DJ or Live Band

We did consider a band but just couldn't justify the cost, instead we've booked a professional DJ who we think is going to do a great job. We went to a wedding recently and they had a great band and it was fabulous fun but tbh a lot of the people up dancing would still have done so with a DJ I think.

I've never been to a wedding with a live band and I've never felt we were missing out on anything. Never even occurred to me to have one before I saw it mentioned on here. I would definitely like to see some sort of playlist or be able to provide my own or something before choosing a DJ (ignoring my own advice a bit because we have to use the one we get one with the reception venue), because the one my friend had at her wedding recently was a bit pants. There would be stages where everyone was up dancing, then he'd put on a really old song that was a bit odd to dance to and everyone left. It was then ages before people got back up, because it was a bit awkward. Another friend also had the same problem having karaoke at a party. Was funny listening to people, but you couldn't dance to it so the floor kept emptying.

Thank you for asking. I just logged on to ask a similar question, but got distracted by all the other posts!

We have a similar situation, and have a dj included in the package, but I was sort of looking for a band. But I don,t have a band in mind and have been quoted between £750 and £1750 and money is tight,so should I just stick with the dj?......

I guess it's complete personal preference and some people are into bands and live music more. For me i've never been that fussed, and I think providing the dj plays decent stuff everyone will be up dancing anyway! Having said that I'd never been to a wedding with a live band x

We considered a band for our wedding and went with the hotels DJ - a decision we regretted. They were pretty awful and rude to us at times. Not saying the same would happen to you at all but just our experience! Been to plenty of weddings with fab DJs! Just be careful who you choose...

Went to our first wedding where a live band was playing on Friday and it was brilliant, fab atmosphere. A little loud at times but amazing!

If I were to do it all again I would go for a band I think.

For OH and I, there was only one live band we would have considered to play at our wedding. But after receiving a quote from them for 2 x 1 hour sets at £1700, we couldn't justify it.

So we've gone with a DJ, who is really nice. He was happy to provide contact details for previous clients so we were able to get references from them.

I've never been to a wedding with a live band before, however, I guess as long as any DJ/band can get guests up on the floor and dancing, I would be happy!

Hi All, i am new to these forums but i am getting married in November next year.

I used to be in a band that played a lot of weddings (although not exclusively a wedding band) and i thought you might want to have the perspective from the other side, of someone who has gigged weddings but who has also had to make the choice about band vs DJ for my own wedding. This may be a bit lengthy, but i hope it helps you out.

First of all, and maybe the deciding factor is that bands can only play the songs they know. You may be able to make a few requests of them, one or two songs for them to learn for the night. For example, there were situations in the past we were asked to learn a specific song for the first dance. However, other than that, the band cannot on the night be expected to be able to cater for what everyone else wants to hear. There have been so many situations where people have approached us and said, can you play this only for us to say sorry we do not know that song. This often results in people walking away muttering "should have got a dj". You do get a great sense of flexibility with a dj because any decent dj will have tens of thousands of songs they can pull out of the bag.

That being said, bands do try and learn a good cross section of songs to entertain people. If you go to any pub on a friday or saturday night, you will hear bands play songs by Stereophonics, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Status Quo, Van Morrison, The Proclaimers etc and i have seen all of these songs go down very well at weddings.

Next is price. Bands cost more than djs, this is a fact. The reason being is that normally (and people do not always consider this), if a band is booked for a wedding, the members of that band are more or less giving up their entire day for you. Often, the band will play in the same room as the wedding breakfast. This means that they have to be set up, sound checked, cleared away and gone before you get there. And depending on how much gear they have, this can take up to three hours to achieve. If the band have travelled a long distance to play the wedding, they then have to occupy themselves until it is time for them to perform (if you have travelled 100 miles to get somewhere, you arent going to do that journey 3 or 4 times). Then, when they do play and if there isn't a dj as well (some weddings do have both), they have to play for some time and finish playing late. We used to do 1 spot of an hour and 1 spot of an hour and a half. Then, after all that, when you are all on your way home, the band have to pack away, load up and then drive home. So when you are in bed by 1 or 2 am, the band may still be 100 miles from home.

Now that sounds like i am having a whinge, but i am trying to explain why bands charge as much as they do. £1700 sounds a bit much to me. We used to charge about £800-1000 depending on how far we had to travel.

Finally, entertainment. I used to like playing weddings because you can have so much fun with the crowd. If you have a good band who know how to talk to a crowd and entertain them, then it can really add value to your night time party. Our vocalist used to talk to people before we played to find out funny stories about the bride and groom, mums and dads etc. We really used to involve the audience. DJ's dont generally tend to do that.

Ultimately you have to decide whether you think the people at your evening reception would appreciate a band more than a dj. There is nothing more frustrating for band than to see an empty dance floor all night. That doesn't mean that the band are rubbish, but it might mean they aren't playing the right stuff. For our evening reception, given the amount of musicians i know, we could have had a brilliant musical evening with loads of people getting on stage and doing a bit. However, knowing my extended family like i do, it would be a waste of time and effort because they like cheesey disco music, which is why i am booking a dj.

Sorry that was a long post, but i hope it helps you with your decision. Whatever you choose, i hope you have a great time.