Alma Consort · Destinations
Start with the visa. Everything else follows from it.
Alma Consort travels from London to sing at weddings in New York, Florida and Las Vegas, on a timeline set by immigration rather than by aviation.
What kind of ceremony are you having?
For a British couple marrying in the United States, the ceremony is unusually unconstrained. Most states will license almost any officiant, so the form of service follows what you want rather than what is on offer.
An Episcopal service is Anglican and will feel familiar — the same order, the same hymnody, and in the north east some of the finest church buildings we could sing in anywhere. A Catholic nuptial Mass gives the fuller sung shape. Humanist, interfaith and non-denominational ceremonies are widespread and unremarkable, often conducted by a friend or family member licensed for the day, and carry no liturgy at all.
Legal marriage is generally simple for visitors, with requirements varying by state. The complication in the United States is not the ceremony. It is our side of the arrangement, and it is significant enough to take the next section.
Across an American wedding weekend
The multi-day wedding weekend is more established in the United States than anywhere else, and the vocabulary already exists for it: the rehearsal dinner on the Friday, the ceremony and reception on the Saturday, the farewell brunch on the Sunday. Guests expect three events, not one.
That is a good fit for a group that has crossed the Atlantic. The rehearsal dinner in particular suits a consort. It is smaller, indoors, and the guests are close, which is where unaccompanied singing is at its best. With the flights and visas already arranged, adding it costs very little.
If your ceremony is in a New York church and the reception is elsewhere in the city, that is an easy transfer; Florida and Nevada resorts usually keep everything on one site. Size the cocktail hour on its own terms rather than the ceremony’s: a room of people with drinks in their hands makes a great deal of noise, and unamplified voices have to get over it.
Why the United States is different from everywhere else we sing
This page leads with paperwork rather than music, because on this one destination the paperwork decides whether there is any music at all.
Performing for a fee in the United States is not something a British musician can do on a tourist visa or under the visa waiver programme. It requires a petition-based performance visa, filed in advance, for the musicians travelling. That process takes months rather than weeks, it costs real money per engagement, and it cannot be compressed because a wedding date is approaching.
The practical consequence is simple: the visa calendar, not the flight schedule, decides when we can come. A couple planning a New York wedding eighteen months out has no difficulty at all; one asking about a date six months away needs us to look at the specific timings before anyone promises anything. So raise it early. The earlier this conversation starts, the more of the calendar is open to you.
Where the timeline does work, everything else about the States is straightforward: excellent flights, no language barrier, and venues used to handling suppliers professionally.
What a US wedding asks of a choir
American weddings vary more than European ones, because the format follows the couple rather than the country. An Episcopal service in a New York church is Anglican and will feel familiar. Hymns the congregation can sing, an order of service a British couple would recognise, and a building that supports a consort properly. A Catholic nuptial Mass gives the full sung shape.
Most destination weddings in Florida and Nevada, though, are celebrant-led ceremonies at a hotel, a beach or a garden venue, with no liturgy at all. There the music defines the structure: the processional, a piece during the ceremony, the recessional, and a set during the cocktail hour afterwards, which in the United States is a more established part of the day than it is in Britain, and a good use of a group that has flown a long way.
East coast stone against Florida sun
New York and the north east have serious stone churches, and they are among the best rooms we could sing in anywhere. Where a couple is marrying in one, a consort of twelve to sixteen is appropriate and the building will do the rest.
Florida and Nevada are the opposite proposition: outdoor ceremonies, hotel lawns, beaches and poolside terraces, with no reverberation and, in Florida, heat and humidity that affect singers more than most people expect. Humid air is not kind to a group that has flown overnight. Twelve voices outdoors, shade before and during, and a ceremony scheduled away from the middle of the afternoon all make a material difference.
Getting a consort to the United States, once the visas exist
Flights are the easy part: London to New York, Miami, Orlando and Las Vegas are all served many times daily. The consort would normally travel two days ahead for a transatlantic engagement rather than one, because singing well the morning after an overnight flight and a five- to eight-hour time change is not something we would promise.
That second night is in the quote, as is the visa cost. We set both out explicitly rather than folding them into a single figure, so you can see what you are paying for. A US engagement is the most expensive thing on this list before a note is sung, and you should know that at the start.
Where in United States
New York City
The best case in the United States for a consort: real churches, real acoustics, and a city where a group of singers is unremarkable rather than exotic. An Episcopal or Catholic ceremony in a Manhattan or Brooklyn church gives you everything the repertoire was written for. Transfers are short and the venues are professional.
Florida
Orlando and Miami, and overwhelmingly outdoor or hotel ceremonies. The acoustic is dry and the climate is the main planning constraint: humidity is hard on voices, and an afternoon ceremony in summer is harder still. A late-afternoon or evening slot, shade, and twelve voices rather than eight is the shape that works.
Las Vegas
Chapel, hotel and resort ceremonies, with venues as capable as any in the world at running a large private event and a level of production polish that is hard to find elsewhere. Ceremonies are often tightly scheduled, so the programme wants to be precise rather than long, and the reception that follows is usually where a consort has the most room to work.
Questions about singing in United States
Do British musicians need a visa to perform at a US wedding?
Yes. Paid performance in the United States requires a petition-based performance visa; it cannot be done on the visa waiver programme or a tourist visa. The petition takes months and costs money per engagement. This is the single most important thing to know about booking a British choir for an American wedding, and it is why the answer depends on your timeline before it depends on our diary.
How far ahead do we need to book?
Far further than anywhere else we sing. Where Europe works at six to twelve months, the States needs the visa timeline built in on top, so the advice is to raise it before you fix the date rather than after. If your wedding is sooner than that, ask us anyway. The position depends on the visa route and on how the calendar is running, and we would rather look at your specific dates than turn you away on a general rule.
Why is a US booking more expensive?
Three things stack: transatlantic flights for the whole consort, two nights rather than one because we will not sing well the morning after an overnight flight and a large time change, and the visa cost per engagement. We itemise all three in the quote rather than hiding them in one number, because you should be able to see what you are paying for.
Where does the music go at an American wedding?
It depends on the format. An Episcopal or Catholic church service has the familiar shape and gives a choir a great deal to do. A celebrant-led ceremony at a hotel or beach has no liturgy, so the music carries the structure — processional, a piece within the ceremony, recessional — and the cocktail hour afterwards is a natural second set.
Travel and permit information on this page last checked 29 August 2026. Requirements change and vary by venue, diocese and celebrant; confirm the current position with us before you fix a date. Other country guides.
Enquire
Tell us where in United States you are marrying and when. If the date is free, Luca Wetherall will come back with what the music could be and what the whole engagement would cost, travel included.
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