Got a Question?
We've pulled together some questions and answers which have come up over the years. Hopefully this helps, but we still want to chat, so please get in touch any time!
Before you book
We play with pipers all the time! Often they will be playing outside a venue welcoming guests while we are inside, so it’s never been a problem and it's always nice to have us playing in the run up to the ceremony starting to set the scene.
Yes of course. We regularly play in places of worship, but please run it past the person in charge to make sure they are ok with everything.
From our existing repertoire, you can choose as much or as little of the music which we play during your wedding.
As well as for during the ceremony, please send us a list of your favourites to play at other parts of the day such as your guests arriving to the ceremony and drinks reception.
We’re card-carrying Swifties for a start, so a big ‘YES’ to Taylor Swift! But we do include 2 original arrangements if your choices aren’t in our current repertoire. Most things can work, but please give us as much notice as possible as these take a good amount of time to write. For any more than two requests, we need to make an additional charge.
A string quartet includes two violins, a viola, and a cello - whereas a trio is the same, but without the viola. The quartet is a slightly fuller and louder sound, and better for larger events, while a string trio is perfectly suited for weddings and events with up to around 100 guests, or those in smaller venues.
We do play outside fairly often, but our instruments are very old, fragile and usually pretty valuable! So if there’s any chance of rain, then we won’t perform outside. During the summer, most of the weddings we play at are outdoors, and we just need a shaded area in which to play - this could be cover from a tree or shade from a building - but it’s really important!
Of course! We can’t promise to beat your guests from one place to another, but we can travel between venues no bother. Our travel time is included in the timings of your booking, and we would still need to agree a start and finish time at the point of booking.
We’ve played a number of times around mainland Europe over the years, so happy to travel all over!
Some people book years and years in advance, while others are planning weddings and events in much tighter timescales. It’s a good idea to get in touch as early as you can, so we can check availability for your date.
Once you’re happy to go ahead book Capella String Quartet for your wedding, we will send you a performance contract detailing the terms and conditions of your booking. If that’s all agreed, we require £100 as a non-refundable booking fee to confirm your event in our diary.
We’re lucky to work with an amazing pool of top professional players, and in 30 years of playing at weddings and events we’ve never had to cancel a booking. Things can happen of course, but we will always have a suitable replacement, and can fulfil your booking without any drop in quality.
After you book
We can put songs together really quickly if needed, but generally it’s best if we can have everything squared away around a month before your wedding.
For our string quartet we will need you to provide 4 straight-backed, armless chairs, for a string trio we will need 3. The venue will always provide these, usually the the banqueting chairs used for dinner are perfect.
The Music
We love to play and collaborate with other professional singers and musicians, and have put together some amazing performances in the past. We usually have to charge more for this due to the extra time involved, but it’s something we absolutely love to do.
Every ceremony is slightly different, but at a typical wedding ceremony we would need 1 piece of music for the processional (walking in), 2 pieces while you’re signing the marriage schedule (if it’s a legal wedding!), and another song as the crowd goes wild while you walk out (the recessional)
In our experience, we normally find it flows better for us to play one piece of music to accompany you and your wedding party. It’s your choice though, and we can be fully flexible!