Band or DJ ?

I am not a big music person.  I like it, I listen to it, but I am not passionate about it.   

Having a smallish wedding in Napa Valley at a very nice Inn.  Outside civil serrvice.  I can't decide if I want a band or a DJ.

Upside of a DJ - contemporary music, all varieties.
Upside of a Band - No need to hire additional musicians for ceremony music.  (the bands we have talked to would just have two people come early with a violin or something).

Has anyone used a DJ for Ceremony music?  Is it cheesey?  Do they have "here comes the bride" on CD?  haha.

We did both. We had a jazz band for the sit down part of the meal and then friends took turns DJing for dancing later. We created our own CDs with our choice of music. It was great!

We are going to have a band.  We wanted some ceilidh music, and it's just not the same with a DJ playing the music. 

They do have all wedding music on CD.  My friend gave me a loan of a wedding music CD in case we needed it. 

I wouldn't think it's cheesy.  It's very practical.

I've seen several people hire a dj to do both the ceremony and the reception.  Around here it seems everyone wants Canon in D for the wedding march which you can pick up on cd anywhere.  Any classical music tranlsates lovely via cd and a dj should be less expensive than a band i would think.

If you go with a DJ, the quality of the music is assured, and you can have lots of different stuff.  I've always thought they were a bit cheesy for a wedding... until our wedding band started playing.

I tried to pay them off early so they would go away, they were that bad.  Nothing like their demo tape, and they refused to play the few songs we had requested.  Something about 'artistic integrity'... which translates as 'we were too lazy to learn any new stuff'.

We had a great organist for the ceremony, though.

Yeah, you do have to do your homework with both DJs and bands. Our reception was at a place well-known for bringing in quality musicians so we took a recommendation from them and weren't disappointed.

I'm going with the DJ for both - primarily because I need such a HUGE mix of music...but also because of the ease of using the same guy for everything.

I have been to, what feels like, a gazillion weddings so I've seen it all! I think it really depends on what kind of reception you want to have. Are you just looking for nice background music or are you hoping your guests hit the floor dancing for 3 hours? Most of the weddings I've been to have DJs, cheesy and non-cheesy. I knew some people who decided to save money and not use a DJ, therefore making all their own CDs and relying on friends. I think this is okay if you have a lot of time prior to the wedding, but if you're deciding to do a LOT of things on your own to save money, do you really have time to put together enough music to cover 3 hours? These people didn't so they were still gathering music the morning of their wedding, the DJing friend was unreliable, and it flopped. The other good thing about a DJ or band leader is they can keep the reception flowing  

The best wedding I went to had a string quartet during dinner, then after dinner there was a big band. It was great and EVERYONE was dancing!

The most fun wedding I've been to had a karaoke! Cheesy, yes, but everyone had a brilliant time.  I say have whichever you're happiest with, it's your day.