4.9 out of 5 stars and 27 reviews
4.9
(27)Serving Chicago & Suburbs, Chicago & Suburbs, IL
About this vendor
Since 2002, Symphony Sounds has been delighting audiences with Award-Winning string, woodwind, piano, and brass ensembles. Available for your Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, and / or Dinner, with Classical, Popular, Jazz, and Broadway selections custom tailored for your special day. Contact Sarah today!
Details
Instruments
- Piano
Music Genres
- Classical
- Jazz
Awards and Affiliations
2015 'Best of Weddings'
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
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Reviews
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4.9
out of 5.027 reviews
Symphony Sounds did a wonderful job playing for our wedding ceremony at the Hotel Allegro, and Sarah Marsh was a pleasure to work with leading up to the big day- she was responsive...
, made great recommendations, and went out of her way to set up time to meet in-person. BUT the wonderful playing and positive experience leading up to the day of was marred by the way they handled getting payment for our final balance and the lack of professionalism in that situation.
They felt it was appropriate to send a "Chase QuickPay" request for the final payment the evening before the wedding (5 PM on the Friday before our Saturday ceremony), which we did not see because we were busy attending our Rehearsal Dinner. There was no other email, phone call, etc., and it was not brought up when our day of coordinator called them to square all final details away earlier in the week. So imagine my surprise when, 30 minutes before walking down the aisle, my wedding coordinator told us Symphony Sounds was requesting payment in order to begin. Not something a bride wants to hear, or should be dealing with! The ultimatum was unnecessary, and created a lot of stress. And, we got no apology from the group. Hopefully that was the only time they put a bride and groom in that kind of situation.
We had a very good experience with Symphony Sounds for our wedding this August 15, 2015. Sarah is very professional. She responds very promptly and it was great meeting with her in...
Chicago to discuss the music. She let us listen to samples for the ceremony. She also gave us a repertoire of songs to choose from for the cocktail reception which included many modern and classical songs. Our guests absolutely loved listening to them and were very impressed!
As an example of their vast professionalism, they were slated to start playing before 20 minutes before our wedding ceremony. However, our ceremony itself started 45 minutes late! It was thanks to Symphony Sounds which played continuously throughout that our guests were calmed down and the stress was reduced. I can't imagine how the atmosphere would have been without them. They played soothing and calming music that made up for our technical difficulties.
Also, they were very flexible and accommodating when it came to our song selection during mass. They played one song which we requested for communion ("Take and Eat" by Michael Joncas) which was not part of their repertoire and they played it very beautifully.
Overall, if you want to make your wedding truly one of the most special days of your lives and want to give your guests a memorable experience they will never forget, please consider getting Symphony Sounds!
- Jeremiah and Tina
They arrived on time and played exactly what we had requested for our ceremony and our cocktail hour. I just wish they had introduced themselves to my husband and myself since the...
y arrived early. Working with Sarah is a pleasure and she makes everything very easy which when you're planning a wedding is essential!! Thank you Sarah and Symphony Sounds for the fantastic music for our wedding
Thank you,
Erika and Ivo Tchernev
Symphony Sounds performed during our wedding ceremony on August 1st and were amazing. Sarah Marsh was our main contact throughout all of our planning and we honestly couldn't have...
asked for anyone better to work with. She was super responsive and incredibly professional. During our in-person meeting, she really took to the time to get to know us and really worked with us on developing a playlist that fit the vision we had our wedding. I can't imagine anyone better to work with.
Sarah Marsh and Symphony Sounds were simply AMAZING! We met Sarah at her residence for a brief meeting to discuss our music choices. She was able to guide us through our entire w...
edding even and the music we would need; she was able to cater to all the songs my wife wanted and they sounded beautiful. Would use her/them anytime for anything in the future.
Symphony Sounds was great! They were very responsive to our requests. They have a diverse repertoire and were also able to modify one of their pieces to accommodate my processional...
. They provided our ceremony music (classical) and also contemporary pieces adapted to string quartet during the cocktail hour, which the guests had fun with. They also sent us a personalized ring box in the mail as a thank-you for our business. Symphony Sounds was a great choice!
They sounded great. Thanks ladies!
Symphony Sounds is AMAZING! My, then boyfriend, now husband, hired them to be part of our surprise engagement. At the engagement, I remember being blown away by them - they were so...
friendly, and professional, and TALENTED! Even my brother, who is so difficult to please and works in the music industry, commented on how much he enjoyed their rendition of a particular Coldplay song. But afterwards, I learned just how remarkable the quartet was. When I said yes, in the background an instrumental version of our favorite indie song began to play. Later, my fiance told me he couldn't get the sheet music to this particular song. It's a bit obscure, but he went so far as to contact the musicians themselves, and they said no sheet music existed. So Symphony Sounds composed by ear a perfect rendition of a song that has meant so much to my fiance and I over the past five years. Just above and beyond!
I have always loved the enchanting sound that string instruments make, and when they are played by musicians who are the masters of their instruments, there is nothing more invitin...
g, soulful and beautiful. While marrying was the most wonderful thing, doing this in front of our family and friends with the most beautiful music playing live in the background, and throughout the day, was so special. I would recommend that any couple marrying or partnering or re-marrying or whatever you might be doing with your loved one on a special day, book Symphony Sounds – their music and mastery of their instruments locks into your heart and mind, the love that you carry for each other, forever.
Symphony sounds played for our wedding in Chicago this summer and they were awesome! The owner Sarah was so responsive and worked with us to find just the right music. Even when my...
wife had some last minute changes Sarah was able to accommodate and executed flawlessly. Great music. Even better musicians. A great experience!
The musicians of symphony sounds were great! Exactly what I needed. They played everything I asked, showed up on time, and the prices were competitive. A+!
Symphony Sounds provided the most amazing musicfor my daughter's wedding. Their repertoire list is fabulous and provides wonderful choices. They began playing about 20 minutes bef...
ore the ceremony and continued to play until every guest had exited. Many guests remarked on how lovely the music was, and what a delight it was to hear the music as they waited for the wedding party to come in.
The terrific performance was topped only by the ease of dealing with Symphony Sounds. They are thorough professionals who truly want to make the day a memorable one for the bride and groom. I would hire them again in a minute!
I was referred to Sarah Marsh of Symphony Sounds by an acquaintance who had studied at Northwestern University and from the first time I called her, all the way to, and including t...
he day of our wedding, she was very communicative and professional. Especially after watching their performances and listening to their clips on their website, I had absolutely no worries going into our wedding day with this particular group. In fact, I was quite excited to hear the quartet perform our ceremony and cocktail hour leading up to the day, as strange as it sounds, since I had handpicked a number of the songs they would perform. Not to mention, their repertoire is extremely extensive and they are willing to tailor the music to your event. On the day of my wedding, the quartet was extremely professional and I received so many compliments from our guests, which means a lot since many of them are serious music lovers. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions, but I'm sure once you contact Symphony Sounds, you'll have the same great experience I had. Thanks, Sarah & Crew!
I wasn't quite sure what I wanted at all. I just knew I wanted to walk down the aisle to Canon in D. I called Sarah, and she was absolutely fantastic. She guided me through all ...
of the confusing options and helped me settle on a string quartet. Throughout the planning process Sarah was on top of everything! She went above and beyond to make herself available according to my crazy nurse's schedule. Most importantly, the musicians that performed at the wedding sounded gorgeous! They showed up early to get setup and coordinate with my officiant, then got right to work playing all of the music I selected. When I walked in to Canon in D, it was everything I envisioned and more! It was almost too beautiful...I could barely hold it together! Haha. One other great thing about them is they were able to play some more modern, fun music during the cocktail hour. I threw some crazy ideas at them: Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, and Coldplay. Sarah said they play that stuff all the time. I was skeptical, but it sounded awesome and a few of my goofy family members even started dancing around during the cocktail hour. Job well done Symphony Sounds! Thank you!
My sister recommended Symphony Sounds to me because she had used them for her ceremony and cocktail hour 7 years ago, and thought they were very good. I hired a string quartet and ...
a piano player for my ceremony which was at a Catholic church in Chicago. The owner, Sarah, helped me all along the way, and was absolutely wonderful to work with. She seems very organized, replying to my emails promptly. She even emailed me when she was on her own honeymoon (which I told her was ridiculous and to not get back to me until her honeymoon was over!). The church that I got married at was very hands-off, they apparently perform many wedding ceremonies, and therefore don't seem to have much time for questions. So, I was a little stressed about selecting readings, music, etc., for the ceremony. Sarah was really helpful! I had done some research online and had a pretty good idea of what music I wanted, but she gave me some great recommendations for the responsorial psalm and the Alleluia. She also helped me a great deal with timing, as far as how many prelude songs I might want, or how long communion usually takes. And, she advised me to check with my singer before settling on songs in case the singer was not comfortable with any of my selections. I thought the music at our ceremony was beautiful, and I even got a few compliments on it during the reception later!
Symphony Sounds are very profession musicians and very talented. Sarah was wonderful to work with as I live in Nebraska the bride lived in Boston and my son was going to college i...
n also another town. I would recommend them 100%.
They gave a quality performance and actually were helpful in choosing the processional songs based on their obvious expertise in the area. The only thing that was inconvenient is ...
that the final payment is due on the day of the wedding and, unfortunately, as a bride, you have a few other things on your mind to remember to bring your check book.
I hired Symphony Sounds for my ceremony. The string quartet was an extravagence for me that stretched our budget, but it was worth every penny. They are as professional as it gets,...
and the sound quality? Amazing. I'll never forget walking out to "Clocks" by Coldplay.
I highly recommend!
WONDERFUL!!! Very easy to work with!
They were fantastic. The music was beautiful, we had no problems with them and they were so easy to work with. Sarah (the owner) is PHENOMENAL!
They helped us pick out music. We did not feel rushed and Sara came up with great ideas that we could use.
They were very organized easy to work with probably the most professional vendor we worked with for the wedding. The talent was amazing.;Honestly they were more then I originally...
thought I would pay. However I don't regret the extra cost they were amazing!
Sarah was very nice and very easy to work with. She gave her inputs on how to make the mood music more romantic and dramatic. She also accepted music that was not on their lists to...
choose from and were able to learn the songs I chose for them quickly.;I have no complaints.
Sarah had so many great suggestions and on the big day the strings sounded amazing!
Very friendly and easy to work with. They played so beautifully, just a excellent job. I also received many compliments on how good they were. I was VERY pleased with them and woul...
d recommend them to everyone.
They were very professional, easy to work with and the music was beautiful.
Contact
Serving Chicago & Suburbs, Chicago & Suburbs, IL
Ensembles + Soloists