The UK's Best Alternative Wedding Bands

Alternative Wedding Bands

The UK's Best Alternative Wedding Bands

Head-turning alternative wedding bands for hire from the UK’s leading supplier of live wedding music, Tailored Entertainment. Sick of the hearing the same old wedding bands? Fancy something a little different from your wedding entertainment? Well we can help you with that.

We exclusively represent some of the UK’s leading alternative wedding bands, all of which offer a fresh, exciting, and often surprising change from the standard wedding band booking. From blistering pop punk wedding bands to vintage speakeasy-style swing acts and absolutely everything in between, we represent a dizzying selection of totally unique wedding entertainment that’s guaranteed to make your big day stand out.

Hire Authentic Alternative Music For Your Big Day

It’s never been easier to find and book genuinely unique wedding entertainment. You can even fine tune your search to match your preferred style, budget, and location.
If you’re not sure where to start, it’s helpful to think about the kind of music that gets you up and dancing. Can’t get enough of Backstreet Boys and Britney? Check out our retro 90s wedding bands that bring the biggest tunes from your childhood crashing into the 21st century. Or maybe your idea of heaven is a packed Ibiza nightclub? Well we’ve got incredible dance anthem bands that can turn your wedding reception into the dancefloor of sun-drenched super club.

Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find it in our roster of truly unique wedding bands. Click below to start your search...
Read more...

The band gave us fabulous evening entertainment. They were amazing. I could not have asked for more fun.
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
  • Star Icon
“Oh my goodness we CANNOT say enough good words about them! All of our guests are still raving about how fantastic they were! Calling them the greatest wedding band of all time would be doing them a disservice. These guys bring the party like nobody else. Thank you guys for making our wedding day just THE BEST.”
Claire Hance - Wedding, Furnace Pond Cottage, West Sussex

Need help finding your alternative wedding band?

Got a burning question about hiring an alternative wedding band for your big day? Here’s answers to some of the questions we get asked the most...

How much should I pay for my alternative wedding band?

For professional alternative bands for weddings, we recommend a base-level starting price of around £1000. At this price, you’re ensuring that your wedding band is made up of the UK’s very best professional musicians with the requisite skillset, equipment, and production to perform at any wedding venue in the country. Keep in mind that this is a starting price, and lots of bands you’ll like are going to cost more than this.

For loads more information on how much bands cost and what you get for your money, check out our in-depth Tailored Guide on how much you should pay for your wedding band.

What does the alternative wedding band fee include?

As standard, a Tailored Entertainment alternative wedding band booking includes...

  • Two hours of live music split into sets to suit you - featuring the best alternative dance floor fillers!
  • Professional sound and lighting production.
  • A pre-mixed DJ service playlist for before and after live sets.
  • PAT Testing and PLI Insurance (required by all UK wedding venues).

You also get our 5-star Tailored Entertainment customer service. From your first enquiry right through to the big day itself, you’ll have a dedicated booking agent on hand to answer any questions or arrange any last-minute changes. This kind of peace of mind can make all the difference in the lead-up to your wedding day!

Lots of our bands also offer ‘optional extras’ for an additional fee. These include services such as afternoon drinks reception add-ons, roaming acoustic sets, ‘band as DJ’ sets, early load-in and late finishes. You’ll find all these options listed in the band’s profile.

Will my alternative wedding band travel outside of their location?

Yes! Our alternative bands regularly travel to perform at weddings right across the UK and abroad. If your wedding is taking place more than two hours (one-way) from a band’s ‘location’, they will ask for an additional fee to cover travel and accommodation costs.

How do I make a booking for an alternative wedding band?

First off, you need to find an alternative band that you love. If you want to go ahead and book that band, you can make an enquiry through the band’s profile – you’ll be asked to provide your contact details, and then one of our booking team will get in touch with you to chat through the details. If you’d prefer, you can just give us a call on 0800 564 2240 to get the ball rolling!

Are there any extra costs I need to think about when hiring alternative wedding music?

The price you see listed on the band’s profile is our guide price. This is the average amount that it will cost to book the band. However, there are a few things that might affect the final cost of booking your alternative wedding entertainment. For example, travel distance – the band’s guide price is based on them travelling anywhere within two hours (one-way) of their ‘location’. If your wedding or event is further away than this, there will be a travel and accommodation budget added to the booking.

There are a few other things that might increase the cost of booking your wedding music. If you would like the band to arrive early/stay late then this will incur an extra fee, and if you decide to book any of the band’s ‘optional extras’, these will also incur an extra charge.

For more information on this, give our team a call on 0800 564 2240. We’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Can I pick the songs my alternative band performs?

On every unique wedding band’s profile, you’ll find their specific repertoire of wedding band music. We suggest that you take their repertoire into consideration when booking your wedding band, and make sure that you like plenty of the songs on their list. When you book your act, we’ll ask you to go through this list and highlight your favourites, so the band can keep those in mind when putting the sets together for your big night. You can also use this time to identify any songs you wouldn’t like to hear, too.

All our alternative wedding bands also offer to learn one special request (a song not listed on their repertoire) as standard with your booking. Lots of people use this for their first dance, but you can also just choose a song you love to go into the evening sets!

We have alternative music tastes, can we provide a playlist for before and after the band's live sets?

Absolutely! You can put together a Spotify playlist of your favourite alternative music and pass this across to the band ahead of the event, and they will be happy to play this in between sets. Or if you’d prefer, the band can put a playlist together for you. Many of our wedding bands also offer a ‘band as DJ’ add-on, where the band members personally MC the party and take requests too.

Can someone help me pick the right alternative wedding band?

If you’re struggling to find the right alternative wedding entertainment for you, we’d be more than happy to help! It’s helpful to think about the kind of music you like to listen to, or the kind of music that gets you and your friends and family dancing at a party, and choose an act that fits with that style. If you’re still not sure, give our expert team a call and we can suggest a few acts you might like based on your preferences, location and budget.

Do your alternative wedding bands provide insurance certificates such as Public Liability Insurance and PAT Testing certificates?

In many wedding venues Public Liability Insurance (PLI) and PAT Testing Certificates (documentation that ensures all electrical items are safe) are an essential requirement from bands for weddings. Every one of our alternative wedding bands carry up-to-date PLI and PAT Testing Certification in line with wedding venues guidelines, meaning when you book a Tailored Entertainment wedding act, you’ve nothing to worry about.

What different styles of alternative wedding band can I book?

Our alternative wedding bands cover all the most popular styles in contemporary wedding entertainment. We have festival-style wedding bands for rustic barn and tipi weddings, electro-swing bands for big, glitzy events, Gatsby-style bands for vintage weddings and indie-rock wedding bands that guarantee a packed dancefloor. For those looking for something a bit different from their wedding band, we’ve got incredible dance anthem bands, retro 90s college rock acts, brilliant RnB bands and much more besides!

If you don’t know where to start, its useful to think about the kind of music you love and find a band that fits. You can use our search function to fine-tune your choices a bit!

Do your alternative wedding bands perform at the afternoon drinks reception too?

Absolutely! Many of our alternative bands offer afternoon drinks reception add-ons to their standard booking. You’ll find these listed under ‘optional extras’ on the band’s profile.

Alternatively, you could book one of our dedicated drinks reception entertainment options like a stunning soloist or string quartet.

How early should I book my alternative wedding band?

The timing has to be right for you, but we’d recommend booking your wedding band as early as possible. We represent some of the most in-demand unique wedding bands in country, and peak summer dates will often book up around a year in advance - sometimes longer. To ensure you get the band you really want, we’d suggest booking as soon as you have your venue sorted.

My wedding venue has a noise limiter. Can I still book one of your alternative wedding bands?

The short answer is yes, you absolutely can book a great band if your venue has a noise limiter. Most of our alternative wedding bands are able to perform within the restrictions of a sound limiter and your experience will be the same as at a venue without one. We have a few bands - mainly the club anthems style, whose music may not be suitable depending on the individual venue restrictions. Please contact us to chat further if your venue has a sound limiter as we'll likely have experience of working at your chosen venue. You can read all about what sound limiters are and how they might affect your party entertainment in our Tailored Guide on wedding venues with sound limiters.

Related Articles
Blog
Wedding Ideas Your Guests Will Love

From decor that transforms your venue to dance-floor filling entertainment, it’s the unique and unforgettable additions to the day that really make your wedding totally unforgettable - for you and your guests. Well, good news! Tailored Entertainment is here to help.

Blog
How much does it cost to hire a wedding band?

It’s a question we get asked a lot here at Tailored; and it’s an understandable one at that. So much about planning a wedding is a step into the unknown...

Blog
20 unique UK wedding venues for your special day

Unique is such a buzzword when it comes to weddings, isn’t it? So much so that you can be forgiven for feeling a little sceptical whenever you see a wedding venue labelled ‘unique’ or ‘alternative’. It seems like they all are at times!

Blog
Festival Wedding Ideas - hints and tips for your festival themed wedding.

Planning a festival themed wedding? Well, good news! We’re here to help.

Find the perfect live band for your wedding

We have bands available to hire nationwide...

My Shortlist My Shortlist

Tap on the heart icon on an artist’s profile to add them to your shortlist and they will appear here. Browse our hand-picked selection of UK wedding bands, DJs and musicians for parties and events.

Send Us Your Shortlist

Please fill out the form below and one of our team will be in touch to confirm availability and pricing.