Live string quartet for weddings in Milwaukee and Denver
Dream City Strings plays the classics and the songs you love, on violins, viola and cello, for weddings, galas and corporate events.
Dream City Strings is a string quartet company founded in Milwaukee by violinist Jared Judge, with over 300 weddings played since 2018. Choose a quartet, trio or duo for your ceremony and cocktail hour, from hundreds of songs from Bach to Taylor Swift. We play weddings in Milwaukee and Wisconsin and in Denver and Colorado, where our musicians have performed at hundreds of weddings and events.
Choose your city
Milwaukee and Wisconsin
Our home since 2018: St. James 1868, Discovery World, Villa Terrace, The Pfister and venues from Lake Geneva to Door County.
Milwaukee weddings →
Denver and Colorado
Hundreds of Colorado weddings and events, from Denver Botanic Gardens and the Grant-Humphreys Mansion to Estes Park and Vail.
Denver weddings →Why couples book Dream City Strings
- Classic and modern in one set. Canon in D next to Coldplay, Bach next to Taylor Swift. One couple called it a “fabulous Bridgerton sound.”
- The right size for your day. A full quartet (two violins, viola and cello), a trio or a duo. Which one do we need?
- Hundreds of songs, plus yours. Browse the song list, request what's missing, or let us choose.
- Everything in one place. Contract, payments and song picks all live in your BookLive client portal.
- Experience. Over 300 weddings since 2018, in ballrooms, churches, barns, museums and gardens. Winner of The Knot Best of Weddings and WeddingWire Couples' Choice awards.
How booking works
- Check your date. Send your date, venue and the parts of the day you want music for. We confirm availability and send a proposal.
- Sign and hold the date. You sign the contract and pay a 50% deposit online in your BookLive client portal. The balance is due a week before the wedding, and paying by bank transfer (ACH) keeps the fee low.
- Pick your songs. In the same BookLive portal, choose from hundreds of songs, drag them into order, or let us fill in the rest. Picks are due about two weeks before.
- Plan the day. We line up the timeline with you and your planner, and tell your venue what we need: a chair for each player and shade if you're outside.
- Enjoy it. The musicians arrive about 30 minutes before the music starts, dressed formally, and play exactly what you picked.
What couples say
★★★★★“They played at our daughter’s wedding at The Milwaukee Art Museum. The music before, during and after the ceremony was amazing. It was one of our favorite parts of the whole day!”
★★★★★“I had a guest say to me she thought we had a string track playing from the DJ and when she learned that it was a live ensemble she couldn't believe it.”
★★★★★“Excellent repertoire and fabulous Bridgerton sound, very professional and made the event very special.”
★★★★★“My husband was fighting back tears telling me now he understands why I wanted strings so badly.”
Prefer electric violin?
Dream City Strings' founder also leads Extreme Strings, a solo electric violin act in Denver that plays pop songs over full-band backing tracks. Not sure which fits your day? Read string quartet or electric violin.
Planning questions, answered
- Quartet, trio or duo: which do we need?
- String quartet or electric violin?
- How many songs does a string quartet ceremony need?
- How many processional songs should we pick?
- Does a string quartet need a microphone?
- Outdoor weddings: shade, rain and temperature
- What does a string quartet need from the venue?
- How booking a string quartet works
- String quartet for a church wedding
- Can a string quartet play pop songs?
Questions couples ask
Where do you play?
Dream City Strings plays weddings and events across Wisconsin from Milwaukee, and across Denver and the rest of Colorado, from the Front Range to the mountains.
What instruments are in a string quartet?
Two violins, a viola and a cello. We also play as a trio or a duo.
Can you play modern songs?
Yes. The library mixes classical pieces with pop songs like Taylor Swift and Coldplay, and you can request songs that aren't on the list.
How do we book?
Send your date and venue for a quote. To hold the date, you sign the contract and pay a 50% deposit online in your BookLive client portal.