Bands- Need opinions!!!

OK, so after a VERY long search and COUNTLESS hours listening to FAR too many bands and ones that charge WAY too much for how they sound (a story for another time!!) we have it narrowed down to two, however, they are both TOTALLY different. One is a swing band and they can really play!!! They sound great and FI and I both love this style of music. The other is more of a contemporary band and also VERY good sound (billy joel, elton/standards. The swing band can play some contemporary as well and the contemporary band can play some swing) We are having a hard time choosing as it will obviously really set the tone for the wedding. We are both a little bit older 33&35 (YIKES, did I just say that!!) and all of our 160 guests will be that age or older. My question is do you think most people will dance if we choose the swing band or should we go with the safe band that plays a variety. I am REALLY having a hard time deciding. We are having a very formal wedding and I'm leaning towards the swing band but just having a hard time committing to it. WOuld you dance to a swing band at a wedding? Any responses would really help!! Thanks!!!!!!

Do they only play swing? You need a well rounded band that your guests will dance too. Most people dance to songs that they know.
What are the bands you are looking into?

hmmm..that's a tough one. I really like the idea of a swing band, but I too would be a little concerned.
I say go for the swing band only if they can also give you some contemporary songs.
Good luck!

we had the same dilemma...

we are using a band that plays jazz, blues, and funky r&b. their repertoire is such that you don't have to necessarily dance swing all the time. it's great for the older folks and the younger ones can 'fake it' if need be. when we went to see them, my feet were tapping all the time...i personally just can’t seem to dance to rock anymore...

ETA: we booked the Ron Sunshine Band

Can you tell us the names of the bands??
Which one is the 2nd one ?! I am desperate to find a good band!!

While I love swing, I would not have a swing ONLY band for a wedding. If the swing band can also play other types of music then go with them. If not, I personally would use the other band.
editted to say: I used Milestone Music and was super happy with them. I had one of our friends decide to get a band instead of a DJ after coming to our wedding because Milestone was so good.

My FH and I Love swing dancing, so we would definitely swing dance at a wedding!

We're actually having a swing themed reception, and here is what we decided to do. We chose NYC Swing as our band b/c they have a very large swing selection and can play other types of music as well. (Plus, they're amazing!) Our hope is for the band to play mostly swing music with other music mixed in. But, the band will read the crowd and will adjust the type of songs they play depending on our guests.

What we're also going to do is have 1 or 2 swing dance instructors at the reception to teach our guests the basic steps so everyone can dance to the music!

Please feel free to FM me if you want to talk more!

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Posted by jvs77

My FH and I Love swing dancing, so we would definitely swing dance at a wedding!

We're actually having a swing themed reception, and here is what we decided to do. We chose NYC Swing as our band b/c they have a very large swing selection and can play other types of music as well. (Plus, they're amazing!) Our hope is for the band to play mostly swing music with other music mixed in. But, the band will read the crowd and will adjust the type of songs they play depending on our guests.

What we're also going to do is have 1 or 2 swing dance instructors at the reception to teach our guests the basic steps so everyone can dance to the music!

Please feel free to FM me if you want to talk more!

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FH and I attended our first swing class last night and had SO MUCH FUN! it's amazing what one can learn in a short amount of time. i was saying to FH as we were leaving, it would be great if our guests could learn what we did, and i think i will send my parents to a few classes before the big day!

september2004 - May I ask where you took your class? And also, could you FM me the prices? My FH and I are starting to look around for a swing dance teacher for ourselves. (We want to be really good by our wedding!)

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Posted by jvs77

september2004 - May I ask where you took your class? And also, could you FM me the prices? My FH and I are starting to look around for a swing dance teacher for ourselves. (We want to be really good by our wedding!)

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we live in jersey and work in manhattan so we are taking classes in manhattan at Sandra Cameron Dance Center. we signed up for basic 6 and basic swing (you get a better deal signing up for more classes at a time). basic 6 was fun, but swing was GREAT as we focused on one dance and had a fantastic teacher... they list prices here

after we get the 'swing' of things, ha ha, we will try some private instruction as well. in group lessons you switch partners (FH hates this, i love it) so you get to learn how to interact with different people and styles. once we get the basics down, i think we will need some pointers on how we can improve dancing together and avoid fights (i.e. 'you are doing that wrong') by getting a 3rd party objective opinion...

That sounds great! I will definitely check them out! Thanks so much!!