There are wedding venues, and then there are buildings which appear to have spent several hundred years quietly observing the rest of Britain being built and concluding that most of it was a terrible mistake.
Dalston Hall, just outside Carlisle in Cumbria, belongs firmly in the second category.
It has stone walls, towers, beautiful gardens, dark timbered interiors and enough history about the place to make a modern conference hotel look rather like a temporary Portakabin. It is, in other words, exactly the sort of setting where live wedding music feels entirely at home.
We travelled north to Dalston Hall on 27 July 2026 to provide daytime wedding music for Brad and Zoe, beginning with their outdoor wedding ceremony in the gardens before moving inside for their drinks reception.
And this was not a wedding where the music had been added as an afterthought.
Brad and Zoe had put together one of the most interesting wedding music selections we have encountered this year, taking us from Ludovico Einaudi and Yann Tiersen through Paramore, Blink-182, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Hans Zimmer, Gladiator, Final Fantasy, Lord of the Rings and, rather splendidly, MJ Cole.
Which is considerably more exciting than playing the same six songs at every wedding until somebody eventually switches the lights off.
Live Wedding Musicians at Dalston Hall
JAM Duo consists of Anne-Marie on cello and Jules on piano, and our role is to provide live music throughout the daytime part of a wedding.
That can include music as guests arrive, the ceremony itself, the drinks reception and the wedding breakfast.
For Brad and Zoe, our brief was straightforward: provide live cello and piano for the ceremony and then continue playing during their celebratory drinks reception.
What makes this particularly enjoyable for us is that the two parts of the wedding require completely different styles of music.
During the ceremony, every musical moment has a purpose. There is music creating an atmosphere while guests arrive, a carefully timed bridal entrance and something suitably uplifting as the newly married couple walk back down the aisle.
Then, moments later, the formality disappears.
Champagne appears.
People start talking.
Somebody begins explaining to an elderly relative exactly how they know the groom.
And the musicians move from accompanying a ceremony to creating the soundtrack for a party.
That contrast is precisely why we enjoy providing music for both.
An Outdoor Wedding Ceremony in the Gardens at Dalston Hall
There are few things more beautiful than an outdoor wedding ceremony when everything comes together.
There are also few things capable of generating quite as much nervous scrutiny of several different weather apps.
Britain, after all, is a country in which you can confidently leave the house wearing sunglasses and arrive at your destination 45 minutes later needing a lifeboat.
Fortunately, for Brad and Zoe, Cumbria decided to behave.
Their ceremony was held outside in the gardens at Dalston Hall, with guests seated facing the beautiful stone gazebo.
It is a magnificent ceremony setting.
The aisle leads through the garden towards the ornate structure, surrounded by mature trees and greenery, and the whole area feels private and wonderfully removed from the outside world.
With approximately 32 guests, Brad and Zoe’s wedding also had a lovely intimacy about it.
Large weddings can be impressive, of course, but there is something particularly special about a smaller ceremony where everyone present clearly matters to the couple.
There are no distant cousins who have been invited because somebody once attended somebody else’s christening in 1997.
Everyone is there for a reason.
Music as Guests Arrived for the Ceremony
Our music began before the ceremony itself as guests took their seats.
Brad and Zoe had chosen a particularly strong selection of pre-ceremony music including:
- Experience – Ludovico Einaudi
- Comptine d’un autre été – Yann Tiersen
- The World We Knew – Frank Sinatra
- Colours of the Wind – Pocahontas
- Je Te Laisserai Des Mots – Patrick Watson
This is exactly the sort of eclectic selection we enjoy.
One of the advantages of choosing live wedding musicians rather than relying on a fixed playlist is that songs from completely different genres can be brought together by the sound of the instruments.
A piece by Einaudi can sit naturally alongside Frank Sinatra.
A Disney song can follow Yann Tiersen.
And because everything is being performed live on cello and piano, it still sounds like one coherent musical programme rather than somebody’s Spotify account being attacked by several different generations of the same family.
Pre-ceremony music is also more important than people sometimes realise.
Guests are arriving, finding their seats and seeing friends and family they may not have seen for some time.
There is anticipation in the air.
Live music immediately establishes that something special is about to happen.
The Bridal Entrance: The Only Exception by Paramore
For her entrance, Zoe chose The Only Exception by Paramore.
And this is where live ceremony music becomes particularly useful.
A bridal entrance is not a fixed-length event.
The bride does not arrive at the end of the aisle because Spotify has reached 2 minutes and 47 seconds.
Real weddings involve bridesmaids, dresses, photographers, nerves, pauses, changes of pace and occasionally somebody discovering that high heels and gravel are not natural allies.
Brad and Zoe had specifically indicated the point in The Only Exception from which they wanted Zoe’s bridal entrance to develop.
Because we perform everything live, we could shape the music around what was actually happening in front of us.
If an entrance takes 45 seconds, the music lasts 45 seconds.
If it takes two minutes, it lasts two minutes.
We can extend introductions, repeat passages or move naturally towards the ending once the bride reaches the front.
There is no awkward fade-out.
No sudden silence.
And, perhaps most importantly, nobody has to sprint down the aisle because the chorus is about to finish.
A Wedding Ceremony With a Difference
Brad and Zoe were legally marrying in Scotland, which meant that their ceremony at Dalston Hall did not require the traditional register-signing section.
This changed the musical structure slightly.
Normally we would expect to provide two or three pieces while paperwork is completed, photographs are taken and signatures are added.
Here, the ceremony could move directly towards its conclusion.
And that conclusion involved a rather different musical choice.
Walking Back Down the Aisle to Blink-182
There are certain songs you expect to encounter regularly at weddings.
Canon in D.
A Thousand Years.
Can’t Help Falling in Love.
Perhaps something by Ed Sheeran.
Blink-182 is rather less predictable.
Which immediately makes it more interesting.
Brad and Zoe chose Always by Blink-182 for their exit, asking us to make it slightly faster and brighter.
This is precisely the sort of request we like.
Our job is not simply to reproduce recorded songs note for note on different instruments. The point is to make the music work for the particular moment.
The original version of Always has its own character, but a couple leaving their wedding ceremony needs energy.
So our cello and piano arrangement can lift the tempo slightly and give the whole thing a more celebratory feel.
The result is recognisably the song the couple love, but adapted specifically for two people walking back down the aisle having just got married.
Which seems rather more appropriate than attempting to recreate a Californian pop-punk band using one cello and a Nord piano.
Although Anne-Marie remains disappointingly resistant to performing cello while skateboarding.
Moving From the Outdoor Ceremony to the Drinks Reception
Once Brad and Zoe had left the ceremony, guests gathered outside the Baronial Hall for the confetti photographs.
Meanwhile, we began what could perhaps be described as the less glamorous part of being professional wedding musicians.
Moving everything.
A wedding photograph occasionally gives the impression that musicians simply materialise elegantly beside their instruments, play for several hours and then vanish in a puff of tasteful smoke.
Sadly not.
There are keyboards, stands, speakers, cables, pedals, cello equipment and assorted pieces of kit which must all be relocated quickly and discreetly while guests are doing something else.
Fortunately, at Dalston Hall the ceremony and drinks reception locations were close together.
We moved from the gardens to the entrance area inside the Hall, allowing the celebrations to continue without any lengthy interruption.
This is something we always discuss with couples and venues in advance.
When wedding musicians are required in several different locations during the day, practical planning matters enormously.
There is little point choosing wonderful music if your pianist is still pushing a keyboard through three sets of doors when the drinks reception starts.
Wedding Drinks Reception Music at Dalston Hall
Once guests had moved inside, the musical mood changed completely.
The ceremony had been about specific moments.
The drinks reception was about atmosphere.
Brad and Zoe had given us an exceptional list of music to work from.
Their choices included:
The Beatles.
Leonard Cohen.
The Bee Gees.
Carole King.
Pink Floyd.
Billie Eilish.
The Moody Blues.
And then things became considerably more interesting.
There was music from Interstellar.
Gladiator.
Final Fantasy X.
The Lord of the Rings.
Up.
How to Train Your Dragon.
La La Land.
Blue Planet.
And MJ Cole.
This may be the first time we have managed to move from Frank Sinatra to Final Fantasy and then towards UK garage during a wedding reception without anyone questioning whether something had gone badly wrong.
We thoroughly approved.
Why Drinks Reception Music Does Not Have to Be Predictable
There seems to be a peculiar assumption that drinks reception music must consist entirely of polite jazz standards played quietly enough that nobody notices them.
There is nothing wrong with jazz standards.
We play plenty of them.
But there is also no rule stating that the moment somebody hands you a glass of champagne, you must immediately listen to Fly Me to the Moon.
The drinks reception is one of the best opportunities during a wedding day to include music that actually reflects the couple.
Brad and Zoe’s choices demonstrated this perfectly.
Cornfield Chase from Interstellar works beautifully on cello and piano.
So does music from Gladiator.
The Shire Theme from The Lord of the Rings instantly creates a completely different atmosphere.
To Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X is a particularly beautiful piano piece and was requested as a solo.
Then you can move into something such as How Deep Is Your Love by the Bee Gees, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd or The Sound of Silence.
The instruments provide the common thread.
That means film music, classical crossover, rock, pop and television themes can all coexist perfectly happily.
Creating a Live Soundtrack Rather Than Background Music
For us, the purpose of live music during a drinks reception is not to dominate proceedings.
Guests should be able to talk.
Nobody wants to spend an hour shouting directly into Aunt Margaret’s ear because the wedding entertainment appears to have been designed for Wembley Stadium.
But there is an equally important difference between unobtrusive music and forgettable music.
We want guests to notice songs they recognise.
Perhaps somebody hears the opening of a favourite film theme.
Someone else suddenly recognises Pink Floyd.
Another guest realises that the pianist is playing music from Final Fantasy.
Those little moments are one of the reasons live music works so well during a wedding reception.
It becomes part of the atmosphere rather than merely filling silence.
Live Cello and Piano for a Cumbria Wedding
Dalston Hall is particularly well suited to cello and piano.
Outside, the gardens provide a romantic and elegant setting for the ceremony.
Inside, the historic character of the Hall gives live instruments a natural place within the surroundings.
There is something slightly odd about standing inside a centuries-old building surrounded by timber panelling and historic architecture while a Bluetooth speaker in the corner plays compressed music from somebody’s telephone.
Live instruments simply belong in spaces like this.
And because our setup is designed specifically for weddings, we can adapt between indoor and outdoor locations relatively quickly.
For Brad and Zoe, that meant beginning the day outside before relocating inside for the drinks reception.
Same musicians.
Same instruments.
Completely different atmosphere.
Choosing Wedding Musicians for Your Ceremony and Drinks Reception
When couples are considering wedding musicians, we would always recommend thinking beyond the obvious question of which songs you like.
Think about how the music will function across the day.
What atmosphere do you want as guests arrive?
What do you want to hear during the bridal entrance?
Should your ceremony exit feel romantic, celebratory or slightly unexpected?
And once the drinks begin, what music actually represents you?
There is no requirement for a wedding repertoire to conform to some imaginary approved list.
If you love film music, choose film music.
If you want Blink-182, choose Blink-182.
If one of your favourite pieces comes from a computer game, there is absolutely no reason it should not be played at your wedding.
Some of the most memorable wedding music choices are precisely the ones nobody else would have chosen.
An Intimate Summer Wedding at Dalston Hall
Brad and Zoe’s wedding was a splendid example of how well an intimate wedding can work.
Thirty-two guests, a beautiful historic venue, an outdoor ceremony in the gardens and a genuinely personal selection of music.
Nothing needed to be enormous.
Nothing needed to be overcomplicated.
The setting did much of the work itself.
The ceremony music reflected the couple.
And the drinks reception became a wonderfully varied journey through everything from The Beatles to Hans Zimmer.
For two wedding musicians, there are considerably worse ways to spend a summer afternoon in Cumbria.
Thank You Brad and Zoe
It was a real pleasure to provide the live music for Brad and Zoe’s wedding at Dalston Hall.
From Zoe’s entrance to The Only Exception, through their decidedly excellent decision to leave the ceremony to Blink-182, and onwards into a drinks reception featuring one of the most varied playlists we have performed, this was a wedding with real personality.
Thank you to Brad and Zoe for choosing JAM Duo to be part of their day.
We thoroughly enjoyed travelling to Cumbria, playing in the beautiful gardens at Dalston Hall and then continuing the celebrations inside this remarkable venue.
And any wedding at which the repertoire contains Paramore, Pink Floyd, Gladiator, Final Fantasy, The Beatles, The Bee Gees and Blink-182 is always going to receive our approval.
Even if nobody did eventually ask for Ace of Spades.
Wedding Musicians at Dalston Hall and Across Cumbria
If you are planning a wedding at Dalston Hall, elsewhere in Cumbria or anywhere across the UK, JAM Duo provides live cello and piano music throughout the daytime wedding.
We can provide music for:
- Guest arrival before the ceremony
- Indoor and outdoor wedding ceremonies
- Bridal and wedding party entrances
- Register signing
- Couple exit music
- Drinks receptions
- Wedding breakfasts
- Cocktail hours
- First dances
Every piece is performed live by Anne-Marie on cello and Jules on piano, with no backing tracks.
Your wedding music can be as traditional or as unconventional as you wish.
And if your perfect wedding playlist happens to contain Einaudi, Paramore, Frank Sinatra, Hans Zimmer, Pink Floyd and music from a 2001 Japanese role-playing game, that is absolutely fine by us.
In fact, we would probably prefer it.
