Weddings

This is your day. It’s all about your celebrations with your family and friends.



For us, it’s always a very very special privilege to play for a wedding. Every gig we do is treated with the greatest of care and professionalism and that is especially true for weddings.

The weddings we play for are country themed and are set in locations that suit the theme. The guests are dressed in stylish country. The groomsmen might be moleskin and hats, which looks fantastic and lets the bride and her bridesmaids to shine.

On the day, we’re at your disposal and entirely flexible– but generally:

  • We arrive at the reception venue 2.5hours prior to your guests arriving to setup;
  • As guests arrive following the ceremony and whilst the bridal party is having photos taken, we’ll play some acoustic/ unplugged music (typically violin and acoustic guitar) in the area where pre-dinner drinks/canapes are being served to set the atmosphere as “relaxed country”;
  • When guests are seated and the bridal party arrives we can play live music, or selected tracks, before putting on a suitable playlist over dinner;
  • Speeches will normally happen during the meal service and between courses;
  • Towards the end of dinner, we’ll start playing some live music to set the scene for the dancing to come and there may be a formal bridal waltz at this time
  • We’ll call up the couple and the bridal party and do a called dance which is specifically suited to allow the bride & groom and their bridal party to take centre stage and the dance is designed to then get the rest of the guests involved;
  • And then the rest of the night continues with a mix of called dancing and other music to let everyone celebrate.

Click here to download our Country Styled Wedding brochure.


Especially for Weddings

We don’t play to a fixed time limit.This is your day, and things run according to your plan but inevitably things change on the night– speeches run over, guests are late, people are in the mood to kick on for longer than you thought– and so we don’t play to any time limit. We are yours for the night and no-one needs to watch the clock.

We meet you in person before the day. We always make sure to meet with you at the venue well before the day so that we can put names to faces and talk about how you want the day to run and the atmosphere you want to create.

The PA is all yours for speeches and any other music. The PA we provide is of the highest quality and is yours to use for speeches and any preferred playlists from streaming services or devices (laptops/ phones etc.).

We set up well before your first guest arrives and leave after your last guest is finished. We arrive well in advance of the reception to make sure that the music is ready to go as soon as your guests arrive and that we are not lugging gear around you as you enjoy your guests and similarly, we don’t pack up until the night is done.


Country Styled Wedding

One of the very memorable weddings we’ve played at was for Casey and Callum. PolkaDotBride.com did a blog of the day which which includes photos, video and references to other suppliers and their site is a wealth of knowledge. Here’s what Casey had to say about Swamp Dawkins:

“Although the speeches were a highlight for the reception for the newlyweds, it was the bush band, Swamp Dawkins that really holds her heart!

She explains: As soon as we began planning the wedding, we knew we wanted to make it fun and different. We decided that we wanted to do a bush dance! I had a bush dance for my 21st birthday and the band we had (Swamp Dawkins) were incredible so we decided to have them again for our wedding!

It was the best decision we made. Everyone from the young children to grandparent-aged danced! It was such a great way for people to get to know each other, and they didn’t have to sit next to or talk to people they didn’t want to. It also meant that we had a great time dancing and laughing with everybody too!

We are still receiving so many compliments, with everyone remarking that it was the best and most fun wedding they’ve ever been to.

For the story from their celebrations click here for the PolkaDotBride.com blog and for the Vimeo link- Casey & Callum from Adam Rozmus on Vimeo.


Wedding Testimonials

There is nothing more satisfying about this band, than reviews like this from the weddings we have played for.


WE HAD A BLAST!

We really wanted to have a band that could bring our guests together, young and old, in a different and memorable activity at our wedding.

Michael and Swamp Dawkins were very easy to work with, especially with the uncertainty of COVID, we never felt obligated to lock things in.

We had a blast!

Thanks again and all the best!

Caroline & David – Athol Hall, January 2022


INCREDIBLE! FANTASTIC! COULDN’T BE HAPPIER!

We first met Swamp Dawkins when we hired them for my 21st birthday in 2014. Every single person, from my little cousins to my oldest relatives had a blast! The feedback I got from my city folk friends, was that they could not believe how much fun they had and they didn’t need to be blind drunk to dance and have fun, like other parties they went to. Even the people that definitely do not dance under any circumstances, danced!!

It wasn’t even a question when my now husband proposed to me that we would have Swamp Dawkins playing for the reception of our wedding. Our wedding has just passed and we could not be happier!

Swamp Dawkins are very professional, flexible, so easy to deal with and all round good people.

Michael is an incredible caller and the band are fantastic playing both bush dances tunes, as well as fun covers that get the whole crowd dancing. Swamp Dawkins easily managed our huge wedding of around 250 people the only limitation was that we underestimated how many people would want to dance and we needed more dance floor!

We cannot recommend Swamp Dawkins highly enough for any function- birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, parties, etc, and I cannot wait to have them back at any opportunity we can!

Casey and Callum- Darkes Forrest, June 2018


THE GUESTS WERE RAVING ABOUT YOU!

Dear Swamp Dawkins,

We just wanted to say a huge thank-you for helping us celebrate our wedding!

Prior to the wedding we found you were very eager to answer all our questions and make the planning go as smoothly as possible- which it did! On the day the guests were raving about your professional and relaxed manner they loved arriving to soft acoustic music. Two friends commented that It was great, sitting on the grass with a beer in hand watching them go!

Although I wasn’t involved with lots of the minor details on the night from my perspective it seemed as if people were working well, sharing the stage/ equipment etc. People loved the way the music changed as night fell as things started to pick up. A huge favourite of mine was the called dancing- everyone was laughing and having such a great time. If my husband wasn’t so eager to leave I would have loved to keep dancing! The only complaint we had from guests was that the party ended too early but they said even 4am in the morning would be too soon!

Our first dance was lovely, thank-you for helping us with that. That song holds a special place in my husband’s heart and it will continue to do so! If we ever get married again (hopefully not!!!) we would book you!

Thanks again, David and Amanda

Amanda and David – Dural, February 2017


AN AMAZING NIGHT!

Thank you guys for such an amazing night!

From acoustic outdoor music to a fantastic barn dance that was loved by all you helped make our special day extremely memorable. Top guys, great sense of humour.

All in all outstanding! Will recommend to anyone!

Aaron and Jenna – Topi Topi, October 2016


WE HAD A BALL!

Swamp Dawkins played at our wedding and we had a ball!!

They played unplugged during dinner and people were already saying how great the music was, then they called some barn dances and people had so so so much fun!!!

They played other songs too, not just called dances and the dance floor was packed! They were all really nice guys too! After them we had a DJ, the night was so fun! Lots of people said best wedding ever!!!

I highly recommend them!!!

Patricia – Blackheath, January 2015


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