Wind Ensembles - for your Event

About Wind Ensembles

The Wind Ensemble pages list ensembles that perform regularly for weddings in your area. To get some wedding music ideas, read on:

The wind ensemble category of our website covers woodwind and brass ensembles (so that includes saxophones), with styles ranging from classical to pop and jazz (but they are not Jazz Bands, which have their own section on our website.) Saxophone quartets in the Wind section may be playing a classical and light music repertoire, including film and TV themes.

You may find woodwind quartets playing as the equivalent of the more usual sting quartet. (Wind quartets are a bit like Marmite, you either love them or hate them!) Brass ensembles, with trumpets, trombones, french horns etc. Saxophone quartets, with their own very distinctive sound. Solo trumpeters (particularly popular as a ceremonial trumpeter for wedding ceremonies, to fanfare the Bride during wedding processional and recessional, but also for announcements entrances at corporate events  and ceremonial occasions of all kinds.

Woodwind, brass and saxophones can make a lot of noise if they need to, so can survive the noisy chatter that is sometimes a feature of wedding receptions and formal dinner. They will take up the same sort of area as a string quartet. Beware though of siting them too close to our guests. You don't want to deafen them, and many of the louder instruments can do that without any effort. (Think of a single trumpeter or oboist cutting through the sound of a 80 piece symphony orchestra.

Rather like string quartets, they can relocate rapidly from one room to another and play outdoors, weather permitting. Do take some care with outdoor playing. Brass bands play outside in all weathers, but the ones who play Christmas Carols are playing much simpler tunes. A brass player would not be able to play much of the repertoire that would be played for a wedding reception if they were freezing cold and being blown about. Also, think of shelter from the wind. Flautist in particular find it hard to play in windy conditions. The wind can blow across the flues hole faster than they are blowing, so it plays itself or stops making a sound all together. They are particularly susceptible to change in pitch with temperature, so in cold conditions they can't keep in tune with the other instruments.

None of this is really a problem. Your wedding guests wouldn't mostly want to be out in unpleasant weather, but it is surprising how oblivious to the weather a just married and deeply in love Bride and Groom can be, and for that matter their guests if they have downed a good quantity of Champagne!

Wind ensembles are good for many of the kind of events that a string quartet would be used for. The main difference is the sound they make. They have a very different sound, which tends to be more penetrating with woodwind and simply louder with brass. Although wind groups do have their own quite specialised classical repertoire, they also play the well known wedding 'songs' and other repertoire from the classics, music from shows and films and light jazz that other types of group would play.

Looking at non wedding events, they are suitable for situations where volume of sound from an entirely acoustic group is an advantage e.g. music for race meetings, shows, large and noisy wedding breakfasts. Of course, you can have them at a small and quiet event too, because they can play reasonably quietly if that is appropriate! Band hire prices are indicated very approximately on our website, but as there are many factors connected with price, it is always best to send us an enquiry that we can quote accurately against.