Your wedding day is going to be one of the most important and memorable days of your life (and hopefully for all the right reasons!). Exactly how you choose to organise your day and what you want to happen is a very personal choice. And when it comes to planning a wedding the choices are almost infinite.
There are many websites out there which will give you the chance to download a wedding checklist. And some of these can be immense. From save the date cards to booking the venue, buying the dress and organising a wedding cake. And these are just the obvious things which pretty much everyone will include for their wedding. THen you have to think about rings, invitations, flowers, catering, transport…. The list goes on.
Curiously, (and of course there will be exceptions) most of these ‘lists’ do not mention music or musicians. And it has to be said we have often wondered why.
What part does music play at your wedding?
The Wedding Checklist
Most weddings ‘officially’ being with the arrival of your guests for the wedding ceremony. This might be in a church, a registry office or a bespoke wedding venue / wedding barn. Regardless of the type of ceremony you are having, there is a point in the day when your guests are arriving and just mingling whilst they wait for the arrival of the Bride.
This is a great moment to include some music. There is nothing worse than walking into a silent room apart from perhaps waiting in a silent room. Weddings are joyous occasions and one proven way to relax your guests and get them chatting to each other is to have some music playing whilst they gather.
When you book JAM Duo to play for your wedding ceremony we usually arrive around an hour before the official start time and we will play for your guests as they arrive – usually about 30 minutes or so before the scheduled arrival of the bride.
Wedding Drinks Reception
It’s always dangerous to start saying that ‘most weddings’ or ‘a typical wedding’, as nowadays we are seeing lots of lovely variations on how to lay out your special day. But one thing which is fairly consistent is that after the wedding ceremony there follows a period of time before the wedding breakfast. A lot of our wedding couples will have a ‘drinks reception’ at this point. This is also the time when the photographer will take the wedding couple off somewhere to get some stylish photographs. This might be amongst the gardens of your wedding venue or on the beach depending on exactly where you are!
The majority of drinks receptions we have played for will last between 1 and 2 hours. During the summer months these will typically be outside (weather permitting). Again this is a great time to add music to the occasion. Live music provides a focus for the guests and again will encourage them to chat and really enjoy the occasion.
When it comes to music outside – JAM Duo can play anywhere – we are entirely flexible and can power our digital piano using a silent portable power pack.
Unlike a Spotify playlist we can integrate where your guests are and the beautiful tone of the cello will carry even outside. Designed to be loud enough to be heard but soft enough to be non intrusive our blended duo can provide the perfect sound track to your wedding drinks reception.
Our repertoire is a mix of classical, jazz and contemporary covers. In short we like to think there is something for everyone.
The Wedding Breakfast
Either following the ceremony or the drinks reception will be the wedding breakfast. Again these can take a variety of forms but the traditional wedding breakfast is a meal enjoyed by all the guests. We have also been involved in some weddings where the wedding breakfast is afternoon tea.
Regardless of your take on this part of the day, it is another point where some ambient music can really make a huge difference. JAM Duo only take up a small corner of the room – we can fit in a space approximately 1m x 1m – although slightly more space is always advantageous.
As an alternative to piano and cello, at this point Jules can play a variety of cocktail lounge style piano music. In some cases venues have their own piano – but no matter as we always bring our digital piano which can be easily relocated from your wedding drinks reception to the wedding breakfast.
First Dance
What could be more romantic than the sonorous tones of the cello to accompany your first dance. JAM Duo can play pretty much anything – so no matter what your favourite song or piece of music is, we can arrange it for Cello and Piano at no extra charge, if we don’t already have it in our vast repertoire.
This is usually the point where we leave our wedding couples. Much as we are flexible and love taking part in all sections of your wedding day, we are generally not a substitute for a DJ or party band.
