Inspirational entertainment is an important element of any contemporary wedding. Gone are the days when entertainment simply meant booking a DJ or organising a disco for the evening celebrations.

Today’s discerning couples lay great store on creating ambience and scene-setting with upmarket entertainment, throughout the day, from the ceremony itself through to the evening party.

Take the Strain out of Your Wedding Entertainment Decisions

Choosing the right entertainment is a complex and time-consuming business, often best left to the growing number of companies that specialise in providing one-stop entertainment packages tailored to your needs. Most also offer impartial advice and are able to source a wide range of entertainment options to suit all budgets.

Wedding Entertainment Trends

• a Highland Piper to greet the bride as she arrives for the ceremony and accompany the couple to the wedding car, after the ceremony;
• background music, during the wedding reception, e.g. string quartet, guitarist or harpist;
• themed weddings with complementary entertainment, e.g. historic themes with caterers in period costume, etc.;
• engaging the services of a professional toastmaster (who will also manage the caterers and entertainers during the celebrations);
• children’s entertainment, e.g. bouncing castle, magician, clown, face painter or even a dedicated children’s entertainer.

Ideas for Your Wedding Ceremony Music

The following suggestions, individually or in combination, work well for both church and civil wedding ceremonies: pianist, soloist, choir, harpist, piper, flautist, saxophonist, string / woodwind quartet.

Wedding Reception Entertainment

Add a stylish touch to your wedding breakfast with sophisticated background music, e.g. classical guitarist, pianist, harpist, even a string quartet or jazz band.

Wedding Entertainment for your Evening Party

You can’t go wrong with a professional DJ and / or live band for pleasing the majority of your guests. However, it’s a good idea to start the evening party with more refined entertainment, e.g. a jazz band that will appeal to both the very young and old. In other words you need to think about the ‘9 pm watershed’, so as not to offend any of your guests; also keep the volume at an acceptable level.

For the latter part of the evening, depending on age–range and general demographic, you may wish to consider hiring: a mobile disco; comedian, or for the more risqué, a nightclub entertainer or pole dancer.

First Dance Ideas

In recent years, much emphasis has been placed on creating dramatic effect and setting the tempo at the evening do when the newly weds sashay onto the dance floor for that all important ‘first dance’.

Popular first dance choices include: Can You Feel the Love Tonight (Elton John); Endless Love (Lionel Ritchie); Everything I Do (Bryan Adams); I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston); Tonight I Celebrate My Love for You (Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack).

Some couples even go to the trouble of learning the basics of ballroom dancing, beforehand, just to impress their guests (and, of course, be videoed ‘strutting their stuff’ for the record)!