Hiring an International Band for a Destination Wedding – The Definitive Guide (2024)

In this blog post, we'll discuss how to hire a destination wedding band, including some frequently asked questions, average prices and tips from our live music experts.

FixTheMusic is the leading suppliers of international bands, DJs and musicians for destination weddings in Europe. Since 2015 we have specialised in sending the world's best international bands to countries including France, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and as far afield as India, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

We now work with some of Europe’s most exclusive destination wedding planners and luxury wedding venues and provide amazing live music for the world’s best parties.

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But coordinating an international band to travel overseas for a one-off show isn’t always straightforward – and the prospect of organising flights, accommodation and equipment hire can leave many couples discouraged.

This experience has given our team at FixTheMusic a unique insight into destination weddings and the bands that regularly perform at them. In this post, we’ll cover some top tips on how to hire a band for your destination weddings, some pitfalls to avoid – and most importantly, how to find the very best destination wedding bands for your own event.

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As well as this definitive guide to hiring a live band for a destination wedding, we've also written country-specific guides for many of the most popular wedding locations in Europe. These blog posts feature the most popular local bands for hire at destination weddings, as well as tips and advice related to the particular country. You can read them all here:

Hiring a Band for Destination Weddings in France – A Short Guide 🇫🇷

Hiring a Band for Destination Weddings in Italy – A Short Guide 🇮🇹

The Top 12 Wedding Bands in Spain For 2024 (With Prices) 🇪🇸

The Top 13 Best Wedding Bands in Portugal For 2024 (With Prices) 🇵🇹

Hiring a Wedding Band in Croatia – A Short Guide 🇭🇷

Hiring a Wedding Band in Greece – A Short Guide 🇬🇷

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We’ll start by going through a few of the most frequently asked questions that we receive from couples considering booking a band for their destination wedding.

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

The average price of a destination wedding band in 2024 is £8,750. The exact costs vary hugely though and will depend on many factors, such as whether the price included the band's expenses (flights, accommodation, equipment hire etc.) and how large the band was (e.g. whether it was a small duo or a 12-piece international showband), and of course where the destination wedding took place.

Should I hire a local band or an international destination wedding band from the UK for my wedding?

The answer to this question will vary according to a few factors. Probably the first consideration is your budget: flying a band from the UK to your destination wedding is rarely a cheap thing to do. The biggest expenses (apart from the band’s performance fee itself of course) are usually the cost of flights and equipment hire locally.

Secondly, whether you need to fly in a band from overseas will also depend on local talent available. There are many great bands based in countries across Europe – unfortunately not all of them have the best online presence, which can make it difficult to discover them when trying to organise your wedding from another country.

FixTheMusic has curated a growing selection of local bands, DJs and musicians in countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Cyprus. So you might want to check out the local talent as well as international bands.

That said, if you're after a band that does a specialist genre of music (e.g. UK garage or lots of R&B, for example), then you will probably need to rely on a destination wedding band, as most local musicians won't specialise to such an extent and will cater to more general music tastes.

In 2024, we've noticed a trend for couples to be more eco-conscious. With climate change accelerating across the world, many wedding couples are wanting to take steps to mitigate the environmental impact of flying a wedding band from one country to another. Some of our bands have started to travel by train much more than they did previously, and clients are also more willing to pay extra to offset carbon emissions.

How do bands quote for destination weddings overseas?

When it comes to the band providing you with their price, there are usually two ways they do this: some prefer to provide a quote for just their performance fee and then require the client to cover all of their expenses. Other bands are willing to provide the client with an all-inclusive quote, which includes their accommodation and travel expenses.

Usually the cost of hiring a PA system and any other equipment is not included as it can be quite time-consuming to obtain quotes from local suppliers for this and the prices can vary widely between suppliers. FixTheMusic has a network of trusted equipment suppliers in many locations across Europe so please let us know if we can help with this.

What expenses do bands normally need to be covered for them?

As mentioned above, some bands prefer not to provide all-inclusive quotes; instead, they quote for just their performance fee and request the client to pay for all of their additional expenses. These usually include flights from their nearest airport (with some baggage allowance for instruments), transfers in the destination country (e.g. taxis), accommodation, food and drinks, and PA system / equipment hire.

What are the pitfalls to avoid when hiring a band for a destination wedding?

Probably the most frequent issue couples encounter when trying to hire a destination wedding band is finding reasonably priced suppliers to hire a PA / sound system and equipment from. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen prices for hiring a basic PA system range from €250 to €2,000. Often your wedding planner can help put you in touch with trusted local suppliers, or feel free to get in touch with us – we’re always happy to help hunt for the best equipment hire companies.

Another dilemma couples often face is whether to arrange for the band to arrive the day before the wedding or on the day of the wedding itself. Many bands will charge an extra fee to arrive the day before – as it means they can’t accept any other work or gigs the night before. But it can be risky having the band arrive on the morning of the wedding as it doesn’t leave much time for flight delays or other disruptions to the band’s journey.

How can I get the most out of a band when hiring them for my destination wedding?

If you’ve booked a UK band for your destination wedding, many will offer to perform for other parts of your wedding day at a heavily reduced rate, e.g. during the ceremony or some background musical entertainment at your drinks reception.

Although most UK weddings tend to finish by midnight, weddings on the continent usually go on until the small hours. Bands experienced at performing for destination weddings will know this already and be ready to extend their usual timings until 1am or 2am (though some may charge extra for this or timings later this).

Who is the world's most popular destination wedding band?

From speaking with real wedding couples and based on the number of confirmed bookings at international weddings, the world's most popular destination wedding band is Scintillate. The band comprises a charismatic male lead singer, guitar, bass, drums and keyboard, and can be added to with a sax player and full horn section, as well as other singers.

In addition to Scintillate, the following covers bands are among our most popular groups for destination weddings in Europe. They perform a diverse range of musical genres, including pop, rock and indie, soul, funk and Motown, and RnB, hip-hop and garage music.

View our complete list of outstanding international destination wedding bands ➡️

If you're looking to hire a fun and charismatic band for your wedding, you've come to the right place.

FixTheMusic is free to use – we're a secure platform for liaising with and booking outstanding musicians worldwide.

On their profiles, you can watch their videos, read their verified reviews from clients on FixTheMusic, view recent event photos and enquire with them directly.

Wedding bands on FixTheMusic have public liability insurance and PAT tested equipment.

Here are some of our most in-demand destination wedding bands performing live...

View more videos and read verified reviews of Scintillate ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Luna Showband ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of The Legends Collective ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of MOJO ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Forever Diamonds Showband ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of The Millionaire Showband ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Groove Addiction ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of PYT ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Fusion Girls ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of ROAMEO ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Mashup Kings ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Jupiter Funk ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of The Upshots ➡️

View more videos and read verified reviews of Aptitude ➡️

If you'd like to receive free quotes from our international bands that are available to hire for destination weddings submit your enquiry to get started.

We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible to hire international destination wedding bands abroad, and we hope to help many more couples find their perfect wedding band at many more beautiful locations across the world in the years to come.

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