Washington Celebrations

We used Washington Celebrations to provide a cellist for our ceremony, as well as some lighting for our small reception. They did an amazing job lighting our jazz trio and our cake, and we had them do a nice GOBO for us that we used outside during the ceremony, but was then brought and projected onto the dance floor for the reception. Mike (the owner) carries his phone around with him all the time, and would respond to my e-mails almost immediately in the weeks leading up to the wedding -- I can't tell you how nice that is. The two members of his staff that came to set up were awesome -- so interested in making sure everything was just the way we wanted, and genuinely friendly and wonderful. We never had a spare moment to chat with the cellist the day of, which was sad because he did perfectly. Fortunately, we had discussed all of the important points well beforehand. Gerald did beautifully with all of our special requests, and sounded superb. So, basically, I can't say enough wonderful things about them. In retrospect, I would have used them for more of our details -- the package deal thing is awfully convenient.

Mike and Shawna were both great. Coordination up to our big day and the services day of were as promised. The musicians they set up for our ceremony, were fabulous. We were very pleased with their services and overall experience. Thank you both! :) We would definitely recommend their company and certainly use them again. :)

I can't say enough great things about Mike at Washington Celebrations! I used Washington Celebrations for both my ceremony/cocktail hour music- which was a violin and guitar duo and a band for the reception. Mike was very easy to work with and very professional. If you are looking for a company that is easy to work with and will help recommend the perfect music for your wedding this is the way to go!

The violinist that was hired was incredible. Mike from Washington Celebrations composed a special Jason Mraz song for the violin for our recession and it was incredible. Loved everything about this company. Extremely helpful and very well priced.

We used a cello soloist for our wedding to save cost from getting a whole string quartet, but it was just enough. Gerald arrived early and played music on the front lawn as the guests arrived, then moved to the garden for the music. He was great, and he even got the JMU Fight Song to play for the recessional as a fun exit from our ceremony. Everyone loved it!

Highly recommend Mike and the rest of the team at Washington Celebrations!From the minute we contacted them for the quote, Mike was incredibly responsive and easy to work with. He even threw in a second hour of quartet music for a FRACTION of their normal cost! The most important thing for us was to make sure they could play some modern stuff for our ceremony (White Stripes, Edelweiss, and Coldplay). Mike was so enthusiastic about doing this and only charged us for the cost of sheet music!While I didn't hear much of the quartet since I made my entrance last, from what I saw and have heard from guests they were awesome. They were extremely professional and very skilled. We had zero issues with them. The music they arranged specially for our ceremony sounded flawless.Usually when you get handed off from the initial contact at a vendor to the day-of contact, communication lapses. Not so here. Mike put me in touch with Gerald, our day-of contact, and he was just as easy to work with. Shawna (in charge of billing) is also WONDERFUL to work with too!Brides: be sure to book Washington Celebrations before they realize how much of a steal their rates are! Absolutely no regrets here.

We hired a solo violinist to play during our ceremony and cocktail hour. She was extremely professional and sounded great. Her music was beautiful and the cost was reasonable - highly recommended.

I loved working witih Washington Celebrations. They played during our pre-ceremony happy hour and during the ceremony, and they were great. They were very flexible about what music we wanted -- we wanted some 80s songs for the ceremony and they played them beautifully and classically. And they were very friendly and professional. I would hire them again in an instant.

Kate Rodgers was my harpist for my wedding ceremony. She was great! Everyone said she played the songs beautifully!

I have to say, there hasn?t been one day that has gone by in 1 month since my wedding that someone hasn?t mentioned the phenomenal band. While I was truly pleased with how every aspect of the wedding turned out, I can?t tell you enough how amazing BackBeat was. It without a doubt, made the wedding a success. BackBeat far surpassed all expectations I ever had for a band for our wedding. My mom and I have literally said it daily since?.it was a full on show, not just a band. The female singers were not only singers, but pure entertainment with their choreographed dancing. They were so personable and just a joy to be around. While it was the first show for the band as a whole group, the chemistry displayed just the opposite. Enough rambling, all this to say, this band single-handedly made our wedding reception the best party I?ve ever been to! Thank you.

We used Washington Celebrations for ceremony music and cocktail and they were very easy to work with. The musician played the songs we requested and there were no issues. Reasonably priced also.

Mike was great to work with..very flexible and knowledgeable, having done so many weddings! We were very impressed with the members of Backbeat - everyone loved them and the dance floor was always packed. We also did our ceremony music through Washington Celebrations - Chad and Emily were very talented and sounded amazing..they even stayed late to accommodate our lateness!