Our Chicago wedding band pricing is organized by packages that can be adjusted to your event schedule. Discounts are available for Friday and Sunday weddings, off-season dates (January–April), and non-profit organizations. A 25% deposit is required to reserve your date, with the remaining balance due the week before your event. We accept Venmo, Zelle, personal checks, Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Discover, and cash. Learn more on our Pricing Page.

Yes, we will learn nearly any song you request. We have a full-time arranger on staff to accommodate all your specific needs. We encourage you to be as creative and personal as you like. Even if we never play your special request again, we’re happy to learn it for you free of charge. If it’s important to you, it’s important to us. We’re the Chicago Wedding Band with the largest Songlist. 

Yes, if your venue does not provide a piano, we will bring a keyboard for your ceremony or reception free of charge.

Yes, we will co-ordinate of all announcements and introductions throughout your event. We also will help coordinate with your vendors so you can relax and concentrate on your guests. We’re the only music company that provides a separate emcee. The emcee will be available to work directly with your vendors and be free to answer any questions you have. The band will be able to concentrate purely on playing music. This is a huge advantage to the flow of your wedding. You will get better photos, video, food service, and you will have complete peace of mind all night.

Professional, experienced, world-class musicians including 7 different ceremony ensembles, a jazz trio and a 8 to 11-piece band. Both ensembles include a DJ. We also offer 3 DJ ensembles. Solo DJ, DJ with Sax and DJ, Sax and Drums.

Yes, we have two state-of-the-art sound systems to accommodate a variety of venues. The sound system include wireless mics. The entire will be set up and tested two hours prior to the start of your event. Sound for your ceremony is an additional $375.

Our professional sound staff will monitor the sound throughout your event to make sure it is perfect at all times. 

Stage lighting is included for any size band. If you need up-lighting for the room, we can put together a price quote for that as well.

A copy of the signed contract, a template of your wedding schedule, the current playlist for you to review and the “Tell Us More About You” form. We will also establish a folder to keep track of all your emails. We are as organized as it gets! We will even remind you when it’s time to set up a meeting to make sure we have all the details fine-tuned. We understand that you probably haven’t done this before and we will make sure you are in good shape the whole way through!

Meetings are usually scheduled on weekday afternoons, evenings, or weekend mornings or afternoons. We’ve found meetings with Zoom or over the phone to work best! You can schedule a meeting here: calendly.com/drsmusic

Yes we give you a separate Emcee who will take care of all your announcements and co-ordiante with you, your planner and all your vendors. This also allows the band to concentrate only on playing music. With DRM, if you have a question you can simply ask our nearby Emcee. With other bands you’ll need to walk across the room interrupting the band leader who is on stage and trying to perform. He takes care of everything so you can relax and enjoy your wedding. You’ll get the best photos, videos and food service since they will be in the right place at the right time. With DRM, The Emcee is the Emcee and the Band is the Band!

First let’s define what dancing between courses is. It is used for all weddings on the east coast and amazingly enough called East Coast style. It has become very popular for wedding throughout the country because of the many benefits to your wedding. The biggest difference is the dance orchestra starts at the beginning of dinner instead of after dinner.

Here’s what the overall schedules would look like.

Dancing after Dinner (Mid-West Style)

Schedule Overview:

5:45 – 6:30pm Ceremony Classical Duo (Violin and Piano)

6:30 – 7:30pm Cocktails Jazz Trio (Piano, Bass and Sax)

7:30 – 9:00pm Dinner Jazz Trio Continues

9:00 – 12:00am 10-Piece Orchestra

Ceremony:

___________________________________________

5:45-6:30pm Ceremony Classical Duo

Cocktails:

6:30-7:30pm Jazz Trio

Dinner:

7:30-9:00pm Jazz Trio Continues

 7:30pm Doors open (Guests enter ballroom)

           Bridal Party Introductions

           Flower Girl:              escorted by Ring Bearer:

           Parents of the Bride:

            Parents of the Groom:

           Ushers:        

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen:

                                    escorted by

                                    escorted by

 Matron of Honor                   escorted by Best Man

  Bride and Groom: 

7:40                Toasts:

                        Toast 1:    

                        Toast 2:        

                        Toast 3:     

                      Toast 4:    

7:50  Blessing Over Meal:

8:00 Announce   Cake Cutting

        Meal is served

Dancing:

9:00-12:00am 10-Piece Orchestra

                  First Dance:                   

                 Father/Daughter:     

                 Mother/Son Dance:    

                 Everyone begins dancing   

10:30pm    Bouquet/Garter      

Dancing Between courses (East Coast Style)

Schedule Overview:

5:45 – 6:30pm Ceremony Classical Duo (Violin and Piano)

6:30 – 7:30pm Cocktails Jazz Trio (Piano, Bass and Sax)

7:30 – 9:00pm Dinner 10-Piece Orchestra

9:00 – 12:00am Dancing 10-Piece Orchestra Continues

Ceremony:

5:45-6:30pm Ceremony Classical Duo

Cocktails:

6:30-7:30pm Jazz Trio

Dinner:

7:30-9:00pm Jazz Trio Continues

 7:30pm Doors open (Guests enter ballroom)

           Bridal Party Introductions

           Flower Girl:              escorted by Ring Bearer:

           Parents of the Bride:

            Parents of the Groom:

           Ushers:        

Bridesmaids and Groomsmen:

                                    escorted by

                                    escorted by

                                    escorted by

   Matron of Honor                   escorted by Best Man

  Bride and Groom: 

                 First Dance:                  

                  Father/Daughter:     

                 Mother/Son Dance:    

                 Everyone dances one song

  “Ladies and Gentlemen we will have plenty of dancing throughout the evening. In the meantime please be seated”          

7:40                Toasts:

                        Toast 1:    

                        Toast 2:        

                        Toast 3:     

                      Toast 4:    

7:50  Blessing Over Meal:

8:00 Announce   Cake Cutting

        Salad is served

After Salads is being cleared:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, while you are waiting for your main course we’d like to invite to join us for dancing.”

The Catering Director cues David once the main course is served.

“Ladies and Gentlemen we will have plenty of dancing throughout the evening. In the meantime please be seated as your main course is being served.”    

Dancing:

9:00-12:00am 10-Piece Orchestra Continues

10:30pm    Bouquet/Garter      

     Dancing Between Courses has several huge benefits to the flow of your wedding:

WHAT HAPPENS:

      Dance Orchestra starts performing as the door to the ballroom open.

      BENEFITS:

You will make a big impression of having a full orchestra as your guests come in.

     WHAT HAPPENS:

When you are introduced with a standing ovation you walk right to the dance floor for your First Dance, Father/Daughter and Mother/Son.

     BENEFITS:

           All the formal dances are completed.  After dinner you will have 3 hours of uninterrupted

            Dancing.

      WHAT HAPPENS:

            Your guests are invite to dance once song.

      BENEFITS:

             The dancing will jump start your party and put your guests in the mood for a great night.

      WHAT HAPPENS:

              Guests are invited to dance after the salad course.  

       BENEFITS:

              Instead of sitting with a dirty plate with waiting reaching around them, they can dance to

              their favorite songs.

      WHAT HAPPENS:

              The dance orchestra performs for 4 ½ hours instead of 3.

       BENEFITS:

               You can choose more of your favorite songs.

                If toasts are long or the food is running behind you’re covered.

Ask how many years they’ve been in business. Ask about their versatility with songs and their willingness to learn new songs. Have them tell you stories about recent weddings they’ve done. Tell them some of your favorite songs and your ideas for your wedding. See how well they listen to your ideas. Ask what makes their band better and different than their competition.

Having separate ceremony musicians will help with the flow of transitioning from the end of your ceremony to the beginning of cocktails. It will also make sure that you have musicians who are specifically trained for ceremony music. We actually offer you a ceremony music planning guide, which helps you pick out all of the music for each of aspect of your entire ceremony.

As you are pronounced as officially married you both come down the aisle and exit the room. The musicians will continue to play until all your guests have left the ceremony room. In the meantime, the jazz trio will start playing as soon as the guests enter the cocktail hour room.

Yes, we adjust the sound throughout the evening. Our sound system includes the ability to use an iPad Mini to stand behind your guests on the dance floor and adjust the sound based on what your guests are hearing. During announcements and introductions, the speakers are pointed out toward the tables. Then when it is time for dancing, they are pointed toward the center of the dance floor. The sound is always full and comfortable without ever being too loud. If any of your guests feel that it is too loud, we will quickly adjust it to ensure everyone feels comfortable.

The men musicians wear black suits with white shirts and a long black dress tie. Women will wear a black or colorful cocktail dress.

Once we have your preferences of styles, songs, and artists to play or not play, we will put together a setlist. If a guest comes up and requests a song that is within your preferences, we’re happy to play it. If you do not want any guests to request songs and we will stick to your specific requests only.

We have full liability insurance. We are happy to provide that to your venue for your wedding date. It is the most complete insurance available and covers any situation. Luckily, we’ve never had to use it for any of the events, but it is certainly great peace of mind to know that everything is completely covered.

All of our videos are from live performances at actual weddings. So, you can see not only the quality and talent of the actual musicians, but the reaction of the crowd as well. Be sure to watch videos of all the ensembles for your ceremony, cocktails, dinner, and dancing. The gallery page also includes a great deal of photos of packed dance floors and our talented musicians.

We follow all COVID -19 State of Illinois guidelines for all events. We’ve been able to move nearly all of our weddings since March of 2020 to 2021 or 2022. If people want to reschedule their wedding dates, even 2 or 3 times, we’re happy to do that free of charge. The deposit is non-refundable, as it secures the date for you and for us. We would turn away other weddings to make sure our band stays reserved for you. If you decide to do a smaller wedding with all the music for your ceremony, cocktails, and dinner followed by a DJ instead of a band, we would simply void the current contract and create a new contract. Instead of having the remaining balance due at that time, we would only require the amount to cover costs of the updated ensembles. As I’ve said, we’ve been able to work with each and every couple to make sure it is as fair as possible. We know we’ll be able to do the same for you as well.

Popular wedding dates book 12–18 months in advance, especially Saturdays from May through October. We recommend reaching out as soon as your venue and date are confirmed. Use the form below to check your date — we’ll let you know right away if we’re available.

Yes! We serve couples throughout the greater Chicagoland area, including Evanston, Naperville, Oak Park, the North Shore, Schaumburg, and surrounding suburbs. Contact us to confirm availability for your specific venue.