If you are wondering how to plan a traditional wedding in Toronto then I hope this blog post helps. At least in the music selection.
Weddings are a huge task in the easiest case scenarios. But what about when it gets super complicated? For example, let’s say the couple is moving away from the old traditions of their parents and grandparents and wish to have a completely modern style wedding. Now this might be all well and good in theory, but the practical application can become extremely difficult and even lead to serious fighting among those trying to make the best event possible. Most likely, the parents will be paying for the evening which means you’re going to have to cater to their desires in some fashion.
So when it comes to the music of the evening, usually in most cases there is going to have to be an eclectic mix of music throughout the evening. Maybe you can hire one band who can play all types of music for the reception, ceremony and the dancing. But in all likelihood, you’re probably going to end up hiring separate people for each part of the night considering the mix of music you’ll need.
Personally, my experience is in the Jewish wedding world. With all of the different types of Jews that exist out there, it’s very hard to find the right mix of religion and modernity at a wedding. I’ve done nights where I have shown up for 20 minutes just to sing the opening ‘hora’ part of the evening and leave the rest to the band they hired who are not experts in singing in Hebrew. Sometimes the ones making the wedding are left with no choice but to do something like that in order to cater everyone’s taste in music.
If you are resourceful, however you might be able to save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache by finding a band that can actually fill the entire night. Let’s say you’re Italian and having a Catholic style wedding, it is possible with proper research to find a band who can cater to playing some of the tunes from the old country with a little religious twang, plus be able to cover all of the top 40 stuff you’re looking for the remainder of the evening. It’s extremely cost effective and easier to only deal with the one group and one band leader rather than have two or three different entities to deal with on a night where you’ll be dealing with all sorts of logistics – let alone your emotions!
It’s very important to speak to many different bands and see what kind of repertoire they have going. You’d probably be amazed at how much versatility is out there. In the city of Toronto, you’ll find some of the most eclectic musicians which makes sense, being that this one of the most diverse cities as far as culture goes, in the entire world. Almost everyone has a religious aspect to their life which means there will be some form of musical attachment as well to that particular religion.
