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Wedding bands come in all shapes and sizes and each needs a minimum amount of space to set up their musical equipment and perform adequately. The minimum space needed for the most common wedding band line ups are:
3-piece wedding band – 3×3 metres or 9×9 feet
4-piece wedding band – 4×3 metres or 13×9 feet
5/6 piece wedding bands – 5×3 metres or 16×9 feet
7 piece upwards wedding bands – 6×4 metres or 19×13 feet
Making sure your wedding band has adequate space to perform and set up their gear is crucial to making sure your wedding party lives up to your expectations! Yes, over the years everyone here at Seventh Second has been stuffed into corners and squeezed themselves into tight spaces to perform for newlyweds but if you want the most out of your live wedding entertainment, a proper performance space is always a bonus! That’s why I have full and detailed performance space dimensions further on in this guide to help out. Today’s guide will speak about weddings but you can use my size guides and advice for any event you are hosting.
Just like ours, at least 90% of wedding bands arrive at your wedding with everything they need to perform. Lights, PA, instruments, DJ’ing equipment, outfits, cables, microphones, 4-ways, and various spares lists just some of what we need to bring. Drummers can have a lot of fun at gigs with most having to sometimes climb or be lifted over their drum kits to get off the stage because it was so small or just so packed with equipment!
Being self-contained like this makes life easy for you and your wedding venue but it does mean that live bands need space and good venue access to set everything up, get sound checked, and perform for you properly. Even if your wedding venue supplies PA or lighting, live wedding bands still need to bring an awful lot of gear to perform.
Our award-winning wedding bands come in all shapes and sizes to fit into your wedding venue perfectly. Why not find your perfect band below in our popular guides?
The wedding band you hire will use the space not only for their equipment (drum kits and lighting take up more space than you’d think) but most likely all their bags and cases that carry that equipment in. Most importantly, they will also use that space for performing and creating a memorable show for you. A band stuffed into a corner that can’t express itself or perform fully isn’t much fun. Just look at Flair Twelves’ video above for a great example of a wedding band given the space and freedom to perform. Who wouldn’t want that at their wedding?
You are reading this because you obviously love live music and want the best live wedding music you can have and a venue that encourages that. Our guide on getting the most out of your live wedding band is a good read for later.
I know you can’t usually control how much space your wedding band is given but when looking at wedding venues, ask where the dance floor and performance area are and see if it looks suitable to you. Bring up this guide and our guide on having a packed dance floor when at prospective venues. Both guides have infographics to help you every step of the way.
Some of the most stunning wedding venues I’ve performed at have been tiny and if you are worried the wedding band you want to hire won’t fit in you have a few options. Firstly, find out how much space the band has to work with and if it’s just too small for them, see if they can shrink from say a 4 or 5-piece band into a 3-piece. To help, all our wedding bands offer all sorts of lineup options like Paper Boats above who can go out as a solo to 9-piece band. Below is a screenshot of all the different musicians Southside Sparkle is made up of yet they can still strip down to a compact little 3 piece act! Don’t worry if you have a tiny venue, it will make for a lovely intimate wedding party.
Wedding music bands come in all shapes and sizes and so below I have the minimum space required for a whole host of live wedding bands including soloists and duos. Width is listed first followed by depth. If you are hiring a wedding band that’s larger than a 15-piece band, your venue will have to be pretty large so worrying about performance area sizing shouldn’t be an issue anymore. If you feel unsure about anything, don’t hesitate to contact us.
As mentioned, below are the minimum requirements but the more space the better. You can never offer a wedding band too much space in which to perform. Cast your mind back to that first tiny bedroom or flat you lived in. We all dreamt of having a bit more space so we can relax and feel more at home. Wedding bands are no different so the more space they have to perform within, the more comfortable they feel and the better they perform. Simple!
Band line-up size Minimum space (m) Minimum space (ft)
Solo 2×2 metres 6×6 feet
2 piece band 3×3 metres 9×9 feet
3 piece band 3×3 metres 9×9 feet
4 piece band 4×3 metres 13×9 feet
5 piece band 5×3 metres 16×9 feet
6 piece band 5×3 metres 16×9 feet
7 piece band 6×4 metres 19×13 feet
8 piece band 7×4 metres 22×13 feet
9 piece band 8×4 metres 26×13 feet
10 piece band 9×5 metres 29×16 feet
11 piece band 10×5 metres 32×16 feet
12 piece band 12×5 metres 39×16 feet
13 piece band 13×5 metres 42×16 feet
14 piece band 15×5 metres 49×16 feet
15 piece band 16×6 metres 52×19 feet
If you like your information colorful I’ve also produced an infographic for you. If you’d like a copy for your reference, just let us know.
Wedding bands do not need a stage to perform but if your venue has one, or one is available I would always recommend it. Don’t feel like you have to pay over the odds for one, they aren’t essential. However, live wedding bands not only love them, but they also give their whole performance some extra spectacle and usually stop any unwanted guests from falling or clambering onto the band or their equipment. Trust me, it does happen and if you want some more info on this topic, our guide here will do the job!
No is the simple answer here! As long as the stage is stable and free of any trip hazards, you can use the same sizing guide I supplied above.
We speak to loads of excited couples and some of the questions they’ve asked regarding how much space a wedding band needs have popped up regularly. I thought I’d answer them all here.
You may recognise this title from one of our other guides. Keeping the band’s performance area near the dance floor and both of them close to the bar is pretty important if you want to keep your wedding party vibrant all night long. Our huge guide goes into more detail about all these kinds of things. It’s well worth a read.
At the same time, try and keep some visual and physical distance between the performance area and the dance floor if you can as I can’t count the number of times our performances have been interrupted by people excitedly dancing straight into our singers, the other musicians, or our equipment! We don’t want our performances cut short so our bands will always help with the layout of the dance floor where they can. We’re also pretty good at policing crowds after all these years and more recently due to covid-related social distancing rules. You can learn more about our covid cover here.
As mentioned, live wedding bands usually bring everything they need to perform but if your venue can supply lots of power sockets thats a fantastic help. I remember once performing in a stunning old mansion near Cardiff where we had to route all our equipment’s plugs (for a 4-piece band) into one plug socket. The venue assured us it would be fine but to say we were nervous during the show was an understatement! We have guides galore here at Seventh Second and you can learn more about what a band provides here and what you need to provide them here!
If there is a stage available, it really just needs to be stable, sturdy, safe, and big enough! Wobbly stages that are too small are more trouble than they are worth. Trust me on that one! Again, plug sockets nearby are a must as wedding bands can never have too many of them!
When it comes to how much space a wedding band needs, marquees aren’t that different. The more space the better and good headroom is needed if you’ve hired one of those stunning tipi-style marquees! Plenty of power sockets and a dry, safe, and stable performance area are important. If a stage is available, we’d always recommend you snap it up as it helps bands quite a bit in marquees. If you want all the information on live wedding bands performing at a marquee wedding, have a look at our great guide here.
I thought I’d end this fact-fest with some real-world wedding band examples. Actual wedding bands for hire with us and what performance space they like and usually work with. It also gives you a chance to look at some awesome award-winning wedding bands and that can’t be a bad thing! Click on any band name to view their full profile.
Even in their larger trio incarnation, acoustic duo or trio act Cadance are a fantastic, compact little acoustic wedding band. Performing in their most popular duo set-up, they are able to perform stunning renditions of classic and contemporary tunes with minimal equipment meaning they can quite easily fit into a 3×2 metre or the recommended 3×3 metre performance space. Perfect for any wedding venue regardless of size.
Flair Twelve are one huge band! Their largest lineup consists of 13 expert musicians and although they can shrink right down to a teeny 3 piece act, it’s always recommended that these guys are given plenty of space to put on a show like you’ve never seen before. Their most popular 12-piece lineup usually likes at least 12×5 metres of space so they can really get your wedding party started. Visit their profile page to see a video of them taking over the huge stage at Roundhouse London!
DJ Republic are a compact 4 piece act that also likes a healthily sized performance space. Quite the unique event, DJ Republic bring an infectious club-style live music experience that demands a good venue for performing and dancing! 4×3 metres is totally fine for this act to perform in but if you can spare some more space, this jaw-dropping, live wedding act will lap it up! A wedding band that needs to be seen to be believed!
Rock-fueled League of Gentlemen don’t need much space because they make space with their high-energy, non-stop rock, indie, and pop live show! They’ve been known to squeeze into 3×3 metre spaces before but the standard 4×3 metres is ideal. Don’t expect them to always stay in that space as their energetic frontman likes to prowl the dance floor and stage getting everyone involved in a glorious rock-fueled live music adventure!
The Usual Suspects are a special type of wedding band for hire. They can get every single person at your wedding on that dance floor and they don’t need a lot of space to do it! 3×3 metres works well for this compact trio who’ve performed on the big stages and squeezed into the tiny spaces at wedding venues all over the country. If you want a live wedding band that covers all the musical bases and doesn’t need a tonne of space to get your wedding party rocking, The Usual Suspects are your men!
From the Top represent one of the best incarnations of a larger wedding band stylised after the fantastic big band era. An outstanding wedding band for hire, From the Top’s most popular lineup of lead female vocals, lead male vocals/guitar, drums, keys/female vocals, bass, and sax easily take up the 5×3 metres recommended. Their fun and vibrant live show really excels in larger performance spaces and venues.
That’s it from me today. I hope you’ve found this useful and can now go forth and hire the wedding band you wanted knowing your venue can fit them in! If you have any further questions, comments or just want to chat, you can contact us 7 days a week, 10 am – 10 pm via email, text, live chat, phone, and on all the usual social channels. If you’re keen to see what other lovely wedding bands we have on offer, see them all here. They are ready and willing to turn up and rock your wedding in whatever space provided! If you liked what you read today, please consider sharing it with others too.
Thanks!
Jon and the Seventh Second Team
