As I close my eyes and envision our wedding reception, I can feel the music flowing through the room.  I can see the guests dancing around me, laughing and singing along.  As my eyes glance towards the stage reserved for the band, I see my Ipod, playing our pre-determined wedding playlist.

I have nothing against Ipods. I actually love my little Ipod and it even has its own special department in my purse so nothing can scratch its smooth screen.  However, I never anticipated the little Ipod to be the force behind our wedding reception. 

As quickly as we determined our wedding would be at Jackson Lake Lodge, located in Grand TetonNational Park, we began looking at musicians to bring music into our day.  We began our search by looking into the local band, Steam Powered Airplane.  I had heard them play numerous times when I lived in Wyoming.  I sent them a request for a price quote, no response.  Lack of customer service equals me taking my search elsewhere. 

As we moved down the list of local bands, I did start receiving responses, but the quotes we received ranged from $2,000-$5,000.  Gulp.  Looking for 3 hours of live music, played by 2-4 people made spending a couple thousand dollars almost laughable.  Paying for our own wedding, we learned early on the value of creating a budget and sticking to it.  As our search takes us further outside of the Jackson Hole area, the prices don’t seem to get better.

What happened to bands that enjoyed getting together and having fun playing music while making some money doing so?  We aren’t looking for Bert Bacharach to come play (although we wouldn’t argue if he asked if he could), so why are we getting Bert Bacharach prices?   

Instead of spending a couple thousand on a band, I’ll take my business to Itunes and download a couple hundred songs.  I can rest assured my Ipod won’t cost me an arm and leg, will arrive on time, won’t play any of those hokey wedding songs that no one really likes, or try to hook-up with one of my bridesmaids.