band. The band had a list of about 400 songs that they regularly play/sing but we were allowed to add songs that weren't on their list as long as we gave them 3 months notice so that they could learn them. That being said, we had a large budget to work with. I think it comes down to personal preference and budget in the end.

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Thank you! I have not been to many weddings as a lo of my friends are not married yet or have had smaller receptions. I just want it to be fun, but I appreciate your help! I might start looking into some DJs and just find a few options who have great reviews! Thanks again!

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Thank you! It does seem to come down to what is important and worth splurging on. I appreciate your input!!

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Thanks so much!! You're very right about taking into consideration food and tips too. I think at this point I might just do some good research to find some great DJs and go from there with comparing prices, etc. I appreciate it!

View Quoted Comment NP! Good luck bride

Ironically, it was my father who really wanted a live band... until he hosted parties with live bands!

Then he understood why we wanted a DJ.

Bands are great if you are really into a particular genre, want to have breaks, and are ok with a particular level of sound. DJs are better for genre variety, fewer breaks, and being able to adjust to the feel of the crowd on the fly.

I am always team DJ. I have been to so many weddings with live bands and, honestly, I hate it. They are so loud. They typically can only play one or two genres of music. It seems less about having a fun reception and more out their performance. And less people dance to a live band compared to a DJ. If you are wanting a fun, party like, reception, I say go with a DJ.

I'm team band all the way! I always have more fun at weddings when there is a live band as opposed to a DJ, but that's just me personally. We wanted high energy and crowd interaction, and we felt that live bands do that better than DJs. However, we're also having a black tie wedding and DJs aren't appropriate for black tie events, so this is part of the reason why we chose to hire a live band.