Our Wedding Philosophy

Big Ray & The Kool Kats have the distinct advantage of many, many years serving brides and their families on one of their most important days. We go into your wedding with ONE GOAL in mind - to create memories for you and your loved ones. The party is not about the US, though all our musicians are professional, versatile and know how to get the dance floor grooving. The party is about YOU. With that said, we will work with you, your venue and your vendors in whatever way is needed to create the most special and spectacular event. Whether you need a certain song that sparks memories for your family or friends, an emcee to announce the activities, or even a special “guest star” moment on stage, we are ready to coordinate. And if you just want the most fun dance party EVER, leave it to us because we know how to read your crowd, young and old alike, and make sure that EVERYONE has a wonderful time.

Charlottesville Weddings

The beauty of Charlottesville has drawn the attention of many a bride. Because so many have chosen to have their wedding in Charlottesville, the options available for your wedding are numerous and high quality. In Charlottesville there are accomplished photographers, skilled caterers, many beautiful venues, and of course, wedding bands. If you’ve chosen Charlottesville or the Albemarle area to host your wedding, Big Ray and the Kool Kats will make sure that not only is your wedding beautiful, but lively, joyful, and easy.

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A Few Reviews

Here are just a few highlighted testimonials from happy brides & grooms, event planners, attendees... You can see also see many more HERE on Wedding Wire.

Hiring Big Ray and the Kool Kats as our band was one of the best decisions we made for our wedding day! Big Ray was so helpful throughout the planning process, and made some suggestions about the event that I am SO thankful for - my wedding wouldn't have been the same without him. He handled the music selection with some basic information about what we liked, played music that appealed to everyone in the audience, from teens to my peers to my older relatives, and added some nice touches involving the audience to engage the entire crowd.

- Mary Pat, Bride

Big Ray and the Kool Kats are the cream of the crop when it comes to wedding bands. They are extremely professional, timely, accommodating, easy to work with, excellent musicians and keep guests on the dance floor the entire night. As a planner, I recommend them to my clients at every chance.

- Mareen, Wedding Planner

This is an amazing band! My husband and I do not usually dance very much, but we were on the dance floor all night during our wedding reception. Big Ray and the band were professional and organized and took care of the details. As Big Ray said "Your job is to be the bride. My job is to work out all the details with the reception venue". We did not have to worry about a thing - we were able to enjoy the wedding and reception. A couple band members and singers also performed the music for the ceremony, despite the cold and rain! It was absolutely beautiful music. We had so many complements from guests who took their name for their own future events. Ray was engaging and fun and interacted well with the guests. It was such an amazing and fun night! Big Ray and the Kool Kats are the ultimate professionals - they know how to make the party flow! The venue coordinator agreed: "Ray went above and beyond any other band or musician that we have worked with".

- Susan, Bride

When Big Ray and the Kool Kat's plays a song, it isn't played like just any other band. There's something about them that brings the crowd alive and there's this sudden energy in the room. They kept everyone out on the dance floor and knew exactly how to read the crowd. My husband danced so hard he had to change dress shirts and I changed into a short white fun dress, and they even let my bridesmaids and I up on the stage! In addition, Ray as a band leader is incredibly organized. He has everything planned and needs very little information. You can tell he's a pro from the moment you first talk with him. He worked seamlessly with our planners and photographer, making the whole event go off without a hitch. So they have the versatility, talent, and organization, but there's something else that makes Big Ray and the Kool Kats stand out. Ray is incredibly genuine and charismatic.

- Ashley, Bride

I could always count on Big Ray and The Kool Kats to put on a great show and make my members happy. Been working with them for years and will continue to do so for many more. Cant say enough nice things about my experiences, always a pleasure.

- Patrick, Washington Golf and Country Club

Big Ray brought down the house, and was amazing to work with - across the board. He was incredibly flexible with the playlist - and had everyone on the dancefloor the entire night. Would 10/10 recommend!

- Katheryn M.

Ray is one of the kindest people in the industry. He and his band the Kool Kats have performed at our annual fundraiser for the past few years, and they really elevate our guests experience. His expertise in this field has been beyond helpful in taking our fundraising efforts to the next level. We cannot wait to work with him again next year, I couldn't recommend anyone more.

- Ashley

I cannot say enough good things about Big Ray and the Kool Kats. Not only did they do all of the standard "great wedding band stuff" (i.e., play all upbeat songs in genres we requested, played music that both grandparents and millennial yuppies liked, kept everyone dancing all night, took a very short break, etc. etc.).. these guys went truly above and beyond!! For example:

- Ray coordinated all of the audio equipment for the ceremony for almost no extra cost
- Ray added in a keyboardist to our ceremony FOR NO EXTRA COST after we told him we wanted our recessional to be "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" b/c as Ray put it, "it'll just sound so much better with a keyboard and guitarist"
- BRKK played a first dance song from the Broadway musical Hamilton PERFECTLY even though they had never played the song before, and I sent him the request to play the song after the original request deadline
- After the ceremony, Big Ray saw that my wife and I hadn't been served a beverage yet, so he took our drink orders, presumably skipped the whole line for drinks at the bar, and brought us back cocktails within 2 minutes. It was incredible.
- Ray acted as a professional MC for the whole evening, and made everything seamless. He cracked jokes, kept the party moving, and strictly adhered to the timeline set out by our wedding planner. The only person more excited than you for booking Big Ray will be all of your vendors, who dream of working with these guys.

Look, kids. There are only 3 things that matter at a wedding to all of your guests (which raises the issue of why you're spending so much money on this in the first place, but that's a separate issue). #1 - do you actually like the couple getting married? Presumably people like you guys. #2- Unfettered access to alcohol -- pretty straightforward. And #3 - A GREAT BAND. BRKK is the best band out there, full stop. Do yourself a favor, book BRKK for your wedding, and take care of priority #3. XOXO

- Connor, Groom