Live Music: Ceremony & Cocktail Hour

Sure, I think that would be lovely! The last wedding I went to had a mariachi band during cocktail hour and it was great :-)

I am using live music for both ceremony and cocktail hour. I think it’s a great idea — it definitely adds a different touch to the wedding.

Awesome idea! We were thinking the same thing. Our MC will double as a "strolling" guitar player during cocktail hour singing and entertaining the guests. This will really set the tone, I think, for the party to come.

That's what we did. We had Celloist and Violinist and they were phenomenal.

We are doing a violinist for both ceremony and cocktail hour. Vocals you might have to talk over, but that depends on your space Id think

Our DJ will be playing acoustic guitar and singing during ceremony and cocktail hour!

I wanted to do this and the bands were open to only playing for about two hours, however the cost was too high for me in addition to my DJ for the reception. I really like the idea of live music for the ceremony. We wanted jazz, motown, funk music played. Even now with pushing my date back i dont think we will have it after all, unless i find a really good price. I was quoted in the thousands for two hours.

I had a cellist, violinist and pianist perform during the ceremony and a solo guitarist for my cocktail hour. We then had a smaller band during dinner and a big band for the dancing. The solo guitarist was a great addition to the cocktail hour and provided just enough background music to be entertaining but not distracting.

We are having a violinist for ceremony and cocktail hour. Then DJ will take over for reception.

We are planning to do the same since our DJ charges a lot to add the hours and we have an acoustic musician in mind we wanted to ask! We just LOVE his style and it'd add something special and unique to the wedding. I don't think it should be a problem so long as your choose a softer style of music!

I'm a singer in a wedding band. We've done live music for cocktail hours (just piano, or sax with tracks), and we've DJ'd cocktail hours. Either way you need music, but to be quite honest, I don't think people really notice live music during a cocktail hour. So if it costs a lot more to have live music, then stick with the DJ. If it's about the same cost, then you can really just flip a coin. People won't be annoyed by it or trying to talk over it though. Live or prerecorded, cocktail hour music should be background music volume level, not dancing volume level.

We are having live music from beginning to end, I think its great!

We have strings for pre ceremony cocktails and the ceremony. Harp for cocktails. And an electric violin for dinner. Then a 9 piece band for dancing. I'm hoping people really enjoy all of the music!

We're doing live music during our cocktail ceremony as well! An acoustic guitarist playing soft versions of my favorite classic rock hits. We're calling it "Classic Rock-tail Hour." I'm obviously biased, but i think that while it isn't NECESSARY, it's a nice addition. It's classy, gives your guests something to look at and/or talk about when they've run out of pleasantries, and adds a thoughtful touch.

We're having live music for ceremony and cocktails and the DJ for the reception as well

View Quoted Comment I love Rock-tail hour! I might have to borrow that!

I’m having a violinist and cellist during the ceremony, and then having the violinist stay on and play through cocktail hour (:
I feel like soft live music during the cocktail hour is always a nice/classy touch!