When you’re planning a wedding reception, and you want to turn it into an unforgettable event, what’s the best way to do that? Do you hire a wedding band or bring in a DJ to provide the dance music? Without question it’s almost always better to use a good wedding cover band rather than a wedding DJ. Providing live dance music for your family and friends is the best way to excite a crowd and pack a dance floor, no doubt about it.

1. Live Performances Energize Crowds

The best wedding music bands provide far more energy and live action because the band members are not only delivering everyone’s favorite dance tunes, they’re delivering them in a visual display or show that includes a good amount of movement and spontaneity.

2. Live Dance Music Raises the Excitement Level

DJs can be a cheaper substitute for a wedding party band, but the live show element that will be missing when a disk jockey runs the show will be the cause of a decreased amount of enthusiasm and electricity that guests experience.

3. Guests Will Be Raving Long After the Party is Over

Wedding couples must realize it’s not the ceremony that guests will remember, but the entertainment. And if it’s fun, high energy entertainment that’s provided, it’ll not only increase the excitement during the celebration, but it’s what will have the guests raving long after the party is over. You’ll hear many more compliments about the wedding band than about the ceremony or DJ. The entertainment you hire will be the biggest determinant of how successful and memorable your reception turns out to be.

4. Live Reception Music Will Be One-of-a-Kind

DJs may say that when you hire a wedding band their song list won’t be as extensive as a disc jockey’s, but that’s not always true and may not even be important. Most good wedding music bands have a repertoire that includes today’s most popular dance hits as well as many classic hits from decades past. So the most requested songs will usually be included in their lists. And if there are two or three favorites that you just have to have at your wedding party, most bands will learn those for you at no extra cost.

5. Best for Guests Who Want to Dance

This brings up another very important point. Many wedding couples think it’s in their best interest to pick and choose each and every song the band will play, as well as which songs they should never play. However, whether you hire a live wedding band or a DJ, this is usually a very bad idea. Experienced live bands and disc jockeys have played their dance music for many a bride and groom and know what songs people like and don’t like – what songs people like to dance to and what songs people don’t dance to. Giving an experienced band the freedom to control the music is your best bet at maintaining the energy of the party.

6. Live Dance Music Packs a Dance Floor

If you want to keep your party humming along, and have your family and friends thoroughly involved, it’s better to let the wedding live band you hire run the show instead of micromanaging everything the band plays. You know what you want, but when it comes to wedding crowds, experienced live wedding bands know what the crowds want. So it’s your choice – you can pick every song yourself, which will more than likely end up with a sparsely populated dance floor, or you can leave it to the experts and create a high energy, unforgettable party that’ll keep the dance floor packed and guests talking long after the reception is in the history books.

7. Wedding Bands Create Unforgettable Receptions

The worst thing that can happen when you book an incredible wedding music band is they won’t know one or two of your favorite songs. And if those songs are for the First Dance, Father-Daughter Dance, or some other important dance, then it may be a major concern for you. Fortunately, most top bands will learn a song or two that they don’t already play just for you. Flexibility is one of the many reasons why a great live band will turn your reception into something memorable and exciting.

However, if learning a couple of new songs is an impossibility for some reason, there’s an easy solution to this problem. Any band worth their salt has the ability to play your favorite tunes through their sound system. If you have an iPod or MP3 player, it’s a simple matter for the band to hook that music player into the sound system so you’ll be able to play those important songs at your wedding reception at the appropriate time.

8. Live Music Stirs the Soul

Live music has the ability to stir the soul, but a high-energy band should not be expected to play for hours without a break. This brings up a concern that many couples have, which is “when the band takes a break, will the music completely come to a stop?” Again, this is easily solved because, as stated above, any decent live band will be able to play music through their sound system during the breaks just like a DJ. Plus, band breaks are the perfect time to play your favorite tunes that the band may not know or may not be able to play. These break times can also be the best times to plan all of your wedding activities such as cutting the cake, tossing the bouquet or the garter, or having toasts from the best man or maid of honor. With a little bit of planning, you can get everything you want and still put on the wedding reception of the century, but only when you book a wedding band instead of a disc jockey.

Now that you’ve heard about the advantages of booking a live band to provide the wedding reception music, the next step is to choose the right band for you. When you’re looking at the various bands for hire you’ll want to select one that plays the type of music you like best. There are many different genres of music – pop, rock, jazz, classical, country, Motown, Disco, etc. – and you’ll obviously want to find a band that’ll play the type of dance music you like best.

You’ll then want to take a look at the group’s song list to see how comprehensive it is. Once you find a band that plays the type of songs you like, that has a fairly comprehensive wedding song list, you’ll just have to make sure they’ll either learn a couple of your favorites (if they don’t already know them) or be able to play the recorded versions through their sound system.

9. Live Music Adds an Exciting Night Club Atmosphere

Choosing the right band will allow you to create an atmosphere that’s reminiscent of an exciting night club. Keeping crowds excited and enthused is the key to creating an event that will live a long time in the minds of those attending, and the best way to do that is to hire a wedding party band that’ll keep your guests involved.

10. Non-Dancing Guests Will Enjoy Listening to the Music More

Weddings and receptions usually include guests from all age groups – from the very young to the very old – so it’s important that the wedding band you hire be able to play popular dance hits that are heard on the radio today as well as the most popular hits from the past several decades. That way, they’ll be playing music that guests of all ages can enjoy. Providing music for a wide range of tastes and ages is very important if the goal is to pull off an event that will be memorable for all.

However, even if you hire the best band in the world, there’s a good chance that not every single guest will be wanting to shake their booty out on the dance floor. And for those special guests, it’s important to offer live music that they can enjoy to the fullest, even if they’re not budging from their seats. Some guests would simply rather listen to the music and watch others on the dance floor. And for them, live music will be much more entertaining than pre-recorded songs.

Now that we’ve laid out the many reasons why hiring a wedding band is the only way to go, let’s discuss another important topic, the cost of a wedding band vs a DJ. The cost of a wedding music band will usually, but not always, be more than the cost of a DJ. After all, you’re usually paying for 7, 8, or more band members as opposed to one disk jockey. If you’re on a tight budget, let’s say $1500 or less, it may be best to hire a wedding DJ.

You can certainly find local bands for weddings in lower price ranges, but since you normally get what you pay for, the chance of finding a band for hire that’ll deliver high quality dance music for such a low price is very slim. And if a first class band is not in the budget, it’s usually better to bring in a disc jockey than it is to hire an inferior band.

An average wedding music band is likely to charge $2,500 to $7,500 for their services. However, some of the nation’s best wedding bands will charge as much as $15,000 and sometimes even more. And these prices are for the performance only. The best live bands for wedding receptions travel throughout the country and beyond, so the cost of airfare, ground transportation, hotel, and per diem will also have to be added to the overall price. If you’ve got the money and want to make sure your once-in-a-lifetime wedding is as unforgettable as it can possibly be, a crowd-pleasing event that’ll have guests raving for months or years to come, then you’ll want to hire a wedding band that’ll deliver the highest quality dance music and the most exciting show. For the ultimate wedding memories, an incredible live band is the only way to go.