By Matt Black | Updated 27th June 2025 | 7 min read

Central Victoria is a land of rolling plains, historic goldfields, and quiet rural towns, with rich colonial history and natural beauty. It’s a popular wedding destination, with many of our favourite venues. Read about the best musicians, bands, and DJs for weddings in Bendigo, Shepparton, Mansfield, Seymour, Castlemaine, and Heathcote.

Bendigo Wedding Musician

Georgia and Nick hired me as soloist and DJ for their Bendigo wedding. It was held at Chateau Dore in Mandurang, on the outskirts of Bendigo. This is a fabulous, family-run venue on a sprawling property established in 1866. The owners and staff are super friendly and helpful, and they made this wedding a pleasure.

Georgia and Nick were married in the garden at Chateau Dore. This is a pretty, secluded space, with plenty of shade and protection from the wind. It’s quite narrow, but as there’s access to power I set up at the back with a powered speaker and had no problem projecting to the front of the ceremony and being heard. Their celebrant was the brilliant Memories With Becky. She absolutely nailed it with her outgoing and downright hilarious style. Georgia asked me to perform an acoustic version of Simply The Best by Tina Turner for her procession. The couple walked back up the aisle to this classic song:
 

 
 
We relocated to the lawn just outside the reception room for cocktails, and I continued playing live. It was a fun, relaxed session. I even had dancers! This was my third full day wedding in three days in different parts of the state, but I was feeling fantastic and the voice was holding up well. I often find that with back-to-back weddings you get into a rhythm and everything just works.

Georgia’s brother Sam handled MC duties at the reception, and a great job he did too: confident and funny. The bridal party entered to the Sgt Slick remix of Gimme Gimme Gimme by ABBA. Georgia and Nick di their first dance to Wondering Why by The Red Clay Strays. This was followed by a father daughter dance, to What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. Nick’s family are Greek, so we had an obligatory Zorba and circle dance (twice). Nick’s mother got up on stage with me for some ABBA karaoke and stole the show. Georgia and Nick are both shy people, but their guests weren’t!

Central Victoria Wedding Singer

Renee and Bryce were married at Sebel Resort Pinnacle Valley, at the foot of Mount Buller. It’s a stunning spot any time of the year. The venue are fantastic at what they do, with friendly and accommodating staff and great food.
 
It was a fine, warm day, so Renee and Bryce were married outside at The Arbor, in front of the picturesque lake. They opted for Kristen to perform solo at their ceremony. They chose Can’t help Falling In Love by Elvis for the procession, At Last by Etta James and Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars for the signing, and All Of Me by John Legend for the recessional. The photo below was taken by the lovely Sandra Lee, a Mansfield-based photographer.

Kristen continued to perform solo over cocktails. Then we performed as an acoustic duo over dinner and for the first dance, which was to the duet version of Perfect by Ed Sheeran and Beyonce. After that I switched to DJ, and the guests hit the dance floor. Hard.

Central Victoria Acoustic Duo

Wendy and Dale were married at Mitchelton Winery in Nagambie. This is a very switched-on venue, with a variety of huge spaces both indoors and out, including a spectacular underground cellar and art gallery. Food is the other thing they nail. No big surprise there, given its proximity to some of Victoria’s best produce-growing areas. And of course Mitchelton is famous for its wine.

Wendy and Dale chose our acoustic duo to perform at their ceremony, on the purpose-built deck in front of the Goulburn River. It’s a peaceful spot, and they lucked in with perfect weather. The ceremony was officiated by one of our favourite celebrants, Sam Lavery. He had some great material to work with from this fun and funny couple.

Wendy and Dale have a GREAT taste in music. Wendy asked us to play Simply The Best by Tina Turner for her as she walked down the aisle. Other featured songs were Flame Trees by Cold Chisel, Sweet Disposition by the Temper Trap, Two Of Us by Birds of Tokyo, and No One by Alicia Keys.

Bendigo Wedding Band

Naomi and Curtis held their wedding cocktails and reception at Silks Function Centre in Bendigo Jockey Club. They opted for our four piece wedding band. It was not our typical four piece band lineup: we had two male lead singers, and were joined by Aaron on saxophone and flute.
 

 
 
We played a couple of dinner sets at low volume, then stopped for speeches. Naomi and Curtis chose Everybody Loves Somebody by Dean Martin for their first dance. Then the band kicked the dance floor off. The couple and the guests were clearly music lovers – especially Naomi’s family. It was a fun, high energy night with lots of dancing and requests.

Central Victoria Wedding DJ

I’d never done a Brazilian wedding before I was invited to Beatriz and Leonardo’s. Although the couple live in Melbourne, most of the guests had flown out from São Paulo for the wedding. So I got to experience a ceremony completely in Brazilian Portugese. Which unfortunately I don’t speak. However their friend who officiated the ceremony (and was MC later) was excellent at communicating with nods for when I was to start playing. Which was good, because the couple had selected a different song for every member of the procession! But I managed it, and Beatriz and Leonardo were in place and ready to be married. But then this little guy arced up:
 

 
 
Oh, he wanted to be with Mum and Dad as they got married – how cute! No, he just wanted to go and gnaw on a massive stick. Priorities. He was free range for the rest of the wedding and even hit the dance floor later with the guests, dressed to the nines with a glowing collar. Such a cool little dude.
 
After the ceremony, everyone relocated to the venue for an outdoor reception, and I continued playing live on the deck. There was a bit of a language barrier, and I wasn’t sure how music in English would go down, but they seemed to know all the songs. I even got them all singing along to Wonderwall!

Bonfire Station is a rustic wedding venue and microbrewery in Taggerty, located halfway between Marysville and Alexandra. The couple who run it are super friendly and accommodating. There’s ample accommodation on site, so it’s perfect if you want to make a full weekend of your wedding with your guests. With its low-key and low-stress vibe, it’s perfect for a DIY-style wedding. In fact myself and photographer Lachlan Chatifeld (who took all the photos you see here) were the only two vendors Beatriz and Leonardo hired for their wedding. They had so much help from family and friends.

After dinner and speeches everyone moved inside and hit the dance floor. I’d been given a big list of Brazilian music to play, but I was told on the night to kick things off with music in English. This was a mix of pop and RnB. I’d been expecting a lot of latin music, but as I found out from talking to some of the guests on the night, São Paulo is a big, cosmopolitan city, and a melting pot for cultures from all over the world (the bride herself is half Japanese), so they’re much more into regular pop music than people from say, Rio. Even when I switched to the Brazilian music halfway through, I was surprised by how poppy it was. And they love acoustic ballads.

In any case the dancing was fantastic. Check out this young chap’s breakdancing! As a simply terrible (and very self-conscious) dancer myself, I’m always in awe watching people cut loose on the dance floor.
 

 
 
By popular request, the last song of the night was Evidencias by Chitaozinho e Xororo. It’s just a live acoustic ballad, but it brought the house down. They were literally screaming the lyrics. But unfortunately I had to wrap things up there. They could have kept partying all night. They might well have – when I left they were still singing and dancing around the bonfire!

Bendigo Wedding DJ

Waratah Wedding & Function Centre is a gem of a venue hidden away in the suburbs of Bendigo. Family-owned and operated, the staff are a delight to deal with. It has a chapel dating back to 1875, manicured gardens, an outdoor bar, and a large banquet hall that can seat 160 people. Most couples choose to hold everything outdoors at this venue, weather permitting. If you do too, hiring our gazebo is a must.

Bendigo locals Tiffany and Lachlan were a dream to deal with both in the lead-up to their wedding and on the day. While their original intention was to hold the entire wedding outside, they decided the week of the wedding to move everyone inside for the reception. It turned out to be a wise decision. It was a sweltering summer night, and it was cooler and more comfortable inside. They opted for our soloist Kristen at their ceremony and cocktails, with myself DJing the reception. They chose A Thousand Years by Christina Perri for their first dance. Then it was into a fun and energetic dance floor.

Central Victoria Wedding Reviews