Top Tips to Keep Your Acoustic Duo Cool at Summer Weddings

Summer weddings often means soaring temperatures, and while your guests enjoy the sunshine with a glass of Pimms, your acoustic duo is working hard, sometimes in direct sun and heat.

Here are some practical strategies that we use, and that we ask you to consider, to help your wedding musicians stay cool on these hot summer days.

1. Ensure Shade or Shelter

A small gazebo, parasol, or marquee is non‑negotiable for weddings in the heat of summer. Not only does it protect the musicians themselves and help them to stay at their best, it also protects their equipment and instruments from direct sun and overheating.

2. Hydration

We always bring a cool box with as many bottles of cold water as we can, along with ice packs, however depending on the timeline of the day, we might not always get a chance to restock from the car. If your wedding venue could pop a couple of bottles of cold water by us every now and then, that would make for some very content musicians!

3. Scheduling your performances

If there really aren't any shaded spots, then we might need to consider the schedule of the performances to build in regular breaks in a cooler indoor area. This will give us that small amount of respite from the heat, and help us to recharge so we can keep the music flowing all day long.

4. Avoid the Peak Heat

Where possible, shift performances outside the heat of midday. If shade or regular breaks aren't possible, then having live music a little later on in the day might just make for a more manageable performance - your guests might also appreciate this too!

5. Communicate Beforehand

Share all venue details including timings of the day, indoor/outdoor setting, shade or air‑con availability. That way, musicians can prepare accordingly, and bring additional back up plans to help them stay at their best.

6. Dress for the Heat

If you have a strict dress code for the day, consider if there could be any alternative options for not just your wedding musicians, but your suppliers in general. If you have waistcoats and jackets, then consider if they could ditch the layers for a smart shirt instead, this will make a huge difference!

7. Bring Cooling Accessories

If you're heading into the great outdoors, for your musicians and your guests it goes a long way to have some fans available - even the old fashioned fold out fans, or some small battery powered fans! As musicians, if the power source allows, then you bet we'll be bringing some electric fans with us, as well as our batter powered fans for our mic stands!

8. Protect Equipment

This one goes alongside the shade and breaks points, but is worth a mention of its own. It goes without saying that all electric equipment used by musicians should be tested for electrical safety, and visually inspected prior to use (hands up if you have an electrician for your guitarist! Just me?) But if the temperature soars, then there's the chance that equipment could overheat, which causes big problems. If there is adequate shade, and breaks, then this reduces the likelihood right down.

A little planning for your acoustic duo at your wedding goes a long way on a hot day!

Just having a think about some of these tips will really help your musicians to bring their best self, and bring the best soundtrack to your day. We'll plan in every way that we can, but we might need some help from you in order to ensure that we're fully prepared for the hot days ahead.

Want to find out how we could help you plan your summer wedding music? Head to our website here to see our packages!