How to find free wedding reception entertainment locally

Read this article so you can have entertainment at your reception andstay within your budget at the same time.!

Photo Credit: Kevin Russ
By K Sprang

A wedding reception is the time when families and friends get together and celebrate the marriage of the happy couple. Besides serving food and drinks, you’ll also need to provide some sort of entertainment for your guests. Normally, the entertainment is music. It can either be live, or it can be a DJ playing music CD’s. DJ’s are a popular alternative to trying to book a band.

Having music at the reception is absolutely necessary. A wedding reception without music would be like having a freight train with having a track.

So, if your budget is limited, you’ll need to find someone who will play the music for free. You can choose from many types of music, including Blue Grass, Country, Pop, Latin, Rock and Roll, Motown, Jazz, Swing, et cetera.
You’ll probably need some special songs for certain events during the wedding reception. Examples of these events include for when the bride and the groom enter, for the couple’s first dance, for the bride’s dance with her new father in law, for the groom’s first dance with his new mother in law, et cetera. So, keep this in mind so you can plan the music accordingly.

You can pick up any phone book and find dozens of DJ’s that you can hire to play music after your wedding. However, if you’re on a limited budget for the reception, you’ll probably be looking for some type of suitable free music. DJ’s make their livings by playing music, so their fees for providing the music, as well as playing it, are often reasonable. But, if you don’t have the money to pay a DJ…

Of course, if you yourself have a band or an musical ensemble, you could always have a family member or friend play your own songs at the event. You could record a special CD of songs to be played for the occasion. Not only would this make the entertainment free, but you would know exactly what type of music is going to be played.

Another idea is to ask any of your family and friends if they have bands or any sort of musical group that can play the type of music you want. Because it’s for a wedding, they might do it for free just for the exposure.

Speaking of exposure, don’t rule out up and coming bands, ensembles, or quartets. They might play for free at the reception in order to get valuable exposure. Plus, they may play without pay for the chance to try their act out in front of a live audience.

Don’t forget to check with local church members who play a guitar, an organ, a harp, and other musical instruments. They may agree to play for free so you can stay within your limited budget too!

Of course, if you can’t find anyone else locally, you can always find a solo musician. Depending on the type of music you want, he or she can play a guitar, organ, piano, harp, trumpet, cello, violin or keyboard to play the guests at the wedding reception.