Music for a wedding: a guide to the whole day

A classic wedding moves through five musical moments: the ceremony itself, the reception afterwards, the dinner, the bridal waltz at the turn into the party, and the dance floor into the night. You'll want the first three kept soft and low-key so conversation has room, while the last two turn up the energy.

One point that can save you money: the same act can often cover several phases. A pianist or a troubadour playing during the reception can frequently carry on through dinner, and a party band can take both the bridal waltz and the rest of the evening. If the same band covers dinner through the dance floor, that's 7-8 hours of presence - worth agreeing as one job rather than hiring a new act for each part.

In church, the church's own organist plays. The programme is typically a processional, around four hymns and a recessional, chosen together with the priest. For members of the Danish national church, the ceremony itself is free - priest, church and organist are covered by the church tax. If the organist is to accompany a soloist, a surcharge for rehearsal and playing time can apply, and marrying in a parish other than your own can carry a fee for using the church. The amounts vary from church to church, so ask your own.

If you want more than the hymns, you can hire a professional soloist or troubadour to sing one or two chosen songs with piano or guitar accompaniment. Many churches have rules for what may be played and sung during a ceremony, so agree it with the priest and organist in good time. At a civil ceremony in the town hall you have a freer hand - there you choose the music yourselves, often a single soloist or a recorded song.

The reception is the welcome, where guests arrive, get a drink and find one another. Soft live music in the background suits it - an acoustic solo musician or duo, a pianist or a jazz trio, typically over one or two hours. The music should warm the mood, not drown it out.

During dinner, conversation matters most, so the volume stays moderate. A quiet dinner musician or a duo works well, and the musician can often accompany guests if they've written wedding songs to be sung between courses. If you'd rather keep the budget down, a well-chosen playlist is a fine alternative for the dinner.

The bridal waltz is traditionally danced before midnight. Folklore says it bodes ill for the marriage if it isn't danced before the clock strikes 24, so it's a tradition most couples hold on to - and it's more about getting it danced than about being good at waltzing. The couple dances alone on the floor, the guests form a ring around them and clap in time, and the ring is drawn in until the couple kisses. That's often followed by the sock-cutting, where the tips of the groom's socks are snipped off.

The music is classically Niels W. Gade's bridal waltz from 1854, but many couples today choose a personal song instead. If you've booked a band, they can usually play the bridal waltz - but agree it in advance, because a party band sounds markedly different from the classic orchestral version. A Spotify playlist can easily do the job instead; run it from Premium so it plays offline if the connection at the venue is unstable.

Once the bridal waltz is over, the dance floor opens, and this calls for energy. A party band typically plays three 45-minute sets, often with the option of an extra set if the party is still going - the dancing usually runs from around midnight until two or half past. A 4-6 piece band delivers music across the generations and keeps guests on their feet.

The size of the gathering points to the format: up to around 60 guests, a duo or trio handles it fine; 60 to 120 guests call for a trio or quartet; and from 120 to 200 guests a quintet or a full party band works best. A DJ is a cheaper alternative, plays broadly without breaks, and gladly fills the gaps when the band takes a pause. Many couples combine the two: a band for the important sets, a playlist or DJ in between.

The table below shows the indicative ranges Danish musicians typically sit in, tied to the phases of the wedding day they most often cover. These are market prices for the musicians' own fees, not prices from Dionysia - use them as a reference point when you set a budget.

What decides whether you land near the bottom or the top of each range - line-up, playing time, experience, transport and season - we walk through in the price guide. For a wedding, the biggest factor is still the number of musicians: the more on stage, the higher the total fee.

The high season for weddings runs from May to September, and the calendar fills early. If you want to be sure of a particular band for a Saturday in summer, book 6-12 months ahead; the most sought-after acts are often taken a whole year in advance. For a winter date or a weekday, the choice is wider, but half a year's notice is still a good margin.

If you're a musician yourself, the same calendar applies: couples book early, so it pays to be visible in good time, before the summer dates are gone.

A question that often comes up: does the couple have to pay KODA for the music? As a rule, no. A private, invited wedding among family and friends does not count as a public event, and KODA itself names a wedding as an example of a private party. As long as the guests are invited and outsiders can't simply walk in, the party normally doesn't trigger a KODA bill for you.

The assessment does depend on the specific event, though. If the party is held somewhere with a public character, or there's genuinely public access, the picture can look different - and the venue or restaurant may hold its own music licence independently of you. If in doubt, check with your venue or directly with KODA rather than assuming it's free. A musician, incidentally, can't report a private wedding performance as a KODA concert, so you agree the fee directly with the musician.