Country Bands Weddings
Howdy, happy couple
A Country Band For Your Wedding
Big choruses, boots on the floor and a first dance you'll still be talking about at your tenth anniversary.
Here is how a country band fits into a wedding day, from the drinks reception to the last singalong, and what to expect when you book one through us.
The first dance, with the band ready to pick it up
Why Country Works At A Wedding
A wedding crowd is the widest audience you will ever put in one room. Your grandmother, your university friends, your partner's colleagues and a handful of children who should be in bed. Country music is one of the few things that works on all of them at once. The choruses are written to be sung by a crowd, the rhythms are written for dancing, and nobody needs to know the band to know the words to Jolene.
It also sets a mood the rest of the day can borrow. Festoon lights, hay bales, boots under the dresses, a barn or a tipi in a field. If you are planning any of that, the band is the piece that pulls it together. If you are not, a country band still works in a hotel ballroom, because by the second chorus of Country Roads nobody is looking at the carpet.
Every band on this site plays weddings, including the two big touring shows. Each band's page tells you what it sounds like, what comes with it and what people said after their own big day.
The First Dance
Country music is built on love songs, so you are spoilt for choice. Tennessee Whiskey, Need You Now, You're Still The One, Beautiful Crazy, Die A Happy Man, Speechless. Or something older. Elvis, Patsy Cline and Johnny and June have been seeing couples onto dance floors for sixty years.
Every band on this site talks through your first dance with you before the day. Some play it live as standard. Some learn your song for a small fee if it isn't already in their set. Some play your recording through their sound system so it sounds exactly as you know it, then pick up with their first live song as the floor fills. Your quote says which, so there are no surprises on the night.
One tip from a lot of weddings: cut the cake, go straight into the first dance with the band ready behind you, and ask the band to follow it with something everyone knows. The room is already on its feet when your song ends, and it tends to stay there.
The Afternoon
Most of the bands offer something for the daytime too: a solo acoustic set from the singer, or a duo or trio, for the ceremony, the drinks reception or the wedding breakfast. It is the same voice and the same songs, played quietly on an acoustic guitar while people find their drinks. Country suits this better than most music, because the songs were written on a porch before they were ever played in an arena. Ask for daytime options when you fill in the form and we'll price them for you.
Your Evening, In Order
This is a guide rather than a rule. Every wedding runs a little differently, and the band's management will put a plan together with you and your venue beforehand.
- 6.30pmThe band arrives while your guests are finishing the speeches or wandering out for the sunset photos. They need about an hour to set up, and they keep the soundcheck short and quiet.
- 7.30pmBackground music through the band's sound system as the evening guests arrive. Nobody notices it, which is the point.
- 8.15pmCake, then the first dance. The band plays it live, or plays your recording and stands ready. As your song ends, they go straight into the first set.
- 8.20pmFirst live set, about 45 minutes. Country favourites everyone knows, the pace building as the floor fills.
- 9.05pmA break for the evening food. The band's playlist disco keeps the room ticking over, so there is no silence and no separate DJ to pay for.
- 10.00pmThe long set, about 75 minutes, packed with the big ones. Wagon Wheel, Friends In Low Places, Man! I Feel Like A Woman!, the ones your guests have been waiting for. Encores if the room wants them, and it usually does.
- 11.15pmThe band finishes with the floor still full. The disco runs on to the end of the night, and the band packs down quietly around it.
Choosing The Songs
The band reads the room on the night and picks the running order to match it, which is what you are paying a live band for. You still have a say. Before the day you can send a list of favourites you'd love to hear and a short list you would rather not, and most bands take a handful of requests in advance.
You also choose how country the night is. Some couples want it pure, from the first song to the last. Others want the country feel with a few party anthems woven in, so the aunt who has never heard of Luke Combs still gets her Mr Brightside. Most of the bands do either, and their pages say which way they lean.
Line Dancing
Nobody has to. But a two minute walk through of a simple line dance, led by the singer halfway through the second set, is one of the easiest ways to get three generations onto the same floor at the same time. Ask for it when you book and the band will build it into the night.
What Comes With The Band
Every band is different, so each band's page and your quote list exactly what it includes. This is a typical picture rather than a promise.
Around Two Hours Of Live Music
Typically a 45 minute set and a 75 minute set, though it varies from band to band and your quote states the set lengths.
A Disco Between Sets
A playlist through the band's sound system before, between and after the live sets, so you don't need a separate DJ.
Sound And Lights
The band brings its own sound system and stage lighting. You bring the room and the power.
Insured And Tested
Public liability insurance and PAT certified equipment, with the paperwork sent to your venue on request.
A Contract With The Band
A clear written contract between you and the band, with everything agreed set out in black and white.
Your First Dance, Sorted
Played live, learned for you or played through the system, agreed with the band before the day.
Someone To Call
The band's management looks after your booking from the quote to the last song, and answers your questions along the way.
A Chat Before The Day
A call to walk through timings, songs, the venue and anything else, so the night runs the way you pictured it.
Paying For Your Band
With most of the bands on this site you can hold your date with a £50 holding deposit. After that you choose how to pay: 50% on booking with the balance 28 days before the wedding, or the cost spread monthly, weekly or in four stages. Bands accept card, bank transfer, Direct Debit and standing order.
Your contract is with the band you have chosen and you pay the band directly. We earn a commission from the sale, and it is already built into the price you are quoted, so there is nothing added on at the end. The band's management handles the booking and is your point of contact along the way, so you always know who to call.
Prices move with the date, the distance to your venue and what you'd like on the day. The from prices on each band's page are a starting guide, and your quote confirms the cost for your wedding along with exactly what's included.
Wedding Questions
Do we need a DJ as well as the band?
Usually not. Most of the bands on this site run a playlist disco before, between and after their live sets, so the music never stops and you don't pay twice. Each band's page says whether the disco is included.
Can the band play if our venue has a sound limiter?
In most cases, yes. Tell us the limit when you ask for a quote and we'll match you with bands that work within it. Some bands carry an electric drum kit for exactly this, which keeps the volume under control without changing the feel.
Can we have the band outside or in a marquee?
Yes, as long as the band is under cover and has a reliable power supply. A marquee, a barn, a tipi or a covered stage all work. The band will confirm what they need from your venue well before the day.
Does the band need feeding?
A hot meal or a plate from the evening buffet is a kindness rather than a rule, and the band will be with you for most of the evening. Your quote will say what the band asks for.
What if we want some songs that aren't country?
Most of the bands weave party favourites into a country night, and several run well beyond country into pop, rock and soul. Tell us the balance you want and we'll point you at the right bands.
How far ahead should we book?
Summer Saturdays go first, often a year or more ahead. If your date is close, ask anyway. We check every diary, and a band that is free next month is as good as one that is free next year.
Is your date free?
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