While we offer music for all types of events wedding entertainment is our passion! Mister Kanish began as a wedding band in 2006 and since then we've played at over 50 functions a year across the world. We are based in Hampshire in the South East but have performed all over the UK as well as at weddings in Dublin, The Isle of Man, Strasbourg, The Dordogne, Madrid, and Majorca. Our line-up includes the same people every week so you can rest assured that we'll bring an awesome vibe to your wedding. The 5-piece play a mix of violin, double bass, mandolin, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, bass, and drums all mixed with Ben's powerful vocals and four part harmonies.
Happy Brides and Grooms
As of last year we started to take end of the night selfies at all the weddings we played. Here are a few of our favourites.
We have hundreds of amazing testimonials from happy couples. Just have a flick through our latest reviews that have been posted by brides and grooms on Facebook and Google. There's more below along with lots of videos!
Choosing Mister Kanish as the band to play at our wedding has been the first thing we’ve done after getting engaged. We’ve found them during some random wandering session on YouTube years ago and fell in love with their cover of White Stripes - Seven Nation Army. We’re so glad we did choose them - they were FANTASTIC! There wasn’t a single guest who hasn’t commented on how awesome the music at the wedding was. We had people who’s never danced at any wedding before dancing the night away. I had no idea that Martyn (the groom) had such moves! ? We had an amazing time - the day after the wedding we’re sat in a bar, discussing the next upcoming occasion to ask them to play for us, that’s how AWESOME they are. If you’re looking for the best band to play at your wedding, don’t think twice - just book Mister Kanish. THANK YOU GUYS for helping us have the best time at our wedding! Maggie & Martyn married in Manchester 2019
Wedding Band, UK - Take On Me Cover
Mister Kanish - Party Band
The original. Mister Kanish is our rock/pop setup. Electric guitars and bass, drums, and vocals - simple but incredibly effective. Ideal for the more traditional wedding where guests enjoy the sounds of 90s dance, The Killers, Hip-hop, rock, modern chart tunes and sing along classics played close to, but not exactly, like the record. We play anything we think will get the party going and don't like to pin ourselves down. We make every song our own and every performance is different. When you hire a wedding band you don't want to hear it exactly like the record, that's what a DJ is for. Our sound has evolved over the last thirteen years and continues to at every wedding we play.
Classic Kanish - Festival / Folk / Mumford and Sons
Same band, same people - we are the original “Mumford and Sons style wedding band". Acoustic guitars, double bass, mandolin, violin, banjo and drums. Ideal for festival / vintage styled, or quirky weddings, or perhaps a to fit the theme of a wedding in a rustic barn venue. Imagine a bluegrass, gypsy jazz, folk inspired knees up playing covers of all your favourite songs - that’s Classic Kanish. We can pretty much play any song from our repertoire using this setup - our folky version of the garage medley is an assault on the senses.
Some songs work best with the Classic setup, others were written to rock. You can book your preferred style for over 2 hours of live wedding music. If you want to see the full versatility of Mister Kanish then book MK Best of Both. We play at least one set of all your favourite folked up classics, then switch over and crank up the party as the night continues with the rock/pop setup. This is our most frequently booked option, and generally works best for our audiences who love the combination of sounds.
To really blow your guests away why not go big with the MK 10-piece party band - Mister X <-see what I did there!!
been a fan for years on youtube and met him a few days ago for the first time!
Rob Artism Vincent November 26, 2019
Mister Kanish were playing at a wedding where I was doing the photography last weekend and can honestly say they were brilliant. They played such a wide range of songs from different decades. The style, vocals and instruments were all fantastic! Great bunch of guys too and really engaged with the guests, highly recommended 🙂
Steve McCann May 23, 2017
We were lucky to have Mister Kanish at my daughter’s recent wedding party. We had high hopes for them as what we had seen online looked great and they certainly didn’t disappoint. A great band, great vocals and instrumentalists, fabulous covers. Love them and hope to see them again someday.
Anita Huckle August 25, 2019
These guys are awesome - anyone thinking of booking them for your wedding - do it now!
Liz Langton June 15, 2017
Mister Kanish played at our wedding last week. They were booked last minute but were more than we could have hoped for! Amazing tunes sang in a different way from your usual cheesy wedding cover band. We wish we could go back to our wedding as guests and enjoy them all over again. We really cannot recommend them enough! Everyone has talked about them since.. hope we get to see you again one day! ?
Alice Elliott May 31, 2019
We had Mister Kanish play at our festival weekend wedding in August 17 and they were absolutely brilliant. Really good at communicating beforehand and giving us an idea of the sorts of music they played - they also let us choose specific songs we did/didn't want. On the day they were extremely professional and a fantastic band, all of our guests loved them and we've recommended them to others!
Thanks again!
Steve
Steven Baldwin January 14, 2018
A massive thank you for Saturday. It was the best day and you guys played a very big part. Booking you was our first bit of Wedmin and we have been excited to see you play ever since - you did not disappoint.
Everyone was raving about you on the night and have kept messaging us since to say you were the best band they have heard at a wedding. Your garage mash up was a particularly highlight ("I didn't expect to hear so solid crew in Wiltshire - amazing") and seeing the dance floor in full flow was just what we wanted. The remixes and mash ups all went down a storm and lots of our parents friends also commented on how well you kept all generations happy.
Tim even heard a couple of the bridesmaid discussing whether they were too old to become Mister Kanish groupies. A seal of approval if every there was one.
We are now trying to work out an excuse to have another party and have you play again!
Vicky Whitney September 23, 2017
I'm the biggest fan!!! Those guys are super fun and you need them on your wedding or event!!! It will be the best night of your life!!!
Marzena Cytacka September 22, 2020
Absolutely brilliant.
I half bullied my co-hosts in to picking Mister Kanish and had to be even more persuasive about adding on the horns, but so, so happy we had them.
We took the decision to leave the repertoire to them and to mix things up to keep everyone dancing. They completely made the party and we would definitely recommend them. From first enquiry, through two sets, a brilliant encore and efficient packing up, all of the band have been so easy and professional to deal with.
Nothing but fabulous feedback from our guests.
Tim Whiting October 13, 2019
Hey guys!! Love your selfie vid from our wedding in Wiltshire 😀 Just wanted to let you know that I've had nothing but amazing comments from all the guests. You certainly kept the dance floor full and overflowing right until the end! In fact lots of people told me that they thought you were the best wedding band they'd ever heard and that they could have carried on dancing to your music for hours! We felt the same and were absolutely thrilled to have you as part of our big day. It was fantastic to have so many people dancing including the older generation. Everyone properly let their hair down thanks to your awesome performance. You really made the party! Thank you ever so much.
Rebecca Scott June 28, 2018
Wedding Ceremony Music
Hire us as your wedding entertainment to perform during your ceremony. We can provide 3 to 5 piece options and can play requested music for the bride's walk up the aisle, and for the happy couple to dance back down. We'll also play a few songs during the signing of the register and beforehand while your guests take their seats.
Drinks Reception & Wedding Breakfast
If you want entertainment for the whole day we can offer music for your drinks reception or wedding breakfast. This can be booked as a stand alone performance for your event, or added to your regular booking. The best time to use this is during the photo hour to entertain your friends and family while the photographer snaps them. or perhaps during the wedding breakfast before the main evening event. Ask about options and line-ups for background music when you get in touch. We really find adding this additional set can warm your guests up to us for the evening and so make breaking the ice for the first dance and first set a lot easier.
Horn section
Everyone loves brass. Our awesome horn section, made up of trumpet, trombone, and sax, can be added to any Mister Kanish or Classic Kanish wedding booking. This turns our setlist into a seriously classy outfit, Rio Carnival, and ska skankathon all rolled into one - if that's possible. Highly recommended!
We are recommended by and recommend a lot of amazing wedding venues all over the UK. Here are some of our favourites...
We speak with hundreds of brides and grooms a year and get asked the following questions regularly.
What do we get as standard when we hire the band for our wedding?
Our standard wedding day package includes the following...
Up to 3 x 50minutes of live music between 8pm and midnight (Folk style includes 2 x 60)
Arrival at 6pm to be ready for 8pm.
A choice of either just our folk style, our rock and pop style, or both.
Playlist for between sets so you don't need to hire a DJ.
Basic stage lighting, all PA, all equipment for up to 200 guests.
Your choice of first dance learnt and played
An extensive tried and tested wedding specific repertoire honed at over a decade of bookings.
We offer lots of extras including wedding ceremony music, drinks reception entertainment, extra musicians such as brass and female vocals, and late finish. We are more than happy to play weddings abroad and regularly play in France and Spain.
How much say do we have over the set lists for our big day?
While we have been playing as a function band since 2006 and really know what gets people up and dancing we don't know your friends and family better than you do. We usually recommend to clients to pick around five or six of their favourite songs from our repertoire as loves and two or three dislikes. This can give us a steer in the right direction when it comes to your music tastes. Chances are though, if you've seen our videos and enjoyed the music there, then you'll love what we do. It's not rare to see indie loving grooms up and screaming every lyric to Mysterious Girl . And we regularly see father's of the bride who haven't danced in years pogo-ing to Britney.
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