Category Archives: Wedding Songs

REAL MUSIC FOR REAL PEOPLE

A lot of brides and grooms in our Facebook group have approached us and asked for tips on making a playlist for dancing at their wedding reception. Our Chicago cover band is here to help. If you’re in a DIY kind of mood, read on!

Think about the friends and family who will be at your wedding. Think of the age range of your guests. Then, think of how you can get them all up to dance, together.

No, I’m not talking about the Chicken Dance.  

(Unless you really want the Chicken Dance and it’s some kind of secret book club tradition and your best friend will come out in a chicken suit and bop around the dance floor like there’s no tomorrow. And then your other best friend will come out in an equally spectacular squirrel costume and taunt that chicken. But I digress…)

Anyway. It’s not so easy. 

You have to know your guests. You have to predict what will make them tick. 

What will get grandma’s feet tapping? What will get your co-worker to loosen up that tie and take his girlfriend for a spin on the dance floor? 

What will get your parents out there dancing? And, what will entertain your 15 year old twin cousins? 

If you need a glass of wine just thinking about all of this, I don’t blame you one bit! It’s a lot to consider. 

Generally speaking, a wide variety of music genres and styles is a good way to go.

You can please some of the people all of the time. You can please all of the people some of the time. You can’t please all of the people, all of the time. 

But, you can do your very best! 

So, here’s a video with a great variety of song choices, and wide audience appeal. These songs from the Chris Sarlas Orchestra are sure to get people up and dancing. 

Take some notes, and start making your list. 

See you out there on the dance floor, my friend! 

Peaceful, Perfect Wedding Day? YES!!!

So, is it possible for peaceful, perfect and wedding to coexist in one sentence as truth?

Your favorite Chicago wedding band is here with the news that you want to hear: Yes, you CAN have a peaceful, perfect wedding day. Just take some advice from our friend Kara.

She worked hard on her wedding plans. Top to bottom. She planned every single minute of her timeline, and had an exact image of her day with vision boards to prove it. After she spent a year organizing her ideas, she then went and searched for vendors to bring her vision to life. 

Thing is, by the time she went to search for vendors, her wedding was two months away. And, she was on a tight budget. 

Who isn’t on a budget? Am I right?

She had very specific ideas, and she wanted them done well, quickly, and cheap. 

What she found was that she could only find two of those qualities with any given vendor.

Done well and quick was not cheap. 

Done quick and cheap would not be done well.

Done cheap and well would not be done quick. 

And, learning this lesson made Kara anything but peaceful. Her advice is this: if you’re working with a limited budget, plan ahead and give yourself WAY more time than you think you’ll need, so that you have the best shot at finding vendors who fit your vision. 

Then, you’ll be peaceful. 

And when you’re peaceful, you’re right there ready for that perfect wedding day.

If peaceful vibes are your thing and you like classic rock (and most importantly, The Eagles), check this one out: 

Wishing you a peaceful easy transition into April and springtime 💐 

Full Permission to Embrace Your Inner Geek, from Your Favorite Chicago Wedding Band

When looking for that perfect song for walking down the aisle, this Chicago wedding band highly encourages you to always listen to that little voice inside.

I’ll never forget the music planning meeting we had with a couple last year. 

They walked in the door, and the tension was palpable. Chris & I exchanged a quick and knowing glance that people who have been married for 16 years can do in a heartbeat. 

Did it just get weird in here? 

Maybe it was the traffic. Or a long week at work. Or the wedding planning process just taking a toll on them. 

We started to drill down. 

She was nervous and excited.

He would rather have been anywhere else in the world. 

Planning out their wedding ceremony music seemed like such a girly thing to him, and he just wanted to show up and get married already.

After a glass of wine and a couple of well-placed ice breakers (we’re pretty good at that if I do say so myself), we started to understand a little more about what was going on.

See, she wanted to have an elegant ceremony, but one that still spoke to the people that they were. 

He wanted to be able to grab onto something, anything that he could identify with musically. He was a self-proclaimed geek, and everyone near and dear to them knew it. He’d seen all 9 Star Wars movies again and again and again. 

She told him, I’ll choose the song that I walk down the aisle to, and you can choose the song that we both walk out to at the end, ok?

Marriage is built on compromise – remember that! 

His ears perked up when we presented him with this option, and it was a done deal: 

Fast forward to their wedding day. She walked down the aisle to her favorite song and was absolutely radiant. At the end of the ceremony, they were beaming together as we jumped into the Star Wars theme, and absolutely everyone in the room exploded into cheers and applause because it was so so perfect for them. 

Mission accomplished.

Embrace your inner geek, and may the force be with you 😉

Chicago Wedding Band Helping You Find That Aisle Magic

Your song for walking down the aisle must be magical, am I right? 

The question is, what does magical mean to YOU?  Our Chicago wedding band is all about helping you narrow down the thousands of options for ceremony music songs, and helping you to find “the one.”

It’s time to do some soul-searching. Have you been to a wedding and felt that the music was magical? 

Did you have goosebumps? What was so special about it? Why did it speak to you? 

When the right song happens at the right time, and all of the planets line up, that’s when the magic happens. The trick is to visualize way ahead to your wedding day, and choose that song now. 

Pop? Classical? Rock? Country? R&B? Current? Lots of choices, and some might say too many choices 😉

Maybe you’ve known all along which song you want to walk down the aisle to, or maybe you’re looking for ideas. If you’re in idea mode, here’s one to consider:

Start your day with an instrumental version of this and your guests won’t believe their ears. Coldplay tunes are some of our very favorites, and this one is definitely a winner. Not too fast, and not too slow. It’s just right. 

Have a listen, see if this one is a good fit for you. 

🤗

Chicago Wedding Band String Pop – How Sweet It Is (James Taylor) – Wedding String Quartet

Not only does our Chicago wedding band live for getting all of your guests out there on the dance floor, but we also can’t wait to meet with you to discuss your ceremony music! After choosing a song for walking down the aisle, the next most important tune to think about is the one for walking out after your ceremony has finished. It’s called the recessional, and this is the song that will kick off your first moments of being married, along with the first moments of your reception.

The party! This is the song that will catapult everyone into the party! YES!

Maybe you’ve known all along which song you want to exit to, or maybe you’re looking for ideas. If ideas are your thing, we’ve got one for you today:

Pull out all the stops with an instrumental version of this and your guests will swoon. It’s classic, and it’s fun. Even better, you’ll have a spring in your step and a smile on your face.

And when everyone knows the lyrics? SCORE! 

Have a listen, see if this one is a good fit for you. 

We’re going to keep things short today, in honor of St. Patrick 🍀