Big Sky Strings

We hired Big Sky Strings for a string trio for our intimate wedding ceremony and could not be more pleased that we did! Leading up to the wedding, everyone was so kind, compassionate, and excited to be involved with our day. My husband and I appreciated Big Sky Strings’ attention to details and contribution to the overall vision of the services, including song suggestions and clarification of what we hoped to create on our day. At our wedding, everyone in our families noted how truly beautiful each piece was performed and how Baerbel, Cindy, and Mike were each true professionals and talented musicians. I am so grateful that we chose to include this team in our day, as the ambience and music they performed made it an amazing experience and brought our dream to life! Don’t hesitate, just book them - you won’t regret it!

Mrs. Pafford, the Big Sky Strings manager, was exceptional in the time she took to answer all of my questions regarding their service. She was patient and very professional. We were able to communicate through the use of the phone, texting, and e-mail without any difficulties before the wedding day. At our outside, ranch wedding, the wind whipped up and it was chilly. Big Sky strings went with the flow and were very flexible, which relieved stress from this mother of the groom. The music was magical and gave our wedding that special touch of elegance. Initially, I had informed Mrs. Pafford that I was on a budget but thought their music would be lovely. I asked her what the difference was between the Quartet and trio in regards to the sound. She was straightforward and honest with me which I appreciated. Between the wedding and the cocktail hour, their music brought peace and joy to those attending. I don't regret hiring them and either will you!

We had a great experience using Big Sky Strings for our wedding at Sage Lodge! They were extremely easy to work with & the music was beautiful - We had a string trio play at the ceremony & the cocktail hour. I am very happy that we picked Big Sky Strings to be a part of our special day and highly recommend them!

I employed Big Sky Strings out of Bozeman, MT, for my daughter's destination wedding at The Rainbow Ranch Lodge in Gallatin, MT. My communication was with the Manager and musician herself with Big Sky Strings, Barbel Pafford. From my initial contact through the wedding day, Barbel was always immediately responsive to any questions. The entire process was made easy. An extensive repertoire of the quartet's music was provided. The repertoire was everything one would entertain for a wedding and more! And, if you want music that is not included in the repertoire there was a minimal fee, and I mean minimal, for the musicians to learn the piece prior to the wedding. My daughter did choose a special piece, not included in the repertoire, for her walk down the aisle. It was an outdoor wedding and cocktail hour and the weather was beautiful for an early June event. The musicians provided their own white linen tent just in case the weather did not cooperate and to keep the sun off of their instruments. They looked lovely in their professional attire. We hired Big Sky to play 30 minutes prior to the wedding, during the wedding and through the cocktail hour. Their performance was absolutely magnificent, a true highlight of the celebration. I could not have been happier. It was perfect! If you are looking for strings to play at your event, I highly recommend Big Sky Strings!!! Thank you for making our celebration enchanting.

Thank you to Baerbel and Big Sky Strings for helping to make your dream wedding a reality. Two thumbs up!!

Big Sky Strings is truly Amazing. They played for our ceremony and cocktail hour. Baerbel is so very easy to communicate with and she gets back to you very quickly. She helped me select music for our wedding and even played a special piece for our handfasting ceremony at our wedding. Our officiant forgot the ring ceremony and we walked down the isle after being pronounced Husband and Wife. The musicians simply played the recessional twice so we could go back and finish the ceremony. They just rolled with it without a word spoken between us. The music is dreamy and their instruments are beautiful. If you are going for a timeless music choice Big Sky Strings is perfect.

Big Sky Strings were so helpful with our music selection. The guests really enjoyed their music and it was perfect for our backyard wedding.

Barbel and her team were an absolute delight to work with. They provided live strings for our wedding ceremony and cocktail hour and played the most beautiful music. I asked her to learn a special song to play and she was delighted to do so. Big Sky Strings is a fabulous choice for wedding or event music.

I can't say enough good things about Big Sky Strings—they were super pleasant and straightforward throughout all communication, and are truly talented musicians. Their presence lent our ceremony and cocktail hour some real gravitas (made everything feel much more "official" and "fancy") and they handled our repertoire and all "stop/start" directives and cues perfectly. You get to choose from so many songs and genres, we had no problem coming up with a personally meaningful, fun, beautiful, and varied set list. They are lovely people and wonderfully talented musicians!

If you are thinking of having live strings at your wedding or event, I highly recommend Baerbel Pafford and the Big Sky Strings. The whole process went smoothly and they did a fantastic job when playing before and during the ceremony. They allow you to choose how many members you would like (duo to quartet) and I was able to request to have both a cello and violin play. They reached out to me about 3 weeks prior to the wedding with a list of music broken down into different categories with youtube links to help me pick the songs that I wanted to play as the groom walked down the aisle, attendants, bride, etc. They had some modern songs as well as classical songs. I loved it because I asked them to play some modern pop songs that most people know while guests were arriving and being seated. It was very elegant but fun!

I was very excited about having a live music element for our ceremony and cocktail hour, unfortunately it began to rain before the ceremony started. I was very disappointed that I could not hear the music when I hit about half way down the aisle. I wish that there had been a plan arranged by our planner because during the whole ceremony and after they were not heard. They sounded great during cocktail hour though! It's a lovely ambience

Big Sky Strings was perfect: Bärbel was lovely. They were proactive, accommodating and punctual. The music program they offered was extensive - both classical and contemporary. And of course the quality of play and musicality were top notch. Highly recommended.

We hired Big Sky Strings for our daughters wedding service. Working with Baerbel Pafford was an excellent experience. From the beginning to end, our expectations were exceeded. The music and professionalism added so much to the service. Wonderful musicians! Karen Rudzinski

Bärbel was an absolute pleasure to work with leading up to our big day. Communication was always quick & thorough. I had wanted a special arrangement played for when I was walking down the aisle, and Bärbel and the other musicians brought that to life perfectly! Having them was the perfect addition to my big day. Highly recommend Big Sky Strings :-) Thanks again!!!

It was great working with Barbel! We got a few compliments from the guests about how well the quartet played. Working with Barbel was also very easy and we were able to get the songs we wanted for walking down the aisle.

Big Sky Strings was incredible at our wedding! Their beautiful music added so much to our ceremony and cocktail hour. They had a great selection of songs and were also kind and wonderful to work with.

Absolutely wonderful musicians. So flexible and easy to work with. Their playing was superb and adding such an elegant touch.

We hired a string trio to play at our ceremony and cocktail hour. They were professional, sounded amazing and had lots of modern songs in their repertoire! Highly recommend booking with them.

I'm so glad that we hired Baerbel and Big Sky Strings for our wedding! She was a clear and prompt communicator in advance, and I left our phone conversation even more confident in my choice. I appreciated the questions she asked that I wouldn't have thought of—about line of sight to the procession, ability to loop a song as the wedding party walked down the aisle, etc. The value of her experience was immediately clear! And I was equally impressed with the skill and professionalism of all of the musicians on the day of the wedding. We had a classic August-in-Montana downpour that necessitated changing venues last minute to the indoor backup. Not a problem! They gamely packed up and changed locations, playing for our ceremony and cocktail hour as though nothing had happened. One of the downsides of being so busy at your own wedding is that you don't get as much time to enjoy everything you've planned, but I loved what I heard of BSS, and most importantly, our guests were huge fans! So many of them came up to compliment our musicians throughout the night and the next day. Our youngest guests loved the Disney songs, our millennial friends were impressed by the "Bridgerton vibes," and our parents really appreciated the Beatles covers. Something for everyone, and just perfect for our special day! I highly recommend BSS to anyone looking for live string music at their wedding or event.

Big Sky Strings, thank you for absolutely beautiful music to accompany our wedding. I am eager to endorse you to any couple looking to get married in the Big Sky area. Big Sky Strings are easy to work with, very accommodating and were transparent with us every step of the way. All this, on top of the fact they are incredibly talented musicians. They filled the chapel with absolutely beautiful music. I highly, HIGHLY recommend Big Sky Strings and promise you that you will be just as happy as I am to write a glowing review after your wedding!

Big Sky Strings was so easy to work with, communicate with and easy going! We were able to go through the song list and plan very quickly. The team was so wonderful and skillful!

The big sky strings team was absolutely fantastic. Working with Baerbel and her ensemble added that special something to our ceremony and cocktail hour. We really were so glad to work with them and would highly recommend this professional and talented group!

I am so thrilled we decided to book Big Sky strings for our wedding day. They added so much grace and beauty to our ceremony and cocktail hour, it would not have been the same without them! They were so professional, kind, and easy to work with. Highly, HIGHLY recommend them if you’re looking for strings for your big day!

Big Sky Strings was the PERFECT addition to our big day. Communication with them was so easy and they were very responsive. They gave their professional opinions on what music they believed would sound best with the instruments we would have present - and we took all of their recommendations! They were early/on time on our wedding day and dressed very professionally. Their beautiful music made our big day so special and I am so thankful I found them!! HIGHLY recommend for any special occasion!

Big Sky Strings were wonderful! We had lots of communication before the wedding so the day of the event, they just set up and played beautifully without any worry. They were fantastic from their professionalism to their attention to detail. I cant say enough positive things about this group!