If I can just have 1 instrument play for my outdoor wedding, what would sound the best? 120 guests.?

Question

Cello / piano / acoustic guitar / mandolin / glockenspiel / sax / violin / flute / harp / xylophone / steel drums / ?????

Answer 1

i play guitar and sax, so i'd love to say one of those, but i grand piano would be beautiful. you can do more on a piano that most instruments. mainly, play 2 parts at the same time, hard to do on a lot of other instruments,

Answer 2

flute or violin would be beautiful. definitely put a mic nearby. congrats and good luck!!

Answer 3

As a pianist of over 8 years, I would strongly reccomend it for these reasons: it's classy, can go with anything, and everyone will enjoy it. Unusual instruments like steel drums and xylophone are low-class and would raise a lot of eyebrows. A grand piano is always classy, beautiful and enjoyable, and you can do a lot with it too (loud or soft, either way it's good.) I hope this helps you decide.

Answer 4

Harp

Answer 5

ohh it's a toss up between piano and harp. hmm, i think piano.  

Answer 6

For a tropical themed wedding, I would do the steel drums because that sounds fun!

For a formal event, I would do cello, violin, flute, or harp.  (night time would be better for cello, seems very mellow compared to others)

For a romantic, but not too formal event, the sax sounds nice.

For a casual wedding, I think the guitar would be best.  Actually, the guitar would probably work in all the situations very well, but then I like guitar.

Stay away from piano (too traditional for me), mandolin, glockenspiel, and xylophone as they are kinda funky and might distract from you and your spouse to be.

Check with your venue too to make sure they would allow things like steel drums there.

Good luck!

EDIT: If you are still considering piano, remember that since it is outside, it will be hard for someone to roll the big chunky thing out there, most likely.  You could go with a keyboard, but that isn't nearly as classy.

Answer 7

Harp ( I had one at mine - it was awesome)

next I would say violin and then guitar

Answer 8

A harp...I had a harpist at my wedding... and it was too perfect, it sounds beautiful :)

Congrats on the wedding coming up!!!

Answer 9

I've heard a solo acoustic guitar/ violin/ piano/  harp.

I've heard cello & violin/ guitar trio/ 2 violins & cello.

It's a matter of personal choice...and what your budget will allow.  You might have a harp dream with a guitar budget.

Answer 10

saxophone,harp or violin

Answer 11

just a piano its so classical

Answer 12

My brother had two classical guitarists. They were amazing.

Answer 13

bagpipes

Answer 14

Definitely harp. I've been to an outdoor wedding with a harp player and it sounds very beautiful. Second choice is violin, just make sure the violin player is a good one or else it'll just sound terrible.

Answer 15

I am torn between the Guitar and the Violin. Both sound awesome alone and they can really set the mood. I love both!

I hope this helps. :)

Answer 16

It depends where your wedding is.  For example, I had an outdoor wedding (in a relatively sheltered area) and I had a string quartet play - but even with the four of them it was very quiet.  If you have a roof over the top then you can afford a quieter instrument such as violin or harp or acoustic guitar.  For the loudest sound the sax would be just lovely.  But if you can have a quieter instrument then I would choose the harp - it is always such a pretty instrument.  You also have to keep in mind that things like pianos are hard to transport so unless there is already one set up where you need it I would suggest not to choose piano.  (They go out of tune very quickly when moved)

It really does depend on the location as well as the style of music you want played.  For example, a sax is going to sound very different to a xylophone.  And something you can play on steel drums is not necessarily going to be available for a cello to play!  Maybe start looking at some music and what instruments play the songs you like and go from there.

Short answer - I would love to hear a sax - but on it's own it doesn't sound so full.  (One or two solo pieces would be fine - I love the sound personally - but it would get a bit boring after a while if that is all you heard and if you didn't have another instrument with it to mix it up a bit.)  An option would be a backing tape - but I don't know if that is an option or not?

Solo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89A0vvoeI...

With Backing Tape...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl3bKKIea...

If you are in a smaller/closed-in area to keep in the sound then I suggest a harp is the best way to go for a nice fullness of sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNitJXEaV...

Btw, If it is a beach wedding then I think for something really unique the steel drums would be just wonderful!  Certainly haven't seen that for a wedding before - but would love to!  Anyway, it's up to you and your fiance... choose something that suits you both and suits the wedding.

Answer 17

Piano would be the best. A cello's sound is not full enough or capable of simultaneously playing multiple parts for a wedding, which would be the same case for all of these other instruments you listed.

The harp's sound is very much like a piano, but it may be too quiet for an outdoor wedding.

Even with a piano, you'll have to consider an electric piano plugged into some amplifiers so all of the guests can hear it.

Answer 18

Harp, very classy

Answer 19

piano. Clarinet is cool why didnt you include clarinet

Answer 20

piano would sound beautiful plus a professional knows many songs so they could take requests

Answer 21

Piano/keyboard is most versatile. Otherwise it depends upon what types of songs you are having. I've played acoustic guitar for a Catholic wedding, where the songs were hymns and some contemporary. In general, violin if you are leaning more towards classical.

For our wedding ceremony, a friend of mine played the bandura (a Ukrainian stringed instrument). It was awesome!

Answer 22

As long as there's a microphone near the instrument, do whatever you want, people will be able to hear it.

We're having a violin/cell duo at ours. We prefer the sound of string instruments, but that's just us. The sax would be cool if you guys are big blues fans or more on the funky side. The mandolin is a really cute idea as well. Very unique.

My only suggestion is to advice against the harpist just because they tend to be more expensive (they're very specific, and they have to lug around a giant instrument, so they charge more).

Answer 23

Sax, harp, violin or flute

I would have them in that order

I love the way a sax sounds it has a romanticc sound and would be great at a outdoor wedding.

Answer 24

It really depends on the style of the ceremony.  But overall I think an acoustic guitar would be my preference for an outdoor ceremony/wedding.  But my style would suit that, so it depends on what your plans are.

Good Luck!

Answer 25

A very talented electric guitarist.